Mules:: A Novel Read online

  The bartender shook his head as they went by.

  The man in front of them walked past the pay phone and pushed open the bathroom door. He stuck his head in and turned and said something to the other two before going inside and shutting the door.

  Neesha unhooked the receiver and handed it to the big one in the denim shirt. “If you could just call the police, ask them to come here, or just get someone who speaks English, that’d be fantastic. You’d really be saving our asses.”

  The big man looked down at the receiver in his hand like he’d never seen one before. He looked at the closed bathroom door and then back to the girls.

  “What’s the problem? Um. . . Que problema? Telefono policia, por favor.”

  “Maybe he needs money,” Els suggested.

  The bathroom door slowly opened behind them.

  Neesha patted her empty pockets. “Oh shit. Do you have any pesos, or whatever? I only have real money.”

  “Problema,” the big man repeated. “Si problema.”

  “No problema,” Neesha argued. “ We’ll give you American money if you just call the police for us. We’ll give you-”

  An arm shot out of the bathroom behind her and closed around her mouth while another wrapped around her chest. She was dragged in while the big man shoved Els through the threshold.

  Neesha’s knee buckled beneath her and she went down to the floor of the tiny, foul-smelling room.

  It was a tight fit with the four of them. The big man shoved Els against the wall and turned to shut the door. Their other companion stayed outside standing guard.

  The smaller one grabbed the bags from around Els’ shoulder and stood up on the toilet, balancing on the rim of the lidless bowl. He unzipped Neesha’s bag first and rifled through it.

  Els bent down to help Neesha up, but the big man threw her back against the wall. She hit it hard, but didn’t fall. She stood with her shoulders square to the wall. He raise one finger in a warning and waved it in front of her, “No no no.”

  The one standing on the toilet held a pair of Neesha’s underwear out like a prize. He said something that made the big guy chuckle.He threw Neesha’s bag down, still holding her underwear. He brought it to his face and inhaled. He rolled his eyes back in an imitation of ecstasy and tossed them at the big man. The big man smelled them too and shook his head in agreement.

  The little guy grabbed Els’ duffel bag and opened it. He took a quick look inside, and then shifted his gaze to her, eyes moving over her body, briefly, licking his lips, before returning his attention to the bag again.

  When he finds the knife, Els thought. When he finds it he’ll bring it out and show the other one. She looked at the unsteady heels of his cowboy boots balancing on the toilet rim. I can knock him off and take it from him. We’ll have a chance then. C’mon. C’mon and find it, she begged.

  While the little one went through Els’ bag, the big one looked down at Neesha, still on the floor. He laughed again, exposing his square little vampire fangs and made a move to unzip his pants.

  Els tried not to look at the fat man with the beard, what he was trying to do to Neesha. She focused on the one standing on the toilet, she waited for her chance. He was drunk and already wobbling slightly, he wouldn’t be expecting it. Just put your hand in the bag a little deeper, she thought.

  Neesha’s eyes were on the fat man’s hands as they moved down and split the golden tracks of the zipper in two. His fly was splayed and Neesha was staring directly at his white cotton briefs. Stains of fresh yellow piss soaked into the threadbare cotton of his ancient underwear, the only thing separating her from his unwashed, uncircumcised penis.

  She felt sick.

  And then all heads snapped to stare at the bathroom door as they heard a sudden commotion from outside. Loud arguing in Spanish. The big man exchanged a nervous glance with his friend standing on the toilet.

  More shouting from outside the door, and then the sound of something solid slapping against flesh.

  Silence outside. No one moved. They were all frozen, watching the door as it slowly swung inward.

  The third companion appeared in the doorway, one hand on the knob, the other held against the side of his head, blood seeping down his neck from a fresh wound. He stared at the floor, sheepishly muttered something to the other two men.

  The little one immediately climbed down off the toilet and handed Els her bag. The bigger man dropped Neesha’s underwear on the ground near her and zipped his pants back up. He turned to leave.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Neesha asked Els.

  “I have no idea.”

  As the girls watched the men walk out of the bathroom single file, they saw a younger man, handsome and dressed in a suit, standing just outside the door watching them leave.

  As the men filed past they each turned to him and uttered something that sounded, incredibly, like an apology.

  He nodded as they each passed and when the big man went by, eyes lowered, he stopped him and shoved a wad of bills in his hand. The big man muttered ‘gracias’, but did not make eye contact.

  Neesha and Els looked at each other.

  “Did he just. . .?” Neesha trailed off.

  “Buy us?” Els finished.

  The young man turned to them. He spoke. English in a thick accent. “You’re coming with me now.”

  FOURTEEN

  It was night in Colzorona, and while two American girls were climbing out of a ditch and taking their first steps onto an unknown desert road, Eliana, in the back of a Volvo station wagon, was being led up a familiar one. They were taking her to her father’s house. Her recently deceased father. Her recently murdered father. Hearing the thug behind the steering wheel so callously announce his death had been like someone dropping a brick on her from a high window. She discovered that even in the midst of fearing for her own life, she could still mourn his.

