Martin sipped his chocolate malt, washing the dirt out of his throat with its cold icy granules, and watched as Norberto demolished a Grand Slam breakfast. A grand slam. Clear the bases. Bring it all home. That’s what Martin was going to do, and when he was done, then Norberto would appreciate his genius. It was like a game of chess. Anyone could move the pieces, that was just logistics, lifting, grunt work. It was strategy that won the game.
. . .
Don drove home to quickly shave and change his clothes. Today was going to be a good one. Whatever forces that propelled the universe—be they energies of coincidence or karma—had conspired to bless him. Not only did he have a break in his case but his search for Bob had led him to this incredible woman. Don had gotten lucky.
. . .
Esteban carried his copy of La Opinion into the kitchen. He opened a cupboard and took out a small glass. He took a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice out of the refrigerator, pausing for just a beat when he saw the two severed arms together on a cookie sheet on the bottom shelf. Esteban would be glad to get rid of those things. He never liked to have anything remotely resembling evidence around for long. He’d never store a shipment of drugs at his own home, always using warehouses, storage units, or, in an emergency, this safe house.
He sat at the kitchen table, sipped his orange juice, and read the paper. This new presidente in Mexico could be trouble. He was not part of the old guard that had kept Mexico in a kind of feudal society for centuries, with rich landowners, industrialists, and gangsters as kings and shoguns. He wasn’t a socialist, thank God, but he was a reformer. A reformer who made a lot of speeches about improving the lives of the Mexican working class. Part of that would be eliminating the drug trade and cracking down on corruption. Esteban chuckled. As if that would improve their lives.
Esteban relied on a time-honored tradition of bribes and corruption, giving officials their “little bites,” to move product through the country and over the border. How else could your average civil servant afford a satellite dish, a DVD player, or a Jeep Cherokee? But if this new guy was going to start cracking down, it could cause problems. Not that it would ever stop the flow of product into the States, there was just too much money to be made, but it could cause headaches, disruptions. Carajo, this new presidente was going to be a fucking pain in the ass.
Esteban looked up as he heard Bob and Amado pull into the driveway. He watched as the two men climbed out of the car, laughing and joking like they were old friends. As much as he liked Bob, Esteban was still a little unsure. It was a risk he wouldn’t normally take, but then this was not a normal situation. Still, there was something about him that seemed trustworthy. He was sincere. Not jaded like Martin and other anglos that Esteban knew. Anglos always seemed to think that they were entitled to everything. As if working was somehow beneath them. It was a kind of culturally inbred arrogance. It was not an attractive quality to someone who’d worked his way up from the strawberry fields.
Bob and Amado strolled into the kitchen. Bob was carrying a couple of cups from Starbucks. He handed one to Esteban.
“I didn’t know what you liked so I got you a cappuccino.”
Esteban took the coffee from Bob, touched by the gesture.
“Gracias, Roberto. I like cappuccino.”
Esteban and Bob locked eyes for a moment. Esteban was surprised and, he had to admit, pleased when Bob didn’t look away. Bob wasn’t threatened by him.
“Roberto, did Felicia help you find your huevos?”
“What?”
“Your balls.”
Bob blushed, a sly grin on his face. Amado smacked him on the back.
“He’s ready.”
Esteban sipped his cappuccino.
“You ready, Roberto?”
“Yeah. I guess.”
Esteban got serious.
“I’ll tell you something about the police. Las placas can tell when you’re lying. They got some kind of sense about it. So the secret is simple. Do not lie. Tell them the truth. Maybe not the whole truth. But you tell them enough of the truth and they’ll believe you.”
“Because I’m telling the truth.”
“Exacto. And remember, you’re not excited. You’re upset. This thing with your girlfriend was very upsetting.”
“I should be depressed?”
Amado joined in.
“Yes, a little sad, I think.”
“But I’d be lying. I’m not sad.”
Amado and Esteban exchanged looks.
“So you were celebrating after your breakup?”
Bob smiled at the men.
“I was celebrating.”
“Bueno. Whatever is the most honest.”
Bob finished his coffee and put it down on the table.
“Where’s the arm?”
Esteban pointed.
“In the fridge.”
. . .
It felt strange to be back behind the wheel of the delivery car. Bob clicked on the radio, which was still tuned to the same station he’d been listening to before his life had changed so radically. Bob knew that he’d have to work at the lab for a week or two, then give notice. He had to be smart about it, he couldn’t just walk in and quit. That might give away the fact that he’d been up to something. Unless he got fired. That would work.
As he drove toward Parker Center he thought about Felicia. He compared her to Maura. He couldn’t help himself. He started to chastise himself for all the time he’d wasted being with her when he could’ve been with Felicia. But then he realized that he’d been happy with Maura. They’d had fun together. They’d loved each other. Maybe it wasn’t the intense love he felt for Felicia, but it wasn’t a waste. Maybe if he hadn’t been with Maura he wouldn’t have been ready for a woman like Felicia. Bob began to wonder if the world really was random like he’d always thought. Maybe there was a kind of plan to everything after all. It sure seemed like it.
