The Gold of Tomás Vargas (Characters)

Characters

Conchita

See Concha Díaz

Concha Díaz

Concha Díaz is a young girl who comes to town and claims that her unborn baby is Vargas’s. Although Halabí offers to let her stay with him until her baby is born, she insists on staying with Vargas, which initially turns Vargas’s wife, Antonia, against her. For the first part of her stay, Concha avoids Antonia, who refuses to cook for her adulterous husband. As a result, Concha cooks for Vargas but only after Antonia has left for work. Concha is so lonely that she constantly cries, which drives Vargas away from the house. When Concha’s pregnancy takes a turn for the worse, Antonia and Halabí take pity on her and take Concha to the hospital for medicine.

Concha is horrified by the transformation her body undergoes during her pregnancy. Some days are so bad that she cannot even get out of bed, although on other days she feels well enough to cook and clean. Antonia’s pity turns to protectiveness, as she remembers her own pregnancies and begins to treat Concha like a daughter. Not long after the baby is born by cesarean section, Vargas tries to sleep with Concha, who still has not healed from her operation. Antonia and Concha both stand up to Vargas. This ferocious violence scares Vargas away, and from this point on, Concha becomes a new woman, taking care of the children and the house while Antonia is at work. After a while, they are in such need of money that Concha also starts working.

When Vargas returns home from his gambling match with the Lieutenant, saying that his gold is gone, neither Concha nor Antonia show any sign of dismay. After Vargas’s murder, the two women start providing for the children and even start a cookery business at home, presumably using Vargas’s buried gold to do it.

Riad Vargas Díaz

Riad Vargas Díaz is Concha Díaz’s baby, who she has with Tomás Vargas. The baby is the reason that Concha comes to Agua Santa and why she asks to live with Vargas. The baby is christened after Riad Halabí, the local storekeeper, who pays the hospital bills for the birth when Vargas refuses to pay for them.

Riad Halabí

Riad Halabí, also referred to as “the Turk” by Vargas, is the only one who Vargas respects, and so is the only one who is able to shame Vargas when he is drunk or violent. Halabí, who owns the town store, is also one of the few people who takes pity on Vargas’s estranged family. Along with the schoolteacher Inés, Halabí finds excuses to give Antonia Sierra and her children clothes, food, school supplies, and vitamins. Because his store is a popular stopping point for the National Petroleum trucks, Halabí is the first to hear Concha’s story and summon Vargas to account for Concha’s child. Halabí is a very giving person and offers to house Concha, although she ends up staying with Vargas. This transgression by Concha makes Antonia snap, and the townspeople fear that she will kill Concha in her rage. As a result, Halabí is one of two people — the schoolteacher Inés being the other — who the townspeople ask to intervene in the Vargas household when they suspect that Antonia will kill Concha.

Halabí also drives Antonia and Concha to the hospital when the girl’s pregnancy goes bad and she needs medicine. He pays for the girl’s hospital bills — since Vargas will not — when the girl needs to have a cesarean section. Because of this kindness, Concha names the baby Riad, after the storekeeper. Also, since he is so honest, Halabí is tapped to serve as judge during the gambling match between Vargas and the Lieutenant and declares the Lieutenant the winner. He helps to support Vargas when the old man is so distraught over his loss that he cannot stand up. In addition, Halabí intervenes when Vargas says the gold is gone and the Lieutenant starts kicking him as a result. Finally, after Vargas is dead and the two women have started their cookery business, they leave any extra money they have with Halabí, to give to the truck drivers.

Inés

Inés is the local schoolteacher, who teaches Antonia Sierra’s children for free, when Vargas refuses to pay for their schooling. It is Inés’s goal to make sure that no child in town is illiterate. Inés is one of two people — Riad Halabí being the other — who the townspeople ask to intervene in the Vargas household when they suspect that Antonia will kill Concha. Inés also watches after Antonia’s children for a week, when Antonia is caring for Concha following her baby’s birth.

