Anita, is a Puerto Rican immigrant. She is the girlfriend of Bernardo and a close friend and confidante to his sister Maria. Anita's character is based loosely on Juliet's Nurse in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. The Nurse lived in the House of Capulet and was Juliet's maidservant and closest friend, and one of the few people who knew about Juliet's secret marriage to Romeo.