by CJ Shane
Zhou nodded. “Yes, in school in China. Then, as I told you, my father was sent to live in the U.S., then in the U.K. and we lived briefly in New Zealand. My dad spoke English well, and that’s why he worked in these English-speaking countries. This explains my English. Next I went to a British university. After university graduation, I returned to Beijing to attend the police academy. I have been in the Ministry of Public Security now for almost ten years. I travel often. My job is to find the criminals and stop them.”
“Where do you live when you aren’t working?”
“I have a small flat in Paris and an even smaller flat in Hong Kong – what we call a ‘micro’ flat. When in Beijing, I stay with a friend.”
"Paris and Hong Kong! How romantic! And your family?"
"My father died when I was at University. I bought a nice apartment in Nanjing for my mother. She is happy there. Her sister and nieces and nephews live in Nanjing. My mother also has friends in Nanjing. She goes to the park every day to practice her tai ji. I visit her on my free time when in China. I have no brother or sister. One-child policy, you know."
"Do you have a wife?" Jade's voice was low. She avoided his eyes.
Zhou was pleased that she wanted to know this crucial bit of information about him.
"No. I was married briefly. I met her when I started my career at the Ministry. My wife is very ambitious. Later, she was not happy with me because she said I lack ambition. Two weeks after we divorced, she married another man, a rich entrepreneur. She lives in Shanghai now in what you call a ‘penthouse.’ She and her husband have a second home in Vancouver. She likes to shop."
"I think you dodged a bullet there."
"No, no, no. She did not use a gun. I freely agree to divorce."
Jade giggled. "I mean I think you are lucky to escape her, and she was really stupid for letting you go."
Zhou couldn't help himself. A surge of happiness washed over him. He realized then that he'd better get out of here fast and return to the dark, cold patio so he could calm himself. “Dodge a bullet” must be some kind of idiom or slang. Zhou would investigate that on his android phone before he slept.
“Okay. I go to patio now.” Zhou stood.
“Wait a minute. If you insist on sleeping out there, then let me get you a sleeping bag. I put Carlos's bag in storage out in my studio so I'll let you use mine instead. It’s in the closet. I’ll get it.” She rose and hesitated. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. My hobby is to work in clay. I make pots and cups and other things out of clay just for fun. Carlos made a studio for me in the garage. I'll show you tomorrow."
She left the room and returned shortly with a bright magenta and pink sleeping bag, an extra blanket and a pillow.
"Thank you, Miss Jade."
"See you in the morning, Zhou. Please call me Jade. No “Miss.” And I believe you are definitely a good guy." She smiled and waved at Zhou as he closed the kitchen door behind him. He checked to make sure it was locked.
Settled in Jade's warm sleeping bag in the shadows again, he thought about what Jade had told him. There was no obvious connection between the triad gang and the missing husband. No connections to Chinese persons. It was a very intriguing fact that Carlos and $100,000 had disappeared at the same time. Interesting also that Letty believed Carlos to be dead. As for Jade, she seemed to Zhou to be a very warm-hearted person with a spirit as beautiful as her lovely face.
Zhou took a deep breath. Everything – the bag, the pillow and the blanket – filled his head with the fragrance of the lovely Miss Jade.
Chapter 6
Eduardo Ramone sat in his battered old black Nissan pickup on a side street in Barrio Santa Rosa south of downtown Tucson. He had parked the rust-and dent-decorated little truck facing north so he could observe the house at the end of the block. By parking carefully behind a large SUV and in the shade of a eucalyptus tree, he was pretty sure that he could not be seen by anyone in the house. The view of the Santa Catalina Mountains was great from this vantage point. It was late afternoon, the sun was setting, and long bands of copper-colored light were ascending upward along the ridges and canyons of the Catalinas. Eduardo's eyes moved back and forth between the house and the mountains beyond as he contemplated his problem.
