Capítulo 11: November/ Noviembre

This chapter kind of leaves the reader on edge.  We don't really know how the book is going to turn out, and we don't really know who Tita will ultimately choose in the end: John or Pedro?  John is back and has brought his elderly aunt to meet Tita and to attend their wedding.  Tita is busy in the kitchen as usual, trying to make the perfect meal for John's aunt.  The recipe for this chapter is Beans with Chili Tezcucana-style.  While Tita takes some lunch up to Pedro's room (he has healed nicely by the way, due to the special care Tita has taken with him), she confesses to him that she is not pregnant.  Pedro acts as you would expect him to... like a big baby.  He had thought that for sure Tita would finally be his now that she was pregnant with his child.  He was being selfish as usual.  Tita leaves him to check on the dinner.  She finds that the tamales for the meal aren't cooking.  And then she remembers something Nacha once said to her, that if the tamales aren't cooking because you are sad or quareling, you must sing to them.  So Tita tries to remember her happiest moment...and you can only guess what that happy moment is for Tita...her intimate encounters with Pedro.  All the way back to when they first met and expressed their love for one another.  This is how I know that deep down, Tita has always loved Pedro.  I think that she did love John, but just not in the same way that she loves Pedro.  The meal is finally cooked and served.  During dinner, John knows something is not right with Tita, so he asks her if she's alright.  They excuse themselves from the table and Tita explains to him why she cannot marry him.  She says that she had not been faithful while he was away, and he tells her that it doesn't matter to him and he wants to spend his life with her; if she'll still have him.  She then tells him that she isn't sure whether she loves him or the other man more.  And this is what John says, "If your answer is yes, we will celebrate our wedding in a few days.  If it's no, I will be the first to congratulate Pedro and ask him to give you the respect you deserve".  So John had known the whole time that Tita loved Pedro.  My thing is, if John really wanted to have Tita for his own, why not fight for her a little more forcefully?!  And then, the chapter just ends!... leaves us hanging dry.  Stay tuned for what happens next!  Or... just don't read the last post and read the book for yourself; so I don't ruin the ending for you.