Lucky Broken Girl

Papi brings Ruthie a typewriter and she uses a manual to teach herself to type. Papi mentions that this ability means Ruthie could be a secretary, but Ruthie says she wants to be an artist. Nevertheless, she persists at typing; soon she can type without looking at the keys. Baba visits one day while Mami grocery shops, and Ruthie types Baba’s story about arriving in Cuba, working at a fabric store, and developing a relationship with her boss, Zeide, whom she would eventually marry. Baba is impressed that Ruthie can type so quickly and tells Ruthie she will be a writer one day. 

Mami makes a flan for New Year’s Eve and Ruthie helps to beat the eggs and add ingredients. At midnight, the family gathers around Ruthie’s bed, “gulping down thirteen grapes as quickly as [they] can” (164), a Cuban custom for good luck in the new year. The extended family in the building comes to visit; it begins to snow. Papi wishes aloud for “only good things in this year that has just begun” (164). Mami cuts the flan and they share it happily.

Chicho’s friend Mark is a nurse at the hospital, and he arranges for Bobbie and Clay to visit and help carry Ruthie on a stretcher outside to enjoy the snow. Izzie, Dennis, and Lily come too; they throw snowballs and build a snowman, letting Ruthie place the carrot for a nose. Danielle approaches and says hello, but Ruthie asks Clay and Bobbie to bring her back upstairs. 

Ruthie’s right leg is free of its cast by mid-March, but she is afraid to try to walk. Dr. Friendlich tells her she will have to learn to walk all over again. Clay and Bobbie carry Ruthie on the stretcher one last time; Ruthie is sad to say goodbye to them.

Chicho’s father dies in Mexico, and Chicho must return to his family there. Ruthie gives him her embroidered handkerchief from Cuba to remember her. Before he leaves, Chicho elicits a promise from Ruthie that she will try to walk again. When he goes, though, Ruthie doubts she will be able to do that. 

Ruthie is too afraid to try to walk when the rehabilitation nurse arrives; the nurse gives up quickly in frustration. The second nurse is kinder but ultimately leaves as well. Then Amara arrives. She is Puerto Rican, lives in the Bronx, has a scar on her face from a street fight, and sports visible muscles. She is tough with Ruthie and compels her to dress in day clothes before hoisting her from the bed and sticking crutches under her arm. With Amara’s direction, Ruthie makes her way to the living room, where Mami sees her and cries. Mami makes Amara a Cuban coffee.

When Amara returns, she coaches Ruthie on using the stairs. Ruthie manages to go up but cannot bring herself to try going down. Amara leaves, telling Ruthie, “Okay, girl, you’ve worn me out. Go back to bed. I guess that’s what you want to be for the rest of your life—an invalid” (182). Ruthie returns to her bed and concentrates on painting, reading, and typing. When Amara comes back, Ruthie tells her she is fine staying in bed. Amara thinks Ruthie’s problem is vertigo and wants to show her a remedy for going down the stairs. Ruthie asks Amara to tell the story of how she got the scar first. Ruthie types the story as Amara tells it. Amara once had to fend off an older male neighbor who wanted to kiss her. She struck him, but he pulled a knife on her in anger and cut her. After Ruthie types the story, Amara convinces her to try to go up one step, then turn and come back down. Ruthie accomplishes this, then two steps up and down, and then three. When she gets to five, Amara tells Ruthie she can go outside, as it is five steps down to the sidewalk from the building. Once out, Ruthie notices the sky, trees, road, and people. Danielle comes and offers Ruthie a dandelion: “For you Ruthie. Welcome back to the world” (187).