Bob was beginning to believe in something. The higher power that the drunks and dope fiends talk about. The force, like in Star Wars. The laws of karma. The will of Allah. Jah love. It was real. He could feel it.
. . .
Don was pissed. He had left specific instructions with the evidence room clerk that the minute, no, the second that the arm was delivered they were to call him and detain the delivery guy. But they hadn’t. In fact, they hadn’t even called him and told him the arm had been delivered. He’d had to call down to ask.
Don didn’t wait for the elevator. He took the stairs, running down two at a time. He’d had a hunch that Bob was a normal, honest guy. That he’d been distraught over being dumped. And who wouldn’t with a woman like Maura? Still, after he got the arm sent over for fingerprints and DNA testing, he’d track Bob down and have a little chat with him. Help him get his priorities straight.
Don went into the evidence room. He tried to hide his annoyance, not that the clerk would’ve noticed. The clerk, a pudgy guy with extremely thick blond eyebrows, showed him the cooler. Don popped the lid and looked in. There it was. The arm last seen on the floor of Carlos Vila’s garage. Now Don would find out who it belonged to. Because he still couldn’t figure out why they’d leave Carlos’s body but take the body of the second victim. It just didn’t make sense.
This was the part of his job that he enjoyed. Taking a collection of seemingly unrelated evidence and information and slowly piecing together a picture of what had happened. It was like archeology.
The clerk looked over his shoulder.
“That’s what you were waiting for?”
“Yeah.”
“Do I need to keep it cold?”
“Just keep it in the cooler.”
“You want me to send it to the lab?”
Don looked at the clerk.
“Yes.”
The clerk was oblivious to Don’s sarcastic tone.
“Okay.”
“Can you put a rush on it?”
“You have to call the lab for that.”
“A
ll right. You get it over there right away and I’ll call the lab.”
The clerk nodded.
“I can do that.”
. . .
Maura was beginning to lose her patience. It wasn’t like her, but this new client just wasn’t getting it. Not that he was nervous or inhibited. In fact, he couldn’t wait to take off his clothes and wave his hard-on at her. But his motion, his stroke, it was spastic. Herky-jerky. She spoke to him softly, trying to get him to slow down, smooth out, enjoy the sensations. But he couldn’t do it. Like he had Tourette’s syndrome in his right arm.
It was the opposite of her night with Don. A night filled with smooth, gliding sensations. Their bodies linking up in the same rhythm.
Watching this guy was like chewing aluminum foil or hearing someone run their fingernails across a blackboard. It was horrible.
Maura couldn’t take it anymore. She impulsively did something she’d sworn she’d never do. She stopped him and took his cock in her hand.
“Here, let me show you.”
She jacked him off in a jiffy.
. . .
Amado sat on the couch watching his telenovela. It was a slow day on the hacienda. Fernando was up to something and Gloria was busy seducing the local padre. Amado was hoping that the priest wouldn’t fall for her cheap come-on. You decide to dedicate your life to the Church, then that’s what you do. It’s your calling.
Amado had a calling. He had devoted his life to thieving, fucking, and drinking. He embraced the sins of the flesh. He celebrated them by turning his body into an icon of carnal acts. He’d have to be loco to go into a church and declare himself a man worthy of God’s everlasting love. Just like the padre would have to be loco to suddenly fall into Gloria’s arms.
He could see that the padre was tempted; who wouldn’t be, looking down into Gloria’s cleavage, which was as deep and mysterious as the Marianas Trench, but Amado hoped that the padre would come to his senses, have a little integrity. The padre needed to remember why he’d chosen the path of God and resist the fleeting joys that Gloria offered. Otherwise he could never hold mass again.
Norberto and Martin entered the house. Norberto was filthy. He took his shoes off at the front door so as not to track dirt through the house.
“Hola.”
Amado looked up from the TV.
“Hola, pendejo. ¿Cómo fue?”
“Bien. Todo bien.”
Martin chimed in.
“Everything’s cool.”
“Curado, vato.”
Amado could tell from their body language that everything was not cool. But he played it off. Martin shifted his weight from foot to foot.
“Is Esteban here?”
“He went home.”
Martin nodded.
“Maybe I’ll give him a call. Just to, you know, check in.”
“You do that.”
“Is your arm still here?”
“It’s in the fridge.”
Martin nodded.
“We should get rid of it.”
“Why?”
Norberto piped up.
“It’s evidence, man.”
“It’s my arm.”
“If the cops find it . . .”
“Las placas won’t find it. ¿Entiendes?”
Amado shot them a withering glance. But Martin wouldn’t let it go.
“Esteban said that we should get rid of it.”
“It’s not El Jefe’s arm.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
Amado didn’t know the answer to that one.
“Keep it around.”
“Until the police find it.”
“It’s my arm, pendejo.”
He watched as Martin and Norberto exchanged glances.
“I need a shower, man.”
Amado didn’t say anything. Gloria was stroking the padre’s thigh.
“Yo necesito descansar, también.”
Amado looked up at Norberto.
