She adds a cup of ground papaya stones, folds in the petals of a dozen yellow roses. Seventy-two royal-blue bottles crowd her Formica counters. Each is affixed with a label featuring a cameo of her mother’s face (now her own) beneath the ornate logo Cuerpo de Cuba. Constancia inserts rosewood stoppers in the bottles and winds them with silk cords and tassels to give them the appearance of heirlooms. It is seven in the morning. Constancia turns up the radio, half hoping to hear news of her husband. Heberto left nearly two months ago, and she still hasn’t heard a word. A moment later, she switches to the early edition of La Hora de los Milagros. Constancia learns that in Xcalacdzonot, a village not far from the ruins of Chichén Itzá, a brindle cow named Chuchi has begun reciting the Lord’s Prayer during its morning milking. At first, the miracle was dismissed because Benito Zúñiga, the cow’s owner, is known in those parts as an incorrigible prankster. But the village priest, a man indisposed toward excessive religiosity, confirms that the otherwise ordinary Chuchi is indeed reciting the Our Father, if somewhat indistinctly.
What do You think about The Aguero Sisters (2011)?
