Across A Hundred Mountains

As Adelina rides the bus toward her mother’s home, she remembers the phone call from her mother’s friend, Sandra, telling Adelina that her mother was dying. Adelina tells Sandra that she is coming home, “feeling a cold pit in her stomach” (94). Adelina also promises Sandra that she will bring her father back to her mother, too.

Adelina remembers a woman named Diana who stayed at the shelter. Diana fell asleep while driving, causing her to crash her car and killing her son in the accident. One night, when Adelina was off duty, Diana tried to commit suicide. Adelina rushed to the hospital to visit her, where she ran into Dr. Luna. Dr. Luna managed to save Diana, and Adelina told Dr. Luna that she hoped to see him again soon.

Shortly after Amá’s baby’s birth, Don Elías and his wife visit the shack. Don Elías’s wife insists on taking the baby away from Amá to raise as her own. Amá argues that she has named the baby Miguelito, after her husband, Miguel, and that the baby is actually Apá’s. Don Elías calls her a liar and forcefully takes the baby from Amá.