The neighborhood around him was poor, and the people who lived here didn't have much. Even so, there was a character to it that wasn't found in the sterile suburbs to the north. Almost every house on this potholed little street was painted a different color, and each had a little garden in the back, and there were flowers in pots on porches and walkways. The barrio was so characteristic of Mexican-American neighborhoods. There were Indians in the neighborhood, too, mostly O'odham. In fact, some of Eduardo's relatives lived just a couple of blocks away.
Eduardo could hear a recording of Papago chicken-scratch music coming from one of the houses down the block. It was nice to hear some music because the radio in his truck wasn't working, and even if it had been, Eduardo wouldn't use it. He didn't trust the battery. It was old and ran down fast. He didn't want to get stuck with a truck that wouldn't start because of a dead battery.
As he waited and watched, Eduardo went over again in his mind the events that led him to be sitting here in Tucson watching a stranger's house. It had been five days since he'd seen Esperanza. He was here now hoping to learn something that would help him find her.
Ban. Ban the Coyote. Eduardo had Ban with him on that day just before he found Esperanza. He'd just now remembered and wondered if seeing Ban meant something. Traveling between his grandma's house and his uncle's house, he had been riding along a rough ridge trail mounted on his mare Bonita. Mountains to the north were washed out in the late afternoon glare. Eduardo had been trying to hurry the horse without overheating her. He'd just crossed a low flat plain studded with cholla cactus when he went around a little curve in the rocky trail and started to descend into the wash. That’s when he saw Ban.
The coyote stood silently at attention on a large boulder about 100 yards ahead. Eduardo reined in Bonita and watched Ban watching him. It was obvious that the coyote knew Eduardo was coming toward him, but the animal had not run. Why should he? Ban was the prince of the desert. Wind rippled fur on the coyote's shoulders. Ban stood his ground, and with his round golden eyes, he intently watched the man on horseback. After a minute or two, Ban turned and casually trotted away toward the Baboquivari Mountains. It was then that Eduardo has seen the fluttering of Esperanza’s rebozo.
Although he had seen Ban in the wild more times that he could count, this encounter sent chills up Eduardo's spine. Ban the Coyote, he who was there with Elder Brother at the beginning of the world. He had shown himself to Eduardo.
It was only a few minutes after seeing Ban that Eduardo had discovered the young immigrant girl Esperanza dying of thirst under a palo verde tree. He revived her enough to get her on the horse with him, and they set out for Mando's house.
As Eduardo led the horse carefully through the mesquite bosque in the growing darkness that late December afternoon, he could see the light from his Uncle Armando's little flat-roof adobe house. The adobe bricks were so much the tan color of the surrounding desert that the house almost merged into the landscape. The soft glow from a kerosene lantern wasn't much light, but it carried a long way in the clear desert night.
Four dogs of various sizes and mixed breeds rushed up to Eduardo. They barked, then began wagging their tales furiously when they recognized Eduardo.
“Hola, you worthless mutts,” Eduardo said with affection. “Come to greet us?”
Eduardo's mare picked up her pace. Even though Eduardo didn't live all the time with Mando and Valerina, he left his horse at their place most of the time. Bonita stayed in the little corral near the house with Mando's horses. The mare could sense the nearness of home, of food and water. One of Mando's horses whinnied, and Bonita answered.
Mando appeared, silhouetted in the light of the doorway. He peered out into the darkness.
"Hey, Unc
le, it's me, Eduardo."
"I was wondering when you were gonna show up....What's that you're carrying?"
Mando came toward him just as Eduardo entered the dusty circle of light in front of the adobe house.
It had taken Eduardo almost an hour to get to Mando's. Only a few minutes after Eduardo started off with the girl, she leaned over precariously from her seat behind him on the mare and vomited. Eduardo dismounted, pulled her down and held her upright while she emptied the contents of her stomach.
This worried him. It was bad if she couldn't hold down water. Maybe it's just that she drank it too fast, he thought. When she finished, he wiped her face again with a wet cloth and got her back on the horse. A few minutes later, he felt her slump against him, and he knew that she'd lost consciousness again.
