Cajas de Carton

In "Death Forgiven," Jimenez describes his relationship with a parrot that a fellow migrant laborer smuggled into California from Mexico. The parrot is named El Perico, the Spanish word for parrot, and he is considered a part of the family. The bird allows Jimenez to kiss its head and flies freely around the garage where the family lives while they work picking grapes in a vineyard. El Perico is friends with Catarina, a young spotted cat owned by a neighboring Mexican couple named Chico and Pilar. The bird and the cat even eat from the same plate.

One day, El Perico becomes upset when Catarina does not visit with Pilar and Chico, and he begins to squawk and scream loudly. Papa, who is exhausted from work and hates loud noises, becomes enraged at the bird, and before anyone can stop him he picks up a nearby broom and swats at El Perico. He makes contact and El Perico falls dead to the garage floor. Jimenez, Mama, and Roberto begin to sob. Devastated at the death of his pet, Jimenez runs out the garage door to a nearby storage shed, where he sobs and prays for El Perico's soul, and the soul of his father.