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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Act 3, Preface Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Yunior and Lola are living in separate apartments in the Heights in New York.
  • They're boyfriend and girlfriend, but they aren't doing so hot. They talk about once a week.
  • Yunior keeps cheating on Lola. Oh, Yunior. You finally get the woman of your dreams, and you can't keep it in your pants? Come on.
  • While Yunior is home one week, Oscar rings his doorbell.
  • For once, Yunior seems really excited to see Oscar: "I waited for him in the hall and when he stepped out of the elevator I put the mitts on him" (3.preface.2).
  • Then Yunior starts rolling a blunt to celebrate their reunion, and Oscar agrees to smoke a little. But he doesn't want to cloud his head.
  • Oscar looks thin, but Yunior thinks he's sort of at peace.
  • So why the out-of-the-blue visit? Oscar is really there to borrow some money from Yunior. He says that he's got a line on an apartment in Brooklyn and needs some money for the deposit. (Which is a big, fat lie.)
  • Also, he tells Yunior that Lola loves him and that Yunior shouldn't have slept with that Paraguayan girl. (Which is not a lie at all.)
  • Yunior agrees.
  • Oscar says that he's got to head out; he's got a date in Paterson. (Which is also a big, fat lie.)
  • By Saturday, Oscar has left for the DR.