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Mrs. Brown
Lorena is a maid that Mami hires from the Domestic Academy. Anita offers little in the way of description about Lorena, aside from the fact that she’s very superstitious. From the beginning, Mami treats Lorena with suspicion. She believes that Lorena is a spy for the SIM and so she showers Lorena with tips and days off to keep her happy, all while trying to come up with a reason to fire her. Ultimately, Chucha scares her into quitting by setting up her coffin with a bloody sheet in Lorena’s room.
Lorena Quotes in Before We Were Free
The Before We Were Free quotes below are all either spoken by Lorena or refer to Lorena. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter Four Quotes
“Doris, put the lid on the sugar bowl, por favor. There are so many flies.”
I look around for flies, but there are none I can see. Lorena has just come out from the kitchen with a tray to collect the empty coffee cups. Perhaps she scared them away.
Then, just like that, it dawns on me: my mother is speaking to Mrs. Washburn in code. She’s saying: We are being overheard; be quiet. It’s as if I’ve stepped into a room I’m not supposed to be in—but now that I’m inside, the door has disappeared. I feel the same way as when Lucinda told me how one day I, too, would get my period.
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Chapter Six Quotes
I admit I feel mean participating in this scheme—but I also understand that our lives are in danger. A tip from Lorena could wipe us out. It’s so unfair to have to live in a country where you have to do stuff you feel bad about in order to save your life. It’s like Papi and Tío Toni planning to assassinate Mr. Smith when they know that murder is wrong. But what if your leader is evil and rapes young girls and kills loads of innocent people and makes your country a place where not even butterflies are safe?
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Lorena Character Timeline in Before We Were Free
The timeline below shows where the character Lorena appears in Before We Were Free. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Three
...that there’s often a group of ladies on the patio, playing cards. The new maid Lorena serves lemonade and clears ashtrays during the games, but Mami tells Anita to be careful...
(full context)
...a call from Mamita and Papito and everyone else in New York. Then, Anita helps Lorena and Chucha serve at the party. She notices that when Papi raises a toast, Mami...
(full context)
Chapter Four
...sugar bowl to protect it from flies. Anita doesn’t see any flies and wonders if Lorena, who’s collecting empty cups, scared them away. Then, Anita realizes Mami is speaking in code—talking...
(full context)
Chapter Five
...him a look. They have to be careful what they say since they recently caught Lorena “cleaning” in Papi’s desk. Anita thinks that Papi and Toni are brave. She wants to...
(full context)
A few days later, on Lorena’s day off, two men from the consulate come to check for SIM devices. Anita is...
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...Susie at the Washburns’; Anita has to wait in the kitchen as Mami, Chucha, and Lorena fry extra batches of pastelitos (pastries). When the first batch is done, Mami tells Lorena...
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Anita and Mami walk to the party with Lorena and Chucha. They all have platters of food. But when Mami sees a line of...
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Chapter Six
...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...
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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....
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...today, and says they have to get rid of one more person while glancing at Lorena’s room.
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...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...
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...from the other end of the house. Chucha appears moments later with the news that Lorena is leaving.
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Chapter Seven
...worries that she’ll say or do something that will hurt her family. She prays that Lorena won’t tell anyone about her erased diary. When they stop to drop Mundín off, Mundín...
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