“Yes! I know you’re after Rosalia Cucul.” The Men started to whistle. “How did you find her?”
He smiled. “I always liked to bicycle. Many times, especially after my schooling days were over, I’d bicycle for days, visiting the villages, meeting people. One day, about six months ago, I was in your Santa Cruz and went by the school. There she was, and that was it for me.” He smiled then looked down.
What’s wrong,” I asked him, even though I thought I knew what was wrong.
“She talks to me, even smiles. But that’s it. Can’t even get a fokmi ‘hold hand’. Do you know how surprised I was when I got a message that the late Alcalde Cucul wanted to see me? Fokmi! I was worried, but I knew I hadn’t even touched the gyal’s hand. So, I went and was informed that I was to escort Rosalia at your wedding. I supposed she liked me but wasn’t letting on. I don’t know.” He looked at me sadly. “I’m really sorry about what happened to Molly, Sarge.” He looked down again. “I was terrified when all that shit happened. I protected Rosalia. I was scared I would lose her, that she would be killed.” He sighed deeply. “Funny. I never thought about me being killed. We both survived, unlike a lot of people.” He put his hand on his forehead and covered his eyes.
The jungle was quiet. The men were quiet. Even Taat had stopped stirring his tea and was looking at Choc. I was struggling deeply within myself. Rosalia was to be for Bas and, because of me, that would never happen. Even though I knew that Bas was gone, yet, I found it difficult to accept Rosalia with Choc together. I tried to, but I could not stop the flashbacks, the knowledge that my friend Bas died among the grasses on that summit, in my arms. My friend Bas was in love with Rosalia and he would never see her again. I had not protected him as he always protected me. “Give her time, Choc. Give her time and she’ll come around,” I mumbled. He looked up at me, removing his hand from his face. I saw the moisture in his eyes and the embarrassment on his face. “It’s okay, Choc. We’ve all been through a lot … I’m sure we’ve all cried before.”
“Well, that’s a lot of madafok riding to go from Jalacte to Santa Cruz,” intervened Teul, bringing playfulness once again to the talk. “How often did you take that ride?”
Choc nodded, trying to smile. “I try to go every Sunday, depending on rain and the trail.”
“Madafok!” exclaimed Teul. “I wish you luck. And not even a ‘hold hand’.” Teul shook his head looking very deadpan. “Well, on further and appropriate thinking, maybe it was a good thing she didn’t give you lee bit.”177
“Why is that?” asked Choc, frowning.
Teul shook his head slowly. “Because with all that riding, your balls would have been pretty stink.” Of course, my jungle resounded with boisterous hilarity.
After we settled down, Robertson spoke. “Too much bicycling is not good for your reproductive capabilities.” Everyone looked at Choc.
He sighed, resigned that he would be the subject of humor for the rest of the evening. “And why is that, Medic?”
“Because too much heat decreases your fertility.”
“Aha!” exclaimed Teul.
“The reason why our bollocks …”
“Balls, Robertson,” interrupted Teul. “Better yet, u-ye’el-toons.”178
Robertson continued. “The reason why our bollocks hang outside of our body is so that they do not have to endure full body heat. When you bicycle, heat is generated between the seat and your bollocks.”
“Balls, Robertson,” interrupted Teul, again. “So, you are saying, Robertson, that Choc will only be able to shoot blanks.”
“I said nothing of the sort.”
“I am just deeply concerned, because if that is so I want to do the brother-in-arms thing and offer to help him out.”
“Teul! Teul! Teul again,” shouted the men, amidst laughter.
“Okay. Okay.” I intervened. “Machete sharpening time.”
“Well, I won’t give any stories tonight,” disclosed Taat who stood before us with his pot. “Choc has taken care of that. Now, get out your cups and drink up.” We held out our mess tins and Taat filled them. I put mine to my nose and smelled the rising vapor. I couldn’t distinguish the herbs used, something I was always able to do. I looked at Taat, but he had already turned away. I decided I would ask him what it was later. I did notice that he did not drink any, but he was always taking his herb teas so, maybe, he didn’t need or want any at that time.
