Signs Preceding the End of the World

A soldier at the military base tells Makina to wait as he summons the man she is looking for. A few moments later, he arrives. It is her brother, dressed in a military uniform. Her brother’s appearance has changed in some ways, but he is unmistakable. They walk together to a courtyard.  

Makina’s brother tells his story. After finding that their father had no land, he wandered from place to place until he met the old woman who fed him and helped strengthen him until he met the Anglo woman who “had come offering the earth itself for his assistance” (87). She spoke Latin and introduced him to her family. His job was to take the place of their teenage son who had recklessly enlisted in the army to prove himself. He was to be deployed shortly. The deal was that if Makina’s brother made it back alive, they would pay him a large sum of money and he could keep the son’s identity. If he did not make it back alive, they would send the money to Makina’s family. Makina’s brother spent the days before his deployment practicing Anglo; the Anglo family took good care of him.