President Aristide had been elected for the first time in 1990. During that election, the lines were very long, stretching back farther than the eye could see. People waited for hours to vote, some arriving at the polling stations before dawn and leaving late into the night. Once they had voted, they went into the streets to dance and show off the purple ink their fingers had been dipped in to keep them from voting again. They tore off tree branches and waved them in the air while singing carnival hymns. Voters flooded the capital from all the provinces. Some Haitians came back from France, Canada, and the United States to cast ballots.

To hear Tante Rose tell it, it was a beautiful day.

“Did you vote then, Tante Rose?” Moy asked.

“Of course I did,” Tante Rose said. “I am also going to vote today.”

So she had made up her mind.

“Don’t waste your time, Rose,” Manman said. “None of those politicians are going to do anything for the country.”

“Aline, you think you live in a different country where you are up in the mountains?” Tante Rose said. “It’s the same country. We all live in the same country.”

“Then why don’t you tell that to your politicians when you go out and vote for them,” Manman said. “They never think about the people in the mountains. Victor had to leave so we would not eat dust up there. I vote for Victor, my husband. He is my president.”

Manman got up and limped away, grimacing in pain as she went. I started to follow her, but she waved her hand, signaling for me to stay back.

2:00 P.M.

Complete silence among us now as we listen to radio reports from the polling stations. Manman still has not come out of the room. Tante Rose and one of the nurses are about to go out and vote.

“I want to go, too,” Moy whispers so Manman won’t hear.

“Are you registered, Moy?” Tante Rose asks.

“In Léogâne,” he says. “Manman doesn’t know.”

“You must vote in Léogâne, then,” Tante Rose says.

“I just want to go with you,” Moy says.

“All right then,” Tante Rose says. “Let’s go quickly. It’s not far away.”

I can’t believe Tante Rose is encouraging Moy to defy Manman. She must know that this is going to cause problems with Manman. As she is tiptoeing out of the house with Moy and the nurse, Tante Rose puts a finger over her mouth, signaling for me to be quiet.

3:00 P.M.

As soon as Moy and Tante Rose left, I went up to the roof to have a look at the street. There were not as many people walking around as usual, except a few who were heading home from church or coming back from voting, or both.

All of a sudden, a shriek from downstairs. I rush down there. It’s Manman.

“Where is Moy?” she asks.

“Out with Tante Rose,” I say.