Bodega Dreams

Back in his apartment, Chino misses Blanca. He calls her at her mother’s house, and it’s a conversation that stands out for their use of each other’s real names, Julio and Nancy. Blanca informs him that she will be staying at her mother’s house for a while, at least until the baby is born. Although Chino is devastated, he doesn’t argue with her, because “When your wife says she’s leaving you, whether it’s for a few days or months or forever, you don’t object. You just let her go” (181).

When he hangs up, Negra calls, ready to collect on the favor Chino owes her. Fresh out of the hospital herself, she wants Chino to have Victor beaten up, to teach him a lesson. Chino insists he wouldn’t know how to make that happen, but she only laughs. “Get Nene to knock him around some or Sapo to bite him. Like the way they tag-teamed that reporter” (182). Once again, Negra proves to know more than she should, and Chino realizes that information has been trickling through the neighborhood. To pacify her, he says he will do something about Victor.

Alone in the apartment and missing Blanca, Chino has a hard time falling asleep. 

The next day, Sapo picks Chino up to go meet with Vera’s husband. Chino protests that it has nothing to do with him, but Sapo tells him that if Chino does this favor, then Bodega and Vera together will talk to Blanca on his behalf. Chino agrees.

At the restaurant, Chino is shown into a private room behind the kitchen, where Vera’s husband, John Vidal, is waiting. Although he is dressed expensively, Vidal’s face is a “wasteland, as if his best years had been spent working in a coal mine” (186). Vidal demands to know what is happening, and Chino, unsure what he should say, waits uncomfortably for Bodega and Vera’s arrival.

When they arrive, Vera is noticeably upset. She tells Vidal she is leaving him, and Bodega adds that Vera never loved Vidal. Confused, Vidal speaks gently to Vera, asking if she owes Bodega anything. He reminds her of the life they have had together, the places they have visited. Finally Vera blurts out that Vidal is simply “an old man who can only find comfort in how much money he makes” (189). Chino observes that “it was Bodega who was really talking, through her” (189).

When Bodega returns Vera’s ring to Vidal, things get ugly. Vidal begins to tell unflattering stories about Vera, including her many and well-known affairs. He describes Vera’s body as “an international hotel” that “has taken in men from all over the world” (190). In defense of Vera’s honor, Bodega attacks Vidal, shoving him against the wall. Vidal reaches for his cell phone, but Vera takes out Bodega’s gun and shoots Vidal before he can make a call.

Bodega is shocked. He checks Vidal for a pulse and finding none, goes into damage control mode. Chino blocks the door and Bodega makes a phone call to Nazario. Vera, hysterical, begs Bodega to make sure she doesn’t go to prison. Without hesitation, Bodega announces that he will take the blame for the shooting. Chino observes that Bodega is lost. “His dreams about the neighborhood had been too close to his love for Vera, incestuous cousins that had no right getting involved” (192). Strangely, Bodega is still happy, knowing that all ties between Vera and her husband have been severed.

Chino leaves them there, with Vidal dead on the ground and Bodega comforting Vera. His final words to Bodega are, “I think you’re worth all the souls in hell” (193).

The chapter ends with the words, “The next day, Bodega was dead” (193). 

In the morning, Officers DeJesus and Ortiz arrive at Chino’s apartment with the news that William Irizarry is dead. They take Chino to the police station, where Nazario and Vera are waiting. Nazario, representing Chino, instructs him to say that he wasn’t at the restaurant. Although Leary gives Chino a hard look, Leary accepts this lie, happy to have three murders solved in one day—Alberto Salazar, John Vidal and William Irizarry. Chino waits until they are in the car driving away from the precinct to ask Nazario for more information. Nazario reports that Fischman killed Bodega as Bodega was on his way to turn himself in for the murder of John Vidal. Since Bodega was dead, he was also being held responsible for the murder of Alberto Salazar. Chino reflects that Nazario “was too practical for vengeance. He had cut everyone’s losses and just wanted to get home with whatever it was he could salvage” (197). This plan of action would have made sense to Bodega, too.

The next day, Negra comes to Chino’s apartment, insisting that Chino still owes her and Victor needs to be taught a lesson. Chino, mourning the loss of Bodega, can barely talk. However, Negra makes it clear that she doesn’t care about Bodega’s death, saying, “The neighborhood talked about him like he was God, but he ain’t never did shit for me’” (199).

While they are arguing, Blanca arrives to see if Chino is okay. Negra tells Chino what Blanca already knows, and what she might have been able to tell Chino if he had ever confided in her—that Vera was never in love with Bodega. Instead, she “‘was in love with half of El Barrio. She was the biggest puta‘” (200).

Blanca confirms this, adding that the one person Vera ever loved was a man named Edwin Nazario.

Book II ends with this knockout: that Chino has been “played” (200).