The Distance Between Us: Book One: Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

A month later, on September 7th, Reyna turns five, but because Mago’s birthday is a month and a half later, Reyna is forced to wait weeks and weeks to celebrate so that their birthdays can be combined into one. On the day of the celebration, Emperatriz goes to the store and buys a beautiful birthday cake, and for once, the atmosphere in the house is one of joy and peace. Emperatriz takes pictures of the children cutting the cake, and urges them to smile so that she can send the photos to their parents. Mago decides to frown and look miserable in the picture, in hopes that her parents will see how unhappy she is and return to her. This tactic does not work, and the months continue to go by with no sign that Mami and Papi will ever come back.

The one who does come back is Élida’s mother, María Félix. Reyna and her siblings have been at Abuela Evila’s house for over a year when Élida turns fifteen and officially becomes a señorita. Her mother returns to Iguala to throw Élida a big quinceañera. María Félix, too, has had a child in El Otro Lado, and though Reyna and Mago long to tease Élida about having been replaced, they are stunned and devastated when María Félix announces that their own mother has given birth to a baby girl named Elizabeth.

The next day, the entire family—including all of Reyna’s cousins—shows up at the house to receive gifts María Félix has brought from El Otro Lado. Out of everything in all her suitcases, she claims to have nothing for Reyna and her siblings, and explains that though their parents sent them some things, the suitcase which held them was lost at the airport. Mago accuses her aunt of having given away their presents, and runs away to be alone.

Preparations for Élida’s quinceañera begin, and Reyna and her siblings are put to work making decorations for the party. Evila reluctantly makes Mago and Reyna new dresses to wear, but does so half-heartedly. Reyna’s dress is made improperly and sewn inside-out, but Evila refuses to rework the dress and forces Reyna to wear the ugly garment as it is. While everyone goes to church for the first part of Élida’s ceremony, Reyna, Mago, and Carlos are made to stay home and pluck chickens for the banquet later. Once the arduous job is done they all bathe themselves for the party, but no matter how hard they scrub, they cannot get the smell of dirty chicken feathers off of themselves.

That night at the party, Reyna watches Élida dance the waltz meant to be danced with one’s father with a butcher from town, a distant relative. Reyna becomes emotional and longs for her Papi’s return more than ever—when it is her turn to become a señorita, she wants to be able to dance the waltz with her father.

The next day, María Félix leaves with her son, promising Élida that one day she will send for her. Abuela Evila comforts Élida as she cries, and Reyna observes how strange it is to see her cousin so emotional. For once, Élida’s “ever-present mocking gaze” is gone, and it is Élida who is the “weeping, lonely, heartbroken” huerfanita. Mago pulls Reyna and Carlos close and tells them she loves them, and all three take solace in the fact that though their parents are gone, they at least have each other.