American Dirt

Chapter 4 consists entirely of flashbacks focusing on Lydia, Javier, and Sebastián. As such, it provides a broader context for understanding the events of the preceding and subsequent chapters. Lydia’s close friendship with Javier makes the massacre of her family more shocking. They were not killed by a random drug lord but by someone she loved and trusted. In other words, their murder was not just business–a jefe sending a warning to a meddlesome journalist–it was also a personal betrayal.

Cummins devotes the bulk of the chapter to unpacking Lydia and Javier’s complex relationship. The two share an intellectual bond. They are also drawn to one another physically, though Javier is the only one to admit as much. He flirts with Lydia shamelessly, especially in the early phases of their relationship: “But, Lydia […] my other loves notwithstanding, you truly are la reina de mi alma. The queen of my soul” (30). Lydia’s discomfort and guilt about Javier’s advances are tempered by his openness about his family. The two commiserate over the loss of their fathers to cancer. They also bond over their shared experiences as parents. The theme of parental love comes to the fore when Javier discusses his 16-year-old daughter, Marta, who is studying in Barcelona.

Chapter 4 sheds light on another important relationship: the marriage between Lydia and Sebastián. Unlike Javier, who reminded Lydia that “life was exciting, that there was always the possibility of something, or someone, previously undiscovered” (33), Sebastián is a loving but familiar figure. The language Lydia uses to describe their night out is telling in this regard: “It was nice to be able to go out to dinner tonight” (34). Spending time with Javier in the bookshop is exciting, while a night on the town with Sebastián is merely nice.

As symbols of violence and societal breakdown, the cartels cast a dark shadow over Lydia and Sebastián’s marriage. Fear of the cartels makes Lydia resent her husband’s journalistic integrity: “It felt sanctimonious, selfish. She wanted Sebastián alive more than she wanted his strong principles. She wished he would quit, do something simpler, safer” (34). Lydia’s idle concern for Sebastián after their night out foreshadows the grave danger he later faces in the name of exposing Los Jardineros.

The past presented in Chapter 4 contrasts sharply with the violence that sets the book in motion and that awaits Lydia and Luca on their journey north. When Javier confesses to Lydia that his life did not turn out the way he wanted, she reflects on her satisfaction with her own life: “With the exception of having only one child, Lydia’s life had turned out precisely as she’d always wished it might […] She was content with her choices, more than content. Lydia was happy” (30). The happiness she feels serves as a foil for the terror and sorrow she experiences during and after her family’s murder. Like many in Acapulco, Lydia turned a blind eye to cartel violence, insulating herself from reality. After her family’s murder, she no longer has the luxury of ignoring cartel violence, nor can she close her eyes to the dangers facing the migrant population.