I sat down on the couch and looked at my dad. He was emotional. He started speaking in Spanish, which is not like him at all. He had always scolded us for speaking Spanish. ‘We’re in America, and the language here is American.’ He would tell us. He was very conscious of it. But now he had slipped back into Spanish.
“My love, I am afraid it’s true.” He said.
“No!” My mom replied. She looked angry.
“My love, look at me.” Mama looked at him, sitting in his chair. I could see the sweat on his forehead.
“I’m so sorry, my love. But its true. Wait!” He said as mama was about to argue again. “I can not imagine our baby,” He started crying “or me, attacking you and our little girl. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen!”
“Maybe they can help at the safe zone! We should pack up immediately and try to find them!”
“No, my love. You can see it as clearly as I can. There is no cure.” Then papa really cried. He held his arms out to mama, he needed to hold her.
Mama rushed over to papa and sat on his lap and held him tight. They were both crying. I didn’t realize it, but I was also crying. They saw me and reached out to me, and I jumped up off the couch and ran over to them. I remember crying like I’ve never cried before. I remember screaming. I remember all of us saying ‘No’ over and over.
Eventually the tears ran dry. We got up and walked to Jose’s room, without saying a word. We opened the door and watched my little brother. He was asleep, but we could tell he was in pain. He looked almost as if he was having a nightmare. His body would jerk, and he kept grimacing. We watched him for a few minutes, before closing the door.
Papa and mama did not know what to do. Neither of them had the willpower to murder Jose. They decided to wait and see. Maybe a miracle would occur, and our baby would recover.
Very late that night we got our answer. I awoke when I heard mama yelling. I jumped out of bed and ran out of my room. Papa was in the hallway approaching the door to Jose’s room. He was holding himself up against the wall. He looked terrible.
As I got to Jose’s room, I could see that mama had pinned Jose on the bed.
“Help your mother.” Papa told me. I stepped around him and into Jose’s bedroom. When I saw his face, I was so shocked that I froze!
Jose’s eyes were so wide open – it looked like he was shocked about something. His mouth was wide open and snapping, trying to bite mama. His teeth were clacking together so hard, that I expected them to break off! Mama had a scratch on her left arm and her right arm was bleeding. Jose was kicking his legs, trying to dislodge mama.
“Maria!” Papa’s voice shook me out of my trance. He could see that mama needed help.
I quickly launched myself on top of Jose’s legs and pinned them down. From that position I could clearly see Jose’s face. His eyes were locked on mama, and I could see the whites of those eyes. They had turned grey!
“Jose! No!” I yelled at him, but all that did was turn his attention to me. He turned his face to me and snapped his mouth open and closed. I will never forget the sound it made.
Between the two of us, we were able to wrap Jose up in his sheet so he couldn’t move very much. On the count of three we released Jose and backed up to the door. Jose wormed his way to the edge of the bed and slipped off headfirst. His face slammed into the hardwood floor with a loud smack. We both gasped in shock, but he seemed not to notice. His eyes open impossibly wide and his mouth continuing to snap open and closed. He wanted to bite us – to hurt us.
Mama pushed me back into the hallway before retreating herself. She closed the bedroom door and took a moment to collect herself. Papa had slipped down and was sitting beside the door, his back against the wall and his legs splayed in the hallway.
Mama stood with her head resting against the wall, and I could see her forearm. A chunk of the skin and even some of the meat had been torn away. Some of it was hanging by a piece of skin.
“Mama – You’re hurt!” I said, pointing at her arm. Mama lifted her forehead off the wall and glanced at her arm. Her expression was blank. “It’s nothing, Maria.” She took a deep breath. We were silent for a few seconds, the only noise coming from Jose’s bedroom.
Papa reached up to mama’s hand and gave her a squeeze. “I don’t think he’ll be able to get out.”
Mama looked at her hand, clenched in papa’s hand, then gazed down at her husband. Her mouth started to quiver as she spoke. “Pedro. Our baby. Our beautiful, happy baby boy. He’s g–He’s gone!” and she sunk to the ground next to papa.
I crawled onto papa’s lap and we sat there for a while. The sun was coming up by the time we moved from that spot.
THE REST OF THAT DAY passed by in a daze. We got papa back in bed, and mama
