WEBVTT NOTE Created by CaptionSync from Automatic Sync Technologies www.automaticsync.com 00:00:00.426 --> 00:00:02.676 align:middle >> I hope I don't strangle myself here. 00:00:03.916 --> 00:00:06.106 align:middle [? It's easy ?] to walk around with me. 00:00:07.036 --> 00:00:15.116 align:middle The other story that's in New Chicana, Chicano writing is called Ghost Trap. 00:00:15.686 --> 00:00:24.496 align:middle A woman was building a ghost trap to catch the ghost of her marido, who had recently died. 00:00:25.086 --> 00:00:28.746 align:middle She wanted to keep him from coming into her house. 00:00:29.996 --> 00:00:32.746 align:middle At first, she had been devastated by his death. 00:00:33.736 --> 00:00:36.976 align:middle She had thrown herself into the grave, on top of his coffin, 00:00:37.306 --> 00:00:41.116 align:middle shrieking ¡Ay, viejito, por qué me dejaste! 00:00:41.146 --> 00:00:49.406 align:middle Yo te quería tanto and wailing like la llorona, the ghost woman who wandered in the dark. 00:00:50.146 --> 00:00:55.976 align:middle She would wake in the middle of the night in a sweat, turn to him to share a dream 00:00:55.976 --> 00:00:59.766 align:middle or a fear and find him not there. 00:01:01.236 --> 00:01:05.616 align:middle Feeling like a ghost, she would walk from room to room at night thinking about him 00:01:05.616 --> 00:01:08.176 align:middle and feeling numb and decepcionada. 00:01:09.336 --> 00:01:15.406 align:middle Gradually her loneliness soured and turned into anger at his desertion. 00:01:16.796 --> 00:01:23.276 align:middle One night, the second week after his death, despertó to find him, 00:01:23.276 --> 00:01:26.556 align:middle or rather his ghost, in bed with her. 00:01:27.196 --> 00:01:32.196 align:middle ¡Viejo! She cried out, smiling for the first time since his death. 00:01:32.456 --> 00:01:37.906 align:middle But suddenly she frowned and felt fear squeeze her corazón. 00:01:38.906 --> 00:01:42.996 align:middle Durante el día, he would follow her around the house into the backyard. 00:01:43.886 --> 00:01:49.006 align:middle However, he would never go beyond the front gate when she left to do her mandados. 00:01:49.786 --> 00:01:53.416 align:middle She began to spend more time away from the house. 00:01:53.416 --> 00:01:56.896 align:middle She realized that she missed her solitude. 00:01:57.716 --> 00:02:04.106 align:middle Instead of making her feel wanted and protected, as his hovering presence had before his death, 00:02:05.266 --> 00:02:08.006 align:middle his constant hovering now stifled her. 00:02:09.346 --> 00:02:12.546 align:middle Viejo, why do you keep coming back every night? 00:02:13.766 --> 00:02:15.586 align:middle Did you leave something unfinished? 00:02:16.596 --> 00:02:18.916 align:middle Is there some business you want to complete? 00:02:19.116 --> 00:02:23.516 align:middle Tell me. Yo te ayudo a hacerlo. 00:02:23.626 --> 00:02:25.896 align:middle ¡Vieja! ¡Viejita linda! 00:02:26.336 --> 00:02:31.116 align:middle Bring me clean clothes, he said to her in a wisp of a whisper. 00:02:32.736 --> 00:02:34.656 align:middle Bah, estás muerto. 00:02:34.736 --> 00:02:37.726 align:middle ¿Para qué necesitas ropa? 00:02:38.646 --> 00:02:39.836 align:middle She whispered back. 00:02:40.976 --> 00:02:44.526 align:middle His repeated requests would seem to get louder and louder. 00:02:48.456 --> 00:02:54.516 align:middle Finally drove her to the closet, of course his clothes were missing. 00:02:55.056 --> 00:02:56.236 align:middle She'd given them away. 00:02:57.616 --> 00:03:02.556 align:middle Now she would have to go into the shop to buy men's things and face the look of censure 00:03:02.556 --> 00:03:09.156 align:middle in the shopkeeper's face and how fast she had replaced her marido con otro hombre. 00:03:11.426 --> 00:03:13.056 align:middle ¡Vieja! ¡Vieja! 00:03:13.536 --> 00:03:16.976 align:middle Fix me some dinner, he said in a harsh mutter. 