Uncaged

by Paige Notaro

  “We cross by foot,” Andre said. He held my shoulders and peered at my eyes until my doubt vanished.

  “Ok,” I said.

  “Where is the coyote?” Maria asked. “I did not see him go.”

  The car engine rumbled. We spun and saw his silhouette moving in the front seat.

  “Cover your ears,” Andre said.

  Before I could ask, he had the gun out. I clapped my ears and shut my eyes. Two hollow booms pounded through my hands. I peeked and saw the car tires growling uselessly through the sand.

  The coyote stepped out, arms raised. “No no, please,” he shouted. “Please, I am sorry.”

  Andre beckoned with his gun and the man came trembling forward. His wide eyes shone under the moonlight. He wasn’t so bored anymore.

  “Make it up to us,” Andre said. “Show us another way.”

  “Please, it cannot be done.”

  “Show us. Another way.”

  He spoke with a voice like granite. Maria burst out a rapid fire string of Spanish that had the coyote shaking even more.

  “This is a bad time,” the man said. “I will take you after some days, I swear to you. But the US Border Patrol is very active now.”

  I eyed the unconscious and broken bodies scattered around us. There was no staying in Juarez after this. Not for any of us.

  “That’s too bad,” Andre said, “Cause you’re taking us across right now.”

  The coyote looked from face to face and then searched the stars themselves. None of us gave him any comfort. He sighed.

  “Ok, ok, I will try, Ok? I will take you across the river.”

  Andre held out a hand. ”Deal.”

  The man stared like it might be a trap, then shook it. “Sí.”

  The gun went back in Andre’s belt and he finally put his shirt back on. “So,” he said. “How do we get there?”

  The coyote eyed the busted car. “I guess we walk.”

  Before we left, Andre patted down the four men and took their cellphones. “He’ll bring these back to you,” he said to Mr. Tarly, before handing the gear to the coyote. The guy took them, but from the look in his eyes, it seemed like he might be considering a permanent move too.

  We left the Cartel wreckage and set off through the desert. Andre pushed on side by side with the Coyote, towering over him as a reminder. I tried to clean up his wounds while we walked. The blades had gotten a few good cuts in the arms and a slice over his chest, but they hadn’t nicked anything too important. I tried to turn a couple of my shirts into bandages, but Andre stroked my head and said he’d be fine. His rich voice still work its magic on my nerves but he was panting like he’d just come back from a five hour practice. I dropped back but kept my eyes on him.

  Maria held tight to my arm. She rattled with fear, but my concern kept it from infecting me. It was good not being the helpless one for once. Not that this repaid my debt to her by a long shot.

  It wasn’t too long before the brush started to thicken. The cactuses and the shrubs were joined by small trees with weeping branches that swayed and cast shadows. Blooms of pale flowers rose in patches, ghostly in the moonlight. The brush crackled with hidden life that ran off into other holes. The land itself was thickening into a wall, but we slowly wheedled our way through.

  A churn rose in the air and deepened in sound with each step forward. We started down a slope of brushes and thick vines and then I could see the dark waters roaring just a bit past. We were almost down the bank, when the coyote stopped us. He cupped his hands to his mouth and hooted, like an owl. Of all the sounds I’d heard that night, hooting was not one of them. He hooted again, and cupped his ears.

  A whistle pierced the night air. The coyote dropped to the ground, tugging at Andre’s arms.

  “Hide,” he said. We all hugged the ground and peered out into the river.

  A strange whine rose through the night. It never got louder than the sound of a toy car, but a long dark shape glided through the water before us. Masked men looked off the side. The masks were more than cloth, actually. They looked like binoculars.

  “Night vision,” Andre whispered. “More Cartel?”

  “No. These are your countrymen,” the coyote said, sinking deeper into the earth.

  Their gaze seemed to pass right over us, but the craft slid past and went out of view.

  An owl hooted off in the distance.

  “Come,” the coyote said and crept forward.

