In the Midst of Winter

After Evelyn finishes sharing her tragic story about growing up in Guatemala, Lucia shares her story. Lucia grew up in Chile with her mother Lena and her brother Enrique. Lucia’s father passed away in an accident when she was very young. She has little memory of her father. She learned later that her father was a bigamist who had married Lena and another woman. When Lena discovered this, she was furious and erased all presence of him from the house. When Lucia and Enrique would inquire about their father, Lena would refuse to share any information until they grew older.

Enrique and Lucia grew up with different dispositions. While Lucia had a “feverish imagination and boundless curiosity” (57), Enrique became a “cerebral type” (58) who held leftist political beliefs and was a Marxist. He was a supporter of Salvador Allende, the Socialist Party’s candidate for presidency. To everyone’s surprise, Allende became the first Marxist elected by democratic vote, which “attracted the interest of the entire world, and in particular the CIA” (59). For the next three years, Allende’s presidency forced everyone in the country to be politically involved, including Lucia, although her pro- and anti-government stances were always fickle. Lena imposed a “law of silence” (61) in the house regarding political talk, although protests and strikes continued to take place throughout the nation.

On September 11, 1973, a military coup took place against Allende. In addition to the declaration of martial law, “Congress was indefinitely suspended, as were civil rights, until the honorable Armed Forces restored law, order, and the values of Western, Christian civilization” (63-4). Lena celebrated this action, believing that the military “saved the country from the clutches of communism” (64) while Lucia was worried. They later learned that Enrique was put on a blacklist of people to hand over to the police for his leftist political activity. Eventually, armed men came to Lena’s house demanding that she turn over Enrique and Lucia to them, believing that Lucia was a sympathizer as well. When Lena lied about their whereabouts, they threatened to come back to retrieve Enrique and Lucia. Lena managed to seek a cardinal’s help to acquire asylum for Lucia at a Venezuelan embassy while Enrique went missing.

When Richard wakes up the next day, he cannot remember how much he has shared of his past with Lucia and Evelyn. He assumes that he might have told the story of losing his wife, Anita, and his child, Bibi, to his alcoholism. He sees Lucia sleeping on his lap and experiences a tender moment towards her before brusquely pushing her off. He admires Lucia for her capabilities as an academic, quietly praising her for her ability to intervene in lecture questions about CIA intervention in Latin American countries. However, he is hesitant about pursuing a serious relationship with Lucia because of the “debt” (79) he feels he owes to Anita and Bibi.

The confessional night has led to what Richard describes as the “slow exorcism of his past” (79). When he thinks of Anita and Bibi, he experiences deep regret and resolves to live his life without extreme passions. He thinks of how different he is from his father, Joseph Bowmaster, a German Jew who escaped to France, then to Spain, and eventually to Portugal during the Hitler’s Nazi reign. In Portugal, he met his future wife, Cloe. Together, they moved to New York City and gave birth to Richard, who grew up resembling his mother more than his father. Richard’s father became a staunch advocate for undocumented immigrants and taught his son about giving charity to people regardless of where they might come from. Richard regrets adopting little of his father’s lessons in his adult life.

Richard calls his father to tell him that he is unable to make their weekly lunch because of Lucia and Evelyn. When he finishes his call, he loudly wakes up Lucia and Evelyn. Once Lucia wakes, she thinks about the past few years of her life, having endured mother’s death, undergone cancer, gotten divorced, and lost her beloved animal companion. Despite all that she has endured, she cannot help thinking about what Evelyn revealed of her suffering.