00:03:17.566 --> 00:03:24.576 align:middle Le hizo carnitas, his favorite dish and set it on the table, but a ghost can't eat. 00:03:27.056 --> 00:03:30.166 align:middle So the comida would sit on the table gathering moscas. 00:03:32.526 --> 00:03:33.596 align:middle You know what moscas are? 00:03:34.706 --> 00:03:37.616 align:middle Flies. ¡Vieja! 00:03:37.616 --> 00:03:38.626 align:middle ¡Viejita linda! 00:03:38.626 --> 00:03:39.776 align:middle Bring me una cerveza. 00:03:40.816 --> 00:03:43.316 align:middle Oh, she would go to the market to get the beer. 00:03:44.236 --> 00:03:49.226 align:middle La gente began to talk about how her grief had driven her to drink. 00:03:54.046 --> 00:03:58.966 align:middle She would pull the lid and place the can of beer en la mesa by his chair. 00:03:59.956 --> 00:04:02.306 align:middle You know I only drink Dos Equis, he growled. 00:04:04.586 --> 00:04:05.906 align:middle The beer would go flat. 00:04:06.426 --> 00:04:11.476 align:middle She was tempted to drink his cerveza to alleviate her increasing irritation. 00:04:14.046 --> 00:04:17.036 align:middle Tending to his ghost seemed to take all her time. 00:04:18.006 --> 00:04:22.476 align:middle She began to resent the washing and cooking and trimming his hair 00:04:22.476 --> 00:04:26.196 align:middle and toenails when the asshole had been alive. 00:04:28.326 --> 00:04:34.976 align:middle Just when she thought herself free el pendejo was back and more trouble now that he was dead. 00:04:39.046 --> 00:04:45.276 align:middle Her only consolation was that she didn't have to wash his smelly, his smelly, 00:04:45.276 --> 00:04:48.176 align:middle his smelly calcetines and dirty underwear. 00:04:49.476 --> 00:04:55.656 align:middle But her two-week-old vida ya no era suya and she wanted it back. 00:04:56.836 --> 00:04:59.886 align:middle How could she stop her marido muerto from returning? 00:05:01.696 --> 00:05:05.616 align:middle One day inspiration brought a smile to her face. 00:05:07.076 --> 00:05:13.906 align:middle She made a little model of her house with popsicle sticks and glue and placed it 00:05:13.906 --> 00:05:18.246 align:middle in a safe spot halfway between his grave in the nearby cemetery, 00:05:19.396 --> 00:05:23.316 align:middle in the nearby Campo Santo and her home. 00:05:24.166 --> 00:05:28.576 align:middle She had heard that ghosts don't have a sense of perspective. 00:05:31.636 --> 00:05:36.906 align:middle Rocking back and forth, her chair creaked on the porch as she waited for el espanto 00:05:36.906 --> 00:05:40.386 align:middle to enter the model house thinking it was the real one. 00:05:45.416 --> 00:05:48.286 align:middle That night, she did not awaken. 00:05:48.436 --> 00:05:52.186 align:middle In the morning, cuando despertó, she turned towards the site 00:05:52.546 --> 00:05:55.336 align:middle where su viejo had been sleeping the past 30 years. 00:05:56.246 --> 00:06:00.446 align:middle His ghost was not there nor was he there for the following night. 00:06:01.926 --> 00:06:06.046 align:middle She sat up waiting for him, worrying about what to do with a ghost house. 00:06:07.306 --> 00:06:09.676 align:middle Suppose someone turn the casita -- 00:06:09.906 --> 00:06:13.626 align:middle Found la casita and accidentally opened the door and let the ghost out. 00:06:14.546 --> 00:06:24.876 align:middle Conceivably some element of nature, a strong wind or fire could destroy the flimsy cage 00:06:25.346 --> 00:06:27.316 align:middle and her dead husband could get out. 00:06:28.496 --> 00:06:33.506 align:middle The tiny house was too fragile to be buried, the earth would crush it and the ghost would escape. 00:06:36.436 --> 00:06:40.396 align:middle She had to put it somewhere safe and out of the reach of others. 