“As long as he reads with feeling and gusto, I’m content. (Looks at photo.) Look at his face and the way he signs his name.” 

Marela and her mother and sister are waiting for the lector at the harbor in Tampa, Florida. Here, Marela reveals her romantic nature and her anticipation of a dynamic lector, as well as the earliest suggestions of her budding attraction to the lector. She is impressed by Juan Julian’s appearance and analyzes his signature with idealistic and romantic imagination.

“Look at what happened to Rosario, she put a spell on her lover and the man died. And not only did she lose her man; she’s gone to hell herself.”

Conchita unknowingly foreshadows the death of Juan Julian, the lector and her own soon-to-be lover, before even meeting him. Unlike Rosario, however, Conchita loses her lover, but she does not lose her man and go to a figurative hell; Palomo, Conchita’s husband, and Conchita reconcile, and the marriage appears to have been strengthened by Conchita’s affair, rather than ruined by it.

“Then write it down. Write it down. I want it in writing.”

Cheché reluctantly loans money to Santiago, who recklessly borrows more and more from his half-brother after losing while gambling at the cockfight. At this moment, Santiago has just promised Cheché a part of the cigar factory Santiago inherited from his father as collateral if Santiago is unable to pay Cheché back. Chechétakes Santiago seriously and insists that Santiago carve the promise in the sole of Cheché’s shoe.