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Chapter Five
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Before We Were Free, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age and Political Consciousness
Adulthood, Childhood, and Fear
Family and Politics
Storytelling and Trauma
Summary
Analysis
As Anita walks home after the party, her parents discuss El Jefe’s surprise visit. Papi thanks Anita, his “little messenger.” Anita feels proud, even if the party was disappointing, since Mami wouldn’t let Anita leave her side. Mami says that Tío Toni is putting the family in danger, but Papi insists he’s safest in the compound. When they hear Lorena drop empty platters, Mami hisses that they have to fire her. Anita knows they have to be careful about it; Lorena might report things to the SIM. Fortunately Lorena is superstitious, so the family can ask Chucha to frighten her off. When Anita sees Chucha standing in the doorway, she feels safe. Recently, Chucha had a dream in which Anita, Lucinda, Mundín, and Mami all flew away. When Anita asked about Papi, Chucha said, “Not everyone can be a butterfly.”
Even if the party was disappointing because Anita didn’t get to experience the independence she hoped for, it’s still thrilling for Anita to have helped her family stay safe. The experience of being Papi’s messenger, then, shows Anita that politics can help her feel closer and more loyal to her family, and that sometimes this is more important than trying to feel grown up. Further, it’s telling that Anita feels so safe seeing Chucha in the doorway. Chucha is, in many ways, a part of Anita’s family; Anita trusts her entirely. This is why Anita takes Chucha’s dream seriously, although the content of the dream is frightening—it implies that while Anita and her siblings will be safe, her father might not make it.
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The next morning, a limousine from the palace arrives with roses for Lucinda, from “an admirer.” Lucinda bursts into tears—the roses are from El Jefe. She begs Mami to not let El Jefe take her away. Mami pauses and looks at Anita before saying she’ll cut off El Jefe’s hands if he touches Lucinda. Later, Susie and Mrs. Washburn drop by. Susie assures Lucinda that Mr. Washburn will keep her safe, while Mrs. Washburn starts to tell Mami that El Jefe has eyes on some part of his body. She looks at Anita and says he has eyes “on the back of his butt.” Anita asks where Sam is. Mrs. Washburn shares that Sam and Oscar got into the rum last night, so they’re still asleep.
The pointed looks that Mami and Mrs. Washburn throw Anita before talking about El Jefe suggest they’re censoring themselves in front of her—it’s likely that Mami wants to threaten to cut off El Jefe’s genitals (not his hands) and that Mrs. Washburn is implying that El Jefe has eyes somewhere other than his butt. It’s telling that Anita doesn’t seem to pick up on the meaning of this—only that the adults aren’t quite saying what they mean. It shows that while she’s longing to be treated like an adult, she’s not quite processing the situation in an adult way yet. Neither are Oscar and Sam, who clearly don’t yet know how to tolerate rum.
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The phone rings. Lorena picks it up and says it’s “Un señor”—a man “who needs no introduction.” Lucinda sobs. Mrs. Washburn takes the phone and says there’s no one named Lucinda here. When Papi gets home, Mami fills him in. He goes to talk with Tío Toni and Mr. Washburn. The phone rings all day and no one answers it, since Mami gives Lorena the afternoon off. Finally, Papi and Mr. Washburn come up with a plan to send Lucinda to Colombia. Tío Toni isn’t sure it’ll work, so he suggests they “take Smith down now.” Papi agrees that, “The king must die,” which shocks Anita. She can’t concentrate all day because she can’t believe her father would do something he always told her was wrong.
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Finally, Anita asks Mundín if Papi is going to kill El Jefe. He swiftly covers her mouth and tells her to be quiet, making Anita cry. Anita seeks out Lucinda, who’s in the middle of packing. Mami and Mrs. Washburn help her put together a small bag of necessary items. Anita is stunned. She feels as though she’s become ancient in the last few months. The thought of losing Lucinda is sad and Anita feels as though boys have suddenly become disgusting. Her male peers are drinking and vomiting, while an old man is courting Lucinda. Anita wishes she could cut her hair and dress like a boy—or go back to being 11.
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Lucinda invites Anita to sleep with her that night. After they turn out the light, Anita sees visions of Papi and Tío Toni around El Jefe’s body, covered in blood. She hears sobbing and realizes it’s Lucinda. Lucinda apologizes for every mean thing she did and Anita bursts into tears too. Once they calm down, Lucinda tells Anita about all the boys she’s kissed. Eventually, the girls fall asleep. Anita wakes up early and feels like her legs and nightgown are wet. She’s afraid she wet the bed but when she lifts the sheets, she sees blood. Anita can’t figure out what happened, so she pokes Lucinda. Lucinda congratulates Anita. Now, Anita is a señorita.
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Anita doesn’t feel grown-up, and she doesn’t want to be a señorita now that she knows what El Jefe does to them. When Anita begs Lucinda to not tell Mami (she can’t stand the thought of Papi knowing), Lucinda asks what to do with the sheets. Anita knows that Chucha will keep her secret, so she gathers the sheets and slips out. Mami, Papi, and Mr. Washburn are already in the study. Anita finds Chucha outside. Chucha isn’t surprised. She studies the sheets and says, “This will do.” She promises to not tell Mami, shares that both Lucinda and Susie will leave today, and says they have to get rid of one more person while glancing at Lorena’s room.
Chucha leads Anita to her room. There, they pray to a picture of San Miguel. Then, Anita helps Chucha drag her coffin to Lorena’s room. They arrange the bloody sheets so they spill out of the coffin, as though a dead person has crawled out. Anita feels mean, but she knows that she has to do this to protect her family. She thinks that people have to do bad things—like assassinate Mr. Smith—in order to be safe. Murder is wrong, but El Jefe is evil. He kills people and rapes young girls. When Chucha and Anita are done, Anita heads back to her room. She runs into Mr. Washburn and averts her eyes—she’s sure he can tell she started her period. He says that Lucinda’s visa came through. Anita decides that Mr. Washburn is a good, trustworthy man, like Papi and Mundín.
In Lucinda’s room, Mami tells Lucinda that she won’t have to teach English or be a maid—she has a visitor’s visa and will accompany Susie to Susie’s grandparents’ house. When Mami asks about the stripped bed, Lucinda says that Chucha knew she’d be leaving. Then, they hear a scream from the other end of the house. Chucha appears moments later with the news that Lorena is leaving.
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