30 The Day Everything Changed
“How was your trip?” Dr. Sam asked as they walked in carrying the groceries. Dante had hidden her jacket in the tool shed as they’d driven in.
“It was fun,” Spinny said.
“Yes? Anything exciting happen?”
“We saw the fountain,” Rand said.
He looked at them, still unable to discern what they were up to.
“Okay. You saw a fountain. Anything else?”
“Lots of tourists,” Spinny said.
“We went into some stores,” Dante said. “There were some nice things.” Dante handed him the truck keys. “Thank you for letting us use the truck.”
“You’re welcome. Now that you’re all bonded, will you all go out and help Epic and Mia pick cherries?”
“Yes, sir,” Dante said.
“Love to,” Rand said.
He shook his head as they walked away. “What are you ladies up to?” he said to himself.
Spurred on by the excitement and profit of their first gold exchange, the trio went back to their mining with even more gusto. Within a few days they had as much gold as they had taken on their first trip to Cuzco.
Dr. Sam noticed that they were coming in dirtier than usual, but they just told him they were spending more time hiking. He began to suspect that they were looking for gold, but still he didn’t say anything. He respected the youths’ privacy, and he figured they’d tell him what they were up to when they were ready.
As the anniversary celebration grew closer, Dante printed out a picture of the X-ray machine and arranged it in a frame that had once held a picture of her. The girls were excited to present it to him. It was decided that Rand, since it was her power that had found the gold, would present it to the doctor. Even though it had been Dante’s idea to make the gift a surprise, she was by far the most excited of the three, and it was all she could do to not tell the others about the X-ray machine and their gold mine.
The day before the party, Dr. Sam, Mia, Socrates, Epic, and Rand were all together in the kitchen preparing for the upcoming celebration. Plato, as usual, was at their feet, hoping for the occasional offering that fell to the floor. The mood was festive and joyful, in anticipation of the upcoming event.
Mia had baked four chocolate sheet cakes and had made three full trays of her specialty, chocolate-dipped fruit—strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and grapes.
With his usual wisdom, Dr. Sam had encouraged the youths to understand a wide variety of vegetation but had also encouraged them to become an expert on a few specific ones. Mia had become proficient in cacao, which had started with caring for the six cacao trees, harvesting the beans, and making the chocolate liquor with cocoa butter and solids, which she then made into cocoa powder.
After several years, she had become the resident expert on all things chocolate, including her own dipped chocolates, which were a colony favorite and were enjoyed at all celebrations, especially the family birthday party, which they held on the same day each year.
“As usual, your chocolate is truly splendid,” Dr. Sam said, popping one of her chocolates into his mouth.
“Thank you,” Mia said. “It’s all in the proper fermenting and roasting of the cocoa nibs.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Dr. Sam replied.
“I should have chosen cacao,” Rand said. “No one loves you if you grow squash.”
“I love you,” Dr. Sam said.
“As much as you love Mia?”
He stuck a finger into the bowl of chocolate frosting Mia had made, then licked it off. “No. Probably not,” he joked.
Rand just shook her head.
“Get down, Plato,” Mia said. “Dogs can’t have chocolate. It’s poisonous.”
“Is that true?” Rand asked.
“It’s true,” Socrates said. “Chocolate is toxic to most dogs because they are unable to metabolize the theobromine and, to some extent, the caffeine it contains. Grapes are also toxic to dogs and can result in sudden kidney failure and death. This is because of their inability to metabolize tannins, flavonoids, and the monosaccharides in grapes.”
“Jeez,” Rand said. “Don’t let him get one of your chocolate-covered grapes.” Then she added, “No one ever dies from squash.”
“That’s because no one ever eats it,” Epic said.
Rand threw a cut piece of squash at her.
“Come here, Plato,” Dr. Sam said. “Have a carrot.” Dr. Sam was chopping carrots for his self-proclaimed “world-famous” fried rice. Famous or not, it was also a colony favorite. This was going to be a feast unlike anything the town had seen before.
