Chapters 30- 38

Chapter 30- Matt and Chacho see something in the distance. They go to check it out and realize that it's bones--whale bones. Ton-Ton gets in trouble for stealing a holo-game while cleaning the Keepers room. Jorge gets a cane while Ton-Ton leans on the wall. When Jorge comes back, he beats Ton-Ton. Fidelito confesses for Matt, but then Matt stops him and takes the beating himself. It isn't as bad because Jorge used all of his energy on Ton-Ton. All the boys are suddenly proud of Matt, but he says all he did was give up. Flaco tells him if news of the beating gets back to Keeper Headquarters, he'll be gone. Matt goes to the infirmary and sees Ton-Ton. The worker gives him laudanum for his wounds.

Chapter 31- Matt wakes up to Ton-Ton and the pockmarked boy, Luna, talking. Ton-Ton says that all the boys train to be Keepers. Matt doesn't understand since there is only twenty Keepers and there are two hundred and ten boys. Matt asks Ton-Ton about the inside of the Keeper compound. Ton-Ton explains about all the wonderful things that they get and the boys don't, like good food. Matt finds out that the Keepers take laudanum every night because they earned it. Matt asks if they know where St. Luis is. Ton-Ton replies that he is from there. Ton-Ton tells Matt that St. Luis is great. Matt realizes he has acne. He tries to scrub it off, but it won't come off. Jorge makes Matt and Ton-Ton work the next day. Matt decides that he will take Chacho and Fidelito with him to St. Luis. Matt, Chacho, and Fidelito wait for Ton-Ton to come over to them so they can talk. He think they are going to attack him. Ton-Ton explains that he owes his life to Jorge because Jorge saved him. When they leave, Matt mentions Celia carelessly. He tells Chacho that Celia is his mother. He remembered lots of memories. Fidelito asks if Matt is sick and Chacho says he is so Fidelito wouldn't see him crying.

Chapter 32- Jorge decides he will have to go after Fidelito to get to Matt. He decides to beat Fidelito. Matt tackles Jorge and Chacho helps him. The other Keepers come in. The Lost Boys stand up for Chacho and Matt, but the Keepers take them anyway. They throw them in a closet and Matt is afraid that Chacho will shrink away from him.

Chapter 33- Matt and Chacho are carried away with tape around their wrists, ankles, and on their mouths. They get thrown into the boneyard and Chacho freaks out because he sees bats. With one slip, the two could slip to their deaths. Matt tries to find Chacho. Matt tells Chacho all about Opium. The bats return and Chacho gets afraid. Matt has them on him, but he is completely calm. He finds water, and tries to get Chacho to follow his voice. He hears a noise from the bones. Matt recognizes it as snoring. Chacho got so scared that he fell asleep.

Chapter 34- Matt tries to get Chacho to reply, and when he doesn't he is afraid he is dead. He heard a noise and thought it was Jorge in his cart. It turns out to be Ton-Ton's shrimp harvester. Ton-Ton and Fidelito are coming to the rescue! Ton-Ton uses the harvester to get Chacho out of the boneyard. Fidelito doesn't understand why he's not awake, so Ton-Ton explains it. Ton-Ton wakes Chacho from his shock. Ton-Ton drives the harvester to the fence so they can leave. Fidelito and Ton-Ton explain that the Keepers have been given a lot of laudanum and the Lost Boys have put salt all around the Keepers chambers. Ton-Ton has to stop because the harvest runs on solar energy and it is almost nighttime. Matt and Fidelito head towards St. Luis to find a doctor.

I read 49 pages.

Interesting Quotation: "Carlos says every boy who keeps the Five Principle of Good Citizenship and, uh, the Four Attitudes Leading to Right-Mindfulness until he reaches eighteen becomes a Keeper," said Ton-Ton." ~Page 307, Lines 4-7~ Any boy who acts correctly get to become a Keeper later in life. That's what the boys are told anyway. There are only twenty Keeper positions, so not all of the boys will actually get to follow through with that. The Keepers only say that so that the boys will act right.

