I read 33 pages.
"Marriage doesn't mean much to this crowd. Felicia ran off with MacGregor, oh, years ago. I guess she got bored hanging out here. Only it didn't work out. El Patron had brought her back---he doesn't like people taking his possessions---and MacGregor let him do it. Felicia was beginning to bore him.
"Mr. Alacran was very, very angry because he didn't want her back, but El Patron didn't care. Mr. Alacran doesn't talk to her anymore. He won't even look at her. She's a prisoner in the house, and the servants supply her with all the booze she can handle. Which is a lot, let me tell you." (page 124)
Celia was telling Matt how Tom was MacGregor's son, and not Mr. Alacran's. I was not expecting that at all, but I can see how the situation makes sense. It really explains why the novel makes her seem rather distant from everything and always drinking.
Chapter 11 Summary: In this chapter, the last half of the birthday party takes place. Right before the meal, Matt secretly switches Maria's name card so she is sitting next to him, and he places Tom's name card at the little kid's table. Maria is definitely not happy with Matt doing that, and tries to take away his present from her when El Patron and Matt open gifts. He demands her to give the present back, along with a birthday kiss. In this little scene, you can really tell the relation between El Patron and Matt.
Chapter 12 Summary: Tom is being mischievous again, and I believe Felicia was in on his plan, too. Felicia comes to visit Matt and tells him that Maria wants to see him. She says to go to Maria, as her father wouldn't let her go to Matt. When he arrives at the hospital, Maria says, "I don't see why I should talk to you at all." He replies with, "It was your idea." In the next paragraph, she says, "You're the one who invited me. Why couldn't you find somewhere nice? This place is creepy." Matt tells her he didn't invite her, but he does want to see her. Tom told Maria the same thing that Felicia told Matt to get them both to go to the hospital, seeing as Tom most likely asked Felicia to help. Tom makes it seem like there is a cat in danger, because he knows Maria will want to help it. Of course it wasn't actually a cat, but a clone. The clone was having a fit, shrieking and screaming, which scared Maria. Matt points out it looks like Tom, which Tom immediately denies Matt's observation.
Chapter 13 Summary: This chapter was quite eventful. We learn that Tom is actually MacGregor's son, explaining why his clone looked so much like Tom. Matt is trying to thinks of plans to get Maria to forgive him and talk to him, but he couldn't find any time when she was alone to talk to her. He has an idea that if he takes Furball, she will talk to him. Matt feeds Furball meat so he will sleep and be quiet, then sends Maria a note to meet him so he can explain everything. His plan didn't have the exact outcome as expected. Furball is dead and Matt is to be blamed, since his fingerprints were found on the laudanum bottle, even though he didn't use it. Personally, I believe Tom killed Furball, since he already put the poor dog in the toilet once, and he was torturing frogs on the lawn. Senator Mendoza bans Matt from seeing Maria. When Matt tries to explain that he didn't kill Furball, no one will believe him.
did ya know at the beginning a cow is matts daddy in law son
ReplyDeleteMatt wakes up feeling as if a boulder was resting on his chest, and the only way he could roll it off would be to learn that his fears weren't real. He decides to go to the oasis. Ignoring Tam Lin's warnings about how he doesn't need to go into the water because "the bottom was murky with unexpected depths," he goes for a swim anyways. He thinks about running away but decides not to yet. Matt decides to continue reading The History of Opium. He reads about how El Patron came up with eejits, and how they are used for fertilizer for the poppy fields when they die. I thought that was a bit strange, but understandable since it's El Patron we're talking about here. Matt stops reading, and looks through the book for a photo of Esperanza. He thinks that she looks a lot like Maria, and upon reading the description, finds that she is the ex-wife of Senator Mendoza. Matt now feels anger and hate towards Esperanza, because she left Maria to think that she was dead. He decides that he'll show Maria the photo in the book the next time she visits. El Patron begins calling Matt Felipe, which confuses Matt. Celia tells him that Felipe is El Patron's son, who died eighty years ago. Matt asks her what he should do, and she tells him to be Felipe for El Patron. Matt has a bigger desire to run away from Opium, and Tam Lin had already provided him with supplies. He knew he couldn't leave before Steven and Emilia's wedding though, because he couldn't go without seeing with Maria, which I thought was sweet.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the novel, Matt returns to Opium and takes over as the leader of that country, now that El Patrón has died.
ReplyDeleteMatt wakes up feeling as if a boulder was resting on his chest, and the only way he could roll it off would be to learn that his fears weren't real. He decides to go to the oasis. Ignoring Tam Lin's warnings about how he doesn't need to go into the water because "the bottom was murky with unexpected depths," he goes for a swim anyways. He thinks about running away but decides not to yet. Matt decides to continue reading The History of Opium. He reads about how El Patron came up with eejits, and how they are used for fertilizer for the poppy fields when they die. I thought that was a bit strange, but understandable since it's El Patron we're talking about here. Matt stops reading, and looks through the book for a photo of Esperanza. He thinks that she looks a lot like Maria, and upon reading the description, finds that she is the ex-wife of Senator Mendoza. Matt now feels anger and hate towards Esperanza, because she left Maria to think that she was dead. He decides that he'll show Maria the photo in the book the next time she visits. El Patron begins calling Matt Felipe, which confuses Matt. Celia tells him that Felipe is El Patron's son, who died eighty years ago. Matt asks her what he should do, and she tells him to be Felipe for El Patron. Matt has a bigger desire to run away from Opium, and Tam Lin had already provided him with supplies. He knew he couldn't leave before Steven and Emilia's wedding though, because he couldn't go without seeing with Maria, which I thought was sweet.
ReplyDeleteDADDYINLAWSON? WHAT KIND OF NAME IS THAT?
ReplyDeleteWhat present does Matt get for El Patron’s birthday?
ReplyDelete