  A small inflatable boat was stashed a few meters from the riverfront. It looked like a toy compared to the border patrol boat that had just passed, but it had room for the four of us. Andre and the coyote pushed it into the water. The coyote hooted out into the night and got an echo back. This time I traced it to an especially tall tree where I thought I saw a small human figure perched as lookout. Another hoot came from further away. There were many people watching this crossing.

  It was so easy to bring me here, but it took a network to take us out.

  The coyote beckoned me and Maria to climb in. Maria clung to my arm and shivered.

  “Did you get wet?” I asked.

  “No, and I don’t want to.” Her voice dimmed. “I can’t swim.”

  I was no champion myself, but Father had dropped me in the farm pond one fine spring day and commanded me to find my way out. I did, but I didn’t think he would have cared too much if I failed.

  “Just hold on to me,” I said. “I can keep us both up.”

  She nodded and we climbed in together. I gripped her tight in to me and smiled softly. Cruelty had prepared me to comfort the ones I cared about.

  Andre and the coyote pushed the raft out and then hopped in. We drifted slowly along the bank. The coyote whipped out a paddle and started beating it through the water. Our drift became more diagonal.

  Andre held my hands and grinned in the darkness at me. His teeth glittered like all the gems in the world and his features seemed etched like granite by the moonlight.

  “This is all you,” he said. “You’re the reason we’re here tonight.”

  “That doesn’t exactly make me feel great after what’s happened.”

  “What happened? We’re here aren’t we? We’re alive.”

  He cupped a handful of water and wiped off some more blood. He reached in to get more, but this time the water came straight at my face. Maria and I yelped. The coyote shot us a glare.

  “Sorry,” Andre said, and the man went back to paddling. “That was stupid.”

  He looked giddy. The closest I’d seen him to this was back on the dunes. Had he lost more blood than I thought? I leaned in. “Hey, are you still feeling ok?”

  “It’s nothing. I’m just excited,” Andre said. He started looking from side to side wildly.

  “What?” I asked, my heart rising.

  He cupped up another handful of water and sipped it like a fine wine. “You know what this is?” he asked.

  All I saw was a dark pool in his hand. I shook my head.

  His voice dropped to a whisper. “It’s American water.”

  I looked around and saw what he’d seen. We were more than halfway across the divide. I was back in America with Andre. I found his hands and gave them a squeeze. Maria had loosened her grip on me. I leaned in and kissed him on his soft thick lips.

  “Welcome home,” I said.

  He patted his chest. “I’m only home cause you brought me here.”

  The crossing only took another few minutes. The coyote hopped on shore and Andre helped him stash the dark raft under another patch of bush.

  The trees on this side of the river seemed taller somehow, more sturdy, but other than that there was no difference with the other bank. I peered from side to side, but saw no way to know that I’d gone from one country to another.

  And yet, I was now standing on American soil.

  I’d been gone for months. The girl who had been drugged and carried over was not the one who was coming back, but just like before I was dark and confused and at th
e mercy of fate. I shivered a little and Maria stroked my back. At least I had people with me now. That was as big a difference as any.

  “You call friend now,” the coyote said. “Tell him to meet you on 281 highway. Close by.”

  Andre tapped out a text on his phone, and it buzzed back almost immediately. He responded a couple more times, then nodded. “He’s there.”

  The coyote nodded, then asked for Andre’s phone and opened up the map. He zoomed into a road.

  “You must go here,” he said. “This spot is safest. Here, near, there is border patrol station. No place to hide from them so I no go there. But if your friend pick you up here, then no problem.”

  Andre nodded. “Yeah. That’s not a long walk but it’s all desert.” He snapped to the coyote. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘you’ go there. You’re taking us.”

  The coyote waved him off like he was trying to make a sale. “No please,” he said. “You do not need me. I have helped you, but I can do no more than this.”

  “Like hell you can’t.” Andre said rising to his full height. I felt for my gun, just in case.

  “Please.” The man clasped his hands together. “Please, I do not mean to get you in trouble. It is just my duty. I do not know they will try to hurt you. For helping you now, it is me in danger. I must go take care of my family.”

