- Let's talk about Bayardo San Román. He's the guy who got married the weekend that Santiago was killed. He showed up in town just six months before the wedding looking very fancy and rich.
- Everyone loved him. It seemed like he could do everything, do it well, and on top of all that he was fabulously rich. What's not to like?
- Of course, the narrator's mom says she sensed some kind of foreboding air about him, but she didn't tell anyone until the wedding and everything else was already over. What's the point of seeing the future if you don't tell any one?
- When the narrator met Bayardo, he didn't have exactly the same impression as everyone else. To him, he was attractive but a very sad and serious man.
- We'd add weird to that list, too, because he decided to marry Angela Vicario before he ever even met her. She was just walking down the street one day when his decision came from out of the blue.
- The first time they actually met was at a raffle, where he totally annoyed her by buying all of the tickets for the box she was raffling off.
- On top of that, he wrapped the box and sent it to Angela's home as a birthday present. Of course, no one believed her when she said that she never told him her birthday or gave him any reason to send her a present.
- So her brothers went to return the present, but instead came back with a new best friend named Bayardo San Román. It looks like Angela just can't get rid of the guy.
- Angela is the youngest daughter in a very poor family. Her brothers were raised to be manly men, and the girls to be girly girls.
- The family was so poor that when Bayardo proposed to Angela, many people thought it was a joke.
- But not Angela's family. They took it totally seriously. Her mom demanded that Bayardo prove his identity, and he does by bringing his whole family to the town. When everyone realizes that he is the son of a war hero, Angela's marriage is as good as done.
- Her family coerces her into the marriage, even though they know that she doesn't love him. They need the money.
- After that's all arranged, Bayardo asks Angela which house is the prettiest in the whole town. She tells him that the widower Xius' house is the prettiest, not knowing that her new fiancé is going to try and take it from the old man.
- At first the widower is able to refuse, but eventually Bayardo offers so much money that he just can't say no. Everyone in town says that's the reason why he died just two months later. He died of heartache after losing his home.
- Back to Angela. No really understands how in the world she managed to have sex while her mom was watching her like a hawk. All we know is that she wanted to kill herself because of how horrible of a mistake she made.
- But her friends wouldn't let her commit suicide. They told her all she had to do was trick her new husband, and everything would be fine.
- So the wedding went ahead as planned, and it became so ginormous that the whole town participated. Angela's family had to make extra space in their own house, and even borrow the house next door in order to fit all of the revelers.
- The only hitch was that Angela's husband-to-be was two hours late to his own wedding. She would've been totally happy if the wedding had never happened, but she was definitely not going to be left at the altar.
- Once the official ceremony is over and the party is underway, things seem to get pretty hazy for our narrator. He barely even remembers that he proposed to his wife on that day.
- It's not until after the festivities that all the drama begins. In the middle of the night, Angela's mother is woken up by three knocks on the door. Standing there, looking like they got in a fight, are Angela and Bayardo. At first she thinks the two have died and their ghosts are paying her a visit, but she soon realizes that Angela is being returned because she isn't a virgin.
- Angela's mother proceeds to beat her for the next two hours. Yikes. When her brothers come and see her, she tells them that Santiago was the guy who took her virginity. Uh oh.