Eduardo didn't want her falling off the horse so he found a small piece of nylon rope in his side pack, pulled her arms around his midsection again, and tied her wrists loosely in front of him. That will keep her on this horse, he thought. She slumped against him, more closely this time. Hurrying as fast as he could without jarring her too much, they arrived at Mando's just after sunset. Already there were many stars visible in the sky. The night was cooling fast, but the girl's body still felt too warm against Eduardo's back.
Uncle Armando laughed softly when he walked toward Eduardo and saw that his nephew had a girl with him on the horse.
"Is this the only way you can get a woman? Knock her out and tie her to you?"
Eduardo grinned. "Figured it was about time to find a girl so I just went out there in the desert, and this is what I came up with."
Mando reached up and took the unconscious girl into his arms as Eduardo untied her hands.
"Hmmmm..." Mando looked her over. "Very pretty. But she’s in bad shape. Days too hot, nights too cold. No telling how long she’s been out there."
"Yeah, I found her about midway between here and Grandma's. I got her to drink a little water, but she threw it up. She keeps passing out."
"I heard there was a bunch of 'em out there the past couple of days. The Border Patrol found some of them, but I was afraid there'd be some stragglers. Looks like she's one that La Migra didn't find. I'll get Valerina."
Mando turned and went toward the house. He carried the unconscious girl in his arms.
"Valerina, Eduardo brought you un regalito, mujer." Their conversation alternated between Spanish and English in that unique language of the borderlands called Spanglish.
Eduardo slipped from his horse just as Valerina, all five feet four and two hundred pounds of her, appeared in the doorway. He could hear her laughter as she reached out for the girl.
"A little desert dove? Una paloma? Es un regalito that Eduardo brought me? A gift for me?" She led Mando, still carrying the girl, through the door.
"Let's get her in some water," Eduardo heard Valerina say as she and Mando disappeared into the house.
Valerina was one of the sweetest, gentlest creatures on the face of the earth. Eduardo figured if there really was an angel, Valerina was it. He'd spent half of his growing years here with Mando and Valerina on their little rancho miles from town. Uncle Armando Antone was the brother of Eduardo's mother Rhonda. Valerina was Mando's wife. Well...not really. Mando and Valerina never bothered to get legally married.
Valerina was from somewhere in central Mexico. She'd come north years ago looking for a job. She crossed the border in the night just like Esperanza. Valerina showed up at Mando's door one evening asking for directions to Miami. The coyote told her it would take her two days walking to make the trip. When Mando heard that, he slapped his forehead and told her that there was no way she could walk to Miami from Pima County, Arizona, in two days. He invited her in. She never left. Eventually they had a couple of kids who grew up and moved into Tucson. The kids came home for frequent visits. Mando and Valerina preferred life on the reservation.
Things got rough at home for Eduardo sometimes. That was mainly when his mom was drinking. Eduardo would take off then for a few days and go stay with Mando and Valerina. He spent most of his summers there, too. He would have moved in with Mando and Valerina except for his sister Elena. Eduardo couldn't leave his sister Elena. He and his sister were twins. Even though they were like day and night, they were very, very close. And there was their little brother Will they had to look out for, too. Their sister Letty was older and had been sent away by their mother because Letty had a different father. Eduardo never understood that.
Eduardo led the bay mare to the corral, slipped off the saddle and halter and spent a few minutes wiping down her reddish brown coat. He left Bonita munching happily on her dinner shoulder to shoulder with Mando’s horses. As he walked toward the house, Eduardo could smell the sweet fragrance of tortillas, frijoles, and chiles coming from the adobe house. He stepped into the kitchen, his well-worn, sweat-stained cowboy hat still on his head in the O'odham way. His stomach growled.
Mando appeared, pushing away a heavy Oaxacan blanket hanging from the doorway between the bedroom and the kitchen.
"Valerina said her temperature was too high. It must have been even higher when you found her. Valerina got it down now to just 99 degrees. We don’t know if she got too hot walking all that way in the sun, or if she got sick and has a fever from too much cold in the night. The girl's conscious, but she's pretty weak."
"Think she'll be okay? I could get my truck going and take her to the hospital. Or we could use that new phone of yours and call the ambulance out here." Eduardo said.
"She doesn't want us to do that."
