Domingo decided not to laugh. It was clear by now that no matter what he did to convince Sofia that he was sorry for everything and that he wanted to leave the past behind them, she was never going to completely forgive him. But she did not have to go so far as to mock him there with her comadre by saying such absurd things. What were they trying to prove anyway by making fun of him?

But Sofia continued, and he realized that their point was not to try to put him in his place but that they were very serious indeed. “You know, Domingo,” Sofia said solemnly, “our ’jita, Esperanza, always tried to tell me about how we needed to go out and fight for our rights. She always talked about things like working to change the ‘system.’ I never paid no attention to her then, always worried about the carnecería, the house, the girls … But now I see her point for the first time. I don’t really know how to explain myself right yet, but I see that the only way things are going to get better around here, is if we, all of us together, try to do something about it … The washing machine, the screen door, the stall for the horses, one of the freezers at the carnecería has been out for months …”

“Your sewing machine …,” the comadre added. Sofi stopped for a moment and looked at her comadre but decided not to question her about the Singer right then. It was important to keep her alliance with her comadre campaign manager in the public eye, but she made a note to find out about it later.

“So it sounds like you’re going to run for mayor of this house, not of Tome …” Domingo tried not to sound worried about that small prospect, but he knew that under the circumstances, with everybody but La Loca gone, Sofi being the mayor of the house would mean that he would be the only one around to be delegated every task that occurred to her. Things could get out of hand. “Well, you know I been planning on fixing all those things, honey. It’s just that sometimes a man can’t find enough time in a day for all that he has to do!”

Sofi did not want to bring out their dirty laundry in front of the comadre, knowing that that would just spread like wildfire all over in no time, and that too would be hurtful to her campaign. Apparently having an instinct for politico protocol she chose to be discreet about her business with Domingo just as she had just been with her new campaign manager about the sewing machine.