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The Loverboy

Page 23

by Miel Vermeulen


  spread more nutrients and re-sow for the next harvest. This was

  a money making machine. Two days into the harvesting Kim was at

  the house working on more correspondence with potential

  customers for the remainder of the drugs and more payments for

  preparations for the new crop. Sandro and Fernando were having a

  meeting regarding the progress of the work when all of a sudden

  shots were fired outside. Sandro and Fernando jumped up and went

  outside.

  A gun fight was ensuing with what appeared to be a large

  group of military vehicles at the checkpoint at the entrance to

  the valley. Quickly they rushed back inside and ordered Kim to

  pack up the laptop. She stopped what she was doing and shoved

  the laptop in the shoulder bag that it had come with. While she

  packed up the laptop Fernando opened the safe and Sandro opened

  the gun case. Fernando filled a small gym bag with several

  stacks of US bills and then dumped the content of the shoe box

  in the bag and zipped it up. Sandro grabbed two large semi

  automatic rifles and handed one to Fernando and then filled a

  pouch with additional clips. For a moment he stared at Kim

  trying to decide if he should shoot her or also give her a gun.

  Instead he decided she could be useful to carry stuff while he

  could shoot. Sandro took the gym bag from Fernando and handed it to Kim.

  Kim flung the laptop bag over her shoulder and took the gym bag

  by the handles. They ran to the back door and Sandro checked if

  the coast was clear. There was much more gunfire by now and a

  helicopter was flying overhead. The coast was clear and Sandro

  stepped out and motioned for Fernando to come. Fernando ran out

  and headed for the plants. The black netting and tall plants

  would keep them concealed. Kim followed Fernando and Sandro

  stayed by the door for cover. When Fernando was twenty feet away

  from the plants Kim heard a few loud bangs from behind and saw

  Fernando slump forward into the dirt. He had been shot three

  times in the back. Kim turned and to her shock she only saw

  Sandro. No Mexican soldiers like she expected. It took a second

  to sink in and then she realized that Sandro had shot Fernando,

  but why? Sandro ran over to Fernando"s body and grabbed the

  second rifle and flung it over his shoulder.

  Then he motioned to Kim to follow him. She hesitated and he

  aimed the rifle at her threatening to shoot if she didn"t

  comply. Kim followed and Sandro led her to the North East corner

  of the plantation. As they ran the gun fire was further away.

  The helicopter was still overhead but it was hanging out where

  the action was and with the flurry of activity from the farmers

  and the concealment of the plants and black netting nobody noticed them. When they got to the end of the fields Sandro

  stopped and checked to make sure the coast was clear. Then he

  motioned for her to follow and he headed toward a large stack of

  rocks. The stack had looked like it was part of the landscape

  and the mountains beyond it looked impenetrable. They climbed

  over the rocks and to Kim"s surprise behind the rocks was a path

  that looked like it snaked through the mountains that had looked

  impenetrable. This must have been the path that Gabriella"s

  father had used.

  They walked for two hours at a steady pace and gunfire grew

  more and more quiet. It was still possible to hear though but it

  was clearly far away. Sandro kept a close eye on the sky for the

  helicopter but it didn"t show. Then the gunfire stopped. It was

  quiet for a few minutes and then a few more shots and then it

  was quiet again. The military must have captured the plantation

  and Kim couldn"t help but think about the farmers and she prayed

  they would not have been harmed. She thought about running back

  and surrendering but Sandro wouldn"t let her go and especially

  now while she had the money and the laptop. After the two hours

  they came to the top of a ridge and beyond the ridge was a small

  town. There were many military vehicles in the town and Sandro

  decided to avoid it. They turned and walked in the other direction into another

  mountain ridge and walked for a few more hours before taking a

  rest. After a twenty minute rest they walked further and took

  another rest. They walked until late afternoon when they reached

  another small village. There too was a military presence but it

  was only a lone jeep. Since they had no cover and nowhere to go

  Sandro decided they should lay low till night fall then they

  would sneak into town and steal a vehicle.

  Kim put the bags down and sat. She was exhausted, had

  blisters on her feet and her shoulders hurt from carrying the

  bags. Sandro sat down too.

  After they sat for fifteen minutes and finally caught their

  breath she looked at Sandro and asked “Why did you kill him?”

  Sandro didn"t look at her and with no sign of any emotion

  he responded “He was the head of the cartel. If they didn"t find

  him, they would keep looking and we would have been caught for

  sure. Now I can get away.”

  Bored he opened the gym bag and looked through it. First he

  saw the papers from the shoebox. He looked through them quickly

  and then threw them out of the bag. In between the papers were a

  few blue passports. One stood out a little she looked at it. It

  was a slightly different shade of blue and instead of “MEXICO Pasaporte” the front read “Passport United States of America”.