"What? She's already giving orders?"
Mando smiled. "Begging is more like it. She's begging us to not call anyone. Says she'll be okay. She insists that the Angel will take care of her."
Eduardo grinned.
"And I suppose you would be the Angel?" Mando teased.
"I guess so. She's been calling me Angelito."
Mando shook his head, smiling broadly. "I think she's gonna be okay. She's young and healthy, and Valerina says she'll be fine. Valerina’s giving her Gatorade and some of that manzanilla tea that she thinks is a cure for everything bad in the world. You wanna go talk to the girl?"
"Sure," Eduardo said. "Then I'd like to eat. I'm starving."
"She's probably ready now."
Mando lifted the blanket and Eduardo stepped into Valerina and Mando's bedroom. The first thing Eduardo saw was a big galvanized steel tub in the middle of the bedroom floor with Esperanza sitting in it. Valerina was pouring water over the girl's head. Her eyes were tightly shut against the streaming water. All Eduardo could see were the girl's face and two plump breasts, nipples erect, glowing bronze and wet in the lantern light.
Eduardo jumped back into the kitchen. His face was ruddy with embarrassment.
"Uncle Mando. She's naked!"
Mando chuckled. "She's still in the tub? Well...you didn't expect us to leave her clothes on when we put her in the water, did you?"
"You didn't tell me she was naked," Eduardo said accusingly.
"I didn't know ....but so what? What do you care? After all, you're an angel."
Eduardo looked down at his boots and blushed even more. Mando laughed again.
"Sit down and I'll get you something to eat."
Eduardo sat at the table. He didn't know whether to be annoyed with Uncle Mando for being the butt of his joking or grateful for having had the chance to see something so beautiful.
"The immigrants are getting to be a real problem for us," Mando said as he handed Eduardo a plate of beans and some tortillas. "Most of 'em are coming through the Chukut Kuk district because they can't get across the border anywhere else, and now they're breaking into people's houses and stealing food and water."
Eduardo nodded between mouthfuls. Chukut Kuk was a vast open desert area on the three million-acre O’odham reservation. It was impossible for the tribal police and the Border Patrol to adequately patrol such a huge area.
"So it’s the 'very p
oor' stealing from the 'just poor,'" Eduardo said, reaching for another tortilla.
"Yeah, I feel sorry for 'em, but our people don't have enough themselves. You know old Garza that lives near Itak? Some of 'em broke into his place and took every bit of food he had. He's afraid to leave home now. He thinks they might steal everything he’s got when he ain't watching."
Eduardo smiled, but he knew it wasn't funny. If you are at poverty level yourself, you can't afford to be robbed.
"But Esperanza isn't like that. She's no thief," Eduardo said.
Mando nodded.
Valerina came into the room and sat down at the kitchen table.
"I got as much liquid down her as I could. Her temperature's almost back to normal so it looks like to me she'll be okay tomorrow. I don’t think she’s really sick. She just overdid it," Valerina said.
Mando handed her a cup of hot coffee.
Valerina smiled at him, then turned to Eduardo, "I dried her off and gave her one of my old gowns to wear. It just about swallowed her up 'cause she's such a little thing. I put her to bed in the other room and told her to go to sleep.
Eduardo nodded. The extra room was used for storage and as a place for visitors to sleep. This was where Eduardo usually slept.
"I put up another cot in there with her, Eduardo," Valerina added. "You want to sleep now?"
Eduardo turned away, blushing furiously, saying, "Nah, I think I'll sleep outside tonight under the ramada."
Valerina and Mando both grinned.
***
Eduardo and Mando rode away on horseback the next morning to round up some cattle and move them to a new pasture. When they returned to the little adobe rancho in the early evening, Valerina told them that Esperanza was well on her way to recovery.
"She got up after you two left this morning. I made her some migas for breakfast. She ate, slept some more, ate even more for lunch, then took an afternoon siesta. This evening she's been so energetic and so full of smiles that I could never guess how much trouble she was in yesterday. She's just about talked my ear off. I'm saying that girl hasn't stopped chattering since she got up."