Olga Dies Dreaming

Prieto wonders where he can get an HIV test without being recognized. He doesn’t have a doctor in New York and worries that no matter what happens, the Selbys will find out. He is terrified of dying from AIDS like his father did. Prieto slept with Jan when they met at Olga’s birthday party, and their fling made Prieto wonder what it would be like to have a normal relationship with a man. He decides to go for a drive to Shore Road.

In the car, Prieto thinks about the fact that while his family has never said anything bad about gay people, they always try to pair him with women. He justifies his decision to stay closeted by his aunt’s potential hidden sexuality and by the association between AIDS and gay men. Prieto remembers the night he kissed his friend Diego before he left for college. He decides to sponsor a wellness event where he can emphasize the importance of getting tested.

Then, he gets a text from his chief of staff. The hurricane has taken out the power in Puerto Rico. He types back a quick response, emphasizing that privatization is not the answer and the government needs to do more for Puerto Rico.

He gets mad that Olga has known about his sexuality all along but has never spoken to him about it, so that he has had to be alone with this secret.

Olga has stayed at Matteo’s house all weekend, getting used to sleeping with someone who actually knows her.

At her office, she meets with Igor, a shady character to whom she sells champagne left over from clients for whom she over-ordered. She knows that purposely over-ordering is morally wrong, but she also knows that many of her clients do not care about the money.

Her assistant asks why Olga is a wedding planner. The truth is that Olga stumbled into this job by accident: When she was working at an ad agency, she impressed clients so much with her ability to manage events that they asked her to plan their weddings. She’s made it her career because she assumed clients would express their appreciation for making their wedding dreams a reality. However, she quickly learned that weddings are social performances. Meegan counters that weddings create important memories. Olga considers offering a cynical response, but she instead affirms Meegan. However, as she leaves for a dress fitting, Olga wonders what she is doing with her life.

On her way to the fitting, a man intercepts her and escorts her into Reggie’s car. Reggie has good news and takes Olga home, not uptown for her fitting. Swearing Olga to secrecy, Reggie explains that he has been in contact with Blanca. Blanca is now part of the Pañuelos Negros, a group advocating for Puerto Rico.

Olga immediately rages that Reggie has seen her mother while she has not. After she calms down, Reggie relays that Blanca got in touch with him soon after he and Olga broke up, telling him that he needed to think beyond white ideas of success, and sending along three books. They began exchanging letters, and Blanca urged Reggie to become more politically active. Eventually, Blanca introduced him to Karen, through whom Reggie got involved with the Pañuelos Negros.

When the leader of Los Macheteros was assassinated, the US government believed that they had ended the Puerto Rican revolutionary movement. However, a network still existed, and from that, the secretive Pañuelos Negros was born. Only Blanca knows who every member is, but one way to identify is them is by their black bandanas. Their goal is to end American rule in Puerto Rico, as many Puerto Ricans are done following the Americans due to the US government not immediately working to restore power after the hurricane like they would have for a US state. Reggie ends by saying that Olga’s mother needs her. While she thinks it should make her feel angry, Olga wants to help in spite of herself. She wants to tell Prieto, but Reggie thinks that she shouldn’t.

Two days later, Tía Lola calls, revealing that Mabel is $10,000 short for the catering at her wedding. She, Olga, and Prieto are each going to give her three, and another thousand is coming from her uncle. Mabel’s fiancé, Julio, was supposed to handle it, but he didn’t tell Mabel that he was fired from his job. Olga knows that Mabel has paid for the couple’s getaways and most of the wedding. She is also sure that this isn’t the last ostensibly wedding-related payment that Mabel will have to make. That afternoon, she goes with Tía Lola to deliver the cash.

Olga decides to bring up her mother. After a moment, Tía Lola explains that there were few choices for women when she was born. Many married and had children, but even though Lola didn’t want to marry a man, she still wanted to be a mother. When Blanca left, it felt like Lola could raise children (Olga and Prieto) and also could live life the way she wanted. Olga is angry that her family didn’t make her aunt feel like she would be accepted. She asks why Tía Lola never said anything, and her aunt explains that the people she wanted to know knew.

