Section Two opens with a quote from La Nación about Trujillo, stating he is not a man but rather a cosmic force.
Lola writes a first person introduction to the section, describing how she did not want to return home after spending fourteen months in Santo Domingo. Lola states she does not believe in curses, that she thinks there is only life. She quits track, stops going to school, and stops talking to her friends. She also breaks up with her boyfriend Max. Lola sleeps with the father of one of her classmates, and then charges him $2000 American for it.
La Inca helps Lola prepare for her departure, reminding her of not to forget where she came from. Beli arrives one day with a flourish, looking thin and tired, and takes her home. Her mother looks Lola over and calls her ugly in Spanish; Lola feels her fourteen months away from her have vanished.
Looking back, now in her own role as mother, Lola sees that her mother did the best she could, even though at the end all she would do was sob for Oscar. Lola thinks she should have run once she got back to the states, but she realized that “the only way out is in” which is why the stories told in by her and Yunior are written out here.
Then Lola’s ex-boyfriend Max dies in a jaywalking accident. Lola gives his family the $2000 she was saving to run away with. Lola is crying when she leaves DR on the plane, and claims she does not stop until she meets “you” (Yunior).
Analysis
The opening quote of the section likens Trujillo to a cosmic force—again we remember that Trujillo in the novel is more than just a man, and that he has the ability to exert power beyond human nature.
The point of view in this section is Lola’s first person perspective. Lola states her disbelief in curses. In her narration Lola never lets on that she believes in the family curse (although her use of the three azabaches around her daughter’s neck later in the book may be proof of belief). Lola feels she has the power to choose whether she can believe the curse will get her, and she chooses instead to believe that what "got" her was life.
Lola’s use of her sexuality as a means of escape appears again in this section, when she prostitutes herself to an older man so she can make $2000. The $2000 was supposed to go towards her escape from her mother once they go back to the United States. However, after Lola gives the money away, she realizes that escape needs to happen in an internal way rather than through an external journey.