The Lieutenant

The Lieutenant is a cocky and violent man who challenges Vargas to the fateful card match in which Vargas loses his gold. However, when the Lieutenant follows Vargas to get the gold, it is gone. The Lieutenant vows that he will get his money and shortly thereafter, Vargas is found murdered, presumably by the Lieutenant. The townspeople dislike the Lieutenant almost as much as they do Vargas because the Lieutenant beats anybody who comes into his jail and gives himself the authority to invent laws.

The Schoolteacher

See Inés

Antonia Sierra

Antonia Sierra is the wife of Tomás Vargas, who eventually stands up to her husband’s abusive ways, leading him to turn to his fateful bout with gambling. Antonia is a nearly toothless mulatto who was once beautiful, but whose beauty has faded through the many births, miscarriages, and housekeeping activities that are part of her marriage as well as from her husband’s abuse. She is still very proud, however, and never speaks out about Vargas’s treatment of her or willingly accepts charity. Her pride is shattered when she comes home from work one day and finds Concha — her husband’s pregnant concubine — sleeping in her cot.

Although she initially displays such a rage that everybody thinks she will kill Concha, Antonia eventually grows to pity the girl when her pregnancy goes bad, and Antonia remembers her own first pregnancy. Antonia arranges for Concha to be taken to the hospital for medicine, and exhibits a mother’s protectiveness when Vargas tries to sleep with the girl when she is still healing from her cesarean section operation. At this point, both Antonia and Concha stand up to Vargas, who is scared away by this ferocious display of violence.

From this point on, Vargas avoids the two women, who strike up a friendship and a partnership. While Antonia works, Concha takes care of the children and the household. Although the economic situation gets so bad that Concha eventually has to work too, it is not for long. Once Vargas is murdered because his gold was stolen and he cannot pay his gambling debts, Antonia and Concha suddenly come into a lot of money, presumably from Vargas’s stolen gold. The two women start providing for the children and even start a cookery business at home.

The Truck Driver

The National Petroleum truck driver takes pity on Concha by offering her a ride to Agua Santa after he sees her walking down the road, obviously pregnant. In general, the National Petroleum truck drivers stop by Agua Santa to gamble but, going against the city’s custom, they never show their money before they gamble. However, they honor the city’s unwritten code of ethics that says one should not play if he cannot pay.

The Turk

See Riad Halabí

Tomás Vargas

Tomás Vargas is a greedy old man who is famous for his buried gold nuggets, which he loses in a card match. However, somebody steals his gold without his knowledge and he is unable to pay his gambling debt and is murdered. Vargas buries his gold because he does not trust the new bank system or paper money, which have ruined others’ fortunes. Although he is financially rich, he is morally bankrupt and he is known throughout the town as an adulterous, abusive husband who makes his wife work and his children go without food or clothes while he enjoys the finer things in life. The only person who can shame Vargas over his behavior is Riad Halabí, the local storekeeper. Vargas’s life changes when one of his adulterous conquests, a young girl named Concha, arrives in town, and demands that he take her in. Vargas’s wife, Antonia, is outraged and speaks out for the first time at this unforgivable transgression.

Although Antonia eventually accepts responsibility for Concha, Vargas cannot do the same for their baby and when he is called upon to pay for hospital costs, he acts like he is drunk so he does not have to touch his buried gold. Vargas tries to sleep with Concha even before she has healed from her cesarian section, an act that inspires Antonia to stick up for the girl and not let Vargas get his way. Concha also threatens Vargas, by indicating she will kill his newborn baby if Vargas comes near her. Frightened by this violence, Vargas turns to gambling to restore his macho reputation.

He becomes addicted to gambling after he starts winning and makes larger and more cocky bets. After winning two hundred pesos from the Lieutenant, he brags about his win for two days. The Lieutenant calls for a second match that weekend, and the two men play for one thousand pesos. Vargas loses, and is forced to go dig up his buried gold to pay his debt. When he gets to the hiding place, however, he finds that his gold has been stolen. The Lieutenant is unsympathetic and Vargas is found murdered shortly thereafter, with nobody to mourn his passing.

Media Adaptations

• The Stories of Eva Luna was released as an audio book in 1991. It was published by Dove Books and read by Margaret Sayers Peden.