Sisimito II--Xibalba

by Henry W. Anderson

  Rhys shook his head. “You are our Patrol Commander. I go where I’m ordered, Chiac. The men will do that also. Without question. You have our loyalty. In this strange mission, however, we need more than orders. We need to know what’s going on. We need to know everything. You owe us that.”

  I looked up at my friend. “Even I don’t know everything, Rhys.” I remained silent for a few moments. “After we eat, I will give a briefing.”

  “Good. Let me check on the meat,” he said, walking towards Taat. “I’m fokin hungry. We haven’t eaten anything substantial all day and we need our food for energy.”

  Choco and Teul returned and Choco was complaining bitterly. ”Ah feel laik evri wan a dehn madafoka prikl fram dat chree juk mi.210 You could have helped me get the nuts.”

  “Well, one of us had to hold the madafok headlight.” Teul was howling with laughter as he threw down two bunches of pokono-bwai. “Help yourselves, mates.”

  “All you had to do was put the headlight on your madafoka head. You didn’t have to hold it. Next time it will be you, madafoka, who get the prickles,” grumbled Choco, adamantly.

  “Why should two of us suffer, Choco? Better one than two.” Teul was still howling.

  That was the camaraderie I loved about being a soldier. Sometimes, I reflect on what will happen to me the day I am no longer one. One day I am a soldier. I have a job and I know what I am doing. I am good at what I am doing. Then there is the next day. I am no longer a soldier. I don’t have a job. I don’t know what I’m doing, what I’m going to do, where I’m going to go. And that would happen between that miniscule bit of time that occurs just before midnight and just after midnight. I trembled with koal seed. I couldn’t perceive it. I didn’t want to perceive it. Then I reflected on what Taat had told me. I was ‘This moment.’

  We did not eat until about 2130 hours although we kept nibbling on the fruit, especially the pokono-bwai. Taat gave us some sikpet to go along with the meat and the whole diversion was just great. We poked fun at each other, told wild stories. I didn’t know how we were able to put away the dangers we faced. I didn’t know how I was able to put away Molly and the dangers she faced. But then, we were soldiers. Warriors!

  “Gentlemen, its almost 2300 hours. Time to get some sleep as Taat will get us up early, as usual,” I began.

  “That’s something I wanted to ask you about, Taat,” said Robertson, reflectively. “How can you wake up at the same time every morning, just about 0400 hours without an alarm clock?”

  “It’s the whistle of the kolol,” answered Taat. “That is my alarm clock when I am in the jungle.” He smiled. “Sometimes, I get angry at them if they are early or late. But then, I suppose, I don’t really mind.”

  “Perhaps, you just attune yourself to the time,” concluded Robertson.

  “Attune?” Taat shook his head. “No. It is the whistle of the kolol.”

  Rhys stood up, staring at me, waiting for me to do as I had promised.

  “As I was saying,” I continued,” It’s time to get some sleep.” Rhys started to open his mouth. “However, I want to give you a briefing before we do that.” Rhys clamped down his mouth. The men who were lying down or slouching over lazily started to sit up, expecting to stand. “As you were, Men. You can be as relaxed as you want for what I am about to tell you.” I saw in the dim light the frowns of uncertainty on their faces. “Even being a part of what happened at Santa Cruz, you will find it hard to believe what I’m going to tell you. Hard to accept. But you must. You must or you won’t be able to face the realities of this mission.” They all sat up. “I appreciate that you men are here with me. I appreciate that you have not questioned me, even though you must have a lot of questions. About the mêlée,211 for that’s essentially what it was at Santa Cruz, you must still be asking yourselves, What the fok was that? Was that really fokin possible? What happened did not seem possible. It was as if Santa Cruz and all of us there that day were suddenly plunged into a dark world of things we thought were only legends from our past. About one hundred people died. I know that Command and the Authorities are having a fok of a time trying to understand and give a rational explanation for what happened.

  “As you know, everybody knows, just a year ago I took a section of men into the Cockscomb Basin to climb Victoria Peak. At that same time, Molly was on her way to Santa Cruz for the Easter vacation and she disappeared.” I fought to contain my emotions. “All my men died on that mission. Expedition Bold we called it. There were accusations, hatred towards me.” I shook my head. “There was a court-martial and I was cleared of all wrong doing. When it came to my personal life, it remained hell. The only thing that saved me was that when I came out of the jungle, I had Molly Cervantes with me. If it were not because I saved Molly Cervantez, I would have hung from a rope until dead.” The men shuffled, uneasily.

