The House of the Scorpion

On El Patrón’s birthday, Matt hides out in his room. María comes to his room to scold him for hiding like a wild animal. It breaks Matt’s heart to see how frail El Patrón is becoming because he loves him. As Celia helps Matt get ready, he asks her what to do if El Patrón acts weird—lately, El Patrón has been asking if he is dead yet. Celia tells Matt to come to her if something bad happens. Since María doesn’t go anywhere without Furball, Matt follows her to fetch him from her room. They find Tom there and Furball missing. While searching the room for Furball, Matt hears a noise in the bathroom. He runs inside and finds Furball under the toilet lid. Though Tom acts surprised, Matt catches a flash of anger on Tom’s face and is certain that Tom tried to drown Furball. Matt knows no one will believe him if he accuses Tom. He wonders if tonight this might change and comes up with a plan.

As El Patrón’s birthday is also a celebration of Matt, everyone must be nice to him. The lawn surrounding the house is luxuriously decorated. The enormous stack of presents for El Patrón even includes a few presents for Matt.