Chapter 5 Summary

Francisco el Penitente is the seventh son of an oldest son whose youngest brother Pedro is a santero. Although he is not the seventh son of a seventh son, Francisco was told by his third-grade teacher that God writes straight in crooked letters, and settles for the idea that the gift for making santos was passed by God in a crooked line to him from his tío (uncle) Pedro.

Francisco's mother and baby sister died of smallpox when he was six, and he was raised by dona Felicia until he was old enough to come back and help his father with the farm. Having fought in and returned from Vietnam, where he was trained as a mechanic, Francisco had a brief affair with a golden-haired woman who inspired him to enroll in college. However, he had no particular aim and school...