The Red Umbrella

Chapter 5 begins with Lucia lounging in her room, flipping through an American magazine. She is listening to Elvis and worries that she may not be able to get new magazines because “all of Cuba’s problems with the U.S.” (58). Ivette comes to visit Lucia, who learns that there will be a dance at the local Yacht Club and that Manuel will be there. The girls gossip and listen to music, and Lucia vows to attend the dance. For the next several weeks, Lucia waits for a good opportunity to ask her mother if she can go to the dance. Mama has grown used to seeing soldiers and has relaxed the restrictions on Lucia by allowing her to run a few errands by herself. When Lucia asks her mother about the dance, Mama nearly agrees to go with her as a chaperone when Papa interrupts them.

Mama and Papa send Lucia upstairs to check on Frankie, though Lucia hides at the top of the stairs to listen to their conversation. Lucia watches as her father pries up a floor tile and hides the family’s savings under the floor. He explains that in addition to government limitations on how much money they can have, private citizens are no longer allowed to own shares in stocks.