Mama was always there though. Jose almost fell into the pool a couple of times, but every time mama was there to catch him. She was amazing.
Jose and I spent a lot of time together. We weren’t allowed to leave the house until all our homework was done, and once we were done, we would usually just play together until Papa came home anyway. We had some pretty big fights, but most of the time we got along great. We hung out together and found ways to entertain ourselves. He was my best friend.
“We all loved each other very much.” Maria paused in her storytelling.
Her eyes glimmered and her expression had turned from remembered fondness to one of melancholy.
“I’ve lost them. ... All of them.” The realization hit Maria hard, and she started breathing rapidly through her nose as she tried to control her emotions. It took all the willpower Christine had not to rush around the table between them and wrap the girl into her arms.
Finally, Maria’s breathing slowed, and she took a hurried sip of her water. The moment passed. Maria’s thoughts turned inwards as she continued her story, not noticing that more people had started paying attention.
IT WAS ABOUT A WEEK ago when we first started getting concerned about this Syndrome. There were protest marches downtown, and the news stated that the infection was in America. Mama was worried. She was on the phone almost all day, trying to reach our family members in Honduras.
The mood was different that day. When papa got home, we didn’t go out to play in the park with him. Instead we all huddled around the television, catching all the news as it was happening. We all went to bed early that night.
The next day I remember going to school, and only about half the kids were there. There were cars showing up all morning to pick up kids. After lunch, there were only a handful of kids left in class. I snuck out of school and walked over to the elementary school. It was even worse there. Even the teachers were leaving the school. I walked in and mister Jenkins, the principal – who used to be my principal as well – immediately took me to Jose’s classroom to collect him.
We walked home and met mama about halfway. She was coming to get us. I remember being scared by the look on mama’s face. We got home and watched the news until papa got home. There were riots and protests all over the world. People were scared.
We were too.
It was then that mama said, ‘No more tv.’ So, we sat at the kitchen table. After supper we stayed there. We played board games all evening. We had a lot of fun that night, and all of us laughed a lot. We forgot about the troubles in the world, until we went to bed that night. I remember hearing sirens.
That next day papa stayed home from work as well. We were glued to the television all day again. We were excited to hear about the safe zone, as we were all feeling fine. When we heard about the war between India and China, I remember Jose being worried about our neighbors. The Patel family lived a couple of houses down from us. Mister Patel always wore fancy clothes, like suits. His wife was very quiet. They had three young kids. And Mister Chung lived right across the street, with his elderly parents. Jose was asking papa if they were going to fight as well.
We all went to bed that night hoping that we would be able to go to the safe zone quickly.
But the next day, Jose woke up sick. He said his tummy hurt. He was trying to be brave, but the pain must have been bad because he was crying a lot. Mama prepared a few homemade remedies, with Eucalipto, that’s eucalyptus, and Naranjo, that’s orange leaves, but they made no difference. She ended up making a tea that helped Jose handle the pain and go to sleep.
But that evening when he had woken up, he had gotten worse. Then papa admitted that he, too, had a stomach-ache. The news on the television was that hospitals and clinics were shut down. I was getting upset. Mama tried to calm me down, but I could see that she was scared too...
Later that night I was sitting with my hermanito. I sat in a chair next to his bed and held his hand. It was so hard. Sitting there with him and seeing the pain in his eyes. He was our baby... As I looked at him, I could still see that little baby Jose. Always smiling, with those chubby cheeks!
I remember praying so hard. I asked God to give me his pain or let me trade spots with him. I stayed up a long time with him but must have fallen asleep, because I woke up the next morning in my own bed. I guess one of my parents must have carried me to bed that night.
By the next morning Jose seemed about the same. He stayed in bed all day. Papa was in pain but tried not to show it. That evening our world really started to turn upside down though. I