I sat sharpening my machete, with some difficulty. It was only a year old and hadn’t seen much work, or sharpening.
“I should have broken it in before giving it to you,” said Taat, who had finished his tea distribution and was standing beside me.
“Every man should break in his own machete, Taat. You told me that yourself. It brings a good relationship between a man and his machete.”
“You remembered.”
“I remember everything you and Nah’ taught me, Taat.” He stared at me momentarily.
“Good night, Paal.”
“Good night, Taat.” I rubbed my fingers along the blade as I watched him walk away. He had called me Paal again. He had called me Paal twice in one day. I rubbed the blade again and I raced to Ox Witz Ha and Ajawinel179 K’an II. I had given him my machete as a gift. Molly was with me and she had given him the Medallion of Jade, the Raax Ch’ayom Puag,180 on which I had carved the images found on the Green Scapular. One day last year, after returning from Ox Witz Ha and finishing with the court martial and everything that followed, during ‘stand-down’181 I went to Santa Cruz. I was going to the kool with Taat and he noticed that I didn’t have my machete with me. He asked me what happened to it and I just said that I had lost it in the jungle, but would buy another. He insisted that he would buy me a new one. I was only about seven when he had given me my first machete and scabbard. When I strapped it around my waist, I had difficulty pulling the blade out. But, I learned quickly. Perhaps he, like me, was reliving that memory. I did feel guilty about giving it away as it was for a good purpose and, if I could have told him why, he would have understood. I did not lose anything, however, as the one he gave me as a replacement had a beautiful scabbard of new leather and I knew that Taat had made it himself. I glanced up. Rhys was looking intently at me and I must have been staring. I raised my eyebrows at him and smiled.
I heard the call of the icim and stood up. “Okay, men. Time to sleep. I hope our combats are dry enough. It’s not good to sleep in wet clothes. It’s not good for the balls, Choc, but if we have to, we have to. Get dressed and let’s bed down for the night.” Robertson handed Teul a headlight as he was on the first duty watch for the night. In a short while, I heard light snores coming from the men. Taat was still up, adding some more wood to the fire. I stared up into the high canopy wondering if Molly was alright. I slowly drifted off to sleep with the crackling sound and smell of the fire, Taat still moving about.
CHAPTER FIVE
TAAT’S MEDICINAL TALENTS
Thursday, April 26, 1973
“Fok!” I grumbled to myself. It was still dark and I had awakened, but I could hear the whistle of the kolol in the distance so it had to be between four and six-o-clock. Then I realized why I was awake. My belly was in a turmoil. The fire was still going well and I could see the men lying on their ground-sheets. They seemed restless in their sleep. Suddenly, Teul jumped up, startling me, and rushed off to the bushes, trying to pull off his combat trousers. “What the fok … “I couldn’t finish for I was following him into the bushes. I wouldn’t have had time to dig a hole, even if I had my machete, for my shit was water and exploding between my legs with large amounts of obnoxious gas. There were other explosions nearby, where Teul had gone. “Oh fok!” I shouted. “I can’t have this now. I can’t be sick, have sick men. How the fok did we pick up an infection, get shitninz?”182
Rhys came running towards me. “Roninz!183 Roninz! Get out the fokin way. ¡Ai yai yai! ¡Hijueputa!”
He passed me and I turned
to watch him. He barely had time to take off his trousers when his shit was also flying. I heard more crashing into the jungle. I looked back at our camp. There was no one there except for Taat. He was searching one of the bergens. My belly rolled and cramped and I started to sweat. More shit. More shit. “Fok! Fok! Fok!” Immediately, the past flashed before me and I was in a cage in a cavern where I had stepped into my own shit as creatures of the jungle, the Kechelaj Komon, threw fruit at me for their entertainment.
“What the madafoka did you give us to eat. Rhys,” shouted Choco.
“Don’t fokin blame me. I gave you standard army rations,” he replied, defensively. “And they’re not even outdated.”
