“M92183,” La Loca announced, between Hail Marys, passing through the living room at that moment with a rosary wrapped around her fingers. Sofi and Domingo both stopped arguing to watch Loca go out the back door. Immediately don Domingo went to the phone to call his brother to play the Illinois State “Big Lotto” for him. This time he was going to go for the big one and skip the daily number.

Of course by this point you can guess that Domingo won with that number because it was his destiny now, having not just one, but two daughters with unusual dons. Eventually it would be revealed that none of the women in that family was without some unusual trait—and even though a fortune was not in Domingo’s cards, he was not going to suffer the same economic hardships he had experienced all his life especially during those years that he didn’t like to talk about when he had left his wife and ’jitas.

As La Loca had told her mother, her father had indeed been to hell and back, which is what may be said of the life of the compulsive gambler. Only God knew what depths he had sunk to during those many years that no one had heard of him; and though he seemed at first to have made a recovery from his addiction no less incredible than that of his two daughters who had undergone their near-death experiences, he understandably had relapses, such as wanting to play the numbers related to Corazón’s death.

While it is the gambler’s nature to fall prey to superstitions, in a household such as Sofi’s it was becoming increasingly difficult for her husband to determine what was a definite “sign” to play a hunch on and what was just part of its daily activities. And in order to ensure his luck even more, in the bargaining style of gamblers, he made an unselfish promise to himself that if he won—and indeed he did—one day when Caridad woke up (since after doña Felicia had put her to bed Caridad slept without stirring for nearly fourteen days) he would grant her anything she wanted with the winnings that had come from the death of her heart.

3

On the Subject of Doña Felicia’s Remedios, Which in and of Themselves Are Worthless without Unwavering Faith; and a Brief Sampling of Common Ailments Along with Cures Which Have Earned Our Curandera Respect and Devotion throughout War and Peace

First and foremost, doña Felicia will tell you that nothing you attempt to do with regards to healing will work without first placing your faith completely in God. Yes, the last apprentice of her life nodded when asked if she believed. Thus, her apprenticeship began.