The House of the Scorpion

For the rest of the day, Matt drifts from group to group, listening to conversations to gather information. He learns that the Keepers are in charge of caring for the orphans, known as the Lost Boys. The boys refer to Opium as “Dreamland” and tell stories about the zombies and vampires that live there. While many believe their parents actually made it through Opium to the United States and will send for them, Matt knows the Farm Patrol is too efficient for that to be possible. Matt feels bad for Fidelito and helps him complete his work. When the guards bring in lunch, the boys recite the principles of citizenship before eating. Matt switches to a new job, and Chacho tells him to enjoy it while he can, as Keepers only let the boys do one job once they settle in.

Matt asks about the piece of wood Chacho was working on. Chacho hesitantly shares that he is making a guitar. Chacho believes that his father, who plays the guitar, is living a wealthy life in the United States and will soon send for Chacho. At dinner, the same ritual from lunchtime is repeated. The boys then bring out their mattresses to sleep. They use a communal shower, where Matt hides the writing on the sole of his foot.

Raul tells the boys a bedtime story about a five-legged horse. In the story, the fifth leg is individualism and does whatever it wants. This makes the horse fall over repeatedly until a vet cuts the fifth leg off. Raul explains that a horse, like society, runs fine on four legs and is ruined by individualism. Matt asks why they don’t just put a computer chip into the horse’s brain, suggesting they turn the horse into an eejit. Raul is horrified, but Matt insists that there is no difference between making the horse a zombie and removing its fifth leg, implying that the boys are treated no different from eejits. Now angry, Raul calls Matt an aristocrat who needs to be educated. When Raul leaves, the boys congratulate Matt for bravely standing up to him. Matt doesn’t understand why speaking his mind is brave and decides that he has to be careful. He tries to make sense of the information he has gained about this new world. An aristocrat is the lowest form of life, a crot is a curse word that means an eejit, and a zombie is a clean word for eejit. Matt misses Celia and Tam Lin terribly but feels better when he thinks of reuniting with María. He basks in the approval of his new friends, something he never had before.

The next morning, Raul gives the boys an inspirational talk about how aristocrats seem attractive on the surface but are vile on the inside. Afterwards, Matt is put to work measuring pills with the younger children with double their quota to teach him the “value of labor” (277). Matt isn’t worried because he believes he will leave for the convent as soon as they reach San Luis. Raul takes Chacho, Fidelito, and Matt to a hovercraft heading for San Luis. He tells them that though the work will be harder, they will receive full citizenship when they turn 18. The boys make sandals while they travel. When Fidelito warns of his motion sickness, Matt gives Fidelito a bag of plastic strips to vomit into.

When the hovercraft lands, the boys are overwhelmed by the stench of rotting fish in the hot sun and vomit. They stumble past white hills and red pools into the nearest building, where young boys are fishing in large tanks. The boys direct them to a Keeper who recognizes Matt as the aristocrat. He warns Matt that if he causes any trouble, he will be sent to a place called “the boneyard.” A Keeper named Carlos teaches them how to fish plankton out of the tanks, speaking highly of its potential. Matt’s heart sinks when he sees the high security fences, realizing he can’t leave until he turns 18. When he asks Carlos where San Luis is, Carlos refuses to answer. Carlos shows the boys the salt mountains that the boys will harvest after the plankton.

At lunch, the boys seem miserable as they eat plankton. Carlos scolds them for being thankless—millions of people once died of starvation while aristocrats feasted. Now, everything is shared equally in Aztlán. In the distance, Matt spots the dried Gulf of California. Carlos explains that Aztlán diverted the water from the Colorado River because it was so polluted, but the water ran out when they harvested the gulf for plankton. Matt, Chacho, and Fidelito are tasked with tending the plankton tanks. Matt notices that the tanks head to a distant channel and asks Chacho and Fidelito if they can swim. Fidelio shares that his grandmother taught him to swim. He and his grandmother lived by the sea until a hurricane destroyed their village. After moving to a refugee camp, his grandmother became so sick that she had to be force-fed. When Matt doesn’t understand why they couldn’t return home, Chacho explains that they locked her up to help her. Astounded, Matt wonders if all of Aztlán is this corrupt. Carlos scolds them for wasting time. He tells the boys to start walking back before dark. When Matt asks if Fidelito can ride in the cart, Carlos insists they all have to walk to be equal. Matt argues that Carlos is riding in it. Carlos explains that he earned it and decides that the boys won’t have dinner.

