This Is How You Lose Her

In “Nilda,” when Yunior is around 14 years old, his womanizing brother, Rafa is having sex with 15-year-old Nilda in their shared bedroom. Yunior and Nilda become friends, as she spends much of her time waiting at Yunior’s house for Rafa to return. It becomes clear to Yunior that Nilda’s main reason for coming over is to avoid her chaotic home life. Yunior explains, “She crashed over at our apartment a lot because she hated her moms, who was the neighborhood borracha” (38)—with “borracha” being a slang word for “drunk.” In time, Yunior develops a crush on Nilda. Over the one summer Nilda and Rafa are together, Yunior recalls how good it felt for the three of them to go to the pool.

Nine years later, Yunior runs into Nilda at the laundromat. Although she is missing teeth and pudgier, Yunior still imagines running away with her. As he recalls admiring her folding laundry, Yunior adds, “A couple of years later I went on to college and I don’t know where the fuck she went” (42).