“Why didn’t you just bring what we’re madafoka used to. Noodles! Corned beef and rice!” fumed Choco. “Jungle Chow Mein.”
“And tambran Tang, Choco,” snapped Rhys, sarcastically. “Don’t forget the fokin tambran Tang.”
“Must be that fokmi soya mince,” said Choc. “I knew that fokmi make believe beef wasn’t good.”
“Maybe it’s the water. We haven’t been using our pills,” added Robertson.
“There’s nothing wrong with our water,” Choco rebuked him. “Maya water is pure.”
I wasn’t aware of Taat until he was standing in front of me, calling to me. He had a roll of bum fodder in his hands and was unrolling it. He handed me some. I couldn’t clean yet as more watery shit was coming. “Thanks, Taat.” I heard groans around me and I knew that the other men were having cramps as well. Taat walked over to the other men, handing out the paper. Why was Taat taking this so calmly … and handing out the bum fodder?
“Taat,” I shouted. He turned around and looked at me. “What the fok did you give us in that herb tea?”
“Physic Nut,184 contribo,185 and xcoch.”186
“Physic nut, contribo, and xcoch!” I held out my hands, gripping air. “Why the fok would you do that? I can’t have sick soldiers. I can’t have delays. What got into you, Taat? And they can be poisonous.”
“I know what I’m doing,” grunted Taat.
I felt like jumping up and strangling someone. I couldn’t, but if I didn’t have to keep my ass close to the ground, I don’t know what I would have done … if I could have done anything.
“You and your men are not clean,” said Taat, defending what he had done. “You are going to meet a dangerous enemy. You have to be clean so that your bodies can work at their best, so that you have the greatest strength. Didn’t you see your men last night? Exhausted and passing gas that smelled like jankroa187 breath. Even you. When you and the men were getting water at the gorge, you were all sweating heavily. I tasted the impurities of your bodies stink in your sweat. I tasted it upon the wind.”
“Taat,” I responded angrily. “We all sweat and stink. That’s a part of being soldiers and hunters in the jungle. Even koolnáals188 too. You know that.”
“I am not talking about the stink of hunting in the jungle or doing work in the kool, Paal. I am talking about a stink that is harmful in the body. It takes away your energy, your strength. It is not a good stink. When the men pass gas, which they do too often, it is not gas from a clean body. I know what kind of lives soldiers live when they’re not active, all the drinking guaro, and the whoring. Look at Teul. The tea will finish cleaning out the corruption he put in his linings. And there are other things as well. The body has to be cleaned. When last did any of you clean out your body with an herbal purge? You are responsible for these men, Paal, and you depend upon these men just as they depend upon you. You have to give yourselves the best chance possible. You have to make sure that you have a clean body, a body that will work at its best. That is the only way you have a chance to survive. That is the only way you will have a chance to save Molly. So, I purged all of you.” Taat was not talking loudly, but the words carried through to all the men.
“You should have consulted me, Taat. I am the Patrol Commander and in charge of this mission.”
“You would have said ‘No!’.”
“I most probably would have, but that doesn’t matter, Taat. You should have consulted me. And, Taat, soldiers don’t only get drunk and whore on stand-down. Soldiers are good men. Many have their own families and they look after them. They do many good things, important things, sometimes dangerous things that people don’t know about and, many times, when people do know they don’t care enough.”
“I’m sorry, Paal, but you must remember that the only experience I have had with soldiers was with you and Bas. You certainly weren’t examples of good men.” I was shocked. I couldn’t believe what Taat had just told me, and in front of my men. “It is only since you met Molly Cervantez that I have begun to see the paal I want. I am here, Paal, because of Molly Cervantez, and because she has helped you.” He stood there looking at me, not walking away.
I looked down and closed my eyes, trying not to think about what had just happened. “How much longer will we be shitting, Taat?”
“It’s almost over.”
“Okay. Good!” I said nothing else.
