ONCE: ONCE (A Novel)


Javier walked to one of two large bookshelves that were built into the walls, from floor to ceiling, joined at the corner. From a shelf located at his eye-level, he took down a frame containing a full-length, black-and-white portrait of a man wearing a heavy wool suit and a bowler hat. Between his lips was a hand-rolled cigarrillo, from which the photograph had captured a puff of smoke.


"This man was tried in Federal court in Brownsville in 1915 for conspiracy against the United States," Javier said. "He was one of my relatives; his name was Augustn Jurez Farfan Ma'ax. But he wasn't convicted; the case was dismissed. And I want you to meet his grandson, who is now 64 years old."


"Augustn? Is that why your father uses that name as leader of the People's Army?"


"Yes, that's his main reason." Javier put his hand into the space above the shelf from which he had taken the portrait, and pushed on a small panel. Instantly, the entire bookshelf shifted toward them several centimeters. Javier put back the picture frame and then pulled out the bookshelf several centimeters further. He stepped around the end of the cabinet and disappeared. Mizraim heard him say, "Follow me."


She followed him down a flight of stairs into the basement. They entered a space that smelled like stacks of newspapers layered with dust. Fluorescent tubes hanging in a fixture from the ceiling filled the room with white light. Along one wall were several, four-drawer file cabinets. On a large bulletin board hung a multitude of notices, some beginning to turn yellow, including a map showing the southwestern section of the US as well as all of Mexico.


"Tio? Tio Belmont?" Javier called. He turned to Mizraim. "He's not really my uncle, of course, but he's a distant relative; so I call him 'tio.'"


A door opened, revealing another room with radio equipment, a computer and a television. In the doorway stood an older gentleman who appeared to be full of energy. Mizraim immediately could see the resemblance between this man and Javier's father. He smiled when he saw Javier.


Javier said in Spanish, "Tio Belmont, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. She's involved with my father in the People's Army in Chiapas. This is Subcomandante Josefa."


"Oh, Dios mio, this is a definite honor," Belmont responded. He shook Mizraim's hand.


"I'd like you to tell her about your grandfather, Augustn Farfan," said Javier.


"Augustn Jurez Farfan Ma'ax. Of course; it would be my pleasure. Please, let's be seated." Belmont stepped into the room where Javier and Mizraim were standing, and he closed the door behind him. With his hand, Belmont indicated two chairs, and he himself sat in a rocking chair. "What have you told her so far?"


"Only that he was tried in Federal court in 1915 for conspiracy against the United States," Javier replied.


"That was due to his involvement with The Plan of San Diego, which ... fortunately for us ... the American public found impossible to imagine. In fact, the judge stated that if Augustn Farfan had any involvement with The Plan of San Diego, then he ought to be tried for lunacy, not for conspiracy against the United States. So the case was dismissed. But my grandfather vowed to keep the Plan alive."


His aged chair creaked as Belmont rocked and continued speaking. "Exactly two years later, in 1917, the United States entered World War I because Germany was trying to entice Mexico to invade the United States. This plot was discovered when a top-secret telegram was decoded. The telegram had been transmitted to Mexico City by a man named Arthur Zimmermann, the German foreign minister.* The Zimmermann telegram proposed an alliance between Germany and Mexico, should the US enter the war against Germany. Then Mexico would invade the US, thereby giving her the chance to recapture her lost territory in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The Zimmermann telegram simply reflected the covert activities of The Plan of San Diego's organizers, including my grandfather. It also promised financial support from Germany.


"A copy of the Zimmermann telegram was eventually delivered to the Associated Press, and it was published in newspapers across the nation on March 1, 1917. This upset the American public even more than the sinking of the Lusitania, or Germany's invasion of Belgium. It was not difficult for the Americans to conceive; there already had been many instances of unrest and violence along the southern border of Texas. So on April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson delivered his famous speech to a joint session of Congress, and the United States entered World War I, officially declaring war on Germany on April 6."


Javier said, "Tio, I remember once you told me that Wilson specifically referred to that telegram in his speech. Is that true?"


"Yes, absolutely true. Woodrow Wilson stated, 'That it means to stir up enemies at our very doors the intercepted note to the German Minister in Mexico City is eloquent evidence.' Woodrow Wilson had an awful lot to deal with during his eight years in office. A new century fosters eccentric behavior among nations, not to mention a new millennium.


"Of course, the alliance between Mexico and Germany never materialized. And obviously, Mexico hasn't yet invaded the US. So was the Zimmermann telegram a hoax? Many people think so. But actually, The Plan of San Diego is kept alive in a faction of the PRI."


Mizraim recognized that she was receiving a glimpse of 'the bigger assignment' that Javier had mentioned earlier. And she was beginning to feel overwhelmed by it. This was only the tip of something enormous, the vast bulk of which still lay submerged. The very scope of it forced her to concede, as Javier's father had claimed earlier, that the People's Army in Chiapas was only a small enterprise.


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*See Appendix III, Part B.