  I told them everything, even things I had not told Rhys. I told them about the murders of my men and how it happened and of my capture and imprisonment by Sisimito. I told them about the wedding and the Kechelaj Komon, about Molly and my escape. I shared the feelings I began having for Molly, the night at the Hidden Valley Falls, and the encounter with the Halach Uinic, Ajawinel K’an II, and his hunting party. I spoke about the destruction of Tipú.212 I described the majestic Maya city of Ox Witz Ha, the ballgame Pitz213 I played in order to live. I cried out as I told them about the shouts of the citizens Ke’kchi! Ke’kchi! Ke’kchi! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I made them feel the fear I had as Molly dove into the Sacred Cenote. I relived with them the battle with the Warriors of K’uxaj, Ajawinel of Maxam, and how I became a Maya Warrior of Ajawinel K’an II. I shared the camaraderie that existed with the friends I made, with Choj, Bo, Xico, and Ehecatl. I recounted our final encounter with Sisimito in the cave. I spoke about the Sacred Waterfall, the Green Scapular, and Mother of God. I told

  them everything, and, as I watched my men, I never saw a trace of disbelief on their faces, not even on Robertson’s face.

  “So, you see, men, I don’t know what we will face when we meet Sisimito. I don’t know where we will travel as we go north, deeper into our jungle or if it will still be our jungle. I don’t know if any of us will return. I don’t know if any of us will be alive to return to our lives as we know it. It is still not too late …”

  ”Don’t madafoka go there, Sarge!” shouted Choco. “Don’t let us believe that you think so little of us. We are soldiers and you are our Patrol Commander. We go where you go. We do what we have to do. We die, if we die. Isn’t that so, Section?”

  “Choco!” they all shouted, standing up, even Robertson.

  “And, andbesides all the army madafoka regulations,” he seemed to choke up, “You are our friend, our brother … and we love you, Sarge. We will get you back your woman and we will get you both out of wherever we have to go. That is our duty. If one of us, or all of us, don’t make it back, you and Moly will. That is our duty. Don’t you ever forget that, Sarge.”

  I know I reddened beneath my dark skin, for I felt the heat in my face. I was suddenly unable to continue. If I spoke another word, I was just going to bawl. That wouldn’t be good.

  Then Teul spoke. “Yes! You are more than our Patrol Commander, Sarge. You are much more.” I saw the flames of the fire reflect like little diamonds on his face. I couldn’t believe that Teul was crying.

  “I’ll take, I’ll takeover from here,” stammered Rhys, almost overcome by emotion himself. “Squat on your fokin asses.”

  He hesitated, caught his breath, then began. “From Burgos, we travel north. There are no more trails, only jungle and mountains. The maps show no rivers until we reach a tributary of the Chiquibul Branch, about two miles from here. Beyond, water is more abundant and shouldn’t be a problem anymore. The next camp is Holec Camp, about fourteen miles from where we are. I remind you, those are ‘as-the-crow-flies’ miles. It will be much longer on the ground and we don’t know what we’ll meet.”

  “Rhys!”<
br />
  “Yes, Medic.”

  “Why do we travel north? Even after Holec camp there are only trails and dry weather truck passes until we meet the Western Highway about

  thirty-four map miles away. And all that area is thick jungle unless we turn a little easterly into the mountain pine ridge area.”

  “We travel north because that is where we think the Kechelaj Komon and the Kechelaj Jupuq are going. Also, that is the general area where Sarge had his encounter with Sisimito before.”

  “Are we sure that is the area,” asked Choc, somewhat hesitantly.

  “Don’t hesitate with your questions,” said Rhys. “We are not sure of anything, Choc. There are many things about Sarge’s … adventure … that we don’t understand, that we have no explanations for.” Rhys furrowed his brow. “Should anything change, should new indicators come up, we’ll decide what next to do. You will all be involved from now on, every step of the way, in every decision made.” Rhys looked and me and I nodded.