Chapter 35- Matt tells Fidelito all about the Convent of Santa Clara even though he knew nothing about it. As they reach the Colorado River, they see something get sucked down a drain and they run. Matt almost has an asthma attack and Fidelito finds help. A woman shows up with an inhaler. He comes to and sees a woman and a man. Matt realizes it looks like a party. Fidelito explains that it's El Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. The man, Guapo, is going to town and offers to take the boys to see Chacho at the Convent of Santa Clara. Consuela, the woman, gives Matt and Fidelito masks so the Keepers on the streets won't recognize them.

Chapter 36- Fidelito explains to Matt more about the holiday. Matt sees people on the streets in costumes. Guapo gets Matt and Fidelito as close to the Convent as he can. They have to walk the rest of the way. As they get to the top, a nurse lets them in. They say they are there for Chacho and Maria. Soon after they get there, Carlos, Jorge, and Ton-Ton arrive. Carlos, Jorge, Ton-Ton, and Matt get in a fight. Esperanza stops the fight. Esperanza busts the Keepers for drugs. Maria runs in and hugs Matt really tightly.

Chapter 37- Esperanza tells Matt about a plan to get into Opium. Opium is in a lockdown. No one and nothing gets in or out. In this state, only El Patron can go in and out. Meaning, most likely, Matt can go in and out. Matt is to go in to Opium. He is now the leader of Opium. He is El Patron's clone, and El Patron died, therefore making him the new leader. Maria is completely opposed to the idea. He could get blown out of the sky. He safely makes it into Opium. He headed to the house. When he entered, he heard someone playing the piano. He runs in and stops them. It is Mr. Ortega. Celia comes in and starts to explain a few things to him. She tells him El Patron cared for anything he ever got. Especially him.

Chapter 38- Celia says she heard the wake from the stables. Daft Donald types out everything that happened. There was wine that everyone was supposed to drink when El Patron died. Tam Lin knew something was funny about it and told Daft Donald not to drink it. Everyone but Daft Donald did, even Tam Lin. After a minute, they all fell to the ground dead. El Patron did this because when he owned something, it was always his and he inteneded to keep it that way. Matt leaves and orders a Safe Horse. Matt started thinking about memories with Tam Lin and how he is the new leader of Opium. Matt headed to the cave. He finds a dark passage and looks inside. Matt sees lots of gold coins and treasures. He realizes that it is the beginning of El Patron's cache. Matt discovers that he can make it through this an everything will be okay.

I read 35 pages.

Interesting Quotation: ""It means you really are El Patron. You have his body and his identity. You own everything he owned and rule everything he ruled. It means you're the new Master of Opium."' ~Page 367, Lines 10-12~ Matt always was a real person. But, there can't be two of one person, so one must be unhuman. Matt is finally considered a human since El Patron died. Matt can do anything El Patron ever could. He gets anything that El Patron had.

Chapters 26- 29

Chapter 26- A man pulls Matt out of the goo. He asks Matt about his family and Matt doesn't have an answer. Matt thanks the Keepers. They say he is an aristocrat. They tell Matt that he will be headed to the plankton factory in St. Luis. He knows a little about water purification and he wants to go to St. Luis. He stays with the Keepers that night. When he meets the Lost Boys, Matt is bombarded with questions. The Keepers quieten everyone down and answer the questions. Raul takes Matt over to Chacho. Chacho talks back to Raul and gets in trouble. Raul soon leaves. Chacho explain that they will have to work before, during, and after their trip the next day. Fidelito and Chacho explain that everything there is hard but it's fair. Fidelito asks Matt about his parents and Matt explains. Fidelito tries to speak of his, but he chokes up. Chacho takes bad about the Keepers. Someone tells Chacho to quiet down and he says he'd love for them to hear.

Chapter 27- The Lost Boys that have never seen their parents, think they made if safely to the United States. At lunch, all the boys have to recite the Five Principles of Good Citizenship and the Four Attitudes Leading to Right- Mindfulness. Matt asks Chacho what he is making and he tells him that it's a guitar. He explains that his father taught him. After they shower, Raul comes to read them a bedtime story. The story is about individualism. If a horse has five legs, and one does whatever it wants while the other four are doing what they are supposed to, the fifth should be cut off. Matt suggests they turn it into an eejit. Raul gets mad that Matt is talking back to him. He calls him an aristocrat and left. All the Lost Boys congratulate Matt.