  Gusano stopped the car outside the fence and honked the horn. They waited while someone came down the hill to unlock the gate. When it was open they drove through, up the driveway, and parked in the garage.

  When Primo got out and went around to open Eliana’s door, Gusano turned around to face her. “I don’t have to tell you that it’s useless to run; that you won’t get anywhere, but I guess it needs to be said. So don’t be stupid. Don’t get shot. Understand?”

  She nodded.

  The two thugs led her into her father’s house. It smelled like fresh paint. All the walls had been stripped bare, and most of the furniture, the kitchen table, was gone. There were more thugs in the house, carrying loads of clothes from the closets and books and framed photographs and all the other precious junk that had accumulated. They were taking it out back to burn in a pile.

  One of the thugs called Leandro came out of a bedroom buttoning up a tacky Hawaiian shirt that was too big for him. He smiled at Primo. “What do you think, huh? Gringos pay a lot of money to look like assholes, but I think I can pull it off.”

  “It looks good,” said Primo. “All you need now is one of them stupid hats they wear.”

  “You think so? We had one but we already burned it. Shit. The boss man’s in the other room, you’re looking for him. Word of advice, don’t light up no cigarettes or nothing in here. He says he wants to keep it clean. For. . .” He looked at Eliana. “Well, you know.”

  “Yeah, sure,” said Primo. They led her into the living room.

  Calisto stood watching one of his men run a steam cleaner over the carpet.

  “You’re redecorating,” said Gusano. “I hardly recognize the place. All it needs now are some old magazines and some sick people coughing all over the place.”

  “Yes. We’ve been re-purposing the location. We have to find a use for every available asset, even one as impractical and out-of-the-way as this. I have some plans for a storage warehouse as well, once the operation gathers some momentum. Did you have any trouble with her?”

  “No. It was easy enough. Snatch and grab, you know.”
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br />   Calisto looked her over like he was inspecting a cut of steak. He came face to face with her. “Do you know who I am?”

  Eliana nodded. “I’ve seen you with my father before.”

  “That’s right. Your father’s tenure with the organization has come to an unexpected end. Well, unexpected by him at least. He was in over his head. Sometimes institutions allow employees to fail upwards and your father reached a level where it became obvious that he was incompetent, and that’s putting it mildly. He couldn’t preform his job and I don’t think he would have handled demotion very well, so we had to let him go. The organization has been going through some restructuring as of late and he had to be made an example of. I was as sorry to to see him go as anyone, we were friends, your father and I, but this is business, you have to understand.”

  Eliana glared at him. The business euphemisms he was using to make her father’s murder palatable only made it seem more sterile and loathsome.

  “I can see you’re angry with me. That’s to be expected. But I have to say, It’s not going to do you any favors to be stubborn.” He gave her a long, uncomfortable look. “Did these men tell you they were going to kill you?”

  Eliana remained silent.

  “If they did then I apologize. You don’t have to fear for your life. I promise you, it’s in everyone’s best interest to keep you alive, and we shall do it. We’ll try to keep you comfortable as well, all things considered.” He reached out and took her wrist and turned it up to inspect her palm. “You’re injured, I see. Your wounds will be attended to momentarily. I suspect you gave my boys here a fair bit of trouble, eh? That’s good. I like a fighter. I like someone with a little determination; keeps them on their toes. But you’re done with all that, now. You’re not going to give us any more trouble, are you?”

  Still she said nothing.

  “You’re being uncooperative, Mrs. Leon. That’s not going to be very good for you. I have a job for you. Are you listening? The organization needs you to do this. Your father needs you to do this. Your remaining family needs you to do it, as well.”

  Her head snapped upward at the mention of her family.

  “Yes. I see I have your attention now. You are currently enrolled in college in South Texas, is this correct?”

  She nodded slowly.

  “Very good. You cross the border quite a bit, do you not? Have you ever been searched crossing into Texas?’

  She shook her head..

  “Have you ever been detained? Questioned?”

  She shook her head again.

  “Excellent. I’d have to say that you’re more than qualified for the job.”

  “What job?” Her voice was a quivering whisper, a helpless sound that nauseated her.

  Calisto held his forefinger and thumb an inch apart. “Only a small thing.”

  “And then you’ll leave me and my family alone?”

  “You have my word.”

  “Fine. I’ll do it.”

  “I know. Take her to the room, boys. She needs to get ready for her trip.”

  Gusano and Primo escorted her to a spare bedroom.

  They opened the door.

  She was puzzled at first by what she saw, and then overcome with a sudden gasping terror as realization dawned.

  The walls were lined with plastic sheets hung from the ceiling, there was another stretched over the floor. They had moved the kitchen table inside and beside it was a console that looked like medical equipment, a heart monitor. A tray table had been set up, a careful arrangement of syringes and scalpels, plastic tubing and things Eliana couldn’t recognize were lain out in a precise row beside a stand holding bags of intravenous fluids.

  There were three men in the room wearing scrubs and surgical masks. She could see that one of them was white, an older man, middle aged, maybe, the other two she could tell by their hairstyles and visible tattoos were just more of Calisto’s men, men that would feel inadequate in a third grade science fair, now looking like they were prepped to preform surgery.

