Make Your Home Among Strangers: Chapter 19 Summary & Analysis

As soon as Lizet walks into the apartment, Leidy notices the envelope, even though she is busy changing Dante’s diaper. She teases Lizet, asking if they are her and Omar’s divorce papers, but Lizet quickly reveals that she didn’t go to see Omar; she went to see their father. Lizet begs Leidy not to tell their mother; Leidy insists she’s not telling their mother anything, as she “value[s her] life.” Lizet asks if Lourdes is home, but Leidy says she’s down at Ariel’s house.

Leidy asks where Ricky is living now, and Lizet is relieved to realize that her sister doesn’t know her father’s address—she hasn’t been keeping it from Lizet all these weeks. Lizet instantly feels bad for having thought her sister capable of such deceit. Lizet hands Leidy her and Dante’s envelopes and explains that they are Christmas presents. Lizet decides to embellish, though, and explains that Ricky wanted to get everyone “real” presents, but has been so busy with work that he hasn’t had the time.

Leidy hands her envelope back to Lizet, and says it has Lizet’s name on it. When Lizet looks at it more closely, she can see that it indeed does. She hands Leidy the other envelope, and Leidy tears it open. Lizet opens hers slowly, peeling back the flap bit by bit. Inside is a 50-dollar bill. Leidy and Dante each got 50 dollars, too; but Lizet notices that inside her envelope, on the flap, her father has written her a message.

Lizet wanders into the other room to read the note. In it, Ricky explains that he knows 50 dollars for Leidy and 50 dollars for Dante basically equals 100 dollars for Leidy. He apologizes for the unequal presents, and instructs Lizet to call him before she goes back to school so that he can give her another 50—“YOU deserve it,” he writes at that end of the note.

Lizet folds the money into her pocket and tells herself she will not see her father again before she goes back to school—she doesn’t want him to think she’s just seeing him to get some more cash. She heads back to the bedroom and watches from the doorway as Leidy carefully places the two bills in the back of her underwear drawer. Lizet knows that her father’s present to them is not enough for either of them to get all of the things they need.