A Corpse for Cuamantla by Harol Marshall Read Free Book Online

deal with the issue of another woman. She had someone new herself and they were starting a life together once she settled matters with Pedro. In the past, she weathered the humiliations that attended Pedro's indiscretions by taking vengeance in her own way, but the thought of another woman's children replacing Pedro's only son and making claims on Pedro's resources was beyond her endurance.
    Yolanda wanted a divorce, but she needed resources to send the boy to medical school. He wasn't meant to suffer the fate of his parents, teaching school in some god-forsaken pueblo where the electricity operated sporadically and the potable water flowed if and when the water officials decided to report for work. She worried about Pedro's commitment to the boy's education, which prompted the trip to Cuamantla. She wanted to confront Pedro in public, find out exactly where he spent his money and why his support checks were fewer and farther between. When Pedro's parents inquired about the reason for her trip, she told them she missed Pedro. In fact, she rarely thought about him except when his checks arrived or failed to arrive. No, her trip was a mission, but then everything fell apart.
    Once she and Pedro reached the house after their public brawl, Pedro attempted a truce of sorts.
    "We both want a divorce," he said, "so let's proceed with this in a sensible manner. I'll help with the boy's education, but medical school is out. It's a pipe dream. You both need to forget about it."
    "He's smart, he can do it," Yolanda said. "He just needs financial support and you can provide it. It's the least you can do for him."
    "I can't raise that kind of money legally," Pedro replied.
    Yolanda scoffed. "As if that's ever mattered to you in the past."
    "Not a risk I'm willing to take," Pedro said. "I'm older and wiser now."
    Yolanda remained adamant. No divorce unless he took actions that guaranteed her son's future. Without such support their son would be sentenced to living the campesino life, struggling to make ends meet in a barren and unyielding land. She clearly intended to prevent such an outcome, a message not lost on Pedro. In the next instant, he changed his tune. Asked her not to worry, promised to find money to support the boy. They could divorce amicably since a breakup served both their interests.
    Yolanda didn't believe him. She reflected on the last few hours, beginning with the moment she and her current lover arrived at the house in the dark of the previous evening, knowing Pedro would be gone. She thought about her plan right up to the moment Pedro had left the house after their argument, believing she'd bought his lies. Pedro should know she wasn't that dumb. If she allowed him a divorce on his terms she would lose her hold over him, lose all claim to the money she needed for the boy, lose the benefits that Mexican law provided a wife, or a widow. Yolanda couldn't let that happen because in the end Pedro would abandon the boy just like he abandoned her. She needed more than Pedro's promises and Pedro needed to pay for the years of misery she spent as the wife of so dishonorable a man.

Chapter 11
     
    T he family of Arnulfo Sánchez gathered around the aging pine table in the middle of their stone courtyard. The small patio separated their adobe kitchen from the three-room concrete-block house where the family worked and slept. The six family members sat quietly listening to the tinny strains of the primary school band disappearing into the distance, a phenomenon noted with varying degrees of interest by those present.
    "Come along, Mamá," Arnulfo entreated his wife, "wipe away your tears and join the school festivities. You heard your son. If Francisco tells you the Director has not joined the parade, then the Director has not joined the parade. Is it surprising? No. He's ashamed to show his face. The whole village knows about the embarrassing fiasco with his wife this morning. The man is without honor, that should please