This Could Be Us

Edward calls from federal prison. When he says that the FBI can’t prove what he’s done, Soledad is stunned to realize that he really stole the money. He insists that once he gets out, they’ll be set for life. He tells Soledad to call his mom for help, but Soledad reminds him that his mom is racist; she favors Lupe over the other girls because Inez and Lottie look less white. Edward says that Soledad doesn’t work, as he doesn’t consider running the household actual labor. Edward won’t get bail because he’s considered a flight risk. He bought a plane ticket to escape to Bali when he feared that Judah was closing in on him, but he insists that he did this for Soledad.

Soledad thinks about Bray, her mother Catelaya’s first love, with whom she’d had a great passion and who came back into her life after Soledad’s father died. Soledad goes through a box of her mother’s things, which includes a copy of All About Love by bell hooks and the machete that the women of her family have used for three generations: “I feel these items stitching me together in a way I can’t explain but appreciate” (78).

At a board meeting with the CalPot directors, CEO Brett Callahan becomes angry that the FBI hasn’t been able to recover his money and suggests that they put pressure on Soledad. Judah feels angry that Soledad is being punished for Edward’s crimes and wants to protect her. When he walked into the room and saw Soledad connecting with Aaron, “something lodged in [his] chest that [he hasn’t] been able to pull free since” (83). Delores, Brett’s daughter, appreciates that Judah is standing up for Soledad.

Brunson, Edward’s lawyer, says that Soledad can visit Edward, but she doesn’t feel like rushing there. Then, her doctor calls with news that Soledad has chlamydia, a sexually transmitted infection. She is stunned at this evidence that Edward was cheating on her, though it also explains his lack of interest in sex with her. She feels polluted by his actions: “It’s not even the infection itself that makes me feel dirty. It’s his betrayal. I feel stained not by what he has given me, but by what he has taken away” (88). She tells Brunson that she wants to visit Edward after all.

At the prison, Soledad sees Amber leaving. When she confronts him, Edward at first pretends not to know what she’s talking about and tries to suggest that she’s is the one who slept with someone else. Soledad realizes that there is no warmth for her in his eyes and wonders, “How long has he been looking right through me? Not seeing the woman I’ve become?” (92). Edward admits that he’s found someone else. When she walks out, he says that she won’t survive, and she retorts, “Watch me” (92).

Soledad feels ashamed that she can’t admit to her friends what is going on; they won’t be surprised, having never thought much of Edward. At home, Soledad tells her daughters that their father made some bad choices and will have to deal with the consequences. When the girls ask who will take care of them, Soledad says that she will, but Inez points out that Soledad doesn’t have a job. Soledad goes to the chest with her mother Catelaya’s things, and as she holds her abuela’s Grito de Lares flag, which commemorates the 1868 Puerto Rico rebellion against Spanish rule, she feels furious. She takes the machete and slices through all of Edward’s expensive clothes. Then, she goes out to his man cave and chops up his desk. She sees his prized possession, a Boston Celtics jersey signed by Larry Bird, and smashes the case. She finds a flash drive glued to the collar of the Celtics jersey.

Brett Callahan is still demanding that Judah find his money. Judah suspects that someone was helping Edward, but he doesn’t know who. Soledad appears in his office and shows him the jump drive, but she demands that in return, he direct the FBI to unfreeze her assets and persuade his company to leave her and her girls alone. On the jump drive is a list of numbers and passwords—the offshore accounts where Edward hid the stolen money. Soledad trusts Judah to advocate for her and her family and tells him to follow up with Amber and Gerald. Judah is impressed by her courage and refusal to pity herself.

Soledad confesses everything to her best friends, Hendrix and Yasmen. She wants to remake Edward’s cave into a “she shed.” She didn’t realize how much Edward was taking from her, but she wants her power back. They discuss what Soledad can do for income. All she’s ever wanted was to raise kids and make a home for them. She reminds them that it was once illegal for Black women in the South to work because white women didn’t want to lose their domestic servants. Hendrix suggests that Soledad use her talents to become an influencer.

Judah comes over to tell Soledad what CalPot has decided. When Soledad tells him that she is divorcing Edward, she feels “a filament connecting [them]. It burns hot and bright and is impossible to ignore, but also impossible to pursue. [They] both know it” (115). Hendrix and Yasmen tease Soledad about how good-looking Judah is, but Soledad declares that she’s not going after him: “I need to focus on rebuilding a life for me and my girls from the ground up. I also need to rebuild me. A me who doesn’t need a man, stands on her own, and gets what she needs to survive, even if she has to make it herself” (116).