Just then Franklin ran into the room. “Doctor!”
Dr. Sam looked over. “What’s up?”
“There are soldiers coming up the road.”
Dr. Sam put down his knife. “Are they Peruvian soldiers or Shining Path guerillas?”
“They have the Shining Path badge.”
The doctor’s brow furrowed. “How many are there?”
“About fifty.”
“How far away are they?”
“Two hundred meters. What should we do?”
Dr. Sam thought quickly. “Rand, get Paul, Dante, Horse, Sart, and Neech. Everyone else, I want you to hide up in the hills like we talked about.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Mia said.
“None of us are leaving,” Socrates said. “You’ve always said we stick together.”
“This is different. These soldiers are not rational. And they have guns. Where are they, Franklin?”
“They’re coming up the drive. Some are spreading out on the sides.”
“That’s not good,” Dr. Sam said.
Paul and Sart walked in, followed by others he hadn’t asked to come.
“What’s going on?” Paul asked.
“Soldiers are coming,” Dr. Sam said. “Everyone, stay calm. Whatever happens, just stay calm and we’ll be okay. We’ve dealt with them before.”
Plato started barking and ran to the door.
“Plato, get over here,” Dr. Sam shouted. Plato bowed his head and walked back.
“They’re here,” Franklin said.
At that moment, the door was kicked open, the top half coming off its hinges. Four soldiers ran in pointing automatic weapons, AK-47s and RPK-74s. They wore camouflage pants and black T-shirts with the hammer-and-sickle Communist symbol.
A man, larger than the others, stepped up between the soldiers. He wore an officer uniform, with camouflage pants and jacket and a black beret with a gold hammer and sickle. He had a Shining Path patch high on his left arm and a red patch with the Communist hammer and sickle on the other.
“Who is in charge?” he shouted.
“I am,” Dr. Sam said calmly. “You didn’t need to break our door. We are all friends. We would have invited you in.”
“We are not friends.” The man stomped his boots, then walked up to Dr. Sam, staring him in the face to intimidate him. Plato ran to the doctor’s side, growling at the man. “Who are you?” the man asked.
Dr. Sam reached down and lifted Plato. “I’m Dr. Sam Cook. I run a free medical clinic for the people of this region. You are a captain, no? We’ve helped your soldiers before.”
“You are an American?”
“I was.”
“Once an American, always an American.” The officer’s voice lowered. “You are not our friends.”
“I said I was an American. I left the country.”
“Yes, and I don’t know what that means.”
“It means that—”
Before Dr. Sam could get another word out, the man shouted, “I do not care to hear the lies from your mouth. You Americans come to our country only to plunder and steal. Your corporations take our land and exploit our people.”
“He came here to help our people,” Socrates said.
“Silence!” the captain shouted. He looked around the room at the kids. “Why do you have all these children?”
“This is an orphanage.”
“These children do not look like orphans. They look better fed than my soldiers.”
“We work hard, so we live better than most.”
The captain continued looking around.
“What do you want from us?” Dr. Sam asked.
He turned to face Dr. Sam. “We came for your gold.”
The doctor’s brow furrowed. “We don’t have gold.”
“Liar!” the captain shouted. “Do you take me for a fool?”
“Do we look wealthy to you? Look around for yourself. We’re just farmers.”
“Do not waste my time, señor. You will tell me, this moment, where your gold is, or I will shoot you.”
“How can I tell you where to find something that doesn’t exist?”
The captain looked at him for a moment, then said, “No? You value your gold more than your life? But you have brought in these children, so they must mean something to you. I will start shooting the children until you tell me.” He pointed at Mia. “Take her.”
One of the soldiers grabbed Mia and dragged her over with the soldiers.
Plato began barking hysterically. Dr. Sam held him tightly. “Quiet, boy.”
“Put a gun to her head,” the captain said.
The soldier put the mouth of his pistol against Mia’s temple.
“Don’t,” Dr. Sam said. “Please don’t hurt her. She’s just a child.”
