The Weight of All Things

Dolores’s army arrives in the morning. There is a cook, nurse, a man named Felix, more men, and three children. They all wear a khaki hat as a kind of uniform. Each person carries enormous loads of supplies on their backs, from bulk beans and coffee to first aid supplies. One man carries bags of coconuts, which will be used as intravenous hydration when needed. They carry rifles that they have stolen during raids on the military. The wounded members of their group are carried in hammocks attached to tree branches.

Nicolás watches their arrival, feeling tired after spending the morning doing labor for Dolores. They have already constructed a power plant, and the cook has prepared large amounts of tortillas for the group. Her children lie down near her as she works. One of the workers tunes a radio to the rebel station. A little boy wanders by Nicolás and his dog. The boy tells him that his name is Mario and he is three years old. His mother is the nurse who is preparing a table for surgery with rudimentary supplies. Nicolás and Mario watch as the nurse and doctor slice a wounded man open. Mario asks where Nicolás’s mother is, and he tells him that his mother is not here. Nicolas falls into a fantasy about his mother trying to find him but being prevented by a roadblock.

The radio disrupts Nicolás’s thoughts as it blasts a news story about the explosion at Monsignor Romero’s funeral. The newscaster mentions that over 40,000 shoes were lost in the explosion and some people collected them to sell. Tata comes out of the house to give Nicolás the belongings from his dresser because Dolores needs to use it. Nicolás notes how few items of clothing he owns, remembering that his mother was going to take him shopping in San Salvador. Tata hears the news on the radio that 35 people died, and 450 people were injured. Nicolás is dismayed to realize that the radio has given Tata the truth.

After lunch, Tata, Mario, and Nicolás are resting on the riverbank. Tata tells Nicolás that he must return to find his mother. Dolores agrees with Tata. She will arrange for Nicolás to get on a bus with two of her soldiers who have some business in a town called Tejutla. She also says that they should sleep in their cave tonight. Mario asks if he may join them because he likes the safety of a cave. Nicolás tells Tata that he saved La Virgen from the bombed Church in El Retorno. That night in the cave La Virgen radiates light and speaks to Nicolás again. She tells him not to be afraid, to be like a lamb and go forward.

The next day, two of Delores’s men, Gerardo and Elias, accompany Nicolás toward Tejutla. They intend to see Alvarado, an anesthesiologist who is going to help by providing stolen medication and anesthetics. They are also meeting someone named El Doctor Eddy who will join them at the rancho in order to train some soldiers. Nicolás and the two men follow the river east. The men carry AK47s and machetes. Nicolás carries his knife, his mother's shoe, and the statue of La Virgen. They hack through the brush, making their own path and avoiding the roads. As they walk, Nicolás fantasizes about seeing his mother. He plans to stay with her in the capital for two days and then return to his grandfather. Suddenly, they smell a stench of death and assume they must be near a dead possum. Elias goes to see what is causing the smell. He returns and solemnly states that it is not a possum, implying that it is a dead human body. 

Later they stop for lunch near Gerardo’s mother’s house, in a quiet adobe village. Gerardo invites them into his mother’s home, where he is met with joy. He has not seen his mother in two years. La Niña Tencha offers them a cold drink from a Coca-Cola freezer. She offers to make a fried chicken and asks Nicolás to catch a hen. He has to chase it for ten minutes before he can catch it. La Niña Tencha makes tortillas, beans, and coffee while frying the chicken. As she cooks, she talks about the state of life in her village. She complains that although she has four sons, she is alone and unprotected in a dangerous time. She tells Gerardo that his brother Pedro has joined the FPL and run off into the hills. Her other sons have joined the Army. She tells them that her daughter, who was five months pregnant, was killed by soldiers who left the baby on the road with her. Her baby was a boy, and La Niña Tencha remarks that he is better off dead since he would have only grown up to join an army of one kind or another.