Olga asks if Tía Lola thinks Olga would be a good parent, and Lola immediately responds that she would. Olga’s father was an incredible parent, but her mother was not. Lola tells a story to illustrate Blanca’s flaws. Before Abuelita bought their house, Blanca hated their landlord, Mr. Olsen, for his prejudice against Puerto Ricans. He loved singling the Acevedos out, saying, “If only all Puerto Ricans were like your family!” (228). Blanca would go on and on about his bias, but Abuelita knew that ignoring these comments would allow her to buy the house from him. Blanca never grew out of wanting to be right, and she would often find flaws in her children as a result. Olga, on the other hand, can accept people no matter what.

Matteo calls, upset that Olga has ignored him for the past two days. He is hurt that he allowed her into his home and now she is ghosting him. He tries to break up with her, but she apologizes—she’s out of practice with relationships. Offering to text him the details of the wedding, she asks him to think about going with her.

It is Mabel’s wedding day, and Olga is waiting outside the church for the Rolls-Royce bringing the bride to the church to arrive. That morning, Mabel thanked Olga for all that she had done for the day, and Olga feels a closeness to her cousin she hasn’t felt in years. They also heard all morning about another hurricane threatening Puerto Rico, putting the whole family on edge. Mabel appears, and Olga spots Matteo. She is thrilled that he has decided to give her a second chance.

Prieto sits down with Olga and Matteo. Olga is worried because they haven’t spoken since their argument. She is also afraid to tell him about their mother, knowing that groups like Pañuelos Negros sometimes use violence. Eventually, Olga and Prieto talk. He confides that he’s worried that he has AIDS, revealing that he slept with Jan. She will take him to get tested with her gynecologist, an old client. Then, she asks Prieto about the last time he saw Karen. As he describes the box of worms he received, Olga grows more worried about their mother’s anger. She decides not to tell him about Reggie’s visit right now.

Mabel confronts Olga about the napkins and her attempts to gain clout with the family. The gambit backfired, since Mabel’s new mother-in-law thought they were Mabel’s idea. The two agree to start fresh with their relationship.

Olga dreams of being at the circus as a child; her mother is the lion tamer. After a series of tricks, the lion eats Blanca.

Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico, causing chaos and destruction. Olga watches the news, thinking of her mother. Blanca is on the island, so the idea that Puerto Rico has been “destroyed” (251), as the news reports are saying, is terrifying. Olga tells Matteo about her conversation with Reggie. Matteo is nervous about what her mother will ask and doesn’t think she should help.

At the doctor’s office, Prieto is flooded with calls about the hurricane, as his staff tries to find resources to bring with him to Puerto Rico. Overwhelmed by the devastation, Olga doubts her career anew. She and Matteo go to buy supplies, knowing that the government should be doing more to help. When she sees a group on TV wearing black bandanas, Olga knows that her mother is part of the recovery efforts.

Prieto flies into Puerto Rico. He remembers meeting a woman there when he went to see the house where his father grew up. When he visits the house now, he learns that the woman and her sons went to the mountains before the storm to hunker down with the Pañuelos Negros. The hurricane and its effects are the only things distracting Prieto from the results of his blood test. The US should have deployed the National Guard—that they have not feels sinister and makes him think about the Selbys and their interest in Puerto Rico.

Prieto encounters the Pañuelos Negros as they distribute water. They’re armed and point their AK-47s at Prieto, even as he walks away. Even though he is supposed to only stay for a few hours, Prieto remains in Puerto Rico with a US-based news crew. One night, he hears about a group that broke prisoners out of a juvenile detention center. When the news crew tells him about the Pañuelos Negros, he immediately senses his mother’s involvement. Finally, Prieto decides to go home because Lourdes has a talent show. He doesn’t want to be like his mother, missing important events in his family’s life. Lourdes makes him feel like himself, and he realizes, so does being on the ground in Puerto Rico.

