The Madonnas of Echo Park

Chapter 2 is narrated from the perspective of Felicia, Aurora’s mother. Felicia opens with the story of how, as a child, she tried to grow a jacaranda tree in her grandmother’s house in Chavez Ravine, in order to prevent the house from being bulldozed for the LA Dodger’s new baseball stadium. That night, Felicia has a dream wherein she is a blossom drowning underwater. She awakes to find the jacaranda blossoms are drowning, and her grandmother explains, “a drowning flower moves toward the water, not away from it. Its stem may be strong enough to stand on its own, but when its petals grow wet and heavy, they drag the flower back into the water and that causes it to die” (26).

Felicia connects this image to her former employer, Mrs. Calhoun, who surrendered to the sadness surrounding her marriage. Felicia obtained her job as a result of the publicity following a drive-by shooting at a local mercado called El Guanaco. The local Mexican store was featured in Madonna’s music video for “Borderline,” and a group of girls and their mothers gathered to dance outside the location in Madonna-inspired clothing. While the group of mothers and daughters posed for a picture, a gangster opened fire, and 3-year-old Alma Guerrero was killed in the crossfire. Because Felicia and Aurora were arguing while the photo was taken, some of the mothers accused them of pushing Alma into the line of fire. The photo was widely publicized in the paper along with the headline “BABY MADONNA MURDERED BY HEARTLESS THUGS” (50), and Felicia lost her office-cleaning job as a result of the publicity.

When the wealthy Calhoun family sees the article, they contact Felicia and meet with her at their large, upscale home. Aurora serves as her mother’s translator because, although Felicia was born in the United States, she has spent her whole life living in Spanish-speaking communities and struggles with her English. The Calhoun family offers Felicia a cleaning job out of sympathy. Mr. Calhoun, who has an affinity for male Mexican teens, slyly asks Aurora to bring her boyfriends over for a pool party.

Felicia must rise very early to make the bus for work, and she bargains with the bus driver—Efren Mendoza—to wait a few extra minutes each morning. The transition from cleaning offices to cleaning houses is challenging at first. As an office cleaner, Felicia needed to make her presence known to the lawyers who worked there, turning on her vacuum cleaner and making deliberate noise. In the Calhoun’s house, however, she is expected to make herself invisible, communicating with Mrs. Calhoun via written notes, which are translated via a Spanish-to-English dictionary.

One afternoon, Felicia stumbles in on Mrs. Calhoun when she’s in the midst of pleasuring herself. Felicia is reminded of her ex, Hector, and how Felicia also turned to masturbation after he left, in order to soothe her loneliness. They share an awkward moment wherein they silently recognize “how unnecessary men are” (36). The next morning, Mrs. Calhoun leaves a note telling Felicia she no longer needs to say “good morning” when she enters the house, attempting to subvert future contact. Felicia, however, refuses to accept this excuse, and apologizes to Mrs. Calhoun in person. Mrs. Calhoun then leaves another note inviting Felicia to have lunch with her. Aurora preps Felicia on her English, instructing Felicia, “Whatever she asks […] lie” (37), a life lesson she learned from the TV show Dynasty. Aurora advises her mother to tell Mrs. Calhoun she feels “great” if the question of her mood arises.

The lunch is awkward but amicable; both women seem to desire connection with one another. Mrs. Calhoun offers to help Felicia improve her English, but remarks that she appreciates Felicia’s silence, believing most valuable connections occur within thoughts we never speak. She gives Felicia a set of cassette tapes to learn English with. Felicia’s English improves, and she continues to chat with Mrs. Calhoun. Their conversation, however, remains emotionally reserved.

One day, when Mrs. Calhoun seems especially sad, Felicia attempts to reach out to her. Mrs. Calhoun interrupts the conversation, pretending that Felicia is asking to have a pool party for her daughter. Felicia insists that Aurora’s guests pay their own bus fare, turning the bus driver down when he offers free fare in exchange for a date.

At the pool party, Felicia tries to get Mrs. Calhoun to come out of the house, but she gently refuses. When a Mexican delivery boy arrives with a stack of pizzas, Felicia observes Mr. Calhoun whispering in the boy’s ear to arrange a sexual encounter. Mrs. Calhoun flings open the door and shouts at her husband. Felicia observes the delivery boy leaving with “that arrogant post argument strut my husband used whenever he knew he was wrong” (45). Felicia follows Mrs. Calhoun to her room and comforts her with very few words, repeating the phrase, “good morning” (46).

After the party, Mr. Calhoun gives Felicia two-weeks notice, implying that he intends to hire a Mexican boy. Mrs. Calhoun ensures that Felicia is taken care of, providing glowing references that connect her with numerous new clients. Mrs. Calhoun also leaves a list for Felicia on her last day of work, giving Felicia a number of her personal items, including the living room couch. When Felicia walks out to the deck, she sees that Mrs. Calhoun has drowned herself in the pool. Blossoms from the jacaranda tree have fallen over Mrs. Calhoun’s body.