The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora

Cari takes to the podium next. Although she’s always preferred to remain behind-the-scenes at the restaurant, in the kitchen, she is now in charge of La Cocina. Arturo muses, “I think that flipped a switch in her. Her voice boomed through the speakers and filled the chamber” (213). She reminds everyone that the restaurant has served the community for 19 years. With the approval of their proposal, the family could expand La Cocina, allowing them to host larger events and build a stage for concerts. Wilfrido interrupts Cari’s address several times with derisive remarks before she concludes, “This is a matter of community. I would like every person in this room to think about what kind of neighborhood they want to live in” (215).

During the short recess before residents voice their opinions, Arturo steps outside with Carmen. They stroll along the sidewalk, agreeing that the board members responded more enthusiastically to Wilfrido’s speech. As they approach a large, dry fountain, they hear humming and sniffling. Sitting inside is Wilfrido’s assistant, Claudio, eating cake. After exclaiming that “Wilfrido is a total control freak” (216) who restricts his employees’ diets, Claudio explains he is eating sugar again because Wilfrido has just fired him for no good reason.

As they leave Claudio to relish his remaining dessert, Arturo rails against Wilfrido’s efforts to meddle in their neighborhood. Carmen urges him to speak before the chamber following the recess, but he expresses self-doubt. They have never discussed the moment Arturo shared his true feelings for Carmen, and now she brings it up. After apologizing for her reaction and admitting she has no experience in such matters, Carmen kisses Arturo. His shock quickly turns to exhilaration. Feeling emboldened, Arturo decides to “speak in front of the whole neighborhood” (219).

The public feedback phase of the forum begins with several residents voicing support for Pipo Place, but then Bicycle Bill tells the story of his 30th wedding anniversary. He and his wife had hoped to hold their celebration at La Cocina, but Doña Veronica (Abuela) decided the space was too small. At her suggestion, they had the party in the courtyard of her apartment complex, and she billed them only for the food and service. A woman with a small child chimes in, attributing her three-year-old’s robust health to the lentil stew Doña Veronica brought to their house when the girl was an infant. She adds that “La Cocina’s cooking—literally nourished the community” (222).

Arturo’s Aunt Mirta rises to speak. The wife of Cari’s brother, Carlos, and a high-powered attorney, Aunt Mirta has thoroughly researched “Pipo Land Holdings, LLC” (222) and discovered that the cost of living in Wilfrido’s proposed high-rise will far exceed the income of most Canal Grovers. She questions what Wilfrido “means when he says Pipo Place is for the community?” (222).

When the chairman asks if anyone else wishes to speak, Arturo steps forward hesitantly. He pulls from his pocket a poem he wrote “that night in Abuela’s apartment” (223), after she died. Timidly, at first, but with growing confidence, Arturo reads his elegiac tribute to Abuela, remembering her as a teacher, a nurturer, and a guide “for our journeys beyond” (225). Arturo concludes by thanking Abuela and returns to his seat. After the council members quietly deliberate amongst themselves for 20 minutes, they announce their decision will be postponed until the following day.

Returning to La Cocina for lunch, the Zamoras discover the bulldozer now blocks the entrance to the patio and a “huge metallic Pipo Place sign” (226) towers over the empty lot. Cari makes a phone call, and a tow truck soon arrives. As Arturo watches the truck maneuvering in the small space, he hears a tremendous crash. Wilfrido’s huge sign has toppled. After a police officer inspects the damage, he promises to issue Wilfrido a citation and remarks, “Clearly, that sign is a hazard” (227).

The family gathers inside the restaurant. When Carmen is out of earshot, Arturo asks Cari if Carmen really is family. Cari confirms she is, but assures Arturo that “family is not just blood. Family is friendship. Family is community” (231).

Several weeks have passed, and Bren and Mop have returned. Following the public forum, the council voted in favor of an ordinance limiting the height of new buildings, which disqualified Wilfrido’s high-rise proposal. The Zamoras’s bid was thus approved, and plans for the expansion of La Cocina are moving forward. Arturo has been “promoted to assistant junior cold food prep cook” (234), and Vanessa was selected to attend the “Junior Leadership Summit in Washington D.C.” (235).

For Arturo, Carmen’s impending departure casts a shadow over the final days of summer. Carmen refuses to let gloom overtake their remaining time together and tells him, “Like your poem says, the journey prepares us for the ‘journeys beyond’” (234). This lifts Arturo’s spirits, not least of all because, as he notes, “the fact that Carmen was quoting my poem was epically awesome” (234).

While Wilfrido lost his bid to make big changes in Canal Grove, Arturo admits that “life had changed in a big way” (234). Abuela is gone, leaving her family to find their way forward without her, but there are also positive changes. La Cocina is expanding, and the community is “much closer than before Wilfrido had ripped through town” (235).

In the final scene, Cari agrees with Arturo that they should release his grandparents’ ashes. Abuelo’s urn has presided over Sunday dinners for years, but Arturo thinks of Abuela as “trapped” (235) inside hers, as she loved gardening and being outdoors. Cari takes the urns and leads Arturo and Carmen toward the canals. Handing Abuela’s urn to Arturo, she says, “They should both flow through this town and out to the sea where maybe they’ll make it back to the island of their birth” (236).

The final pages of the novel include recipes for two Cuban dishes and back matter on José Martí.