In the Time of the Butterflies

Dedé, Mamá, and Minerva find out that Leo is a communist when Mate reads Mamá the newspaper.

Jaimito proposed to Dedé with his mother's engagement ring.
Leo was hiding until dawn when he would leave for the Capitol.

Minerva and Dedé go play volley ball with Lio and Jaimito and while they were playing a game with other friends Dedé notices that Minerva and Lio are missing, so she hits a volleyball and it goes into a bush that they were in. Lio and Jaimito get in a fight when Lio gets hit in the head with a the volleyball that Dedé just hit because Lio thinks that Jaimito hit it.

Minerva had found the letters Lio had written her that her father had hidden from her.

Lio was seeking asylum out of the country. When he left Minerva was surprised that he didn't even say goodbye. (However, he did say goodbye, she just didn't know about it.) Lio had written Minerva several letters and Papa had hidden them from Minerva. One day Minerva went into Papa's room to lay down. She opened up his closet and found the letters in Papa's coat pocket.

Minerva caught on to a lie that Papa was telling. He wasn't really out at the farm doing business, he was at his other women's house. Minerva went to the house and crashed into Papa's house to let Papa know that she knew everything from the letters to him lying.

Minerva and Papa talk about what she found out and she asks to see Papa's other children.
He reluctantly agrees and she becomes the only sister that knows about his other daughters.

Papa, Minerva, Dede, Patria, Padrito, and Jaimito go to Trujillo's party. When they get there El Jefe's secretary tells Minerva that she will be sitting at the table El Jefe is seated at. Later that night El Jefe wants her to dance with him, as they are dancing he grabs her and starts to seductively flirt with her.
El Jefe starts to pull her into him hard and she pushes back. When he asks why she is rejecting him she slaps him across the face and Papa and the others quickly take her and leave the party.

Papa is taken to Trujillo the day after the party because El Jefe was not pleased that they left the party so soon. Guards come to the Mirabal house with intentions of taking Minerva and Papa for questioning. They end up capturing Papa and make Minerva and Mama come later for questioning to release Papa.

Papa died getting coconuts from a tree, and the sisters, especially Mate, is having a hard time with handling the fact that he is gone

Mate meets a boy named Berto and they have become close. They have shared their first kiss together.

Minerva listens to an illegal radio station to hear what is going on with the revolution.

Minerva has gotten into law school and she met this boy that she is extremely impressed by, there is a problem though, he is already engaged to another women. However, Minerva thinks she still has a chance of getting to him.

Minerva has plans on traveling a lot and having a child with her would be too much work for her so, she drops off her son at Patria's and hopes that she will take him and raise him for her, while she is out.

Patria finds out that she is pregnant again, with Noris.

Nelson (Patria's son), decides he wants to become apart of the Liberation. Patria begs him not to because she doesn't want to loose another child.

Patria went on the hill with other people and while they were there the revolution began. Things got chaotic and very violent. To protect her and her child she pushed over a statue of Virgencita and hid in the statue.

Minerva, Mate, and Patria visit Dedé in hopes of getting her to join the revolution with them. While they were discussing that matter they realized their marriages are very different from each other. FOr example Dedé doesn't "wear the pants in the relationship" so she has to run everything by her husband before she does anything. As for the other sisters they don't have to consult their husbands before making a decision.

Dedé has the want to join her sisters in the revolution, however, her husband does not want her to be any part of it.

To get her satisfaction in knowing what is going on in the fight she sneaks away while he is sleeping and listens to the illegal radio station like Minerva does.

Jaimito (Dedé's husband) takes the children to his mothers house while Dedé is at the church. When she comes home she find an empty house and rushes to find her boys. When she does find them she finds that Jaimito wants to leave her for wanting to become a Liberist.

The SIM came to Mamá's house in search for Mate so they could take her in for questioning.

The SIM took all of her Minerva's cars away since they were registered under the name of a prisoner, which was Papá,

Leandro was arrested by the SIM for being in the revolution, and the SIM also went through Patria's house looking for evidence. The SIM found the cargo they were planning on using on the grove.

Patria had to move in with Mamá since her house got destroyed and her husband was taken away.

The SIM come in search for Mate again but this time they came to arrest her.

Patria hasn't seen Minerva, Mate, or the husbands for 3 months, since they were all arrested.

Patria started to pray to a picture of El Jefe in hope that it will help bring back her sisters, their husbands, and her son.

A man named Peña came up to Patria and told her that her husband could have been real eased from jail but there was one condition. Patria asked what the condition was and he replied with," He would have to divorse his Mirabal wife." But he denied the offer.

Mate puts a note in her hair that explains everything that has happened to them in and out side of jail. She drops it on the floor after her interview with the AOS.

Mate and Minerva are in prison and they learn that prison is a hard place and is not easy nor fun to live in.
They have little to live on, such as food, and Mate has gotten sick from not having a lot to live on.

Minerva gets 3 weeks of solitary detention for being violent when the guards start to collect the crucifix from the prisoners.

Recently after Minerva had been released from jail, Minou had gotten a hold of a piece of pipe and it had sent Minerva back into thoughts of the time she had spent in jail.

Minerva was against the suggestion that they should all write a letter to Trujillo. She believes that writing him the letter would do no good, it would only be thanking him for punishing them.