Matt asks Chacho why everyone calls him an aristocrat. Chacho explains that it is because of Matt’s manners and the way that he thinks. At dinner, Matt feels sorry for Fidelito, who is too skinny to survive without a meal. Chacho stares at a nervous-looking boy until he gives half his food and makes sure Fidelito eats extra. That night, a Keeper named Jorge tells a bedtime story about keeping the mind clean, just like the body. All the workers chant, “It’s good to be clean” (289). When Jorge asks Matt how one can keep their mind clean, Matt answers that using one’s mind keeps it clean from germs. The boys tense as Jorge smiles. Matt realizes he has been set up to give the wrong answer.

Jorge declares that diseased opinions have to be cleaned with self-criticism and asks the boys to demonstrate. Ton-Ton, a boy with an acne-riddled face, volunteers and confesses to thinking about stealing food. When Jorge asks how he should be punished for having thoughts “contradictory to the general good of the people” (291), Ton-Ton answers that he has to recite the “Five Principles of Good Citizenship” and the “Four Attitudes Leading to Right-Mindfulness” (291). One by one, the rest of the boys stand to confess their odd crimes before repeating the principles as punishment. When Jorge finally demands that Matt confess his crimes, Matt responds that he has done nothing wrong.

Gasps fill the room as Jorge reminds Matt of his mistakes, including the idea to put computer chips into horses, letting Fidelito vomit into a bag of plastic strips, and inciting Chacho and Fidelito to take a break. When Fidelito admits that he is the one who vomited, Matt quickly says that he gave Fidelito the bag. Jorge tells Fidelito that he has been led astray by the aristocrat and asks the boys to show Matt the error in his ways. Every single boy, except for Chacho and Fidelito, insults Matt’s aristocratic behavior. Matt is deeply hurt. He remembers Celia’s, Tam Lin’s, María’s, and even El Patrón’s kind and encouraging words. Filled with a new determination, Matt realizes he is not alone. Everyone leaves except for Chacho and Fidelito. Matt realizes that as long as he has his friends, he will triumph just as El Patrón did over poverty and death long ago.

Over time, working at the plankton factory paralyzes Matt’s sense of smell and taste. When the plankton growing cycle ends, Ton-Ton brings out a huge harvester and empties the tanks while Matt refills them using a pipe from the Gulf of California. The boys look through the fence to see that the channel was once as wide as the sea. Matt examines the fence for weak spots to possibly escape. Chacho points out something large and white in the distance before the boys investigate. The two find a chasm full of bones, some huge and some resembling human skulls. Fidelito shares that the large bones are beached whales. Matt wonders how the whales died in the chasm, and the boys decide it is too dangerous to explore.

Every night, Jorge tells a bedtime story and asks the boys to confess their sins and verbally insult Matt. The insults hurt Matt less over time. Though Matt refuses to confess, Chacho and Fidelito decided to avoid trouble and satisfy the Keeper. The night after the walk to the whale pit, Matt still refuses to confess, even though all he has to do is confess something small. Jorge decides that Matt needs “further education” before calling on Ton-Ton. The Keeper accuses Ton-Ton of stealing a holo-game from the Keepers. Matt realizes that the Keepers have things that the others don’t but remains quiet. Jorge asks the boys how he should be punished for sneaking around and taking things that others don’t have. He then tells the story of how worker bees kill a bee that steals.

Matt is shocked by the suggestion but relaxes when Jorge says that they won’t go that far. Murder was casual in Opium, but he wasn’t sure what the rules are in Aztlán. Matt realizes that the purpose of Ton-Ton’s punishment is to frighten Matt, just as El Patrón used to do. Jorge beats Ton-Ton with a cane until he is led to the infirmary. Jorge then turns to Matt, declaring that the aristocrat has understood the lesson. When he asks Matt to confess, Matt yet again refuses to answer because not even the most obedient boys are safe from punishment. Jorge explains that some boys need to be broken before they learn to do what they are told. When an angry Jorge reaches for the cane, Fidelito panics and starts confessing for Matt. Jorge points out that since Matt has turned Fidelito into his lackey, Fidelito must be punished. Matt finally confesses to a sin and silently endures a beating. The boys flock to Matt after Jorge leaves. One says that Jorge has crossed the line and that he will report him to Keeper headquarters when he leaves. Matt has proved he is one of them and not just a proud aristocrat. They help Matt to the infirmary, where he is given laudanum. Matt worries he might turn into a zombie like Felicia or die like Furball.