00:06:41.426 --> 00:06:47.846 align:middle Through several days of deliberation, she carefully carried the ghost trap into her house 00:06:47.846 --> 00:06:57.016 align:middle and placed it under the bed, where most of his nieces and nephews could not find it. 00:06:57.536 --> 00:07:00.576 align:middle That night a voice woke her up. 00:07:01.416 --> 00:07:05.076 align:middle It called out, no longer whispering, ¡Vieja! 00:07:05.676 --> 00:07:10.046 align:middle ¡Vieja! Tú todavía estás buenísima. 00:07:10.526 --> 00:07:13.856 align:middle ¡Ándale, déjame probar ese cuerpazo! 00:07:16.726 --> 00:07:17.946 align:middle The pisser was back. 00:07:21.556 --> 00:07:25.676 align:middle She thought, she felt his body stirring under the bed covers. 00:07:26.596 --> 00:07:33.866 align:middle Half dreaming, half awake, she pushed him away saying ¡Vete, viejo aguado! 00:07:36.796 --> 00:07:38.936 align:middle But she kept climbing on top of her. 00:07:39.586 --> 00:07:42.136 align:middle All night, she refused to open her legs to him. 00:07:43.136 --> 00:07:47.996 align:middle Next morning she woke with deep bruises down the corners of her mouth and bruises 00:07:47.996 --> 00:07:51.086 align:middle on her breasts, arms and inner thighs. 00:07:51.836 --> 00:07:56.626 align:middle She peered under la cama and saw that the door of the casita was open. 00:07:57.506 --> 00:08:04.396 align:middle She walked from room to room looking for el pinche desgraciado, and muttering to herself, 00:08:05.116 --> 00:08:07.816 align:middle how am I going to get rid of that fucker? 00:08:11.766 --> 00:08:17.026 align:middle She considered going to the local curandera and asking her to drive his soul into el pozo. 00:08:17.686 --> 00:08:21.826 align:middle Better yet, to hell. 00:08:22.486 --> 00:08:26.956 align:middle Or she could look through the Yellow Pages to find a ghostbuster. 00:08:30.076 --> 00:08:31.086 align:middle ¡Ah, no! 00:08:31.086 --> 00:08:36.756 align:middle If her loneliness had summoned him, her anger would drive him away. 00:08:37.146 --> 00:08:40.916 align:middle She'd do it herself with words and curses. 00:08:41.776 --> 00:08:46.406 align:middle She decided to be prepared, should her words fail. 00:08:47.556 --> 00:08:51.306 align:middle That night she plugged in the vacuum cleaner and put it by her bed -- 00:08:55.796 --> 00:09:02.796 align:middle -- she tugged on two of her sturdiest corsets, several pairs of pants and three shirts, 00:09:03.236 --> 00:09:05.976 align:middle turned off the lights, got into bed and waited. 00:09:08.106 --> 00:09:14.246 align:middle She jumped out of bed, fetched her heavy iron skillet and hid it under the bed covers, 00:09:14.246 --> 00:09:18.566 align:middle just in case he'd taken on more substance than the vacuum could handle. 00:09:21.826 --> 00:09:23.096 align:middle Come on, cabrón. 00:09:23.876 --> 00:09:26.606 align:middle Hijo de la chingada, ven. 00:09:28.706 --> 00:09:31.706 align:middle Vente, pendejo, she said under her breath. 00:09:36.716 --> 00:09:38.086 align:middle And here is the gloss. 00:09:39.476 --> 00:09:42.146 align:middle The glossary, my short for glossary. 00:09:43.246 --> 00:09:45.126 align:middle Marido is husband. 00:09:45.516 --> 00:09:47.196 align:middle La llorona is the Weeping Woman. 00:09:48.556 --> 00:09:50.756 align:middle Decepcionada means disillusioned. 00:09:51.236 --> 00:09:52.686 align:middle Viejo is old man. 00:09:53.156 --> 00:09:55.416 align:middle Espanto is a ghost. 00:09:55.986 --> 00:09:57.526 align:middle Casita is a little house. 00:09:57.566 --> 00:09:58.736 align:middle Moscas is flies. 00:09:58.846 --> 00:10:00.296 align:middle Calcetines is socks. 00:10:00.896 --> 00:10:02.716 align:middle Cama is bed. 00:10:02.896 --> 00:10:06.976 align:middle Viejo aguado is a man who is sexually wasted, who is impotent. 00:10:11.376 --> 00:10:17.296 align:middle This is my concession to non-Spanish speakers or non-Chicano Spanish speakers. 00:10:17.956 --> 00:10:20.966 align:middle This book will have a gloss at the end of the book. 00:10:32.776 --> 00:10:36.546 align:middle Gracias. I'm so surprised, people clapping and I'm not even finished.