Before We Were Free

From a window in Oscar’s house, Anita watches El Jefe march in a parade. He does the same thing every day at this time. She is surprised to see that several of the men who meet on her property at the compound are there with El Jefe. Oscar asks her if she’s scared, and when she says yes, he admits that he is as well. Suddenly he kisses her on the cheek, just when Anita is thinking about how her feelings for Sam have completely fizzled out.

There is now constant activity in the compound. The Washburns have moved to a safer location and Anita senses that something momentous is coming. Mami spends all day typing, and once Anita sees that she is typing something that looks similar to the Declaration of Independence, but in Spanish. Mundin keeps telling Papi that he wants to help, but Papi reminds him that if anything happens to him, Mundin will be the man of the house.

One night, Chucha comes in and tells Anita to get ready. Suddenly, the driveway fills with cars. Papi and Tony are there, along with men with machine guns. Papi announces that the Dominican Republic is now free, but then he is worried because one of the men says they cannot find a man named Pupo, who is someone with whom Anita is unfamiliar, but who is also obviously important to the cause. When the cars leave to go find Pupo, Mami learns that Mundin has gone with them.

Anita and Mami are up all night, worrying and waiting for Papi’s return. Mami tells Anita that Pupo is the leader of the army. Without the support of the army, the butterflies will have no chance in maintaining the revolution. She awakes to the sound of men from SIM storming into the house and searching their drawers. Anita looks out the window and sees Papi and Toni being loaded into the trunk of a car, their hands tied behind them.

Mami visits with a man named Mr. Mancini, who she says can help them. In the night, Chucha wakes Anita and tells her it’s time to go. They pack quickly and go outside to a waiting car. 

Anita and Mami are hidden in a room at the Mancini’s house, and they must sometimes stay in a closet to escape detection from the servants and some of the other people who the Mancinis are hiding, including Oscar. Mami tells Anita she can write in her journal to leave a record of their revolution attempt to inspire the people who might come behind them. Anita learns that El Jefe has been assassinated, and his son is vowing to take vengeance on anyone who had anything to do with El Jefe’s death. Anita struggles to picture her father and uncle actually murdering someone.

Two weeks go by. Anita records the mundane events of the days. She worries about her father and uncle, and Mundin. Then, they begin to receive letters from Mundin. Wherever he is hidden, he is able to have mail delivered to an ambassador. Anita learns that El Jefe’s body was found in the trunk of Papi’s car. This is the evidence that Pupo was supposed to come and see. Once he had seen the body, he would know that it was safe to go on the radio and announce the revolution. But Pupo never showed up.

One night, SIM sends men to investigate rumors of intruders being hidden in the house, but they don’t find anything suspicious. Afterwards, Anita begins hiding her diary, just in case. The next day she is playing cards with two other girls when there is a commotion. She hides in the closet with them, abandoning the card game. Oscar enters the room and looks around, but does not find them, although it seems that he suspects that someone is there, hiding. When Anita comes back out, he has left the queen of hearts turned face up on the table: a message for her. Shortly afterwards, she hears a small noise on her window: When she looks out, it is Oscar, throwing pebbles. He waves at her and then leaves.

Anita receives a copy of The Arabian Nights from one of the women in the house and begins reading it. It contains a bookmark: the queen of hearts, another message from Oscar. Anita listens to the radio one evening, but it is nothing but stories about prisoners who were taken by El Jefe’s son, and of the horrible torture they are enduring. Anita turns the radio off and can’t sleep.

A woman named Maria tells Anita and Mami that they have a visitor several days later. When they go to the door, a young blond woman is there. It is Mundin, in disguise. He is on his way to a boat that will take him to another hiding spot but did not want to leave without saying goodbye. That night, Mami and Anita are listening to a radio program. It ends by saying, “Long live the butterflies!” (133). She tells Anita that the original butterflies—the resistance group founded to overthrow El Jefe—were ambushed by SIM and murdered. But then, Mami, Papi, Toni, and others took up the responsibility. Anita cannot believe that her mother was involved in a secret plot. Anita is inspired by her mother’s courage.

Mr. Mancini tells them over the coming days that he may have a way for them to take a private flight out of the Dominican Republic, but that doing so will be very dangerous. There are rallies in the streets every day. SIM is arresting more people than ever, but the public is refusing to back down and cease the demonstrations. When the interlude ends, Anita is hurriedly writing in her journal from a crawlspace. There is a huge crash in the backyard. She writes that men are coming into the house and the diary entry ends. 

Anita and Mami have been in New York for six weeks, staying in a room at the Hotel Beverly. Anita worries constantly about Papi and Toni and wonders if she and Mami will ever get to go home and be a family again.

It is revealed that when the men broke into the house and found them in the crawlspace, it was not SIM, but Wimpy and a group of commandos. Anita and the others are quickly airlifted out by helicopter, and then taken to a small plane, which takes them to New York. In the airport, Anita reunites with Lucinda, Mundin, and Carla and her parents.

As they wait for word of Papi, Anita grows restless enough that Mami arranges for her to attend classes at a nearby Catholic school, from a nun named Sister Mary Joseph. Sister Mary Joseph encourages Anita to write about her experience during the class and uses Anita’s presence as an opportunity to teach the other students about dictatorships.

Weeks later, in October, Papi is still in prison and Trujillo Junior—the son of El Jefe—is still in power. Anita writes a long letter to Oscar, asking for updates, but Mr. Washburn tells her that no mail is getting through. She tears the letter into pieces and vows that, if nothing else, she wants to see Papi again by Christmas. Later that evening, Anita goes to a grocery store and puts some items in a cart. The store owner accuses her of not having enough money to pay and she runs away. When she returns to the hotel, everyone is crying, and Mr. Washburn is there. Her grandfather tells her that Papi and Toni are dead. They were tied to trees and then shot in an official execution. 

Anita is with the Garcia family, in Queens, on Thanksgiving, waiting for the first snowfall of the year. Anita has the feeling that everyone is being extra careful and sweet to her, in an attempt to counterbalance Papi’s death. Anita has almost given up on ever getting to go back home. Mami says they will not return until the wounds in their hearts have healed. Over dinner, they all cry, but Anita is happy to be with family, even if she can’t be with Papi.

Anita receives a letter from Oscar. He says that she should be proud of the sacrifice that her father and uncle made for their country, and that he is excited that the Dominican Republic will eventually have its first chance at free elections since El Jefe took over.

It begins to snow. Anita goes outside with the Garcias, and they make snow angels once enough snow has fallen for it to stick to the ground. Later that evening, Anita looks down at the snow angels from an upstairs window. She remembers Papi telling her that she would have to learn how to fly. When she looks at the snow angels, she sees butterflies instead. She makes a promise to Papi that she will always try to do what he asked of her.