Rivera's "African Passions" opens with the protagonist Teresa making readers immediately aware of two important aspects of her life: the dishonesty of her live-in partner Armando, who is pretending to be sleeping, and Teresa's lack of self-confidence, as when she refers to herself as "an ugly brown bear," a description influenced by Armando's lack of attention to her.

Teresa tries to make Armando realize that his game of pretense is ineffectual, but Armando refuses to give in. Even though Armando continues to pretend to be asleep and thus not talk to her, Teresa continually asks him, "Do you still love me?" When her question arouses only more silence from Armando, Teresa half-jokingly contends that if Armando does not pay attention to her soon, she will "do something crazy."

Again, not receiving any reaction from Armando, Teresa calls on the "African Powers that surround our Savior" to...