  Andre glowered a bit longer, but the anger burned out.

  “Fine,” he said.

  The man thanked us profusely and went right back to the boat we had just hidden. We watched him pull it out and check with his watchers on the trees to see if it was safe. Right as he got on, Andre told him to wait. He pulled out the revolver and the phones and dropped them into the raft.

  “If Mr. Tarly asks for his gun,” he said. “Please return it to him one bullet at a time.”

  The coyote didn’t seem to get the meaning, but he nodded and started to paddle back.

  “Ready?” Andre asked.

  “Definitely.” I hooked his arm. “Let’s go find a ride.”

  We walked slowly. Each step seemed to crunch out forever around us. We had to tiptoe around branches and dry leaves, which was tough, but still better than when the forest dropped away all of a sudden and we walked openly over the desert again. I imagined border patrol agents moving out in the darkness past us, watching through those sightless UV masks. They were just police though, right? The real dangerous men were the ones who didn’t mind if their faces were seen. People like Mr. Tarly and Hector and his bosses, and they were all far behind. Our lives were no longer in danger, at least.

  Not that it made the journey any less tense

  It took us more than an hour to cross the two miles out. The black pitch of a road stuck out against the desert ahead and we ducked as one or two pairs of headlights soared past while we approached.

  “Should we just walk up or what?” Maria asked.

  Andre was texting Dennis. “Yeah, he’s almost here. I just gave him our GPS location.”

  So we marched up to shoulder of the road and waited. The river had drained me and the walk had exhausted me, but an electric energy started to fill in the gap. Against everything that had gone wrong tonight, we’d made it. Soon Dennis would pick us up and we would be whole again. Whole and free, ready for a new start in a place where we wouldn’t have to keep looking over our shoulders. Where Andre and I could be together forever.

  I shimmied under Andre’s grip. He must be worse off than me but his excitement steamed off in waves. I’d been away a few months. He’d been gone for years.

  “How do you feel?” I asked.

  “Like a weight’s off my shoulders,” he said. “I can leave everything behind now.”

  “Not everything, I hope.”

  He held me tight. Maria sighed behind us.

  “Oh Maria, I’m sorry,” I said, taking her hand. This must already be so different for her, not worrying about criminals anymore but about the law itself.

  “It’s ok,” she said. “We are done and I’m happy that you are happy. I am glad I have family here.”

  I bopped her forehead with mine. “Always,” I said.

  Two pinpricks of light emerged from far away. Andre checked his phone. “Here comes the cavalry.”

  The beams grew into cones and soon I was shading my eyes, they were so bright. He must see us by now. Why did he have on such bright lights?

  The car whirred into view, and I heard Andre suck in air.

  “Oh shit.”

  I blinked and saw that the car almost on us was a tan SUV, not the old sedan that Dennis had on this side. A light above flashed red and blue for a second and the side read Warren County Police. Another set of headlights was coming up behind, but the SUV had already parked near us.

  “Just stay calm,” Andre said. “It’s just the police and we’re Americans. Mostly.”

  Two burly looking officers climbed out at once, both in khaki uniforms. The SUV headlights still blared at us, but the driver held up his own flashlight. The other one had a hand on his holster as they walked forward.

  “Hey guys,” Officer Flashlight boomed.

  “Hi,” I said, trying to summon the confidence I’d used on Mr. Tarly, but sounding more like a mouse.

  The two officers stopped a meter away, one of them shining light up and down Andre’s massive form, the other muttering into a radio. Behind, on the road, the second car had also come to a stop. I could see Dennis hunched over the wheel, but we couldn’t exactly just run to him.

  “So,” Officer Flashlight said. “A white girl, a black guy and a Latina are out for a walk near the border. Now what’s the punchline?”

  “There isn’t one, officer,” Andre said. “We were just out enjoying the desert, and I asked my brother to pick us up. That’s him right there.”

  The one palming his gun spun around, looked from Dennis to Andre. “That’s your brother?”