The man looked at him with a dark glare. “We’ll kill all of you if we have to. One by one. Now tell me where the gold is.”
“Why do you think we have gold?”
“You don’t think we have informants everywhere? One of you gave seven hundred fifty soles’ worth of gold for a single bottle of soda.” He pulled a bullet back into his gun’s chamber. “Do we have to start shooting your children?”
Plato started barking again.
“Shut up that dog.”
“Wait!” Rand shouted. “It’s true. It was us. We’re the ones who used it in the village.” She turned to Dr. Sam. “We’re sorry, Dr. Sam. We were going to surprise you.”
“I’m the one,” Spinny said, her eyes welling up. “I’m the stupid one who used the gold in the village. I didn’t know how much it was worth.”
The captain looked at the girls.
“If you’ll leave us alone, we’ll give all our gold to you,” Rand said. “We’ll get it right now.”
“You will go with one of my men.”
“I’ll get it,” Spinny said to Rand. “It’s my fault.”
A few moments later they returned, the soldier carrying the dirty gunnysack bag the three had put their gold in. It had more than five pounds of gold. He gave the bag to the captain. The captain looked inside the sack and smiled.
“This is a lot of gold.” He looked up. “This is our land you took it from, so it belongs to the people.”
“By ‘people’ you mean you,” Dr. Sam said.
“You foolish American,” the captain said. “We came for gold, but you have much more to offer. You have gold and medicine and food. From now on, your clinic will be only for the people’s army. You will provide care for my men. And you and your children will provide us gold. An army runs on gold.” A cruel smile broke over his face as he hefted the bag. “We can buy a lot of bullets and politicians with this much gold.” He touched Mia’s hair. “And you have healthy children. The traffickers will pay well for them.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Dr. Sam said.
The captain turned to Dr. Sam. “You will provide for our medical needs, and your children will mine our gold.” His face grew angry. “You teach these children your capitalist ways while we bleed for your freedom from tyranny.”
“You do not fight for us,” Dr. Sam said. “And we will not help you.”
“You will do what I say.” He looked at the children. “If any of you try to escape, for each one who leaves, we will sell two of you off to the traffickers. They pay well and are always looking for prime youths.
“If any of you refuse to mine our gold, we will sell you. Young girls, young boys at your age will bring in a good amount.”
He turned back to the doctor. Plato started growling. Dr. Sam continued to rub his neck to calm him.
“You have help at your clinic, no? You have trained the villagers to help? Perhaps some of the children know medicine.”
Dr. Sam didn’t answer. Plato growled more fiercely.
“This little animal acts so fierce for something so helpless.” He looked at the doctor. “Like you.” At that he grabbed Plato, yanking him from the doctor’s hands.
Dr. Sam went for Plato, but two soldiers grabbed him and held him back. Plato started to whimper. The captain took out a knife. “Now he understands. We will see if you are as smart as the dog.” The captain pressed the blade of the knife against the small dog’s neck.
“I ask again. Did he teach anyone to work at the clinic? Answer me!”
“He taught some of the villagers,” Mia blurted out, tears rolling down her cheeks. “They work there, but Dr. Sam is the only doctor.”
“I see,” the captain said. “Finally, one of you understands the seriousness of your situation. Perhaps this will help.” At that he slid the knife into Plato’s throat. Plato only let out a slight yelp before his body spasmed, then went still. The captain dropped the dog’s lifeless body onto the floor at Dr. Sam’s feet.
“Plato!” Dr. Sam shouted; his face contorted in agony. He pulled himself from the soldiers’ grip and fell to his knees.
“You are a doctor? I would not trust my men under your knife any more than I would trust the dog under mine.”
Dr. Sam clutched Plato to his chest, then looked up at the captain. “Why would you do this?”
“Why?” he said, pulling his pistol from his belt. He checked the cartridge, then pointed the gun at Dr. Sam. “Because I can.” At that, he shot Dr. Sam three times in the chest.
