Free Saving the World by Julia Álvarez Page A

buts, and worse-case scenarios popping up. And Richard doesn’t really want Alma to think about it. He wants her to say yes.
    He leans forward, takes her wineglass, sets it down, then cups her face in his hands. Those strange blue eyes that will never seem totally real look softly down into hers. It always shocks her to find a mother’s cherishing gaze on Richard’s face. Something she never knew from her own mother, and which she never thought could come from a man. He kisses each eye closed, then tenderly kisses her mouth. Maybe he, too, has been reading the glossy magazines at the dentist’s office. “How to Make Your Wife Happy.” “How to Get Her to Say Yes to Your Fantasies.”
    Richard gives her the specifics. “HI’s been selected by this company, Swan, to help them with a sustainable project in the central mountains of the Dominican Republic. It’s totally off the grid,” Richardsays excitedly, as if not being able to run a hair dryer or toast a bagel were attractive features of the assignment. “No electricity. Solar panels and wind power.” He anticipates her objections. “Enough to work a pump and lights and a few other necessaries. I mean, no one, not Lavinia, not Mario Whateverhisnameis, could get to you there.”
    Alma wishes Richard had not brought up her nemesis. Still, it does cross her mind that this would be a chance to prove how authentically Latina she is: up on a mountainside working with poor campesinos. How to live your life as a reaction to other people’s projections on you. Alma shudders. It sounds like childhood all over again.
    â€œIt’s a chance to save those mountains and communities,” Richard goes on. HI will be working with a cooperative of campesinos in establishing the first eco-agricultural center in the country. “Swan’s already opened a clinic there, up and running. It’s a happening place. A real chance to make a difference.” In addition to its ongoing team of consultants, HI will provide on-site management for the first phase of the green center. “That’s where I come in,” Richard adds. These projects always sound so good. Like descriptions of apartments in rental ads:
French doors,
which end up being tacky sliding panels that let in the wind midwinter;
quaint alcove off kitchen,
which means a closet has been converted into an extra room you will be charged for.
    â€œWhy doesn’t HI hire a Dominican manager? Use local talent?”
    Richard is nodding so vigorously that even though he hasn’t spoken a word, Alma feels interrupted. Of course, he agrees with her! He was the one who introduced her to this whole eco-agri-social-justice-sustainable green movement, which is the raison d’être of HI. Before Richard, Alma always thought of conservationists as a fringe group who had never fully recovered from having gone to summer camp as kids.
    â€œYou’re absolutely right!” Richard concludes when Alma falls silent. “That’s exactly what HI suggested. But remember, this kind of ecomanagement is a new concept. It needs to be modeled. That’s why there’ll be a local intern … and then me.”
    He has already in effect chosen this mission. For Alma to try to dissuade him would be to put a pinprick in his balloon. To shipwreck his expedition. He has to go and play out his dream. Who would he become if she cuts off his wings? Who would she have to be to do such a thing?
    â€œWhen you say ‘off the grid,’ how off the grid do you mean—a hut, a dirt floor?” She has seen poverty back home and it is not a pretty thing. “How about medical care? What if you get AIDS?”
    The look of incredulity on Richard’s face almost makes her laugh out loud with relief. He could not be that good an actor.
    â€œWhy would I get AIDS? You mean from being in a third-world country?” He makes quote marks with his fingers. It is