The Morocotas Coins

Valeria woke up shaking in the middle of the night. Even though it was a hot, humid night she felt a cold air wrap itself around her like an ice blanket. She ran past her grandfather’s room straight into her mother’s room and hurled herself into her bed. She curled into the fetal position and pushed against her mother’s abdomen so hard, that her mother complained.

“Are trying to hide inside me?”

Not getting her mother’s sarcasm, Valeria shook her head yes even though it was pitch dark. Her mother wrapped her arm around her and held her tight.

“You can sleep there tonight.”

Just like every summer morning, Valeria woke up to the bright Dominican sunlight that came in through the shutters. The ceiling fan whirled which caused her to enter a meditative trance. She planned to stay in bed longer but the smell of eggs convinced her otherwise. She went to the kitchen where her mother was making her favorite. Mangú, salami, fried eggs, and fried cheese. Her grandfather was sitting at the table with his morning dose of espresso. They all ate breakfast in silence. Valeria was so hungry she served herself seconds.

Since Valeria was in better spirits her mother asked, “Did you have a nightmare last night?”

“Yes.. no… I mean… it wasn’t scary, but I was scared.”

Her mother tilted her chair back and opened a drawer. Without looking she stuck her hand in and pulled out a little black notebook with a unicorn sticker on the front cover. A green rubber band wrapped around the notebook held the pen in place. Her mother removed the rubber band, released the pen, and opened the notebook to a blank page.

“Ok, tell me what you dreamt.”

Valeria’s grandfather complained, “You write everything down as if you daughter was one of your psychotic patients.”

“Papa, they’re not psychotic; they’re my psychiatric patients.”

“Same difference.”

Her mother just rolled her eyes.

“Tell me about your dream Val.”

“I dreamt I was in front of a blue house. The front yard had an enormous avocado tree. Two men stood underneath the tree. One was a tall and skinny while the other one was short and bald. They looked a lot alike, maybe they were brothers. I don’t know. Anyway I felt them staring at me and I looked at them from the sidewalk.

They called me to come over, “We have something for you, a gift, we want to give it to you.”

I slowly walked across the yard towards the men.

The tall one pointed to the ground and said, “The gift is here.”

I looked down and a small clay jug appeared out of nowhere. The short one got down on his knees and put his hands in the jug. He pulled out his closed fists, stretched out his tanned arms towards me and opened his hands to reveal ten gold coins.

He said, “The coins in my hands are yours. All you have to do is take them. Here.”

That’s when I woke up scared and ran to your room.

Her grandfather said, “You saw someone give you morocotas in your dream? "

“Moro what?” Valeria said.

“Morocotas. Gold coins. In the olden days people would hide it to keep them safe from thieves. They usually buried them in some type of vessel. Many died without telling a soul that they had morocotas let alone where they buried it. Taking that secret to the grave was a tragedy. It’s said that those individuals did not want their fortune to go to waste. So from the afterlife they would seek for someone worthy enough to bestow their buried treasure upon. They would reach out to them via dreams. In the dream they would give you their gold and all you had to do was grab it. Then when you woke up, the gold was in your hands guaranteed. They selected you. Why didn’t you take it?”

“I was scared. They were strangers giving me gold. Mom said not to take anything from strangers.”

“I didn’t raise you to be a fool. Why are you raising your daughter to be a foolish girl!”

“Papa, she is not a fool.”

“No, she’s not, but you are. She let go $20,000 worth of morcotas! That’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“Stop it, she is just a child. Don’t fill her heads with old wives tales. It was just a dream.”

“No it wasn’t just a dream, it was a gift from the heavens! You just don’t reject a gift like that.”

Valeria watched as mother tried to give her grandfather a logical psychological analysis of her dream.

Her grandfather was annoyed at what he deemed was his daughter’s condescending explanation, “Spoken like a true head shrink.”

“I give up. I’m going to get my hair done. Val, help Papa with the dishes.”

She threw the notebook back in the drawer and left. Her grandfather was the most alert she’s ever seen him.

“Do you mind telling me your dream again and don’t skimp on the details.”

“Ok.”

Valeria told her grandfather her dream. After she finished, he was even more enthusiastic.

“Come on let’s go for a ride.”

They went to a part of town she had not been to before.

“I grew up in this neighborhood. I haven’t been back here in ages. Everyone has either moved far away or passed on to the next life.”As he said this, his eyes became a bit glassy.

He looked at Valeria, “Enough sad talk, let’s get you some ice cream.”

After they left the ice cream shop they went for a stroll. They walked for a few blocks and her grandfather pointed to the house where he used to live. He told her stories from his childhood and from when he grew up in the neighborhood.

They walked for a couple of more blocks when the girl stopped, pointed, and said, “It’s real!”

“What is?”

“My dream. I mean the house and tree in my dream. Look that’s the same tree I saw! The house, it’s the same house, the same blue too!”

“I knew it. The guys you described in your dream were my father’s best friends. The skinny guy, Fausto, used to live here with his wife and five kids. He had a great sense of humor. Always told the best jokes. I used to climb the avocado tree with Fausto’s kids all the time. The short guy, Segundo, was his cousin, but they looked so much alike everyone thought they were brothers. They used to come over once a week and play Dominoes with my father. Segundo was the best Domino player I knew. He never lost, he taught me how to play. I even managed to beat my father a couple of times because of him.”

“What happened to them?”

“Well after I moved to New York we kind of lost touch. I think Fausto moved to the Capital with his family and Segundo moved to Spain, or at least that’s what I heard.

“What about the house?”

“Fausto died and his wife passed away a few years later. After their mother was gone, the children sold the house. The new owners kept the outside intact. It looks just like it did when I was growing up.”

“So the men in my dream were good.”

“Indeed they were.”

“So I should have taken the gold from them then. I’m sorry, I’m such a fool grandpa.”

“Nonsense, you’re not a fool. You’re smart. You’re right to be wary of strangers handing out candy, or in this case gold. It’s just that people can be so jaded and skeptical. Sometimes it’s good to be open to the idea of random acts of generosity.”

A few years had passed and Valeria was back in her grandfather’s home. On this occassion she was not there on vacation, but to bury her grandfather. He had died peacefully in his sleep the previous month. The funeral and wake were long over. It was just the two of them now. Valeria and her mother were left with the task of managing his pending affairs. They had sold most of his belongings in order to pay off the small debt he left behind. Selling the house would be the worse case scenario, the absolute last resort. Valeria had not slept well for the last couple of weeks. She decided to take a short nap. She had a dream. She saw Fausto and Segundo underneath the avocado tree again. This time she was not scared and approached them. As she got closer she saw her grandfather as he laughed with the men. Her grandfather smiled at her and said, “I convinced them to give you a second chance. Segundo gave her the gold coins and this time Valeria took them.