  Sandro gave her a stare as she picked it up as if to accuse her

  of stealing but then he realized that he had no use for the

  papers or passports and ignored her. She opened the passport and

  her eyes started to water. The passport was Gabriella"s and Kim

  thought of her lost friend and the monster that had killed her.

  The same monster that she was with now and desperately wanted to

  get away from, but he had the guns and there was no way he would

  let her get away and risk her telling the authorities about him.

  She put the passport in her pocket as if it was a priceless

  treasure. Eagerly he started taking the stacks of money out of

  the bag. There were ten small stacks with a paper wrapper. The

  stacks looked to be one hundred dollar bills and the paper

  wrappers said $20,000 on them. That was $200,000 dollars. Sandro

  didn"t seem too phased by the amount and actually cursed that it

  was way too little. Then he put everything back in the bag. Next

  he took the laptop and tried to open the file with the bank

  codes but was blocked by the password. He tried a few and then

  gave up frustrated and put the laptop back in the bag and tossed

  it aside.

  They sat in silence for a few more minutes. The sun was

  setting already but it would probably be a few more hours before

  it was safe to head to the town. When she looked at Sandro she noticed he was staring at her. He was looking at her in the same

  way he had many times that had made her so uncomfortable. This

  time it was worse, Fernando was no longer there to protect her

  from this animal. He put the rif
le aside and pulled a large

  knife out from behind his back and got up. Kim looked in horror

  as he started toward her. She scurried backward but he ran and

  grabbed her by the head pointing the knife at her throat. She

  froze and thought she would rather die than let this monster

  have his way with her. He forced her to the ground and lay on

  top of her pinning her body down with his. She struggled but he

  was too strong. One hand held the knife on her throat while the

  other was grabbing at her and trying to remove clothing. She

  could not look at him and turned her head to the side.

  Then she saw a fist size rock just within arm"s reach. She

  stretched her arm out and her fingertips could just scrape it.

  She tried to grab the rock and with her fingers she was able to

  get it close enough to grab it in her hand. Then with one fell

  swoop she swung the rock toward his head. It had taken him

  totally by surprise and he flew off her as the rock hit him

  square in the temple. He rolled on the ground and dropped the

  knife now clutching the side of his head. Blood gushed through

  his fingers from the wound on his head. It took him a few seconds to collect himself and Kim used

  this time to grab the knife that was lying next to him. Still on

  the ground clutching his head with one hand, he grabbed her arm

  with the knife and pulled her down. Without thinking she

  switched the knife to the other hand and plunged it deep in his

  side. He howled in pain as blood started streaming out of the

  wound. She let go of the knife still imbedded in his side and

  scampered back. Sandro sat up and looked at the knife sticking

  out of his side and with a grimaced face he pulled it out. When

  he pulled it out he howled in pain again and the blood started

  flowing even faster. With a mighty effort he got up and limped

  toward her.

  “You bitch!” he said as he raised the knife.

  She cowered and tried to protect herself with her arms.

  Then she closed her eyes and braced for impact. There was no

  impact only the thud of a body hitting the ground. She opened

  her eyes and Sandro had collapsed not five feet away from her

  with a wide trail of blood behind him. She must have struck some

  vital organ she thought and he bled to death.

  Quickly she got up and grabbed both bags and moved as far

  away around the ridge as she could without getting out in the

  open. As she walked away she tried to make sense of her

  emotions. She had just taken a life. That was something she had never thought she would have been capable of but she had done

  it. She had seen Sandro do it with ease but she had been sure

  she could never do it. Now she had but what scared her the most

  was that she felt good about it. She took out Gabriella"s

  passport and looked at it. She felt sorrow for her friend and

  was happy to feel the emotion. It had been self defense and nobody had deserved it more than Sandro she justified.

  Chapter 31:

  Kim hiked for about an hour, mainly to get as far away from

  Sandro"s body as possible. After an hour she sat down and looked

  at the two bags. She couldn"t avoid people and needed to blend

  in. She needed new clothes and the laptop bag looked out of

  place. She took everything out of the laptop bag and put the

  power cord and the laptop into the gym bag. The rest of the

  laptop bag and its content she hid under a rock. Then she

  started downhill toward the village.

  When she got to the bottom of the hill it had gotten dark

  but most of the houses still had the lights on. She didn"t know

  what time it was but guessed it was just after eight. She was

  getting hungry and tired but there was no time to rest or eat

  and she didn"t have any food. When she got to the bottom of the

  mountain she looked around and a house fifty yards to the right

  had its laundry hanging out on a line. She sneaked to the

  laundry and checked it. It was no longer damp and there was a

  collection of men"s and women"s clothes and a few baby clothes.

