George Washington Gómez: A Mexicotexan Novel

Years pass. Guálinto completes his college degree and is admitted to the Texas bar. He has changed his name to “George García Gómez,” and married Ellen Dell, the white daughter of a former rinche who left the Rangers out of distaste for their atrocities. Guálinto recalls meeting his father-in-law, who is as racist as most “Gringos,” but eventually blesses the union. Guálinto never introduces Ellen to his family before marrying her. At the chapter’s opening, Ellen is pregnant with their child.

After passing the bar, Guálinto gets a prestigious job in Washington, DC, and he and Ellen spend the early years of their marriage living there.

Guálinto returns to Jonesville with Ellen for the first time. He takes stock of the many changes to the city—there’s a new posh district, mostly peopled by white folks; Orestes’ brother Aquiles has married his sister Carmen, and the two have children together; Antonio Prieto has married Elodia and the two own a Mexican restaurant near the border; and Maruca works as an elevator operator at a hotel downtown and rarely visits the rest of the family.

He introduces Ellen to María, who calls her a “gringa.” While Ellen doesn’t understand María’s Spanish, Guálinto scolds his mother anyway, insisting that even Anglos know what “gringa” means.