Summary

In Chapter 3, “The Gaze of Absent Ones,” Antonio drove into the Magdalena Valley and passed through La Dorada on his way to Medellín the next morning. Throughout the drive, he thought about “what had happened with Aura the previous night” (96). After he took Maya’s message and recorded her directions to her address, he and Aura made dinner while Leticia watched a movie. Afterwards, Antonio put Leticia to bed. He was thinking about the mystery of her birth and the way she had inherited his features when Aura came in to get him. In the living room, Aura presented him with a vibrator she said was for both of them. Antonio had been unable to get an erection since the shooting. Aura hoped the vibrator might help them have sex. Offended, Antonio instigated an argument and threw the vibrator. He and Aura did...