Swift as Desire by Laura Esquivel Page A

everything she needed, walking home she would go through all the options for cooking them, all the while dreaming of the day when economic hardship would disappear from her life.
    The night Júbilo had won the bet with don Pedro, however, Lucha believed that moment had finally arrived and was immediately consumed by an obsession to spend all the money at once, but Júbilo prevented her from doing so, and this became the reason behind their first fight. Lucha lightly berated her husband, complaining that he never noticed all the things they had to do without, and Júbilo replied that he did indeed notice and that was precisely why they needed to save all the money they had. That way, they would sooner be able to buy a decenthouse as close as possible to Lucha’s family, so she could stop missing her former life so much.
    So one of them looked at a solution over the short term and the other, over the long term. One looked for a palliative for their problems and the other, permanent relief. Finally, after a long argument, they reached a compromise. Júbilo agreed to let Lucha buy a pair of slips and a shawl; and Lucha promised not to touch the rest of the money.
    The opportunity to buy something new made Lucha very happy. One could even go so far as to say that the purchase of that shawl literally changed her life. She discovered an article of clothing that was truly not only useful but beautiful. From that moment forward, the shawl became an indispensable accessory to her attire. With her new shawl over her shoulders, Lucha walked tall. She felt like a different woman. It was the first time since getting married that she had shopped for clothes. She was so excited that on her way home, she stopped to buy some candles at another stand in the market. On the counter was a jar of chiles in vinegar, and another filled with olives. The smell of the olives filled the air. Lucha couldn’t resist buying some: she had an irresistible urge to taste them. It had been months since she’d had an olive. And now, when the craving was so strong, was the time to buy them. She asked the merchant for 100 grams. But when she opened her purse to pay, she realized her money had evaporated. She had enough to pay for the candles, but not for the olives. Lucha fruitlessly tried to make up thedifference by counting up the few centavos she had left in her purse, and in that instant don Pedro entered the store. He immediately understood the embarrassing situation in which Lucha found herself and, without thinking twice, extracted from his wallet the coins that were needed to complete the purchase, and put them on the counter, saying:
    “Allow me,
por favor.
”
    Lucha turned her head to confront a face full of evil, a face which, even when wearing its best smile, was unable to appear kind, and which belonged to none other than the man against whom her husband had won the bet. Lucha delicately, but firmly, refused the coins and replied:
    “No. You are very kind, but there’s no need for you to bother. I’ll come back later and pay.”
    “A woman as beautiful as you doesn’t deserve to be out walking in the rain. Please accept my humble assistance.”
    “Again, I thank you, but that is not necessary. It’s no problem for me to go home and come back again, since I drove here, I didn’t walk here in the rain.”
    “Well, at any rate, it doesn’t seem right for you to have to make two trips. Please do not offend me, three centavos are not so important that they will rob anyone of sleep. Grant me the honor of helping you in some small way.”
    Don Pedro took Lucha’s right hand and kissed it lightly, effectively ending the discussion. Lucha didn’t know what to do. It was obvious this man had neveraccepted no for an answer, and since her craving for the olives had grown even stronger, she chose to say a hurried
gracias
, collect her purchases, and leave the stall with the feeling that she had just done something wrong. She had not liked at all the