This is really why you want to be friends with me. I smiled.
This and the men are too afraid of you to say anything to me when I say things about the young women that pass.
We laughed. But not as easily as before.
What do you know of the mistresses of the businessmen in Canción? I asked.
Whores. He said. All of them. But very beautiful just the same.
They are not all whores. I said.
You see how they are with the women at the fights. It is all some game to them. Much of what the businessmen do is for them. The love they think the mistresses have for them. It is a great desire in men to be desired by that which they would not have if they did not have money and power. This desire to be desired entirely. It is a great deception. The greatest maybe.
I did not agree with the poet but he expected this of me. By calling her a whore I knew for certain that Javier had said nothing of my love to the old men. That the thief had kept his word. My silence in the past when the poet spoke was serving me well now.
Early one evening after the poet closed his stall he and I were walking into the plaza mayor when I noticed Ramón sitting at a table at one of the cafés. Cantana and several young women sat with him. I had not seen the businessman in many weeks. It made me nervous that I was with the poet.
Tranquilo. He said. Pretend you do not see them.
When Ramón noticed me he waved for us to join them.
Do not walk over there. The poet whispered. I cannot go with you.
But it was too late. Ramón pushed away from the table and jogged over to us. Behind him Cantana said something to make the beautiful women laugh.
I am not going over there. The poet whispered.
Qué pasa chingón? Ramón smiled at me when he was upon us.
Nada. Y tú?
Nothing good. Ramón grinned. Come sit with us.
We are on a walk. I said.
To hell with your walk.
Maybe some other time. I said.
Over Ramóns shoulder a man in rags approached Cantanas table and began to strum a weathered guitar and to sing. His voice rose evenly over the bustle of the plaza but fell unnoticed by those he was not bothering for money. Cantana waved the man away with the back of his hand.
My friend. Ramón said looking me carefully in the eyes. Come and sit. You understand who it is I am with?
We do not have time. The poet broke in.
Ramón smiled. He took a step back from the poet and straightened his posture. Held out his hand.
My name is Ramón.
I know who you are. The poet said without taking his eyes from Cantana. Without offering his hand to Ramón.
Where did you find this old man? Ramón laughed.
We met in the market. The poet answered for me. The dog fighter had no friends.
Ramón smiled at this. Behind him an unlit cigarillo dangled from the corner of Cantanas mouth. He wore a white button down shirt. The frames of his sunglasses gleamed. His hair combed back carefully.
Come over. Ramón insisted. It will be very disrespectful of you if you do not.
He is right. The poet said. But I cannot stay. I will only come over and say hello.
Good. Ramón smiled. You have met Cantana before? He asked me as we approached.
No. I said.
Are you feeling well? He asked me then.
Do not mind him. The poet said. He has been acting funny all afternoon.
Cantana did not stand when Ramón introduced us. It was strange to see him shake hands with the poet. His gloved hand felt awkward in mine.
I am a great admirer of yours. Cantana said to me. It is a great pleasure to finally meet you.
A group of children I knew from the market came running to the table. Cantana reached into his pockets for some coins. The women sitting at the table lifted their arms and bunched their shoulders to not have to touch the children with their dirty clothes and faces.
I gave the children money for candy and Ramón did the same. But the poet gave them each cigarettes.
You should not give them those. Cantana said as he put the rest of his coins back in his pocket.
It was all I had. The poet shrugged. The women looked away. Cantana smiled. You will have to excuse me. The poet said then. I have someplace to be.
Interesting friend that you have there dog fighter. Cantana said as we watched the poet cross the large square.
He is a poet. I answered. A very intelligent man.
The intelligent men I know do not give children cigarettes.
They will sell them. I said. He does this often.
Ramón laughed. Cantana rested his hand on the thigh of the young woman he sat next to.
How are you enjoying Canción? The businessman asked me then.
I like it very much here. It is very beautiful.
Have you been here long?
No. I came for the work on the hotel.
Really? Cantana said sounding surprised.
Yes.
He also used to work with Eduardo. Ramón said.
Eduardo? Cantana asked.
He is no longer with us. Ramón answered.
Oh yes. Eduardo.
The businessman seemed to be very distracted by his thoughts. Since he had his sunglasses on I did not know what he was looking at. And for all the eyes he and I made in the past at the fights over her he did not seem to remember me or think me very important then. We sat like this for some time. Ramón told stories and made the women laugh while Cantana smoked his cigarillos and smiled amused. Cantana and I were both silent. He studied over my shoulder the busy plaza while sipping from his coffee now and then.
When Elías arrived I stood and shook the doormans hand. Ramón quickly finished his coffee as Elías and the businessman spoke.
Everything is ready. Elías said.
You have the dog? Cantana asked.
Vargas has it. Ramón answered reaching into his pocket for coins to pay for his coffee.
Ramón. Cantana smiled at this gesture. Please.