Chapter 28- At mid-morning, Raul gets the boys going to St. Luis ready. When they get on, Fidelito informs the other two that he gets airsick. They give him the bag of plastic. They soon enough arrive. The smell is awful and it looks dirty. Matt pulls Fidelito away and Chacho follows. The Keepers soon find them and ask about them. They make Chacho and Matt clean the hovercraft. After they clean, Carlos, the keeper, gives them a tour. He tells them all about plankton. They eat plankton for every meal, just in different ways. They see the Gulf of California. There are no longer whale there because it is so polluted. It explains where Opium's water comes from. Fidelito explains that a hurricane came to his village. When Carlos catches the three of them not working, they get in trouble for not working. Matt asks if Fidelito can ride with Carlos, and Carlos says everyone must walk. Matt points out that Carlos isn't walking and once again gets in trouble.

Chapter 29- Matt is curious as to why everyone is calling him the aristocrat. Chacho says it's because of his manners and the way he speaks. Jorge tells them a story about how a mind can get dirty. Jorge asks Matt a question and he gets told it's wrong. Ton-Ton, another Lost Boy, answers the question correctly. Everyone but Chacho and Fidelito insulted Matt after Jorge left. Matt begins to think about things that Maria, El Patron, Celia, and Tam Lin have said to him. They are all about how he is a real boy and they love him.

I read 34 pages.

Interesting Quotation- ""So if we work steadily and don't loaf," said Jorge, "our work doesn't have time to get dirty. But our minds can fill up with dust and germs too."" ~Page 290, Line 23- 25~ The Keepers want the boys constantly working. They can fill their minds with the one thought that all prisoners get-- escape. They have to have someone to "help". If they don't have anyone to help, they have no job. When the boys constantly work, they can't think about anything but work.

Chapters 21- 25

Chapter 21- Everyone is planning for Steven and Emilia's wedding. Matt gets excited when Maria arrives. He takes her to the music room to talk to her. Matt gave her the book, A History of Opium. She instantly recognizes her mother. She gave it back knowing her father would be furious if he found it. Matt watched the wedding with a telescope. Someone shouted something about El Patron. Matt looked at the old man through his telescope and saw him grab his heart and fall out of his wheelchair. Tam Lin carried him out and to the hospital. Emilia and Steven were left standing at the alter.

Chapter 22- Matt doesn't know what to do. Celia told him to go to the pantry if anything bad happened and Tam Lin warned Matt that El Patron could have an evil side. Matt stays in the passage. He soon sees a flashlight and turns to see Maria. Matt doesn't understand why they are looking for him. Maria has an idea that can be fatal. They have to get to the Mendoza hovercraft. The fatal part is that there is a door that only El Patron can open. Matt may or may not be able to get it open. If it doesn't work, the hallway will be filled with a poisonous gas. He tries it, but it doesn't work. They run into a new opening. The passage leads them outside near the Mendoza hovercraft. Emilia comes to see Maria before she leaves for the convent. Emilia and Steven betray Matt and take him in instead of rescuing him. Maria tries to rescue him, but Emilia and Steven take him away.

Chapter 23- Matt wakes up strapped to a bed. El Patron talks to him and tells him his childhood story. At the end, he tells Matt that he is owed all the lives of his brothers and sisters. Celia stands up against El Patron. She tells him that she gave Matt foxglove and later arsenic. El Patron gets furious. They wheel him to the operating room. They took Celia away and left Matt. The next morning, they wheeled El Patron out. Mr. Alacran demands for Tam Lin to take Matt out. Matt believes that Tam Lin no longer cares about him.

Chapter 24- Tam Lin acts as if he is going to take Matt to the eejit pens, but he takes him to the path to the Ajo Mountains. Tam Lin tells Matt about the pathway. He tells Matt that he saved Celia from being turned in to an eejit. Matt wants Tam Lin to join him as he leaves. Tam Lin tells Matt that there is absolutely no difference between clones and humans. That his DNA is still human DNA. Tam Lin gives Matt money and tells him about it. Tam Lin says he has to leave and tells Matt what he is to do. Matt is to go to St. Luis and find Maria and hopefully her mother.

