Fruit of the Drunken Tree

During their long summer vacation, the girls play with Isa and Lala. Their favorite prank is ding-dong-ditch, or Rin Rin Corre Corre. The neighborhood guards call them Las Hermanas Calle, meaning “The Street Sisters,” which is also the name of a musical group. They spy on the Oligarch, an old rich woman who lives alone, whom they find mysterious and intriguing. Mamá takes Chula and Cassandra to the mall, though they are nervous because Escobar has been terrorizing public places. At the mall, the girls skate on an indoor rink. Chula sees Mamá flirting with a man.

The same man comes to the house the next day. They celebrate his birthday and Mamá gives him a tie: Cassandra is angry because it is identical to one of Papá’s ties. One night, the girls play with Isa and Lala, and Cassandra dares Chula to go up to the Oligarch’s house and shine a flashlight inside the window. Chula doesn’t want to appear cowardly, so she agrees. Looking inside the mansion, she sees a room full of opulent furniture and glittering artworks. Returning home, they encounter a neighborhood guard who asks them if they’ve seen “hooligans sneaking around a lady’s house” (149). Cassandra lies, saying she saw some young boys near the house, and she is gleeful at the guard’s credulity. 

In the fall, the girls resume school. News of Pablo Escobar’s imprisonment spreads, and the family celebrates. Mamá gives Petrona a holiday for the occasion and offers to drive her home. Chula accompanies them on the drive to the Hills. Listening to radio news in the car, Chula tries to understand the non-extradition agreement Escobar made with the Colombian government in exchange for turning himself in. Petrona says Escobar, whom she calls El Patrón (the boss), is well-liked in her community (152). They drive through the street where the girl was killed in the car bombing. Beggars surround the car as they approach the invasión but Petrona warns Mamá not to give them anything because they might rob the car. Petrona tells Chula not to pity the children because they have been “turned wicked” (154). When they reach the Hills, Chula recognizes Gorrión. He makes a signal, miming firing a gun three times. Petrona appears shaken. 

La Pulga, Uña, and Alacrán have arrived at Petrona’s house to harass her because they think she “played them” (157). Armed with rifles, they taunt and threaten Aurora. Petrona is frightened, and her mind shuts down and escapes to a flashback of the day of the paramilitary attack on their family farm in Boyacá. At that time, the group had abducted Petrona’s father and her two eldest brothers, Tobias and Ricardo. Mami, Petrona, and the seven remaining siblings were left devastated. Returning to the present, Petrona sees the men holding guns to Aurora’s face as they torment her using sexually suggestive language.

Petrona has another flashback to the more recent past, after Ramón’s death. She remembers her little brother Fernandito threatening to join a militant group, but ending up a drug addict instead. Two more of her brothers, Bernardo and Patricio, have followed the same path. Petrona is relieved that at least they didn’t become killers. Another two of her brothers, Umberto and Uriel, have married and left the invasión to work as truck drivers. Returning again to the present, Alacrán holds Petrona down on the ground while Pulga pulls Aurora’s hair. Pulga licks Aurora behind her ear as she weeps. Petrona yells and struggles desperately. She realizes Gorrión must know the three men were coming to harass them, and he allowed it. She feels she has been “played like a violin” (160). The men leave Petrona and Aurora, who are terrified.