Thank you. Ramón bowed slightly. But Cantana only waved the back of his hand.
He is at his home? Cantana questioned Elías.
Vargas?
No. Cantana smiled. Our friend.
Sorry. Elías answered. Yes. Yes he is.
You should go with them. Cantana said to me then. You will enjoy this.
Come with us. Ramón urged me.
Where? I asked.
Rodríguez is going to fight the dog. Cantana answered for him. You should go.
Will you be fine here? Elías asked Cantana.
Oh yes. Cantana smiled. I have the company of these beautiful young women to enjoy. You boys go and play.
We had taken several steps from the businessman when he called to Ramón and waved him back. Ramón bent over so the businessman could whisper into his ear. The fighter nodding. I felt uneasy watching Cantanas hand rest on Ramóns shoulder. His face concealed. His words silent. Then Ramón stood and jogged back to Elías and me and said.
Ándale.
On the walk to the house of the young businessman Elías and Ramón were almost jogging they were so excited.
Is it one that has been trained? I asked.
No. Ramón answered. We want to scare him. Not murder him.
In his home Rodríguez stood at the top of the stairs leading down to the basement when we entered. He was more excited than I had ever seen him. He and Vargas had been drinking. The young businessmans face was red with fever and alcohol. I wondered if my own did this before the fighting. Barking came up the stairs from the dark below.
Vargas is down there teasing the dog with some rags I gave him. Rodríguez told us.
If you mess yourself when we let go of the leash. Ramón said. None of us are going to clean up after you.
Elías and Rodríguez laughed.
Did you bring the claws? Rodríguez asked the doorman.
Yes.
Then I am not afraid.
The basement was a small space with a concrete floor and posts supporting the cordón log joists that the planks of the kitchen floor crossed above. Rodríguez had pushed aside dusty furniture and more paintings of the bay and sea like those that hung on the walls throughout the expensive house. Empty jars lined a row of bookshelves.
Whose paintings are these? I asked Rodríguez.
My mothers.
They are beautiful. I said. Very well done.
They are the only things she ever painted. The bay and my father.
Vargas held a bottle in one hand and a cloth in the other just above the reach of the leaping dog tied to one of the posts. The five of us stood just beyond its reach.
He looks like a good one. Ramón said.
He is. Vargas responded. Good enough for little Ferocious here.
Rodríguez smiled at this. He enjoyed the name.
Help me with the rug. The young businessman ordered Elías and myself.
But first. Ramón said producing a pencil and piece of paper that he had brought down to the basement from the kitchen. A little ceremony. Ramón stepped toward the young businessman. Before every fight we write down a number between one and ten.
Why? Rodríguez asked.
Well. Ramón looked to me and then to Elías but we stayed quiet because we did not understand and thought it was another of Ramóns jokes.
This is just something we do. Vargas answered immediately. We will tell you when it is over.
When you are a dog fighter. Ramón smiled.
Rodríguez took the pencil. He chose a number in his mind and wrote it down on the paper.
But you cannot tell us. Ramón said. That will break the tradition.
When Rodríguez was finished he went to hand the folded paper to Vargas but Ramón took it instead. Smiling he put it in his pocket. Then Elías tied the rope around the heavy rug that I held tight around the young businessmans forearm.
Is that too much? I asked him.
No. He answered. It is perfect.
Elías then put on Rodríguezs hand the glove fitted with stubby metal claws. Vargas and Ramón took turns teasing the dog snarling at them. Rodríguez took his eyes from the teeth of the dog to inspect the sharp metal. His eyes wide and watery. His legs shook some.
Do not be scared. Elías said in an encouraging voice. You are a fighter of dogs.
We should have gotten you one also. Rodríguez said to Elías.
No no. The doorman shook his head. I am not the man that you are.
Ramón undid the leash from the post but Vargas kept the dog from charging the handsome dog fighter with the end of a long pole he found standing in a corner.
Give him some room. Ramón laughed.
Rodríguez positioned himself across from the dog. He hunched as he had seen us do in the ring. The dog lunged at him but the taut leash kept it back.
He is hungry. Vargas laughed.
But Rodríguez did not flinch. I was surprised that they had let this progress so far. I did not think we would allow him to fight the dog. For as untrained as the dog was he was sure to kill Rodríguez.
Tell us when you are ready. Ramón said.
Vargas stood back with the pole in his hands. Rodríguez drew a deep breath.
Now. He said.
Vargas swung the pole and hit Rodríguez in the back of the head knocking him to the concrete floor. Dazed the young businessman was on all fours reaching up to touch the back of his head when Elías stepped forward and shot him with his revolver in the back of the head. The force of the bullet flipped him over onto his side.
Jesus Christ! Ramón laughed a short nervous laugh.