Chapter 25- Matt uses Tam Lin's notes on the trees as help to know where not to go. He continues on towards Aztlan. He worries about Celia and Tam Lin. He spends the night at the top of the ridge. Matt begins to hear noises. As he reaches the top cleft of the mountain, the noises get louder. He realizes it's music. He begins to slide down the mountainside. Matt looks through his binoculars and sees a member of the Farm Patrol. He looks around and sees more of them. As the Farm Patrol went after a group of people, Matt sees the chance and runs. He hears the Farm Patrol behind him. The Farm Patroller grabbed Matt's bag, but Matt just left it behind and ran across the Aztlan border and into slime.

I read 54 pages.

Interesting Quotation- ""No one can tell the difference between a clone and a human. That's because there isn't any difference. The idea of clones being inferior is a filthy lie."" ~Page 245, Lines 2-4~ Everyone believes that Matt is a dirty little creature because he is a clone, but in truth, clones are the same. They had human DNA. Others don't understand that Matt is a real boy. Just because he is a clone and was born differently doesn't mean anything.

Chapters 18-20

Chapter 18- Celia frantically wakes Matt up. He gets ready but is still confused. Celia lets him know that El Patron had a heart attack, but is not dead. They go to the hospital to see El Patron. Matt is upset for El Patron because he thinks he is going to die. Matt tells Tam Lin about him going to the eejit pens and Tam Lin yells at him. Matt stays by El Patron's bed. He asks why El Patron won't give anything away and El Patron blows up on him. Tam Lin tells him he is brave for asking El Patron that. Tam Lin explains what a dragon hoard is to Matt and they talk about El Patron's wealth.

Chapter 19- One day, while Matt is playing the guitar and singing, he voice cracks. Celia gets really excited that he is growing up. She decides to throw a party to celebrate. Matt asks if he was born like a calf. Tam Lin wants to explain it to him, but Celia refuses. Celia send Matt to bed saying he had had enough of the party. Matt thinks of Mr. MacGregor and how he just takes what he needs from his clone. Matt convinces himself that he wasn't made to be used for transplants. He tells himself that El Patron didn't have his brain destroyed and he would let him help rule the drug empire when El Patron dies. Celia and Tam Lin come up and Celia believes he has a fever.

Chapter 20- Matt goes to the stables to get a safe horse. He rode to the oasis. While Matt swam, he thought about Celia and Tam Lin. When he got to land, he began to read The History of Opium. He can't believe what Esperanza is saying about El Patron. When Matt reads about the author, he realizes she is Maria's mother. Matt is sick from swimming in the oasis when he gets back. Matt continues spending time with El Patron. El Patron calls Matt, Felipe, which was his son that died almost eighty years prior.

I read 24 pages.

Interesting Quotation- ""I'll get the dosage right next time," she said. "Do you want to ruin everything?" "Maybe your plan won't work out. We need a backup," Celia said. "You'll kill him." ~Celia and Tam Lin, Chapter 20, page 199~ Celia has been giving Matt arsenic so that El Patron can't do any transplants. Tam Lin is sure she is going to kill Matt because she got the dosage wrong. Celia is simply trying to save Matt from El Patron. If El Patron did take his heart, it would kill him because he is already so weak. The arsenic would kill him.

Chapter 17

Chapter 17- Matt tries to talk to Rosa when he goes to get his Safe Horse, but she never continues the conversation. He rides past the poppy fields and to his cave. He begins reading his book and sees El Patrons name. It tells of him being a drug dealer and that drugs were illegal. Matt can't continue the book because of the negative things it says towards El Patron. As he headed back, he stopped by the water purification plant. He wants to free the eejits. He can smell the dead fish and chemicals and sees where the waste goes. It goes to a bunch of buildings. He starts to pass out and these two people yank him up and drag him out. They think him an eejit. They then think he's an Illegal and start to take him to the hospital. Matt says if they do that, he'll tell the doctor how they treated El Patron's clone. They begin to talk to him about the eejit pens. They talk about where they are from to Matt and he thinks about how awful it sounds. He realizes why they aren't there anymore. They are murderers on the run. They tell him that Tam Lin tried to kill the prime minister by putting a bomb outside him house in London. They drop him off and quickly drive away as he walks in.

