Conquistadora - Esmeralda Santiago [133]
“Please, Siña Damita, please don’t haunt me,” he said aloud once he was less queasy. He was glad that it was daylight, because El Caminante walked the roads and byways of the hacienda, and he might be nearby with Siña Damita’s spirit. Efraín crossed himself several times the way doña Ana taught, then said what he remembered of the Lord’s prayer and the Hail Mary. He crossed himself again, then ran as fast as his legs could pump, as if Siña Damita’s and El Caminante’s spirits were chasing him. He found doña Ana in the infirmary and, between gasps and wheezes he told la patrona that Siña Damita would never return to Hacienda los Gemelos.
Siña Damita’s death left Los Gemelos without a midwife and curandera. Dr. Vieira came from Guares to the hacienda only when there was a serious injury or illness. With help from the elders, Ana and Flora tried to take over Damita’s duties. Severo delivered books and pamphlets that added to Ana’s knowledge.
As news of the devastation in nearby plantations reached them, Ana realized that they were comparatively lucky. Luis reported to Severo that Faustina and their boys were visiting relatives when the hurricane hit, so they were spared the sight of their new home collapsed. Most of their belongings were crushed, while the older wooden structure used for storage was left intact. Other neighbors lost relatives and workers either during the hurricane or in its aftermath of disease, unstable structures, and the heartbreak of having to start over.
“I hoped to have the casa grande finished by now,” Severo told Ana one night, after a long, arduous day.
“It can’t be helped. In any case, I like living in the center of things.”
“It’s not appropriate. You’re a lady.”
“I’ve lived here for almost seven years. Why is it suddenly inappropriate?”
“This was not intended to be your permanent home. You need an elegant house and servants to look after you. You’re a lady, and you should live like one.”
“Now you sound like doña Leonor,” she retorted. They both fell silent, and the space between them widened. After a few seconds, she turned to him. “Lo siento, mi amor.” She stroked his chest. “What I mean is I don’t assume I must behave a certain way because I was born in this family as opposed to that one. You should know that by now.”
“There’s a difference between flouting convention and deliberately lowering yourself below your station.”
“Severo, you surprise me with this talk.”
“We’re not campesinos. We’re hacendados.”
So that’s it, she thought. Now that he’s rich, he has to prove he’s no longer a peasant.
“I thought you’d like the new house,” he said after a while. “I’m building it the way you designed it, on the most beautiful spot.”
“I know.”
“You haven’t asked to go there, don’t ask how the work is going or when the house will be ready. You take no interest.”
“Am I supposed to ride down the hill every time I want to snip a few herbs or flowers? I’m rebuilding my gardens in the wake of this disaster. The orchards I’ve worked so hard to establish, the animals we grow for food. The workers who help me are all down here.”
“You don’t need to do any of that. That’s why we have them.”
“I like working in the gardens.”
“All of that can happen up there.” He relented after a few moments, his voice growing tighter with each word.
“You’re being unrealistic,” Ana said, measuring her words. “That would be like setting up another plantation. The workers won’t be able to go from one job to the other easily, like they do now. It takes too long to get up there.”
“Remember, Ana, think back: the first thing you did when you came here was to design a proper house.”
Ana felt as if she were pushing a mountain. “I was a girl then, missing home. It was a fantasy, Severo, not an order.”
They fell silent again, but she could practically hear him thinking, could feel his muscles jerking, as if he