Fruit of the Drunken Tree

Petrona awakens in an empty lot. She cannot remember her name or what has happened to her. Two men have left her in the grass, and she is unnoticed for days. An abuela finds her, barely alive, and drags Petrona to her hut. Petrona drinks a soup that makes her vomit. She is pregnant.

Chula and Cassandra enroll in public school in L.A. Mamá wants them to honor Papá by getting good grades, but Chula struggles in school because she suffers from post-traumatic muteness. Periodically, Chula and Mamá go to the public library to read a list of recently released kidnapped persons published online in a Colombian newspaper. Chula feels that her whole life consists of waiting. To cope, she counts to 11 again and again or observes other people and counts their movements or the number of words they speak. Cassandra excels in school as Chula begins having panic attacks. Going to the library soothes her anxiety, so she spends much of her time there, reading Colombian newspapers.

The family goes to the consulate every weekend. The consulate’s secretary, Ana, tells them about a radio program called The Voices of the Kidnapped. Its signal can be picked up in the Colombian jungle, and families can submit tapes with messages in hopes their captive loved ones might hear the broadcast. Mamá and the girls start making recordings for the broadcast once a month. Chula gets a job washing hair at the salon where Mamá paints nails. Cassandra grows frustrated with Mamá and Chula for their continued hope that Papá will return. Chula’s muteness helps her understand Petrona’s silence when they first met. When Mamá talks on the phone with a friend in Bogotá named Luz, she learns that Petrona was found raped. Chula is stricken with guilt and curiosity over Petrona’s fate, and she decides to write her a letter. 

After more than six years of checking the lists of recently released captives, Mamá and Chula finally see the name of Antonio Santiago. In disbelief, they go with Cassandra to the consulate to confirm that Papá has been released. Mamá and her daughters speak briefly over the phone with Papá, who is at the American embassy in Bogotá. He is coming to join them in L.A. When they meet him at the airport, Chula is gripped with uncertainty; her memory cannot verify that the man’s voice is Papá’s voice. His demeanor is subdued, and Chula becomes convinced that the man is an imposter, perhaps a fellow captive who had studied and then stolen Papá’s identity.

Papá had been kidnapped by guerrillas who had infiltrated his workplace. Chula goes to Papá’s psychologist, Ms. Morales, who tries to reassure Chula, telling her Papá knows she stole the Luck bottle from Abuela’s shop. Chula demands a DNA test, which inspires Ms. Morales to write her a prescription for her anxiety. When Mamá picks up Chula, they drive to the hospital to order a paternity test. Weeks later, the test comes back positive. Chula realizes that no amount of proof will ever make her life “return to normal” (292).

Petrona’s reply to Chula’s letter arrives, including a photograph of her with her child and Gorrión. When Mamá sees the photograph, she demands that Chula destroy it. Chula burns the letter and the photograph, wondering if she could have done something differently that might have spared Petrona from harm. She realizes that the most helpful thing she can do for Petrona is never to reveal what she knows. 

Petrona lives in the Hills in her rebuilt hut with Gorrión—now her husband—and her son, Francisco, named after her father. Francisco was fathered by one of Petrona’s rapists, not Gorrión. Petrona recalls the reconstruction of her life after the near-fatal attack that had left her with complete amnesia. The woman who rescued her, Doña Fausta, named her Alicia, because Petrona could not remember her own name; after four months, she remembered the Hills and returned there with Doña Fausta to discover more about her past.

They encountered Gorrión, who rushed to her, calling her Petrona; he told her that the baby was his and that they were already married and proposed they have “another ceremony” (298). Aurora and Uriel had to reintroduce themselves to Petrona because Petrona did not remember her own siblings. Aurora gave Petrona her former Communion dress, telling her it was her wedding dress. In the years since her return to the Hills, memories continue to return to Petrona in flashbacks; eventually, she pieces together her true story. Silently, she promises Francisco they will escape together one day, leaving behind Gorrión, the Hills, and her tragic past.