Taat walked away then returned with additional bum fodder. As he handed out more, he assured each of the men that the purge was for their own good. About fifteen minutes later, I felt safe enough to pull up my pants and walk towards the fire. I was in a mess. Slowly, all the men returned, none looking very happy, every one of us not carrying only the stink of tabing in the jungle, but the stink of our shit as well.
“You will need to have a small breakfast and some tea,” instructed Taat. “You have to replace the poisons you got rid of with a little good food and some different herbs, build back your energy, but not too quickly.”
“Tea?” grumbled Teul, loudly. “I’m never drinking any of your madafok tea again, Taat. Not as long as I live.” Taat shrugged his shoulders. “And these madafok army rations are certainly not good food.”
“Poisons we got rid of,” murmured Robertson, sounding somewhat amused. “That’s a nice way of putting it.” He started to laugh then stopped, taking off to the bushes where we had been before. He stopped again. “Can’t use there. Already full,” he shouted and ran into a nearby area, pulling off his trousers.
I sighed loudly. What else could I do? We were all surrounded by a moist floating stink of shit. About fifteen minutes later we gathered around the smoldering fire, after cleaning ourselves as best we could.
“We have no water to wash our hands, so we should wait until we find a creek to have breakfast,” I suggested.
“That’s okay by me,” agreed Robertson. “I had number-two …” everyone looked at him … “shit on my trousers, boots, and bum-cheeks. We’ll stink until we can bathe. I believe there are still residual amounts here and there on our skins and uniforms, so it is probably not a good idea, indeed, to have breakfast now.” We all nodded.
“As soon as we reach a creek, we’ll bathe,” I uttered. “Listen out for the sound of rapids and streams as a creek may be off-trail. Smell and taste the air for fresh moisture.”
“Really?” mouthed Teul. “Who’s going to smell anything fresh over shit?”
“They have to eat something or they’ll get weak,” interjected Taat. “It’s part of the treatment. Something small, but something.”
“One moment,” said Rhys, going over to his bergen.
“If you had told me, Taat, we could have prepared. I don’t like surprises, especially when they affect my section … my mission.”
“As I said before, Paal, you would have stopped me. It was necessary. You’ll see the difference.”
I noticed that the men did not tell Taat anything, even though I knew that they were upset at him for not letting them know what he was giving them in the tea. They took it in stride. Soldiers would die to protect each other; yet, soldiers sometimes pull the meanest jokes on their buddies. I was puzzled by something, however, for whenever they looked at me, I felt sure that there was a hidden smirk on their faces as if the whole episod
e was really a joke on me, a confrontation between father and son.
“I have some moist towelettes,” informed Rhys, returning. “I’ll give each of you one towelette for your hands, so use it good.” He handed out the packets. “Since we have to eat a small snack, it will be fruit biscuits and high energy cereal bars. No coffee as we have to save the water. When we get to a creek, I’ll give you some apple cider mix.”
“I prefer tambran Tang,” grumbled Choco.
Katy-Katy-yu-baby-di-cry.
“Choc,” shouted Teul. “What you call that bird again?”
Katy-Katy-yu-baby-di-cry.
“Is it Thryo … some madafok … or is it xan-coti, or is it just Katy-Katy-yu-baby-di-cry,” continued Teul. Choc ignored him, probably feeling too miserable to do otherwise. Teul chuckled, looking quite pleased with himself.
After cleaning out hands as best we could, then eating, and a couple more finishing rushes to the bushes, I called the men together. “We are late. We’re about two-and-a-half miles south of Burgos. I would still like to find the old truck pass as it would make things easier. We will, however, go by compass, passing through areas where the track should be. We’ll travel northwest for half-mile, north for one mile, and then northeast for another mile. That should bring us to Burgos. We’ll have to estimate the distance, but for those of us who grew up in the jungle that should not be a problem. Okay, let’s clean the camp, including the shit.” I did not hear a sound from the men except for Teul’s “With all due respect, Sarge, you must be madafok joking.” I was. The shit would dry up and disappear into the jungle floor in a few days.
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