When he returns home, Olga is there. Prieto has tested positive for HIV.

Prieto keeps saying that he is okay. In Puerto Rico, he decided to fight for the island even if his test result is positive. Prieto needs to think about going public with his HIV status, though he is afraid of losing his seat at a time when Puerto Rico needs him. Olga then tells him that their mother is there, and Prieto explains that he knows about the Pañuelos Negros.

Olga has long had to contend with living without her parents, with their disappointment in her, and with the knowledge that they valued the cause more than her. Her materialistic career was revenge for all of the ways that her mother had made her feel less-than. However, now Olga wonders what peace she might find if she can earn her mother’s approval. On Tuesday night, Olga prepares to do a Good Morning, Later segment about starting the wedding planning process. She wishes she could just give Meegan the whole wedding planning business and do something meaningful instead.

Olga tells Matteo the story of her name—that she was named after Olga Garriga, but her mother worried she’d be like the Olga in “Puerto Rican Obituary” who was “ashamed of her identity and died dreaming of money and being anything other than herself” (276). When she recites the poem for Matteo, he points out that the solution is there: Find a community that accepts you, and don’t try to live according to someone else’s idea of you.

Olga’s Good Morning, Later segment is after one about the hurricane. When she goes on, she manages to put her feelings aside to talk about weddings. Then, one of the hosts brings up that Olga is Puerto Rican. This sets Olga off, and she describes the reality of life on the island: For example, Mabel is trying to locate her grandmother without cell service. Then, she points out that the government has done nothing for common Puerto Ricans on the island because they are more concerned with the interests of the rich. Olga continues that, for a long time, private interests have tried to get control of Puerto Rico, while the government has systematically taken resources away from regular Puerto Ricans. This is intentional, meant to drive people out, since “there is a cap to what people can take—no power, no clean water, no schools, no jobs—they will effectively smoke people off the island” (279). Then, companies will move in to buy up the land cheap for themselves. Olga ends by addressing the president, hoping that he will be haunted by those who died because the US did not intervene sooner. Olga knows that this outburst is essentially the end of her wedding career.

In the taxi on the way home, Matteo calls to say that he loves her, and she feels the same.

Dick is pleased that his daughter, Victoria, is accompanying him to Puerto Rico. It is the first time she has shown interest in him since he and his wife separated. He is staying with Nick Selby, whose property is fully operational, with electricity and all, because of the solar grid he installed. Victoria works in humanitarian relief, and Dick leaves her to shadow FEMA workers. He goes to check out the facilities he has in Puerto Rico. His company considered giving away slightly damaged items that cannot be sold, but the legal team decided it was too much of a liability. Instead, they will destroy them fully to collect the insurance. Though the storm hurt Dick’s profit in the short-term, in the long term, it provides an opportunity.

Dick goes to the Selbys’ property, which looks very different from the rest of the damaged island. Nick has called together “stakeholders in the new Puerto Rico” (285). He and his brother have a plan: A new electricity contract has already been promised to the nephew of a major donor to the current president. Dick points out that they could easily put solar power in place, but Nick counters that this wouldn’t be as profitable. Puerto Ricans who can’t wait for the recovery effort will have to leave, offering more land to the Selbys’ companies. Dick isn’t convinced—doesn’t Congress have oversight of FEMA and PROMESA? Then, Nick welcomes Agent Bonilla from the FBI to tell his guests about Prieto’s family.

Olga’s business is in ruins, which she thinks is one of the best things that has ever happened to her. She negotiates a deal for Meegan to take over the business. Olga’s family praises her for speaking up. They do not realize what effect her speech on Good Morning, Later will have on her career, but she decides to not tell them. Instead, she accepts a money-laundering job from Igor. He asks her to throw a birthday party that looks like it costs $500,000. On paper, it will seem like it cost that much, but Igor’s associates will actually get $400,000 back. He offers Olga a large bag of cash in return.