  The women"s clothes looked like they would fit and quietly she grabbed three pairs of jeans, a couple of t-shirts and a few

  pairs of socks. Then she grabbed a sweater which seemed to be

  men"s size and way too large for her but she grabbed it anyway.

  If she couldn"t find a place to stay the night she would have to

  stay warm and this could do the job. When she had the stack of

  clothes she took out ten of the hundred dollar bills and stuffed

  them into one of the other jean"s pockets and quickly retreated

  back to some bushes behind the house as a dog started barking.

  A man appeared in the house next door, looked around and

  retreated back inside. Kim ran off back towards the mountain and

  found some cover. Behind the cover she changed into the new

  clothes and put the rest into the gym bag covering up the money.

  Then she took out three one hundred dollar bills which she stuck

  into her pocket and she left her hiding spot. She walked back

  into the town and found a small cantina. There she asked if they

  had change for a hundred dollar bill.

  The waitress looked at her wearily and examined the bill.

  Then she took it in back to where the kitchen staff was and they

  all looked at the bill and decided that it looked real enough.

  When the waitress returned she looked much friendlier. Kim

  ordered a soda and a burrito with beans. When it arrived the

  burrito was huge but she was very hungry. It took little time

  for her to finish the whole thing and she washed it down with the soda that was refilled twice. Nothing had ever tasted this

  good. When the burrito was gone the waitress picked up her plate

  and refilled the soda once more.

  “What"s your name?” she asked in English which Kim was

  surprised about and then realized it was due to her American

  appearance.

  “Gabriella” she responded quickly not wanting to give her

  own name.

  “What are you doing here in Las Estrellas?” the waitress

  asked.

  Kim shrugged trying to seem as casual as possible. How was

  she going to explain what she was doing in the middle of

  nowhere?

  She quickly thought something up and said “I was on

  vacation with my boyfriend and we got lost in the mountains.

  Then we got into this big fight about the directions and it got

  a little out of hand. Before long we found this town and I told

  him to stop the car and let me out. After some hesitation he did

  and I got out and told him to shove off.”

  The waitress looked shocked and Kim tried to look a little

  sad but still trying to be brave like she had just ended a relationship with her long time boyfriend. The waitress fell for

  it hook, line and sinker.

  “Oh my poor dear” she finally said when the shock sunk in.

  “He was a jerk” Kim said, “I should have dumped him a long

  time ago. I just need to figure out how to get back home.”

  The waitress nodded and thought for a minute, and then she

  said “My husband is going to Licenciado Adolfo Lopez Mateos in

  the morning for supplies. He can
give you a ride. From there you

  can catch a bus to Chihuahua.”

  “Great, I"d really appreciate it” Kim responded, “Is there

  a place to stay in town for the night?”

  “No, but you can stay here till we close at eleven. Then

  you can come with me and you can sleep on the couch. You look

  harmless enough. My husband leaves at five in the morning

  though. So you won"t get much sleep.”

  Kim happily accepted and made herself comfortable until

  eleven when they would go. It wouldn"t take her long to fall

  asleep she figured. At that moment the door opened and a pair of

  police officers walked in. Kim startled and she was suddenly

  wide awake. They were talking loudly and the waitress greeted

  them heartily. They ordered coffee and when she poured it for

  them she asked what was going on. They told her in great detail how the army had assisted in raiding a huge plantation just a

  few miles north in a valley. The drug lord had been found dead

  at the plantation but they were still looking for his second in

  command. “Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?” they

  asked. She looked at Kim who did her best trying to pretend to

  be asleep in the booth. The officers looked at her too for a

  long moment as the waitress explained that Kim had been the only

  one from out of town that she had seen and how Kim had been

  abandoned by her boyfriend while on a trip. The officers lost

  interest in Kim and told the waitress they were looking for a

  man.

  The description they gave was one that exactly matched

  Sandro and Kim shuddered but kept trying to pretend to be

  asleep. They stayed for a second cup and after that they paid up

  and left. After they left Kim finally fell asleep. A few hours

  later she was awoken by the waitress. The cantina was dark by

  now and the waitress was ready to go home. The waitress gave her

  five twenty dollar bills for the bill she had given her earlier.

  Kim argued but the woman would have none of it and told her she

  might need the money to get home. Kim accepted knowing that she

  had plenty but revealing that would arise suspicion. Also it

  would help to have some bills smaller than a hundred dollars. They walked to the house and Kim was glad it was on the

  other side of town from the house where she has stolen the

  clothes. It was a fifteen minute walk and they got in just

 

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