  “Suppose we don’t meet up with them?” asked Choco. “They remain ahead of us. They haven’t attacked.”

  Rhys looked towards me. I had gained control of myself and was once again able to speak. “We will meet up with Sisimito. When, I do not know, but it will happen. He is now leading us into the jungle he knows, his jungle. He wants us there. I don’t know if that is where he, his Kechelaj Komon, and his Kechelaj Jupuq will make their stand to capture me, or if he has something else in mind. We have no choice, at this point, but to pursue. That’s why we have to be even more vigilant from now on. We don’t know their plans, and that is to our disadvantage. However, we have no choice but to go on. Our purpose is to rescue Molly. If the opportunity comes up that one of you can escape with her, do it. The rest of us will look after ourselves. That is an order. Do not make me or any soldier here the reason why this mission fails. We are soldiers!”

  “Sarge!” they shouted.

  “This is hard, Sarge, but I must ask,” said Teul. “How do you know she’s still alive and you keep on saying Sisimito wants to capture you Why? Doesn’t he want to kill you?

  I looked at Teul, stared at his face. The light from the flames still flickered off his face, but the tears were no longer there. I couldn’t just say I know she is still alive. They needed to know. Rhys had said You owe us that. What I was about to say was going to be very hard for me, but I would withhold nothing. It had to be that way. “She is alive, Teul. because Sisimito wants her as his wife. He was unable to consummate the marriage before our escape from his cavern last year. He wants me there when it happens this time. He wants me to see it happen. Then he will kill me.”

  “Madafok!” Teul held up his head. “And what about us?”

  I smiled, bitterly. “If he captures you, he’ll kill all of you. Immediately. Sisimito will then have your thighs, either to eat raw or to smoke, as food for his wedding guests. As I told you, that’s what he did the last time.”

  “Well,” concluded Teul, sighing loudly. “I’ll be madafok dead already so it won’t matter to me a madafok.” The men turned and looked at him. “I hope he gets a good shitninz, even without Taat’s tea.” There was a moment of silence then we all burst out laughing.

  I stood up. “We won’t be killed, men. We won’t allow that to happen. We will all go back to our foked-up lives and we’ll have Molly with us. Now, get to fok to sleep.”

  “Yeah! It’s just after 2300 hours,” advised Rhys. “We’ll pay for it tomorrow. The duty roster tonight is for one-hour watches since we’ll only have six hours to daylight. The order will be me, then Medic, Choc, Choco, Teul. Taat will be up and he can take whatever is left until daybreak.”

  “I’ll take the first hour,” I instructed. “I won’t be able to fall asleep right now anyhow. I’ll wake you up, Rhys, when it’s time to take over.”

  “Okay, Sarge. Men! Let’s get some sleep.”

  Before taking my post, I told Taat to give the men a couple hours of extra sleep and it was about two hours later before I woke Rhys. I pissed then threw myself down on my ground sheet to get whatever sleep I could. It was only then that I realized how light, relieved, I felt. I held on to Bas’ Green Scapular and, thankfully, immediately fell asleep to a brief night, but a night filled with the majesty of Ox Witz Ha. There were no intrusions by Sisimito and his Kechelaj Komon or his Kechelaj Jupuq and I reveled in the glory that was my people.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE CHIQUIBUL

  Friday, April 27, 1973

  Kinich Ahau was already glorifying the sky when I opened my eyes, responding to Rhys’ kicking me in the butt. “Time to get up, Chiac,” he said, smiling.

  “What time is it?” I asked, frowning.

  “It’s 0630 hours. The men were awakened at 0600 hours and have been doing everything they need to do. The bergens are packed and we’re ready to go, except for breakfast which is ready.”

  “What’s for breakfast?”

  “We’re having left over smoked kitam, and jalapeno cheese spread with wheat snack bread. Will you, Sergeant E. Chiac, have breakfast on your ground-sheet, or will you join us in our exquisite breakfast mess filled with natural flowers and a view of the sky?”

  “Shut the fok up?”

  “Good to see you’re in good humor, Chiac,” he laughed, as he walked away. “Okay, men. Let’s eat and then we attack this fokin jungle.”

