Carlos is drumming on her belly, a hard irregular rhythm that she recognizes without recognizing. He hits harder, first her belly, now her ribs, now her belly again, the blows reminding her of a time long ago and a place she had completely forgotten ( Read more... )

Being a girl is hard but some day I will grow up. Grown-ups don't have to do anything they don't want to do, they just make the kids do it. “Wash the dishes, clean your room, make the bed, stir the soup,” all the time, “you have to do what we say. We are bigger than you and we know more. Now go clean the bathroom ( Read more... )

I don't understand what they're talking about in AA half the time. It makes me feel like I don't belong there. Maybe I don't belong there ( Read more... )

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11 (KJV)
January 23, 2003
Ynez’s world ends. She’s on her knees, screaming, ( Read more... )

What you reading, Papi?” Ynez at five. She makes it impossible for people to ignore her, especially her father. Tonight she wants to crawl into his lap and feel safe and loved, no different than most nights in her life, really. “What you reading ( Read more... )

Is it possible to be Chicana today without considering Frida? Ynez doesn’t think so. Poor, mutilated Frida, driven mad by love and talent ( Read more... )

It’s warm. The climb to consciousness comes without words. Ynez rubs her nose, blinks, curls her toes. The room is filled with soft buttery light. She pulls the comforter up, trapping the faded citrus scent of her bubble bath in her nose ( Read more... )

Ynez lives in a state of perpetual distress. She doesn’t want to be in Los Angeles, but she doesn’t want to go back to Rome. There’s no fit for her in one place and, she’s convinced herself, no welcome in the other ( Read more... )

Castillo Villanelle ( Read more... )

Insomnia controls her life, now and always. In the darkness, Ynez can feel him slipping away from her. During the daytime, life is filled with chaos and family, but at night, all that exists for her is loss ( Read more... )