It was decided that the doctor would visit Oscar’s old home the next day, which was now occupied by another family. He wanted to learn as much as he could about the location of the murders and the people that died before he talked to Oscar. Then he would go to the Ortiz home the following evening.
********************
Will, Elizabeth, and Doctor Wilson had dinner at the Ortiz home. Elizabeth told Oscar about Dr. Wilson and what he could do to help him try and speak again. He didn’t believe him, and he wanted to go away, but his mother sat with him and held his hand.
It wasn’t until Rosa agree to be hypnotized first, that Oscar agreed to stay.
The doctor had Rosa do the same things that he had Wilmar do the night before. And when Dr. Wilson told Rosa that her arms were too heavy for anyone to lift, he asked Oscar to try and lift his mother’s arm. So Oscar gently put his hand under her small arm, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t lift it.
When Dr. Wilson said, “Open” and Rosa opened her eyes and smiled at her son, he hugged her as tears streamed down his face. Then he quickly picked up the doctor’s watch and nodded his head. He was ready to be hypnotized too.
Once Oscar was hypnotized and obviously relaxed, Dr. Wilson started asking him questions, using Elizabeth as the translator again.
“Now, Oscar, listen to my voice and only my voice. You are very safe here. No one can harm you.”
Oscar’s eyes were closed and he sighed, obviously relaxed.
“Now, Oscar, we are going to go back to your house, the house that you were born in. It is a nice house, with flowers in pots on the front porch and good smells always coming from the kitchen, where your momma and grandmother loved to cook.”
Oscar smiled and took a deep breath, as if he were smelling that good cooking.
“It is the last day that you lived in that house, and your father has gone out to the fields as he does every day. Now, Oscar, listen to my voice and only my voice. I am with you in the house this morning, and I will not let anything happen to you. We are both there just watching what is happening so no one can hurt us.”
Oscar nodded his head.
“Your momma is in the kitchen preparing lunch. You, when you were three, and your sisters are sitting at the table as Eva and Lourdes talk to your mother.”
Oscar suddenly spoke, “We were all in the living room. We were listening to Eva tell a story.”
Rosa grabbed her husband’s hand. No one had heard Oscar speak since the murders, so it was a shock to hear him now. Tears streamed down her face. Elizabeth reached out to Will, who took her hand as well.
“Good, good, you were all listening to Eva tell a story, all but your grandmother.”
Oscar nodded, his eyes still closed. “Yes, she had gone back to bed. Grandma was tired. Grandma is tired a lot.”
“Yes, she is in bed resting.”
“Now, Oscar, I am with you watching all these people and we are safe. No one can hurt us. But someone comes into the house and he does hurt these people, he hits these people with…”
“With a rock. He is standing behind Eva and he hits her on the head with a rock.”
Elizabeth gasped, then covered her mouth with her hand.
The doctor lifted his hand for silence. Everyone there was frozen in place, waiting to hear what happened next.
“What happens then, Oscar?” Dr. Wilson asked.
“Lourdes runs to her so he hits her next.”
“What does your mother do?”
“She runs to him and starts to hit him, but he pushes her away, and she falls on the floor. Then he hits…” Oscar hesitated.
“It’s okay, Oscar, we are safe. I am with you. He cannot hurt you anymore. What happens next?”
“He hits Estella and Julianna and momma is screaming and hitting him again. He looks at me, and momma picks me up and runs into the kitchen, to the back door, but he grabs her hair and pulls her to the floor.”
“And she covers you up, doesn’t she, Oscar, your mother tries to protect the little boy with her body.”
“Si,” Oscar said, as a tear ran down his cheek.
“Is that man hitting your mother the drifter? The man they hanged in Santa Maria?”
“No.”
Dr. Wilson looked at Rosa and Wilmar, then turned back to Oscar.
“Who is the man that killed your family, Oscar?”
“My pappa,” Oscar said with a frown. “My pappa killed them.”
Dr. Wilson sat back in his chair, trying to collect himself.
“Oscar, we are going to leave the house now. When we leave, everyone is still alive. Everyone is talking and listening to Eva’s story. They are all happy. You are happy. When I say open, you will open your eyes but you will not remember how your family was killed. You will remember who killed them, but you will not remember anything else about that day. Your family is safe now in heaven. They are happy. And you will be able to speak again Oscar. It is safe to talk, so you can speak now.”
Rose squeezed her husband’s hand.
The doctor snapped his fingers and said “Open.”
Oscar opened his eyes and looked around at all the faces staring at him. He reached his arms to Rosa. “Momma.”
Rosa ran to him, followed by Wilmar. They all cried as they hugged each other.
“I love you, Momma. I’m sorry I could not tell you that,” Oscar said.
“That’s all right, son,” Wilmar said. “We knew, anyway.”
Will gave Elizabeth his handkerchief after he wiped the tears away from his own eyes with his hand.
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