Cht 21: Everyone gathers for the wedding. We learn that El Patron has arranged
Emilia and Steven’s wedding for his own purposes, as he did in arranging the
marriage of Benito to a Nigerian princess. Matt realizes that he will never be
allowed to marry. Maria now thinks Matt has a soul. Maria tells Matt that El
Patron has arranged for her to marry Tom, obviously upsetting Matt. She feels
she can change Tom. Matt shows Maria the book containing the picture of her
mother. El Patron has another heart attack at the wedding. Tam Lin rushes him
to the doctor. Stephen and Emilia are left forgotten at the altar.
Cht 22: Matt is scared and unsure what to do. Matt finally connects
all the clues that had been given him over the years – understanding
what his purpose is and what hereally means to El Patron. Maria
meets him in the secret passage. Everyone is looking for him. Maria
decides to disguise him as an eejit and try to sneak him off the
estate with her. Emilia and Stephen betray them and Matt is carried
away by body guards.
Cht 23: Matt is taken to the hospital and tested and prepped for surgery to
provide El Patron with transplant heart. We learn that Matt was allowed to keep
his intelligence, as was El Patron’s other clones, so that his clones could live the
child hood El Patron did not have a chance to enjoy. El Patron feels he is “owed”
the lives of his siblings who died at a young age; he is the only one of eight to live
to adulthood. The Eejits are just “cattle” to El Patron and are of no consequence.
We learn that Celia has poisoned Matt with foxglove from the garden and arsenic,
which has been the reason for all of his health problems and has made his
organs unfit for transplant. El Patron dies. Mr. Alcaran orders Tam Lin to dispose
of “the clone” as he has now has “no use.” Celia is to be turned into an eejit. Tam
Lin describes himself as a “mercenary” and now appears to now be allied with
Mr. Alcaran. Matt is devastated when Tam Lin calls him “It."
Cht 24: Tam Lin really intended to help Matt escape. He
answers Matt’s question about his past activities as a
terrorist. Tam Lin is hiding Celia in the stables with Rosa,
disguised as an eejit, but she’s unharmed. We learn the
“dirty secret” that clones are no different than other humans
and that El Patron has kept Opium one hundred years
behind the rest of the world. Tam Lin tells Matt to head to
Maria’s convent once he makes it into Aztlan, and then make
contact with her mother.
Cht 25: Matt prepped at the Oasis for his escape – a dangerous root requiring much climbing that Celia
would not have been able to do had she been able to join him. Matt feels pity and weeps for El Patron,
even thought he doesn’t deserve it. Matt eludes the Farm Patrol and makes it across the border into
Aztlan as a refugee. However, he lost his backpack, money, and was covered in black slime.