Rain of Gold

Doña Margarita gets an inkling that Salvador is up to no good when she sees him meet Archie at the back door. Then, shortly before the wedding when Salvador is outside drinking with friends, one of the men he tried to borrow money from when he was penniless shows up with his two sons and a prize goat. He tries to give Salvador the goat as a wedding present, but Salvador shoots the goat and tells them to leave, that he hasn’t forgotten that the man lied to him when he needed help. The man says he won’t forget Salvador’s actions and leaves.

After this Doña Margarita forces Salvador to speak with her in private. He tells her he hates other Mexicans for failing him and failing to stick up for themselves, and she warns him that his marriage will fail if he has hatred in his heart. She says if he can hate his Mexican brethren, then he could also grow to hate Lupe, or his children, or her, since they are all Mexican. She tells Salvador that he is “all the bad things” that Don Pío, whom Salvador worships, “fought so hard to overcome” (473). She tells him he must forget all the vengeful feelings he has toward his race and be “bigger than your personal disappointments” (473). She tells him how her father was hateful like he is being now, that he kicked his older brother José out for no reason other than he had accidentally hurt his pride. She insists she raised Salvador “with love” and that he needs to do the same for his kids, rather than repeat his father’s hateful path (473). She says he can be mad, just not hateful. He tells her he loves her and prays for forgiveness. He then goes to church, spends a little over three hours in confession, then heads to apologize to the man who had brought him the goat. One of his sons almost kills him with a machete when he gets there, but the man allows Salvador to apologize and to live.

The day of the wedding arrives. Lupe can’t believe she is moving out with a “stranger,” but her mother assures her she will be happy (477). Luisa refuses to come to the wedding because she thinks Lupe and her family look down on them, so they leave without her. They then get pulled over, but it turns out to be Archie playing a prank and wanting an invite to the wedding. Salvador and Archie make up and head off to the celebration. Despite Doña Margarita farting nonstop and Luisa showing up at the last minute, Lupe and Salvador have a picture-perfect wedding from which they emerge “feeling wonderful” (485).