Doña Margarita gets an inkling that Salvador is up to no good when she sees him meet Archie at the back door. Then, shortly before the wedding when Salvador is outside drinking with friends, one of the men he tried to borrow money from when he was penniless shows up with his two sons and a prize goat. He tries to give Salvador the goat as a wedding present, but Salvador shoots the goat and tells them to leave, that he hasn’t forgotten that the man lied to him when he needed help. The man says he won’t forget Salvador’s actions and leaves.

After this Doña Margarita forces Salvador to speak with her in private. He tells her he hates other Mexicans for failing him and failing to stick up for themselves, and she warns him that his marriage will fail if he has hatred in his heart. She says if he can hate his Mexican brethren, then he could also grow to hate Lupe, or his children, or her, since they are all Mexican. She tells Salvador that he is “all the bad things” that Don Pío, whom Salvador worships, “fought so hard to overcome” (473).