The Weight of All Things

The Army camps on the ridge above the riverbank, keeping eyes on the people camping below. The Army assumes that anyone who flees their home must be a communist insurgent. Therefore, they will attack them in the morning. Private Jose Delgado watches the campfires burn and notes that the air smells like rain. Indeed, the rains have begun in Honduras. The water is flowing down the hills of Honduras into the river, causing it to swell in the darkness. Across the river from the huddles of people are Honduran soldiers. Their aim is to stop anyone from crossing the river into their country.

Nicolás is awoken from a dream in which the river is full and moving fast. He gets up and takes his flashlight to the river. He finds that what he saw in his dream is true. In his dream Our Lady appeared and told him not to cross at this spot but to go down river immediately. Nicolás quickly returns to awaken Tata and tells him that the river has risen. Basilio, Ursula, and Delfina wake as well. When they hear how high the river is, they know that they will not be able to cross as most of them cannot swim. Everyone agrees to move further downstream, to a spot where the river will be wider, before crossing. However, the women want to make coffee and breakfast before they go. Nicolás doesn’t know how to convince them to leave immediately without revealing his dream, so he whispers to his grandfather that La Virgen told him to leave right away. Tata convinces the others to leave before the crowd starts moving.

As their small group begins to walk downstream, they move to flatter terrain with some natural ledges carved into low hills. The sun rises, and they see that some people have already begun to cross the river where they had camped. Suddenly they are surrounded by the sound of gunfire from above. The guns go quiet almost immediately, then are replaced by two low flying helicopters firing machine guns. Basilio tells them to take cover and Tata suggests hiding under a ledge up ahead. Ursula and Delfina decide to join the masses of people trying to quickly get across the river. Nicolás, Basilio, and Tata run to hide under the ledge. From their protected vantage point they watch the massacre of families. They hear gunfire, screams, and pleas. Soon the Honduran soldiers line up along the riverbank and shoot people as they try to swim across.

Once most people have been shot, the Guardia marches through the carnage and handcuffs anyone still alive. Those are marched off with the Guardia. Nicolás, Tata, and Basilio decide to hike along at higher ground. They plan to walk south until they reach Las Vueltas, where Basilio’s employer has a factory. They walk in silence, each holding a weapon. They avoid looking at the river, for it is full of floating dead bodies. Nicolás stops and asks them to check his wound to see if it is bleeding. He is worried that he is developing a fever and an infection. Luckily, his wound is just sweaty. They are taken aback by the sound of buzzards circling above. What they find horrifies them. The buzzards are feasting on three guerrilleros’ bodies. Nicolás is so upset that he runs toward the buzzards waving his machete until they fly away. Basilio notices an M16 lying on the ground. Nicolás takes the gun and dismantles it just the way he saw the soldiers do at the garrison. When he has pulled the gun apart, he hurls the various pieces into the river. They walk on, Nicolás full of “the might of a lion, with the heart of a lamb” (235). 

In an excerpt from an El Salvadoran newspaper, dated May 25, 1999, a Dr. Nicolás de La Virgen Veras is noted as receiving the Premio Manuel Quijano Hernandez prize. This award is granted annually to a young doctor whose work aligns with Dr. Hernandez’s goals of helping the Salvadoran people. The excerpt states that Dr. Veras graduated medical school in 1996 and completed a residency specializing in trauma. Dr. Veras was accompanied by his wife, his grandfather, Basilio Fermin, and his mother’s former employers, Mr. and Mrs. Salah.