Cities of the Plain

John Grady begins to repair the rundown cabin. He works long hours on the ranch and does what he can in the evenings while also raising a wild puppy. Billy visits him in January and helps him to paint the wooden door. After, they talk, and John Grady admits that he has not seen Magdalena for three weeks.

Josefina and the one-eyed maid dress Magdalena in traditional Mexican clothing. Eduardo appears at the door and dismisses the two older women until he is alone with Magdalena. When he asks, she admits that God does not reply to her prayers. He demands that she look him in the eyes, but she makes her eyes “opaque” (126) and stares through him. That night, she has an epileptic fit while with a client. Tiburcio pushes into the room and places his leather belt between her teeth. Telling the client to leave, Tiburcio stares at Magdalena’s naked, shivering body and thinks to himself that she is “nothing” (126).

John Grady talks to Mr Johnson before heading to El Paso. They discuss Mr Johnson’s experiences with drinking and violence in the past; he never married, though there was once a woman he loved. She died, like many other people he once knew. Mr Johnson admits that he misses “the old range life” (129). When John Grady reaches Juarez, he talks to the shoeshine boy again. He confirms that he plans to marry Magdalena and then heads to a bar to meet the blind piano player. John Grady explains his situation with Magdalena to the old man, asking him to take on the role of the woman’s “padrino” (131) or godfather during the wedding ceremony. The old man discusses the importance of the padrino in Mexican culture. He tells an unhappy story about a man who asked his mortal enemy to become the padrino to his son. When John Grady says that he “would die” (135) for Magdalena, the old man tells him that Eduardo is also in love with her. When John Grady mentions that the one-eyed maid has told Magdalena that she will be married, the piano player tells him that the maid is Tiburcio’s mother. The old blind piano player declines the offer to become padrino because he believes that Eduardo will inevitably kill Magdalena, and he cannot bear this responsibility.

John Grady returns to his small cabin and continues the renovation work. He brings the furniture into the cabin, which is now almost ready.

At breakfast, John Grady chats to Oren about marriage. Oren’s marriage did not end well, but he does not regret getting married. After, John Grady fetches the puppy from the barn and takes it back to his bunk room. He calls out to Billy, and they wish each other goodnight. He lays in bed and listens to the wind, reminding him of his childhood. The following day, he dresses in a new suit as Billy watches and then crosses to the house for breakfast.

John Grady meets Magdalena in Juarez for “the last time” (141). After having sex in a hotel room, they lay in bed, and John Grady tells Magdalena his life story. He tells her about his plan to get her across the border, where he has a friend waiting with the “documents necessary for her to cross” (142). They declare their love for one another again, and then she leaves. He watches her from the window and then lays on the bed.

Musicians accompany a funeral procession through the streets, headed by the blind piano player. Magdalena is riding in a taxi. The car stops to allow the procession to pass. After watching for a moment and crossing herself, Magdalena suffers an epileptic fit in the back of the cab.

Magdalena wakes up strapped to a metal table in a hospital. A nurse loosens her straps, and Magdalena exits the hospital. She wanders the streets in her thin white shirt; men speak obscenely to her, so she avoids them and walks through the city. A passing woman takes pity on Magdalena and invites the suffering girl into her home. Magdalena declines the offer, explaining that “in three days’ time the boy she loved would come to marry her” (145). Magdalena continues through the city until she returns to her home. Eduardo’s car is gone. She enters the White Lake.

Eduardo stands in a room in the White Lake in his expensive clothes while Magdalena sits on the bed in an outfit he has provided for her. He lists the many ways in which she has betrayed him. She has nothing to say in response. He accuses her of being spoiled and superstitious. She admits that she has not told John Grady about her epilepsy.

John Grady and Mac finish a game of chess. They discuss the plans for John Grady’s marriage to Magdalena. Mac gives John Grady his dead wife’s ring to use during the ceremony. He refuses to take no for an answer. John Grady accepts the gift.

Billy and John Grady take the horses into the upper hills of the plain. They talk about their visits to Mexico and their experiences as cowboys. Billy tells John Grady that he has “an outlaw heart” (150), though John Grady is surprised by this description. With the changing state of modern times, John Grady suggests that the only future for the cowboy way of life will be in Mexico. He says he is “willin to risk” (151) everything to get what he wants.

On the Sunday before Lent, Magdalena wakes early and dresses with care. Once ready, she waits. Eventually, she hears the one-eyed maid in the hallway. The maid leads her quietly through the house and uses her keys to let Magdalena into the street; at the doorway, Magdalena hands money to the old woman, but the old woman grabs her arm and begs her not to go. Magdalena wrestles away and sets out into the street, heading to where she has agreed to meet John Grady’s friend. She waits in a café and drinks coffee. Eventually, a taxi arrives outside. The driver tells her that John Grady’s friend Ramon could not come, and he claims to be Ramon’s cousin. Magdalena is reluctant to go with him, but the driver describes John Grady well enough to satisfy her. He gives her a green card with her name printed on it. They drive away together in the taxi. After a short drive, they stop beside the river. In the morning light, Magdalena sees “the smiling Tiburcio” (154) waiting for her.

John Grady wakes before dawn and goes to where he has agreed to meet Magdalena. Sitting in his truck, he waits for hours. Eventually, he grows tired of waiting and drives away.