The Tequila Worm

Sofia is 6 years old and excited to see Doña Clara, who may be the best of all the storytellers in her family. Clara always brings a bag from which she pulls an item, and that item is the basis of her stories. Sofia and her cousin, Berta, wait to hear Clara’s latest tales. Lucy, Sofia’s younger sister, is there, along with Sofia’s papa and mama. Clara has pulled many things from her storytelling bag: handmade dolls, arrowheads, pictures of dead children and many other frightening and interesting artifacts that are the foundation for her wild tales. She tells Sofia that her mama was a mule: “Always kicking her way through things. A force to behold” (2).

Clara tells the girls each time how important the town plaza is to the lives of the Mexicans and their counterparts in America. Before she leaves, she pulls out a tiny bottle of tequila and eats the worm explaining how important the worm is: “This will cure my homesickness as I travel to my next family” (4). This time, though, Clara looks aged and shaky.