  It was 0715 hours before we left Burgos. There were no more trails, so we used the compass, heading due north to where we were supposed to find water. The going was not very difficult. Although there were quite a lot of dead leaves and small brambles, the jungle floor was relatively clear of vegetation. As it was the dry season, there wasn’t much moisture on the floor and there wasn’t the damp smell of decay. Occasionally, there were toadstools growing in some of the darker and moist recesses, and rotting logs were sometimes covered with brilliant yellow or white fungi. The brown and white turkey tail mushroom was also very common. If it were the wet season, there would be muuchs,214 huuhs,215 tóoloks … not my fella … kumätzs,216 síina’ans,217 xuulabs,218 xya’axkachs219 all over the place. A few times we saw weechs,220 but decided against killing them as it was too early in the day to stop to clean game and, with the heat, the meat would have spoiled before we cooked it at nightfall. Also, if we were very tired at the end of the day, we’d stick to rations as we still had enough for a few more days.

  The jungle was almost quiet and, so, unsettling to me. Occasional butterflies flashed their deep shades of blue and orange and, infrequently, came the knock-knock of a tuk-tuk,221 woodpecker, or the creek-creek of a piitor, the Bill-bird.222 Even the xirs seemed to hesitate in their chirp-chirp. We did see a solitary quash223 which we could have killed for food but didn’t, and in the denser moist areas of gorges and ravines there were kumätzs. We saw a ten to twelve-foot bocatora clapansaya224 which made my hair stand on my head as I thought about my walk, one year ago, up the Cockscomb Branch. I unintentionally brushed my face, still feeling the moist thick sputum that kumätz had flung against my face. We also encountered a large wowla225 with a baby kitam halfway down its throat, but we saw no sachojs226 or other poisonous kumätzs.

  We continued our march through the jungle and mountains, to the north, and after three hours were at the bottom of a wide gorge when we came to a sudden change in vegetation. Sun broke through the canopy as we stood among unusually dense growth with much waha, bushes, vines, and ferns. Just beyond was the sound of a flowing stream or river.

  “Fokmi,” shouted Choc, who was at the head chopping, taking a leap backward. “Stay back.”

  “What’s it?” I called out.

  “Kumätz! Snake, Medic. I just want to make sure if it’s what I think it is.” He was quiet, staring at eyelevel at the bush in front of him, while we stood still, waiting. I saw him raise his machete slowly and bring down the broad side forcefully. He jumped backward again. “Gotcha, you fokmi,” he said, calmly.

 
; “I hope you didn’t kill a harmless snake,” I said, in a chiding tone.

  “Oh no, Sarge” he answered. “I have never seen one of these, but villagers who hunt deep in the jungle told me about them. They said that when you see a snake with horn like eyelashes, kill the fokmi. It’s very poisonous.” We gathered around the slender two-foot green snake, spotted red and black along its lower sides, still squirming and coiling itself, its head mashed flat.

  “I know what it is,” remarked Robertson. “I had to study the poisonous snakes here as part of my training. It’s known as the Eyelash Viper or Horned Palm Viper. Two or three of the scales above the eyes are enlarged and project upwards so they look like small spiny horns, or like large eyelashes. It has long fangs and large poison glands and usually hangs from a branch at head height. If it bits the face or neck, that’s very bad as the infusion of venom is near the brain. It’s very poisonous, but not common.”

  “The hunters told me it’s more common in Chiquibul. That’s where we’re heading,” commented Choc.

  “Let’s learn from this,” I instructed. “No complacency. I don’t like accidents, especially accidents that can be prevented and I don’t want to have to tab any slower than we’re doing right now. If any of you fokas get hurt, I’ll leave you behind with your buddy. You then take it from there. If any of you die, I’ll strip you of everything we can use, plant a cross at your head, and leave you for the jungle to take care of.”

  “Sarge!” The men shouted, knowing that there was no way I would fokin do that.

  “This could have been serious,” I continued. “Good work, Choc.”

  “Sarge!” he answered, picking the snake up with his machete and throwing it into the jungle.

  Wah-co!-Wah-co!-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. We all jumped. The kos rose from out of the bushes carrying the still squirming snake in its beak.

  “Fokmi!” blurted Choc. “It’s almost as if it was there waiting for a kumätz to fall out of the sky. Snake, Medic.”