La Reina del Sur / The Queen of the South

Son el tel fono y supo que la iban a matar. Lo supo con tanta certeza que se qued inm vil, la cuchilla en alto, el cabello pegado a la cara entre el vapor del agua caliente que goteaba en los azulejos. Bip-bip. Se qued muy quieta, conteniendo el aliento como si la inmovilidad o el silencio pudieran cambiar el curso de lo que ya hab a ocurrido. Bip-bip. Estaba en la ba era, depil ndose la pierna derecha, el agua jabonosa por la cintura, y su piel desnuda se eriz igual que si acabara de reventar el grifo del agua fr a. Bip-bip. En el est reo del dormitorio, los Tigres del Norte cantaban historias de Camelia la Tejana. La traici n y el contrabando, dec an, son cosas compartidas. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION The phone rang and she knew they were going to kill her. The certainty of it kept her motionless, blade high in the air, hair stuck to her face, a cloud of steam and drops of water cursing down the tiles. Blip, blip. Frozen, she held her breath as if the stillness, or the silence, could somehow change the course of the past. Blip, blip. She was sitting in the bathtub, in the middle of shaving her right leg, soapy water rising to her waist, her flesh full of goose-bumps the warm water did nothing to ease. Blip, blip. In her bedroom, the stereo blasted Los Tigres del Norte singing Camelia la Tejana -betrayal and contraband, they said, are like oil and vinegar. So begins a journey that will transform this innocent barrio beauty into a woman who is tough and powerful enough to write her own rules."