Make Your Home Among Strangers

Lizet writes that she didn’t realize at the time that her reluctance to call home about such important things had a flip side—her family back in Miami, as it turns out, was just as reluctant to talk to her, and the next afternoon, as Lizet walked home from her Spanish class, she would understand the reason why.

As Lizet heads into her dormitory and passes the TV lounge on the way to her room, she is shocked to see her mother’s face on the television screen. She runs into the room and, out loud, asks “What are you doing here!” to the TV screen. Four other girls—white girls, two of whom are Caroline and Tracy, Jillian’s friends—turn around and look quizzically at Lizet. As Lizet gets closer to the TV, blocking the girls’ view, she sees that there is a title on the screen beneath her mother’s face: “Lourdes Ramirez,” it says, “Madres Para Justicia (Mothers for Justice.)”

Lizet is shocked to see her mother on the screen, as neither Leidy nor Omar have indicated in their phone calls that Lourdes was still involved with the Ariel protests. Lizet barely recognizes her mother’s heavily made-up face and professional demeanor as she speaks on a national news program about her involvement in Ariel’s case. One of the girls in the room asks Lizet to move out of the way, but Lizet shushes her. Lizet hears Tracy whisper to one of the other girls that Lizet is Jillian’s Cuban roommate. As Liz wonders what Madres Para Justicia is—and again, why no one told her Lourdes was involved with it—Caroline sweetly asks if “Liz” is okay.

Lizet asks what is happening on the news—one of the girls answers that Ariel Hernandez’s father is on his way to Miami to retrieve Ariel. Lizet is shocked, and turns up the volume on the television, hoping to hear more. She hears her mother talking about a twenty-four-hour prayer vigil their group is organizing. The vigil, which started two nights ago, will continue through Easter. Lizet is shocked even further—her mother never prays. As Lizet tries to listen to what’s happening on TV, she hears the girls on the lounge chairs behind her whispering to one another about who the woman on TV could be.

Lizet whips around and tells the other girls that the woman on television is her mother, and asks aggressively if any of them have anything to say about it. One girl leaves the room, and Caroline tells Lizet to calm down. This sets Lizet off—she is confused by her mother’s appearance, shocked by the new developments in the case, and sick of her white classmates treating her alternately like a spectacle and like a nobody.

Lizet tells Caroline and Tracy that Ariel’s father’s attempt to get his son back is just Cuban government propaganda, and dares them to challenge her, advancing on them as if to start a fight. Caroline tries to act conciliatory and agrees with Lizet, but the third girl Lizet has never met alleges that Ariel needs to get back to a normal life in Cuba. Lizet points out that after being exposed to life in America, Ariel will be a liability in the oppressive Cuba. Tracy counters that Ariel doesn’t “belong” in America, and Caroline quickly silences her. As the girls argue back and forth, Lizet is frustrated that none of them will listen to the points she’s making about Cuba; as her anger reaches a fever pitch, Lizet blurts out that she is from Cuba, and thus knows more than any of the other girls.

When the girls question Lizet, she embellishes her ties to Cuba, describing coming over to America as a baby and frequently talking to her family members who are still there. As she spits vitriol at her classmates, Lizet realizes that she is “the True Daughter of Dusty Tits.”

Tracy tries to tell the others that Lizet is not really from Cuba—just at that moment, though, on the television, Lourdes’s voice can be heard saying that she came to America with her daughters in tow. Lizet calls Tracy a “fucking idiot,” and asks if Tracy understands that Ariel’s mother died getting him to America. Tracy asks, in response, what Lizet’s mother sacrificed for them to get here. Just as Lizet is about to strike Tracy, Caroline comes up behind her and grabs her arms. Tracy continues talking smack, saying that “none of this would be happening” if “she’d”  just stayed put. Though Lizet knows that Tracy is talking about Ariel’s mother, the implication about Lizet’s mother is too much for her to bear, and she begins shrieking threats as Tracy and the third girl leave the room.

Once they are gone, Caroline lets go of Lizet and apologizes for having touched her. Lizet is suddenly embarrassed for having acted out, worried that her behavior will affect how Caroline thinks “of any Cuban she’d ever meet from here on out.” Lizet leaves the lounge hurriedly, ignoring Caroline’s calls for her to wait up, and goes back to her room.

Lizet picks up the phone and calls her mother’s home phone, but no one answers. She miserably realizes that it is too late to ask about the internship now—she never should have left home, and she must undo the “mistake” of leaving as best she can. She chides herself for being so selfish and focusing only on her own problems—she tells herself that she is only Professor Kaufmann’s “pity case” anyway. With shaking hands, Lizet goes to her computer and books a flight home for Easter.