Dr. Sam fell forward to the ground, then rolled to his side, facing the children. The room had fallen into complete shock and silence. Dr. Sam looked at the youths, his chin quivering. The only word that came from his mouth was “Fight.” His breath turned to gurgling, then stopped. Then he was completely still.
For a moment it was as if everything in the room was frozen. Paul was the first to move. He fell down next to Dr. Sam, wiping the blood from the doctor’s body as if that would somehow revive him. “Dr. Sam. Dr. Sam,” he cried. He turned him over and tried giving him CPR as they had learned in the clinic, but the doctor was already dead. He began to cry. “You’ve killed him. You’ve killed our father.”
“Get away from him,” the captain said.
Paul, unmoved by the captain’s words, continued holding Dr. Sam. He put his cheek against Dr. Sam’s, trying to feel the last of his body’s heat. “I’m sorry, Father. I should have protected you. I failed you.”
“I said, get away from him,” the captain shouted. When Paul didn’t move, the captain said to his soldiers, “Get the runt away. Before I shoot him.”
At that, Paul looked up, his sorrow visibly turned to anger. His eyes, still wet with tears, blazed bright red.
Even the captain was frightened by what he saw. “Holy diablo.”
“You killed my father,” Paul said through clenched teeth. He stood slowly, extending his hand toward the soldiers. “You call me diablo. It’s a name I haven’t heard for a long time. But that is who I am. I am Chispa, the diablo. Now you will all die.” Chispa thrust his hand forward and pulsed. His power, strengthened by the intensity of his emotions, poured from his hand in visible waves. The captain began to shake. Then blood spurted from his ears as he gasped out and dropped to the ground, followed by most of the other soldiers, who likewise fell dead. About a dozen other soldiers turned and ran, some of them limping from smaller burst aneurysms in their legs and abdomens.
“Get them,” Chispa shouted to Neech and Sart. “Bring them back alive. Now!”
Neech vanished at hyperspeed while Sart ran out the door after the soldiers. About five minutes later, the remaining soldiers walked back in, all without guns, their hands clasped on their heads.
Chispa walked up to them, his anger and hatred still burning in his eyes.
“Kneel,” he commanded.
The soldiers all dropped to their knees.
“We were peaceful. We hurt no one, yet you came to steal from us and to enslave us. You stole our peace. Then you stole our father. You will all pay with your lives. Every one of you.”
“Mercy,” shouted one of the soldiers. “Mercy. Mercy.”
“Mercy,” Chispa said with disgust. “I’ll show you as much mercy as you showed us. This is not a day of mercy. It is a day of justice. And you will suffer more pain than you can imagine.”
“Hang them,” Neech said. “Slowly.”
Chispa shook his head. “No. That is much too merciful for the evil they have brought to our door. Much too painless. They must understand, everyone must understand true pain. Chain them to the trees out front. Let them end their lives for all to see.”
Mia blanched. She hadn’t seen this side of Chispa since they’d left the streets and come to the colony. Not since the doctor had taken them in. She took Chispa’s arm and looked up into his face. “Paul, please. This isn’t you.”
He looked down at her. What she saw frightened her. “Paul is gone, Mia. I am Chispa the diablo. And I have a new mission. I will bring the hell to this earth that it has always deserved.” Chispa looked back at the captive soldiers. “You will stay chained to the trees until your skeletons serve as fertilizer for them.” He turned to Sartre. “Sart, burn out their eyes.”
“With pleasure,” Sartre said, his lip curled in a sneer. He reached out his hand, searing out the centers of all their eyes. The men screamed as blood ran down their cheeks.
“Volt and Horse, help Sart chain them to the trees.”
“Gladly,” Volt said.
“Franklin, you and Socrates take our father’s body to his bed and lay him with dignity. The rest of you, drag these worthless bodies out to the hogs. Let the animals eat their flesh. Then hurry back. We have planning to do.”
“What are we planning?” Sartre asked.
“We’re going to war with the rebels. No one will ever threaten our house again.”