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Woman Hollering Creek

       Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954. Cisneros wrote the book Woman Hollering Creek. This story is about a woman, who thought love was like in the telenovelas (soap operas). Cleofilas Enriqueta DeLeon Hernandez married Juan Pedro Martinez Sanchez. He worked in a beer company, or it was maybe a tire company. DeLeon Hernandez had six brothers, and a father named Don Serafin. They lived in Mexico. DeLeon Hernandez, and her husband moved to the United States after they married. Before she moved with her husband, her father told her “I am your father, I will never abandon you” (458). In the town where she grew up, there was not much to do. People played cards with friends, family, or watched the latest telenovelas’s episode. She watched her favorite telenovela, “Tu o nadie” (“You or no one”).The actress was Lucia Mendez. Mendez was beautiful according to DeLeon Hernandez. DeLeon Hernandez imagined having a boyfriend like Mendez had in the telenovela. In the town where DeLeon Hernandez moved with her husband there was an arroyo (creek) that divided the town, she heard a tale about the creek. According to the natives of the town, sometimes a woman appeared hollering at the end of the creek. Natives said that maybe she was angered or in pain. They called her “Woman Hollering.” DeLeon Hernandez laughed about that story and she said, “Such a funny name for a creek so pretty and full of happily ever after” (461). DeLeon Hernandez had two neighbors, Soledad and Dolores. Soledad, called herself a widow. She didn’t talk about her husband, and no one knew what happened to him. Dolores was a very sweet lady, her house always smelled like incense. In her house, she had lighted candles, an altar in memory of her two sons, and her husband. DeLeon Hernandez’s husband beat her sometimes, and she never said anything. She thought it was her fault. She said to herself, “This is the man I have waited my whole life for.” “He didn’t look like the men on the telenovelas” (462). Sometimes, she thought about going back to her father’s house, but she worried about the towns’ gossips. One day, her husband beat her badly and for that reason she went to the doctor. Graciela, who worked in the doctor’s office, made a call to her friend Felice. Graciela told her there was a patient, who had a problem. Graciela was ready to do a sonogram on DeLeon Hernandez. She noticed that the patient had blue marks all over her body, and was pregnant. Graciela asked Felice if she could drive DeLeon Hernandez to the bus station, so DeLeon Hernandez could go back to Mexico. The next day, Felice gave a ride to DeLeon Hernandez. When they crossed the arroyo, Felice yelled very loud because of the name “Woman Hollering Creek.” DeLeon Hernandez went back to Mexico with her father and brothers.