How to Leave Hialeah, a book written by Jennine Capó Crucet, is a mix of stories based on her experiences as a Cuban American as well as stories of those around her. “Men Who Punched Me in the Face,” one of the short stories that is included in the book, follows Sandra Ortiz’s journey with the men in her life she got in relationships with. Each is a different story with the same ending. We see how her first love affects the outcome of the rest of her relationships, and how what she needs isn’t what she wants because it lacks familiarity.
Her first love, Vick the Dick or Victor, set the standards for the relationships to come. He had her mother’s approval and her grandma’s, so Sandra did anything and everything to keep him. She even stayed after the first slap since he was her first everything. He moved away for school and that ended. Then came the incident with Carl and Manny, Manny being the version of love she needed but wasn’t “aggressive enough” and Carl the type who left a bruise on her face that night. Soon after came Rudy, the one she was about to marry, but lies and holes prevented that—saved her even—and light was shed to her family about the life behind walls with Rudy. Then she got married to a man who never hit her except for that one time in the beginning, but he was a good guy and she stayed because it was only that one time.
“Men Who Punched Me in the Face” is the story of a victim who finds herself in a repeating loop of being involved with men who hurt her and struggling to get out. It shows Sandra going through relationships where she stays, dealing with the abuse and excuses and actively preferring these relationships because she doesn’t know how she is supposed to be treated. Each scenario with these men is a scenario many women go through and can relate to a certain extent. I believe anyone should read this because of how well a real-world problem is translated into the story.
Get the book! For Hispanic Heritage Month, some members of the BMCC Reads team are reading stories from How to Leave Hialeah by Jennine Capó Crucet and sharing their thoughts. You can read stories in the book yourself in BMCC’s e-book collection—use your CUNYfirst ID to log in and start reading! Print copies are also available at BMCC’s Library.
About the author Mj is a lover of psychological thrillers, young adult fiction, and poetry and a psychology major at BMCC.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
