- We meet Celia del Pino, a Cuban grandmother with strong mystical sensibilities.
- She "guards" the Cuban coastline in front of her house by scanning for invaders with her binoculars.
- On her watch one evening, she sees a gigantic version of her husband Jorge through her binoculars. He approaches from the sea and radiates blue light.
- She runs to the beach to pursue him, but he disappears.
- Celia removes Jorge's last letter to her from her pocket and reads it. He has been in New York getting treatment for cancer.
- She reflects on her family in America, including her daughter, Lourdes, and headstrong teenage granddaughter, Pilar.
- Celia communicates telepathically with Pilar, envisioning her granddaughter as underfed and pale (what grandma wouldn't?).
- She moves into the water and lets herself float away as she thinks about her life there on the beach.
- We learn that Celia had been in a delicate condition when she first moved there with Jorge.
- She'd had a Spanish lover before him and we kind of understand that her illnesses come from disappointed love.
- By the time Celia returns to the present, she's pretty far away from the shore. She thinks about just giving up and letting herself sink.
- But she has to guard the coast, so she swims for it. When she reaches the shore, she has to dry out Jorge's letter.
Felicia del Pino
- Within this chapter, we get a character sketch of Celia's younger daughter, Felicia.
- Felicia makes a dramatic entrance the day after Celia's vision of Jorge.
- She jumps on her Mami's lap and cries.
- Celia tells Felicia that her father (Jorge) came to say goodbye. Felicia misunderstands.
- Felicia reports that her sister Lourdes called with news of Jorge. The nuns at the hospital witnessed Jorge's passing, saying he "rose to heaven on tongues of fire." Trippy.
- As Felicia leaves to write to her brother of their father's passing, she thinks the sea looks as though a tidal wave is coming. Portentous.
- Felicia's friend Herminia interrupts her thoughts. She suggests that Felicia see a santera (a priestess of santería) to help her make peace with her recently deceased father.
- Felicia hesitates. She can't stand the thought of another animal sacrifice to purge negative energy.
- She agrees to go along to La Madrina, as long as there is no blood involved.
- When Felicia arrives there, she sees a santero who claims that the deity Elleguá (god of crosroads) wants a goat sacrifice. Uggh.
- The goat bites the dust and Felicia faints at the sight of its blood.