March

With Nacha gone, I was best qualified of all the women in the house to fill Nacha's spot in the kitchen. I was more then pleased to be named the official ranch cook, in spite of the sorrow I still felt from loosing Nacha. Honestly, Nacha's unfortunate death put me in a deep depression. It felt as if I lost my real mother. The day I got named ranch cook, Pedro thought it would be nice to bring me a bouquet of roses to celebrate. Unfortunately, Mama Elena and Rosaura both saw this, and it put them both in rage. Rosaura, being extra emotional because she was pregnant with her first child, ran off in tears when she saw this. Pedro ran off after her, realizing what he did wrong. I was left there with the roses in my hand. I knew what I had to do, I had to get rid of them somehow. But I didn't want to put them in the trash because they were from Pedro. At that moment it felt as if I heard Nacha telling me a recipe in my ear. The recipe was quail in rose petal sauce. Everyone sat down tense for the meal. However, the quail seemed to have some kind of effect on everyone, especially Pedro. He took one bite and couldn't help but to close his eyes in delight and tell everyone it was ".. a dish made for the gods." Mama Elena didn't like this. But I noticed that the food seemed to affect Gertrudis in a weird way. She began to sweat and imagine things, and her whole body spelled like lovely roses. I sat on the patio that night after diner washing the dishes and saw her getting ready to take a shower. The heat from her body ended up lighting the shower on fire, and she ran frantically away naked still. Then I saw some guy on a horse come and pick her up, and they ran off. It was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. She never came back after that..