I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter: Chapter 22 Summary & Analysis

Though Julia hates sports, she agrees to tag along with Belén to a local soccer match. Halfway through the match, a young man named Esteban comes to sit between Belén and Julia, and starts chatting Julia up. Belen and her friends are amused by Esteban’s interest in Julia, and when the game is over, they depart in a pack, leaving Julia and Esteban alone. Esteban offers to walk Julia home and Julia accepts, remembering what Belén said about walking around alone at night. As the two of them talk and flirt, Esteban admits he’s had his eye on Julia since she got to town. Julia is confused by the warm feelings of desire she’s having for Esteban—she thought she was in love with Connor, and yet Esteban makes her feel “all goopy inside.” 

That night, Julia sits with Tía Fermina, Tía Estela, and Tío Chucho in Fermina’s backyard. Julia admires the stars, and admits she hardly gets to see them in Chicago. Estela tenderly braids Julia’s hair, admiring her thick and glossy locks as Julia eats figs and enjoys the warm night air. Tía Fermina goes inside and brings out a pitcher of cold hibiscus tea. As Julia sips the tea surrounded by her family and the warm breeze, she feels totally content and at peace.

The next morning, Julia goes with Tía Fermina to a small market three towns over to buy some special cheese. On the ride over, Fermina complains about the drought affecting the countryside, and Julia is amazed by how familiar the scenery and passing towns look, though she hasn’t been to Mexico in many years. As the women arrive in town and walk through the streets, Fermina asks Julia how Amá is doing, and Julia admits that things at home have been extremely difficult since Olga’s death. Fermina laments that she can’t do more for her sister, and expresses sorrow at the fact that Julia and Amá seem to have a difficult relationship. Fermina begs Julia to be kinder to her mother, and to try and make her life easier. Julia retorts that though she tries with Amá, her mother is strict, overbearing, and tries to control her every move.

Fermina tells Julia that there’s a lot she doesn’t understand about her mother, then goes quiet and starts to cry. Julia asks what’s wrong, and Fermina  reveals tearfully that during Amá and Apá’s border crossing, the coyote leading them through the desert raped Amá while his associates held a gun to Apá’s head, forcing him to watch. Julia is so shocked by the news that she has to sit down on the ground. She can’t help but picture the horrible assault over and over—and what’s worse, she realizes that because Olga was born a bit under a year after her parents arrived in the state, it is likely that she was the product of rape. Fermina cries as she tells Julia that she wanted her to know, so that she can better understand where her mother is coming from—that she wants to protect Julia, not hurt her.

That night, Julia is distracted by thoughts of her parents and can’t sleep. As the days pass by, they all blur together, and Julia begins feeling aimless and lost in thought. She spends most of her time with Belén and Esteban, and though she fantasizes often about Esteban, he’s never tried to kiss her—but he does sometimes hold her hand when Belén isn’t looking.

One night, Julia is inside Mamá Jacinta’s house with her grandmother, Belén, and her aunts, watching telenovelas, when the women suddenly hear men’s voices screaming obscenities at one another in the street. Belén mutes the TV and the screams grow louder—then, the women hear gunshots. All of them drop to the floor, and the distraught Mamá Jacinta begins crying. As everyone crawls towards the back of the house, Julia peeks outside the window, and sees two dead bodies in the middle of the street.

The next day, Tía Fermina performs a cleansing ritual on Julia to get rid of the bad luck and energy from the shooting. She uses an uncooked egg to gently touch different parts of Julia’s body with the cool shell, whispering prayers and making crosses on Julia’s extremities. At the end of the ritual, Fermina cracks the egg into a glass and holds it to the light; there is blood in the yolk. Fermina gasps, and asks Julia what’s going on with her.

The narcos have plummeted Los Ojos into violence again, and Mamá Jacinta tells Julia it’s time for her to go home. She books a flight for Julia back to Chicago, but tells her she’ll need to take a bus to the airport as it’s dangerous for Tío Chucho to drive her. Jacinta explains that at the party a few weeks ago, Chucho gave the narcos a bribe—they are trying to recruit Andrés into their service, but he doesn’t want to work for them. Mamá Jacinta laments that her town is turning to “garbage.”

The next day, Julia meets up with Esteban to say goodbye. He tells her he’ll miss her—but that he might be crossing the border soon, and will perhaps see her again someday. Julia begs Esteban to be careful during the crossing, and expresses her anger about the “giant wound” the border truly is. Esteban takes Julia’s face between his hands and kisses her deeply.

On the bus, as she pulls away from Los Ojos, Julia cries quietly. She has Apá’s drawing of Amá with her, and has promised Mamá Jacinta that she will take care of Amá always. As the bus moves through the desert, Julia is struck by the intense beauty and colors of the place, even in spite of the drought. As the bus approaches the city, however, Julia spies a dead donkey in a field—two vultures circle above it.