The House of the Scorpion

Matt wakes up the next morning feeling feverish. Though he wants to ask about his theories, he knows Celia would be too afraid to answer and Tam Lin might confirm his fears. After breakfast and a hot shower, his mood lightens. Now that he is an adult, Matt feels adventurous. He rides to the oasis for a swim. He realizes that there is nothing stopping him from climbing the mountains and heading south to Aztlán. However, he knows he can’t live without Celia, Tam Lin, and María. Matt’s spirits rise considering the possibilities and knows he doesn’t have to make the decision yet. He has time to plan an escape carefully.

Matt continues reading Esperanza’s book. When El Patrón needed workers for his opium fields, he created the Farm Patrol to capture illegal immigrants and turn them into eejits. Esperanza admits that on the surface, it seems humane because the eejits are unaware of suffering. However, she believes eejit souls are sold to the devil—their bodies are plowed into fertilizer until they become the roots of Opium. Unable to read anymore, Matt turns to the picture of Esperanza and is shocked to see her resemblance to María. The blurb reveals that Esperanza is indeed Senator Mendoza’s ex-wife and María’s long-lost mother. Matt decides that he must tell María when she attends Steven and Emilia’s upcoming wedding.

Matt comes down with a terrible stomach flu that night and attributes it to swimming in the oasis. Tam Lin observes that Matt’s breath smells like garlic and tells Celia that he warned her not to try this. Though Celia promises she will get the dosage right next time, Tam Lin tells her that she is ruining their plan. Upon recovering, Matt resumes spending days at El Patrón’s side. The old man’s memories continue to fog, as he starts calling Matt by the name Felipe. When El Patrón speaks nonsense about building an arbor around a desert pool, Matt realizes he is talking about the oasis. Wandering into older memories, El Patrón rambles about the estate that inspired his own, and the death of his siblings. Celia explains to a confused Matt that Felipe is El Patrón’s son who died over 80 years ago. Matt worries that if El Patrón’s mind continues to deteriorate, he will need more fetal implants from another clone. Over time, Matt’s desire to escape increases. Though he knows he can escape to Aztlán using the chest Tam Lin left for him, he refuses to leave before seeing María one last time.

The mansion is full of activity in preparation for the wedding. Everyone knew that Steven and Emilia were to marry, as El Patrón decided it long ago in order to connect his family to that of a powerful United States senator. Steven and Emilia are lucky that they get along, unlike Steven’s older brother Benito and his wife Fani. Matt feels strangely tired and isolated—Tam Lin is shut away with the sickly El Patrón while Celia is busy preparing food for guests. MacGregor arrives with his seventh wife, and Felicia drinks heavily. Matt watches from afar, knowing he can never be a part of the crowd like a human.

Emilia arrives with a train of eejit flower girls and María behind her. María heads straight to the music room to meet Matt. She has missed him, and her convent is awfully boring. She gets into trouble for breaking the rules, and students are forbidden from watching television because it is bad for their souls. When Matt reminds her of his lack of a soul, María shares that she believes everyone, even animals and clones, have souls. Matt shares his recent adventures, including his visit to the eejit pens, meeting the Farm Patrol, and El Patrón’s heart attack. Matt asks María if she knows that clones are used for organs. Though María starts to cry, Matt reassures her that El Patrón doesn’t plan to kill him and he will help run the estate one day. María shares that El Patrón has arranged her marriage to Tom, and Matt is outraged. María believes she can change Tom with patience and love.

Matt shows María her mother’s book. María is shaken that her mother has been alive all this time and never tried to contact her. Matt tells her that El Patrón would never allow it after the things Esperanza wrote about Opium. Since Aztlán hates Opium, it is possible that Esperanza can come to the convent and rescue María. As María gets up to leave, she kisses Matt on the cheek, and he kisses her back. Matt watches the wedding through a peephole in the spy room. When the family gathers at the altar, Matt marvels at the family—Benito is stupid, Tom is evil, and Fani is drunk. A bodyguard suddenly shouts about El Patrón as the old man clutches his heart and tips over. Mr. Alacrán yells for help as Tam Lin carries him away with doctors in tow. Steven and Emilia are soon left alone at the altar.

In the secret passage, Matt is conflicted and unsure what he should do. Though he loves El Patrón, he fears the possibility that El Patrón needs clones for organ transplants. He remembers Celia’s orders to find her if anything should go wrong. He realizes then that Tam Lin left him camping supplies at the oasis should he ever need to escape. Tam Lin and Celia always knew that El Patrón meant to use Matt for transplants. Still, Matt worries that if El Patrón does love him, he will be abandoning him in his time of need. He thinks of El Patrón’s love for ancient Chaldean tombs, which were filled with clothes, food, horses, soldiers, and servants. Matt is still confused about what to do when María finds him. When she shares that the bodyguards are looking for him, he is certain that El Patrón needs his organs. María brings a message that Tam Lin wants Matt to hide for now. Matt can’t help but love the old man and asks how he is doing. Shocked, María tells Matt he should pray that El Patrón dies. María asks Matt to wait until dark, when she will sneak him into her family’s hovercraft disguised as an eejit.

Matt sleeps in the passage that night before wandering around. María arrives with a bottle of water. El Patrón is doing better, but the old man needs a new heart to survive, and only Matt can provide it. Shaken by the statement, Matt says that El Patrón loves him. María impatiently tells him that El Patrón only loves what Matt can do for him before handing him an eejit uniform. They make their way through the passage until they reach a stretch without peepholes. María shines her flashlight on a red scorpion on the wall, which Tam Lin instructed was a way out. El Patrón created the passage not only to spy on people, but also to escape from enemies. The scorpion opens to the exit if El Patrón touches it but fills the passage with poisonous gas if anyone else does. Tam Lin hopes that since Matt’s DNA is a copy of El Patrón’s, he will be able to open the door. María promises to stay with him, and the two profess their love.

Fortunately, the passage opens with Matt’s touch. They make their way down the tunnel to another scorpion, which opens a door to the hovercraft landing. The pilot asks if María has a permit for her eejit, as they aren’t welcome in Aztlán. Emilia arrives with Steven and a pair of bodyguards to say goodbye. Emilia warns María against taking the eejit, mocking her desire to rescue a clone as her latest charity project. Steven tears off Matt’s hat and blames him of getting María into trouble and exploiting her. When Emilia accuses María of being like their mother, María is shocked that Emilia knows that Esperanza is alive. Steven interjects, ordering the bodyguards to take Matt to the hospital. By law, Matt is nothing but livestock because he was harvested from a cow. Matt realizes that Steven and Emilia are his enemies after all as the bodyguards grab him. María cries and protests as she is dragged away.