The House of Broken Angels

On the way to the funeral, Big Angel has a flashback to a man he killed with a club. He shudders. He is complaining about being late again, and the family has stopped caring. Meanwhile, Perla’s son Yndio parks his car outside the funeral home and watches his family come and go, refusing to go inside. He sees his Uncle Caesar and Caesar’s wife, Paz. The family files into the elaborately decorated funeral home, Little Angel settling beside his siblings, MaryLú and Caesar. The preacher enters and begins belting a sermon about guilt and sin and purging oneself of television. Big Angel makes his appearance, rolling slowly down the center aisle like a celebrity and waving at his young nieces and nephews. He reflects on his belief that he will survive this cancer, somehow—with herbs and supplements and sheer force of will. He feels he will live forever. He reads from his gratitude diary, which his friend Dave gave him and encouraged him to write in. As the funeral ends, Big Angel makes a joke his grandchildren don’t understand.