I read 11 pages.

Interesting Quotation: ""You do that," Matt repeated, "and I'll tell the doctor how you treated El Patron's clone."" Matt knows if he bosses people around like he's El Patron, he can get out off anything. He can just tell people he is El Patron's clone and they know not to mess with him.

Chapters 15-16

Chapter 15- Matt requests a horse to go riding. When the eejit brings it to him, he notices it is Rosa. He tries to talk to her, but she won't pay attention to him because she is an eejit. he rode to the poppy fields to see Celia's old house. He doesn't find it and assumes it must have been torn down when they left. He went to the cave and realized someone had been there. He sees a trunk and opens it. Inside there is a note addressed to him. It is from Tam Lin. He found food, supplies, and books. He makes sure to close the trunk before he leaves. When he returns, everyone is in a panic. He asks Celia why everyone is like this and she says El Viejo is dead. When they get there, Matt sees Maria and Tom holding hands. There is a children's choir and they are all eejits. When the priest sees Matt, he is furious. He doesn't believe this thing should be there. Celia says that El Patron wanted him there. Maria comes over and takes up for him by explaining Brother Wolf. They leave and he takes her to the secret passage.

Chapter 16- They find a nice and cool computer room. She tells him why she forgave him for everything. They begin talking about being baptized and Maria says she was baptized when she was a baby. She says because he's an animal, he can't be baptized. She begins to think about Furball and starts crying. They run back to the secret passage when they hear voices. It turns out to be Felicia and Tom. Tom begins working the cameras in the house to see all the rooms. They know Maria had been through there because her hat was on the piano. They spy on Celia and Tam Lin. Before Celia says something that could give anything away, Tam Lin warns her before looking straight at the camera. He know they are there. Felicia admits to killing Furball because she wanted to kill Matt but couldn't. Matt tries to comfort Maria. Tam Lin finds them and takes Maria out and tells Matt to come out in a few minutes when the coast is clear. Maria says she'll miss him and that's all she can say before she is whisked away by Tam Lin.

I read 19 pages.

Interesting Quotation: ""This does not belong here!" the priest thundered. "This unbaptized limb of Satan has no right to make a mockery of this rite. Would you bring a dog to church?"" Everyone other than Maria, Celia, Tam Lin, and El Patron thinks of Matt as just an animal. They don't want to be near him or around him. They think he shouldn't even be at a funeral for someone in his family. He is considered a disgrace.

Chapter 13-14

Chapter 13- Matt and Celia talk of the clone. Celia explains that Tom is Mr. MacGregor and Felicia's son. He doesn't understand because he knows Felicia is married to Mr. Alacran. Celia says that just because they are married doesn't mean anything. Maria wouldn't talk to Matt, so he decided to take Furball and hide him until she talked to him. He took Furball and headed to the Lotus Pond. There, he sees Tom. Tom had nailed a frogs feet to the ground until Matt feed it. Tom claims he is doing a science project, which Matt doesn't believe. Tom explains how he wants to be on the top of the food chain. Matt tries to talk to Maria, but she has to leave. He goes back out to the shed and Furball is barking. He feeds him meat to make him be quiet. When Celia falls asleep, he slowly approches the shed and Furball. Daft Donald and Tam Lin carry Matt to Senator Mendoza. He tells Matt he won't be around Maria anymore. Matt explains that he didn't kill Furball, but no one believes him. Celia takes him upstairs as everyone leaves.

Chapter 14- Matt stayed in his room as Maria left. He thinks over everything that happened. Celia comes in and he asks why didn't Tom stay with Mr. MacGregor if it was his son. Celia explains that when El Patron decides that something is his, he doesn't give it up. She tells him of how she came from the same village as El Patron and when she tried to cross the border, the Farm Patrol caught her. When El Patron came in and realized she was from the same village, he had her released. She has been with him ever since. Matt asks about all the other people. She says they were turned into eejits.

I read 21 pages.

Interesting Quotation: "I was only doing a science project," said Tom. "Oh, sure. Even Maria wouldn't believe that."" Maria believes anything that comes out of Tom, or anyone but Matt's mouth. No matter how many times Tom hurts Maria or scares her, she forgives him. She will always run back to him and they stay friends.