That night, he ends things with Cita. She takes it with cold grace: "You will regret this. The world eats gentle men like you."
Luz smiles. She resumes knitting.
For a year, he rides in her black Cadillac. She introduces him to power brokers. She laughs at his jokes, touches his arm too long. One night, after champagne and a speech he wrote that swayed a vote, she kisses him. "You are not just a poet, Avelino. You are a weapon. Let me be your sheath." That night, he ends things with Cita