Summer of the Mariposas: Chapters 4–6

by Guadalupe García McCall
As the oldest of five sisters and the only one who can legally drive, Odilia must lead a supernatural odyssey from the Rio Grande to Mexico to return the body of a drowned man.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–22
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    “Nice,” she said, touching it gingerly.
  2. unfathomable
    impossible to come to understand
    It was unfathomable. This is stupid, I kept telling myself. Ghosts aren’t real, and they don’t give you expensive presents.
  3. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    “That’s right,” Velia said, watching me intently with fierce hazel eyes.
  4. sophisticated
    having worldly knowledge and refinement
    “I think it makes you look older,” Juanita observed. “More sophisticated.”
  5. muster
    summon up, call forth, or bring together
    I’d need all the sophistication I could muster to make us believable when we attempted to cross the bridge.
  6. brazen
    not held back by conventional ideas of behavior
    As I watched the duty officer straighten up and look at the next car, a brazen breeze picked up around us.
  7. bevy
    a large gathering of people of a particular type
    It passed through the car, dragging a small bevy of tiny brown mariposas into the car.
  8. deliberate
    think about carefully; weigh
    It felt like I deliberated our journey for hours, when in reality, we were there for only a few more seconds.
  9. vigorous
    characterized by forceful and energetic action or activity
    I reached up and gave my left ear pendant a vigorous spin and asked it for help, low enough for the girls not to hear me, “Aztec queen, Tonantzin, Holy Mother of all mankind, give me your magical assistance. Distract this man, make him forget what he has seen.”
  10. mesmerized
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    “That’s a nice pair of earrings,” the attendant said, mesmerized by the sight of the whirling argollas humming against my cheeks.
  11. emanate
    proceed or issue forth, as from a source
    “They were a gift,” I said, watching as the man squinted to avoid the glare of golden light emanating from La Llorona’s ear pendant and glinting directly into his eyes, momentarily blinding him.
  12. threshold
    a region marking a boundary
    I listened to my inner nut and sped out of the caseta, leaving behind everything that was familiar and normal and full of life and crossing over the threshold into the darkness of a dead man’s life.
  13. reminiscent
    serving to bring to mind
    The mention of our grandmother made me physically jerk in my seat—it was so reminiscent of what La Llorona had said I should do.
  14. unsolicited
    not asked for
    The more unsolicited information we provided, the more he might suspect something.
  15. promptly
    with little or no delay
    We circled around El Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe and promptly crossed ourselves at the sight of the old church.
  16. heathen
    a person who does not acknowledge your god
    We may have been wild and rebellious, but our mother wasn’t raising complete heathens.
  17. idle
    not in action or at work
    Except for the initial shock and anxiety of seeing so many sospechosos, idle young men, conspicuously posted outside prominent buildings or lounging on stone benches in the plaza, we felt confident enough to go about our business.
  18. discreet
    not easily noticeable
    He pretended to read the piece of paper as he discreetly stuffed the twenty dollars into the cuff of his long-sleeved shirt.
  19. sedate
    dignified and somber in manner or character
    I left them there, resting sedately under the shade of a tall ash tree, far off into the woods, out of sight of anyone driving by.
  20. blighted
    affected by something that prevents growth or prosperity
    As I drove out of town, I saw an ancient woman standing in a blighted field.
  21. contrite
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    After they’d had their share of the food, they slid a tray over to our end of the blanket, their faces contrite. It was their way. They were often hotheaded but also fast to regret their harsh words; this was their peace offering of sorts.
  22. shenanigan
    reckless or malicious behavior that causes annoyance
    We left the afternoon’s shenanigans far behind us as we drove farther and farther away from home.
  23. cryptic
    having a secret or hidden meaning
    “I’ve said too much. It is not for me to explain,” La Llorona whispered. She turned away and disappeared into the darkness, leaving me alone with her cryptic words.
  24. inconspicuous
    not prominent or readily noticeable
    I passed the house and inconspicuously parked next door, just in front of their neighbor’s fence, away from the lights strung on trees and all around the dead man’s yard.
  25. disillusioned
    freed from false ideas
    How could we proceed with such a different reality from the one we’d imagined? It was like our dreams were shattered. The girls looked disillusioned.
  26. stupor
    feeling of distress and disbelief when something bad happens
    “We have to get out of here. We can’t ruin her special day!” she said, shaking me out of my stupor.
  27. fester
    decay with an offensive smell
    The smell of death had been festering in the afternoon heat, and now it was unbearable.
  28. concession
    the act of yielding
    “I say we find a place to park it for the night, and by that I mean get a room somewhere,” Velia said, reaching over the front seat and touching my shoulder for a sign of concession.
  29. stifle
    conceal or hide
    “We could go back to the woods, camp out, wait until morning,” Juanita suggested as she stifled a yawn, laid her head back, and closed her eyes.
  30. frenzied
    excessively agitated
    In his excitement, the dog sniffed our clothes and licked our faces so frantically you’d think the frenzied creature had three heads.
  31. domesticate
    overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable
    As if he’d been a circus beast trained to behave like a domesticated creature, the mammoth dog left the dead man’s side and slipped out of our car through the opposite rear window.
  32. docile
    willing to be taught or led or supervised or directed
    He came around the car and sat docilely by the young man, waiting for his reward.
  33. slew
    a large number or amount or extent
    Efraín helped his grandfather carry his sister into the house with Inés and a slew of gabbing quinceañera attendants following close behind them.
  34. speculate
    talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way
    My sisters and I waited by the fence with the rest of the guests, who stood around the body speculating about Gabriel’s return.
  35. estranged
    caused to be unloved
    While everyone around us talked about the tragedy and asked themselves where he had been, the old man came back down the driveway to inspect the body of his daughter's estranged husband.
  36. heed
    pay close attention to
    I was glad the girls were heeding my advice not to embellish because at that moment nothing we could have said would have made things better for them.
  37. embellish
    add details to
    I was glad the girls were heeding my advice not to embellish because at that moment nothing we could have said would have made things better for them.
  38. prim
    exaggeratedly proper
    Inés Pérdido was sitting up primly on the edge of a cushioned chair in the parlor area directly across from the dining room next to an older woman who looked a lot like her.
  39. rosary
    a string of beads used in counting prayers
    Inés’s hands were clasped in front of her, clutching a rosary.
  40. modest
    following standards of propriety in conduct or appearance
    She had taken her pink party dress off, and was now wearing a modest black sheath that covered most of her body, except for her forearms, hands, and ankles.
Created on Tue Oct 04 15:32:28 EDT 2022 (updated Thu Feb 02 15:33:42 EST 2023)

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