“Vale, cabrón.”
Norberto and Martin stood there for a beat and then shuffled off. Amado rolled his eyes. They were hiding something. Either they’d botched the burial or they were planning something. Or they were stoned. With Martin you could never tell, he always seemed a little squirrelly. A baboso who thought he knew everything but really had a lot to learn about the way things work. Amado knew that, whatever they were trying to pull, the learning curve was going to be steep and hairy for Martin and Norberto.
He turned back to the TV just in time to see the padre fall into Gloria’s arms, burying his head between her huge soft breasts and praying for God’s forgiveness for what he was about to do.
Amado hated hypocrites.
. . .
Morris was still playing Tetris when Bob walked in.
“How high are you?”
Morris stopped playing.
“How high are you, man? Where the fuck have you been?”
“Out.”
“Duh.”
“Anybody notice I was gone?”
“Just the boss, the police, everyone at UCLA.”
“The boss mad?”
Morris shook his head.
“He’s worried, dude. We were all worried.”
“About me?”
“Yeah.”
Bob smiled.
“I didn’t know you cared.”
“I’m not gay. I didn’t care, like, that much.”
Bob laughed.
“I better go tell the boss.”
“You better call the cops, too.”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
Bob turned to go.
“You must’ve really loved her, man.”
Bob stopped.
“Who?”
“Your girlfriend.”
Bob reminded himself to tell the truth.
“Yeah, I did.”
. . .
Esteban lowered himself into his bubbling Jacuzzi. He felt the tension of the last twenty-four hours begin to melt away. Amado had made a gazpacho out of everything, but at the end of the day he was still one of the few men that Esteban could count on. Count on and trust. He’d have a word with Amado about whatever freelancing he was doing with Carlos Vila, but he didn’t want Amado dead. He was too valuable.
Lupe came out with a bowl of guacamole and some chips. She was wearing a dark blue one-piece swimsuit, and Esteban couldn’t help but admire her body as she climbed into the Jacuzzi and put the dip down in front of him.
“Gracias.”
“De nada.”
She smiled at him. She had a beautiful smile.
Esteban wondered if it wasn’t time for him to settle down. Maybe get married. He’d always figured he’d end up married to an American, that’d make it easy to get a green card. But American women were so thin, skinny and preoccupied with shopping and their appearance. Esteban found them repulsive. They chatted endlessly about how they looked, how other women looked, and how they or their friends would look after surgical enhancements were completed. They lacked soul.
Esteban took a chip and dipped it into the guacamole. The cool thick avocado coated his tongue. It was somehow spicy, biting, and soothing all at the same time. It tasted of earth and sun, cilantro and jalapeño, onion and lime. It reminded him of Mexico. The good parts he’d left behind. Guacamole, he realized, was very soulful.
Lupe smiled at him as he ate another mouthful.
“Te gusta?”
“Sí. Muy rico.”
He watched as she slowly submerged herself in the water. He admired her. She didn’t need a bikini or fake tits. She was who she was and she was beautiful that way. She was honest and earthy and soulful. Like guacamole.
. . .
Maura walked around to the front of the building. A sign told her that the entrance was in the rear. It seemed strange to her, there was a perfectly functional front door, but it had a metal gate across it. It was probably a security precaution, although if someone were going to rob the store they could just as eas
ily use the back door.
She walked up and around, down the alley, to the back of the building. She pulled open the glass doors, passed a serious-looking metal detector, and took a look around. It was a little overwhelming. She’d never been in a gun store before, and the variety and sheer number of guns took her by surprise. The air was a heady mix of oil and gunpowder, metal and wood. Intoxicating.
Maura strolled slowly through the room, entranced. What was it about these things? What caused her insides to quiver when she held one? Maura didn’t understand what was happening to her. All she knew was that when she held a gun in her hand it triggered something deep inside. It was a connection to a primal, sexual power. Life and death, creation and destruction. Explosion and silence. It was nothing she’d ever felt before.
She laughed at herself
A friendly employee came up to her and spoke directly to her breasts.
“Lookin’ for home protection? Or somethin’ to carry in your purse?”
“I don’t know.”
In fact, she had no idea what she was doing there.
“Lookin’ for somethin’ versatile?”
“Let’s start with that.”
The employee, a round and red-faced American with an LA Dodgers cap, sized her up.
“This your first time?”
Maura nodded.
“Don’t be scared. You use these right, they’ll never hurt you.”
“Okay.”
He walked around behind a glass display case filled with all makes and models of handguns. There were scary black Glocks, lethal-looking Walthers, efficient Smith & Wessons, a truckload of semiautomatic handguns, revolvers, and all manner of death-delivering devices. He pulled out a Beretta nine-millimeter semiautomatic. It was big, black, menacing. It meant business. The kind of gun that bad guys used in the movies.
He pulled back the top part to reveal the chamber.
“A Beretta nine-millimeter semiautomatic. Italian-made. Excellent quality. Double action. Fifteen-shot magazine. Guaranteed to drop an intruder before he can get his pants down.”
Moist: A Novel Page 14