The Weight of All Things

Their small group grows larger as more and more families join the exodus, listening to the warning sounds of helicopters and guns, hoping to avoid being caught or destroyed by either the Left or the Right. They march on through the night and the following day, Nicolás carrying his mother’s shoe and the statue of La Virgen in his backpack. Early in the evening Nicolás and the large group join with hundreds of other people in La Arada. They plan to camp by the river and cross into Honduras in the morning. There is concern about the feeling of rain in the air. If the rain pours too fast or for too long the river will swell and be too dangerous to cross. Tata is worried about Nicolás’s injury. They were not able to stop and see Dr. Eddy because the clinic had been pillaged and destroyed. Nicolás remembers that one should not expose a wound to river water and asks Tata how high the water rises. Delfina, the pharmacist, cleans and rebandages his wound. Then Nicolás remembers the cookies in his backpack and shares them. Ursula says they are her favorite. She points out the words on the package: “Gallettas Maria” (219), or, the cookies of Maria, another sign from La Virgen.