Summary

The Perez family grieves the death of Alejandro. It is hard for Elisa to focus on her pregnancy when everything is “shrouded in the death that shakes” all of them (318). Living in grief and in fear is too much. Once rumors spread that Fidel will nationalize large businesses, Emilio and his wife make hushed plans to leave. Believing that Cuba will sort itself out once people realize supporting Fidel was a mistake, they tell their daughters that they will leave for a short time.

The girls worry about everything they will have to leave behind, and Elisa worries about the life she is carrying. She will handle it once they make it through this challenge. “America is an unknown looming before [her], but it can’t be worse” than her life in Cuba now (321).

Magda comes to visit Elisa’s room, and Elisa...