Lucky Broken Girl

On a Saturday morning, Papi stays with Ruthie while Mami goes to the hairdresser. Ruthie presses Papi to tell her about the accident; he says a young man took his parents’ car without permission and went to a discotheque with four friends. He drank alcohol and drove too fast on the way home, losing control of the car. It crashed into the car ahead of the Mizrahis, which then crashed into them. The young man and all four friends died. Ruthie agrees with Uncle Bill that Papi should sue the family; she feels hatred for the dead young man who ruined so many lives.

When Mami returns, Papi goes to his job, and Mami washes Ruthie’s hair. The process soaks the bed and floor and leaves water marks on Mami’s dress, upsetting her after her nice morning of pampering. She brings in a hairdresser to chop off Ruthie’s long ponytails, cutting short “the hair around [her] head and ears until [she is] practically bald” (99). Ruthie is upset at how she looks afterwards; she throws the hand mirror and it shatters. Mami says, “You’re a bad girl” (100), which prompts Ruthie to apologize, but Mami only tells her she will have seven years’ bad luck for breaking a mirror.