  “Foster brother, sir,” Andre said. “Yea.”

  “And these two?” The flashlight turned on Maria. She blinked but managed to meet his eyes. I knew her accent would raise suspicions, so I answered. “We’re the girlfriends. Well, girlfriend and fiancé.”

  I had Maria hold out the hand with the bronzed copper band.

  The lead officer squinted in. “I’ve heard of fake diamonds before, but not invisible ones.”

  “She didn’t want anything fancy,” I said.

  “She can’t tell me that herself?” The flashlight found my face. I had to almost shut my eyes, the beam was so bright.

  “I can,” Maria said, sounding American enough.

  “Strange place to talk a walk,” Officer Flashlight said. “Right next to an international border and all. You know a lot of the people we find walking around here stumbled across from the other side. ”

  “The desert here is beautiful, that’s all,” Andre said. It wasn’t a lie, exactly, if I thought back on the trip.

  The flashlight dropped from our faces and I uncovered my eyes. The interrogation must almost be over.

  Then, right before it happened, I remembered what was hanging at my waist.

  “Hey, what is that?”

  Without thinking, I slapped my hand on the gun.

  “She’s armed,” the other officer grunted. His own gun came out with a click of his holster, but it stayed low.

  “Ma’am,” Officer Flashlight said, all humor gone. “Any reason you’re carrying a weapon?”

  “I, uh-” I glanced at Andre and immediately regretted it when their attention turned to him.

  “She’s got a right to,” he said, sturdy and cool. “This is still the United States, isn’t it?”

  “Well, Texas has no problem with its residents being armed.” He turned to me. “I’m just wondering why none of you folks can seem to answer questions on your own.”

  “It’s just a gun,” I said, feebly. “I didn’t think about it.”

  Flashlight nodded, and then asked the thing we’d all been fearing. “Are you all from round here?
Can I see some ID?”

  “I left mine at home,” I said.

  “Me as well,” Maria said.

  Andre had his but he just shook his head.

  “Now, that leaves me in a bit of a pickle,” he said. “Seeing as this is the border here, I think we’d better play it safe and ask you to come down to station so we can sort this all out.”

  “Walking without ID isn’t a crime, officer,” Andre said, though his voice wasn’t nearly as sure as before.

  “True enough.” Flashlight smiled tight. “So how about this instead? You guys lead us back to your place and show us your papers there. That way we can make sure y’all are nice and tight with the law of our good state.”

  Andre flicked over to Dennis. Something passed between them, but they hadn’t practiced for this. The lies were only trapping us more. “It’s ok,” he said.

  The second officer spoke into his shoulder mic. “We’re bringing in three.”

  “No!” I said. I could see freedom just a few yards away – how could this happen so close to that? “We didn’t do anything!”

  I didn’t mean to yell so loud, but both their stances stiffened.

  “Ma’am, I’m going to need your hands in the air please,” Flashlight said. “All of you. Nice and slow.”

  The 2nd officer backed off, gun held out and Flashlight slapped jangling cuffs on all three of us.

  I didn’t know what trouble awaited me, but I knew two things. It wasn’t going to be anything like what faced the woman who was like my sister.

  And it was nothing compared to what was going to happen to the man who I loved more than anyone else in the world.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Georgia

  I only stayed in the cell one night. They took us to the sheriff’s office, not any immigration detention facility, but that wasn’t much relief. Two of us were still guilty of a crime and we never had a chance to even practice a story in case we got caught. Sitting on the other side of that metal desk from the blank face of Officer Dixon – the one with the flashlight – I wasn’t strong enough to hold. I told them about the kidnapping and about Mr. Tarly. About how I’d escaped at the fight and been saved by Andre. How he and Dennis and Maria had cared for me while I was still recovering and then helped me flee back home when the Cartel found me again. That was the truth, but I still managed to leave out the gritty bits – like, for example, that Andre had been fighting himself when I met him. That we’d left four busted men back on the other side of the border. Or that Maria wasn’t yet exactly legal. I didn’t see why it would matter to them.