The Feast of the Goat

After Pedro leaves for the International Clinic, Amadito, Imbert, and Turk decide that, rather than waiting to see what will happen with Pupo, they will go into hiding at the home of Imbert’s cousin, Manuel Durán Barreras. As they drive there, Imbert is pensive. He argues that either they found Pupo or Pupo got scared, and either way that meant they were “fucked.” He says that he never had much faith in the original plan, anyway, and always assumed they were on a suicide mission. When they arrive at Manuel’s house, Turk leaves to warn his family. Initially dumbfounded, Manuel quickly shifts into medical mode and brings Amadito and Imbert to his office to treat their wounds.

Imbert asks Amadito if he has anywhere to go; he suggests friends would be better than relatives after Amadito says he’s going to go to his aunt’s house. Amadito points out that all of his friends are staunch Trujillistas and members of the military. He still believes that the regime is about to collapse now that Trujillo is gone.

Manuel interrupts and suggests, instead, that he go to a small farm away from the city owned by a mechanic he knows, Antonio. Antonio, who claims that he’s going to get drunk tonight now that he knows Trujillo is dead, seems happy to assist. Amadito departs with Antonio, and as they leave the city, they notice increased activity by the military and SIM agents. Antonio leaves him at the farm and promises to return the next day with food.

When Antonio finally returns on the third day, his tone and demeanor have changed. As a starving Amadito eats the sandwiches brought to him, Antonio informs him that Pedro has given them up and that their pictures are all over the newspapers. The government has offered huge amounts of money to anyone with information; additionally, anyone suspected of being anti-Trujillo can expect major reprisal. Imbert’s cousin Manuel was arrested the night before, and Antonio believes Amadito can no longer stay on the farm.

Antonio agrees to get Amadito to the highway; fortunately, the guard on the Radhamés Bridge is a friend of Antonio’s, and they manage to pass through. Antonio drops Amadito off on Avenida San Martín and wishes him luck. Amadito then makes his way to his Aunt Meca’s house, his original destination. His aunt expresses concern; it is broad daylight, he is covered in blood, and her neighbors are Trujillistas. Amadito showers while his aunt fixes him a feast. She lets him lie down in her bedroom and tells him they’ll think of a place to hide him.

Amadito awakes when his aunt frantically tells him that SIM agents are outside. He tells her to lie down and not to move for any reason. He takes his gun, goes to the door, and opens it with one hand while firing his gun with the other. He kills one agent and wounds two more before dying himself. SIM agents then beat Aunt Meca mercilessly before arresting her, and her neighbors loot and destroy her house. To make an example of Amadito,

His body was tied—the way hunters tie down deer killed in the Cordillera Central—to the roof of a Volkswagen, and […] Johnny Abbes’s men, who were inside the Beetle, held on to his ankles and wrists and displayed him to bystanders in Independencia Park. (279)

Manuel Alfonso’s chauffeur visits Trujillo to give him news of Manuel and to inform him that he found the girl Trujillo had asked him to find, a 17-year-old named Yolanda who had given him flowers at an event earlier in the week. Trujillo tells him to take her to Mahogany House at 10 o’clock, then calls over to ask Benita, the keeper of the house, to prepare for his arrival. He wonders briefly if Yolanda is the daughter or younger sister of a school principal he had likewise slept with 10 years earlier, and it excites him to think that they might be related.

Trujillo crosses to his mother’s house to visit with her, as he does every day. His mother is the only relation he takes no issue with, the only one who never asks him for anything. “Congenitally frugal, Doña Julia would have continued to live in the modest little house in San Cristóbal where the Generalissimo had been born and spent his childhood, or in one of the huts where her Haitian ancestors had died of hunger” (284). She only asks that he go easy on his siblings and children.

Following his visit with Doña Julia, he meets the 20 or so men in his inner circle who take his daily walk with him. Every day, he walks the same route; traffic is prohibited that hour, but otherwise Trujillo keeps security to a minimum.

Trujillo walks slightly ahead of the rest of the pack, then calls them up as he wishes to speak with them. First up is Modesto Díaz, whom Trujillo regards as dangerously intelligent because Modesto could not be controlled and used like others in Trujillo’s circle. He questions Modesto about his brother, General Juan Tomás Díaz, to try to discover what conspiracy Juan is planning. Trujillo has tested Modesto on numerous occasions, including taking control of several of Modesto’s prosperous farms. After Modesto passes these tests, he received an exclusive, lucrative contract to import washing machines and electric mixers. Trujillo asks Modesto what he thinks he should do about the priests; Modesto argues that the priests don’t matter, that Trujillo should secretly fund Communists in other countries to make the Dominican Republic look stable by comparison, a sleight of hand that will help Trujillo regain America’s backing.

Trujillo dismisses Modesto and, after a moment, calls to Abbes. He asks him, too, what’s going on with Juan Tomás; Abbes responds that nothing is going on, that he and Antonio de la Maza had brought back a bull calf from a farm in Moca, and little else. Trujillo then asks Abbes why he allowed Urania to leave the country two weeks earlier, which surprises Abbes. Abbes replies that because Urania had already spent a night at Mahogany House and had a signed exit permit, it didn’t occur to him to mention it to Trujillo. Trujillo tells him to find out who hid the memo, then dismisses him.

After talking briefly with Chirinos, Trujillo decides to finish his walk alone, then spends some time talking with the group as a whole; however, he notices that Pupo appears concerned. When Trujillo leaves the group, he has Pupo join him on a trip to San Isidro base. He shows Pupo a broken sewage pipe, the reason for his displeasure. When Pupo seems almost relieved, Trujillo wonders if Pupo is worried about something more serious than the pipe. He orders Pupo to punish those at the top, then departs, leaving Pupo at the base.

Trujillo returns to Radhamés Manor to prepare for Mahogany House, collecting a briefcase filled with the ranch’s payroll and papers to study in the morning. He notices a urine stain, which forces him to cleanse himself and change into a new uniform before leaving.

As they leave, Trujillo recalls a married woman, Moni, with whom he has an off-and-on affair, and decides to go to her house. “The idea of fucking Moni in her own house excited him. They’d send her husband out for a beer […] or he could pass the time talking to [Trujillo’s driver] Zacarías de la Cruz” (297). When he arrives, Moni tells him that she is menstruating, and Trujillo’s excitement immediately drains. As he and his driver leave, Trujillo complains that it’s dirty to have sex with a woman on her period; Zacarías says that it gives a man syphilis.

As they finally head toward Mahogany House, Trujillo wonders if Moni made up the story of the period. They notice a car driving behind them erratically, and Trujillo reaches for his revolver. A rifle blast tears off a piece of his shoulder and left arm.