I did not move. I could not if I wanted to. The dog whimpered and went to a corner. The leash trailing him when Ramón let go. The three men stepped forward. Vargas pushed the body flat on its back with his foot and then spit on the dead businessmans body. Ramón and Elías undressed Rodríguez until he was completely naked.
Tie the dog to the back post. Ramón said to Vargas without looking up from the work. When they find the body they will think the dog did it. Ramón joked.
When Vargas came back to where the other men were undressing the body he asked. Why did you have him choose a number?
Ramón stood and took the folded piece of paper from his pocket careful to not unfold it yet. The naked body at our feet. Blood pooling in an awkward circle following the slope of the concrete floor.
Cantana wants us to cut it off and put it in his mouth.
What! Vargas laughed. Smiling uncertainly. I am not touching it.
Neither am I. Elías said.
No one had said anything to me until Vargas pointed.
He can do it. It is his first time with us.
No. Cantana said this was his introduction. This one is still ours. And I am always the one who is left undressing them and I do not want to be the one to cut it off and put it in his mouth.
I am not touching it. Vargas repeated. Never.
Pick a number between one and ten. Ramón said to Vargas.
No.
Vargas.
There was a great amount of tension between the two fighters. I still did not believe or understand what was taking place between us. Ramón then spoke in a patient explaining tone.
Cantana said to have him pick a number between one and ten. Then when it was done we would do the same and the closest one to it will cut it off and put it in his mouth.
What if it is a tie? Elías asked.
Then we do it together. Ramón answered. One holds it and the other one cuts.
Who puts it in the mouth? Elías asked.
Whoever is holding it.
I think it should be the other way.
I will not do this. Vargas repeated. Staring at the body.
Ramón took the revolver from Elías. He pulled back the hammer and aimed it at the fugitives face.
Jesus. Elías said softly as he stepped back.
A number between one and ten Vargas. Cantanas orders.
Vargas spit at Ramóns feet.
Then you die also. The handsome dog fighter answered confidently.
Vargas! Elías yelled. Do not be stupid.
He is the one who raped the girl! Vargas yelled. Pointing at Rodríguezs body.
And if she had murdered him when he forced himself on her then none of us would be here. But she did not. And so now we are here.
Vargas leveled his eyes at Ramón. There was much hatred in them both.
I will not forget this Ramón.
The men picked their numbers. It was as if I were not even there standing in the basement with them. No one looked to me for anything. They expected me to understand.
Ramón Elías and I waited in the kitchen. Afterward when Vargas stood at the top of the stairs I noticed that he had vomited on himself. We left the dog tied to the pole in the basement. None of us spoke. Vargas did not walk with us back into the city but alone and toward the sea.
I thought of the night of the Christmas party. Some more than two months before when Rodríguez held the railing of the stairs coming down to us drunk with his pants undone to prove his strength. His face flushed. Then I thought this was from excitement but now I thought it was red with embarrassment for what he had done to prove himself to us all. I do not know if it happened that night or some other. But it had been done.
There is no doubt in my mind that the young businessman deserved to die. And strangely in the killing I thought little of Rodríguez and more and more of Cantana. Though he did not kill the young businessman himself it was a decision of his and one for which I held much respect for him. Elías and the other two dog fighters all feared Cantana. But they respected him also. He wanted me to be there to witness his decision. Then I did not know why.
I learned later Ramón Elías and Vargas had been deceiving Rodríguez for some time. That Cantana knew that the young businessman had committed a great crime but there was the matter of being certain.
Cantana is n
ot one to make mistakes. Ramón said to me before I left him and Elías that night. He is a patient man.
And in this time although Rodríguez knew nothing about it the businessman was giving him a chance.
One night in the cantina we worked from Rodríguez a confession. Ramón said to me. We lied to him saying that we had done the same thing plenty of times and asked him what man had not?
For all of their contradictions there was much honesty in Ramón and Elías and Vargas. Much that I admired. I knew they had never deceived me. And in this I could not help but think that much of this came from the time they spent in the company of Cantana. My opinion of the businessman had come from the time I spent with the poet. Not the businessman himself. The thinking of these three young men was not similar to that of the poet. Their passion not like Guillermos. Still there were many contradictions in their behavior. The killing of the innocent men for there to be bodies to be laid out in the large square naked in revenge for the attacks on the hotel. In the basement at Rodríguezs house when Ramón and Elías undressed the young businessman I understood that these three men were responsible for these deaths. For the young man dangling from the scaffolding at the hotel. But they had not deceived me. They worked for Cantana and I did not. I did not know if the poet and Guillermo had lied to me about the innocence of these dead young men. I did not know if Cantana would kill them just for display or if they were guilty. I did not know who to believe but her. I did not question her loyalty.
I slept even less after the death of the young businessman. As my fifth fight approached my body was more and more tired. So much so that I did not hear Javier come up the stairs to knock on my door early one morning his steps were so light.
The Dog Fighter Page 21