  She turned to run. She tried to use her size to her advantage and plow through the two thugs that had led her inside. It might have worked but the plastic sheet on the floor was loose and it bunched up under her feet as she tried to spring through the doorway, killing any momentum she had. Primo and Gusano grabbed her and slammed her down on the table. She fought to get back up.

  “Hold her down,” barked Gusano.

  “You can’t be in here,” said the white man. “This room has been sterilized, you’re contaminating it!”

  “Shut the fuck up. Just put the mask on her and then you can carve the fat bitch up.”

  The two thugs dressed in scrubs moved around to hold her feet.

  Eliana struggled against the four men and they could barely hold her.

  “Hurry the fuck up.”

  And then standing over her and looking down, the masked face of the doctor. She looked up into his blue eyes, rimmed with guilt and heavy with anguish like storm clouds swollen with rain and about to burst.

  He put the mask over her face and she held her breath as long as she could but it was useless. “Breathe,” the doctor commanded. He tipped something liquid from a glass bottle over the mask. A strong chemical scent settled over her mouth and nose, it had a weight, it seemed, like a fog spreading over a mountain valley. She felt it carrying her away.

  The last thing she heard before she slipped into unconsciousness was the doctor speaking to her in English.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  FIFTEEN

  Neesha, still sitting on the bathroom floor, looked up at the stranger. His expensive leather loafers and tailored suit set him apart from the other men in the bar with their dirty jeans and cowboy boots. He looked like he had as little business being in there as Neesha or Els. The look on his face held neither malice nor sympathy, instead he looked at the girls with an objective curiosity like someone observing a stunned mouse that had just fallen to earth, fortuitously dropped from the clutches of some bird of prey.

  He held out his hand to her and she took it reluctantly. She didn’t know whether to trust this man, and he looked like didn’t need or want her trust, but she knew that, for this brief moment, it would be easier to deal with one man instead of three, and for that she was somewhat grateful.

  So she allowed him to help her up. She brushed her hands off on her pants, feeling the layer of grime from the floor coating her palms that, visible or not, would take multiple washings to clean.

  Els came over and let her rest a hand on her shoulder, standing between Neesha and the well-dressed stranger protectively.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  The English language had never sounded so soothing to her. The last few hours had been like being stranded on an alien planet and just having a local with whom she was able to communicate was a relief. For a long moment, she couldn’t answer.

  “Yes, we’re fine now, thank you,” said Els.

  Neesha gave her a look. “No, actually we’re in trouble.”

  The stranger nodded. “This is a good place to find trouble. Not so good to come when you’re already in trouble. But perhaps you have already realized that.”

  “Those men,” said Neesha.

  “They are bad guys. You live out here in the desert, it makes some men mean. They become more like snakes than men. But you don’t have to worry about them.”

  “You paid them,” said Els.

  “Yes.”

  “It didn’t seem like you needed to. They were already leaving. What were you paying them for?”

  The stranger shrugged, “It helps take the sting out of it. They know who I am, they would have left you alone just because I said so, but if you put some money in their hands, it’s like consolation. If I just ordered them around, maybe kick them like a bad dog, will they leave you alone? Yes. But maybe they think about it, they have resentment to be treated like that. Maybe they decide to stick a knife in my back the next time they see
me. If I give them a little something, its like they’re doing me a favor, you get it?”

  “So why help us at all then? Why even bother?”

  The stranger seemed puzzled to be asked such a question. “I don’t know. I didn’t think about it. It was just the right thing to do, you know? I don’t like to see men do whatever they want to a woman just because they’re bigger. It makes me angry to see a man force himself on a helpless woman.”

  “We’re not helpless,” said Els.

  “But you do need help?”

  Els opened her mouth to reply, but before she could get anything out Neesha interrupted her. “Yes. We did. We do. Need your help. We need the police.”

  The man grimaced at the word police. “No. Whatever you want them for, I can help you. The police here are the same as the men who assaulted you, but they have badges.”

  “But there was a murder. We need to report it. And our car is wrecked. We need to find a tow truck, and to find a way to Blancasinato.”

  The man thought for a minute. “Sadly, it is as I have said, it’s a hard life in the desert and everywhere there are snakes, you can’t lift up a rock without finding one. The police will not help you with the murder, I’m sorry to say. As far as your car, I know a man with a tow truck, we can see him tomorrow.”

  “Can’t you get your friend to use his truck tonight?”

  “He’s not so much a friend, really. And it’s late.”

  “Could you give us a ride to our resort? It’s sort of a long way, but it would really help us.”

  “You’re staying at that place near Colzorona? The one where rich white people go to play tennis and hide from any Mexican that isn’t wearing a hotel uniform, right?”

  A guilty look came over Neesha’s face.

  “Sorry. I’m not going that way. It would not be wise to leave your car anyway. But if you like, you may stay with me. I don’t live in a resort, but I think you’ll be comfortable.”

  “We need to talk this over,” Said Els, as she turned to Neesha. “I don’t know if I like this. It’s nuts to just go with him, right? Who does that? Who offers to take in strangers? Who would accept his offer? It’s crazy, right?”