Summary

In Chapter 3, “The Candy Dish” (35), Hernández recalls discovering during childhood that her parents kept a dish of candy in the shed next to the house. In addition to the candy, the dish holds “tiny iron toys: a shovel, machete, rake, and anvil” (35). Hernández attends Catholic school and feels strongly connected to that religion. Her father does not attend church with her and her mother. Hernández believes that the reason her father gets drunk and yells at her is because he is “godless” (38). One day, Tía Chuchi tells Hernández that her father does have a religion: Santería. The candy dish in the shed is an offering to one of the religion's deities, Elegguá. Hernández comes to realize that on the occasions her mother sends her out of the...