Sisimito III--Topoxte

by Henry W. Anderson

  I shook my head and sighed in resignation. “Thanks for the compliment, Teul, but it’s time to continue our journey.” I hesitated. “Better not tell Sacnite and Xochitl that the painting is a picture of me,” I joked. “If you do, you won’t be getting any more pussy from them. They’ll be all over me.”

  “I know when to keep my big mouth shut,” Teul smirked.

  Illustration 11: Drawing 18 (See Note # 322).

  “You had better,” laughed Zyanya, “even though that may be difficult. Shall we be on our way, Kaloonte’?

  “Yes! Take us to the sacbeob to Ox Witz Ha. Give the command.”

  We started going downhill and quickly entered the jungle. As before, the jungle floor was not dense and we moved along as quickly as the children and wounded allowed us. Zyanya and Yochi were ahead of me, along with two Warriors who were using their short bate’s as machetes. Bas and Teul had joined me, having left their Nabe Nimal Nacons, Chino and Chimalli respectively, in charge of their sections.

  “I did recognize the summit,” said Teul. “I had to stop you from blabbing any more. We can’t let these people know too much about us … anything about where we are from.”

  “I’ll take your scolding, Teul. I was just a bit overwhelmed by all that is happening and we’re just taking too long to find Molly. It’s almost as if our mission has changed.”

  “No madafok! Our mission is the same. We know Mahanamtz has headed this way. He’s always just ahead of us. We need to get to Ox Witz Ha for support. We need scouts. Warriors. Weapons. You have seen what his Kechelaj Komon can do. We need a small army.”

  “You’re right, my friend. It’s just that it’s taking too long.” My mind strayed for a moment then I brought it back. “What about the summit.”

  “It looks like the one we made camp on the night after Burgos Camp.” Teul shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn’t have to be, Chiac. As I said, many summits have the same characteristics.”

  “I recognized the area, Teul. We have been through this jungle in our world. We now go through in in another world.”

  “In our world, this jungle was our jungle, Stephen,” said Bas. “We used to fish its creeks and rivers, hunt in its mountains, explore and live. In this world, it is not our jungle.”

  “Stephen?” queried Teul.

  “I was called Stephen as a child, when I was in school. I don’t use that name anymore.” I looked at Bas. “Bas? Isn’t that so, Bas?”

  He smiled. “Yes, Eutimio. No more Stephen … unless I forget.”

  I shook my head. I felt he was intentionally going to forget, very often. Suddenly, I felt an urge to say something about Bas. “Teul.”

  “Yes, Chiac.”

  “I will tell you a little about Bas and me. Bas is the best friend I ever had. He looked after me. We grew up in the jungle together, fished, hunted, together. The first time we had a beer, or rum, I can’t remember, we did it together. The first time we went to a whore house, we did it together. He pulled me out of a lot of shit that I did. Loved me. Yet, I failed him. I got him killed on Expedition Bold.” My voice trembled with emotion and my eyes began to moisten. “And now, by some strange … I don’t know what … we are together again. And you know what? I don’t spend any time with him … or with Clarke, Taylor, Parham, Anderson, Hulse; all the others I killed.”

  “Shut the fok up,” said Bas.

  I was startled and I looked at him. “You cussed.”

  “You deserved to be cussed,” replied Bas. “We are alive and you are leading us on a strange, difficult, and dangerous journey. You don’t have time to play Mary Poppins.”

  “Well madafok,” shouted Teul, howling with laughter and pointing at me. “Mary madafok Poppins.” Teul continued guffawing as he disappeared among the Warriors behind us, my eyes following him. “And Stephen! Oh, madafok! But … Mary Poppins?”

  “Now see what you’ve done, Bas?” I chuckled and turned back to Bas. “I missed you Bas. Terribly.”

  “Well, I didn’t think about you at all.” I glared at him and he smiled, cheerlessly. “In the beginning, we didn’t know what was happening. If it weren’t for Kish and Yochi, we’d have gone crazy; if that’s possible in Xibalba. We have adjusted. It’s hard to know that we will never return to our world, our family, but it’s good that we are … alive. Of course, we don’t know what the future holds, how long this existence will continue.” He was silent for a while as we continued going downhill. “Whatever happens, my friend, I will always be there with you. Just call on me.” He looked at the jungle around us. “But you know that. I see you always wear the Green Scapular.”

  I looked down at my chest and the bloody and worn Green Scapular. “Yes. I always wear it. It’s getting worn and I’m afraid I will lose it. Maybe I should put it in a small bag or something.” I shook my head. “I wouldn’t feel it. Do you know? It feels warm against my chest. Sometimes, it glows. I’ve seen it glow green. I don’t think I’m imagining things.”

  “I suppose that’s because you’re special.”

  “Me? Special? You must be fokin joking, Bas.”

  “What makes you think you can’t be special. Even a foka like you can be special, my friend, my brother. Don’t you sometimes wonder why you are here, why Teul is here? Perhaps, the others?” He smiled, taking in a deep breath. “Well, I better get back to Chino and my fireteam.”

  I was puzzled. “Are you trying to tell me something, Bas?” He stopped walking away and looked back at me. He smiled again, but said nothing. I realized he was not going to say anything else. “We must do this again, Bas.”

  “Of course, Stephen … Haha! … Eutimio,” he answered and he walked back to his Warriors. “When we have iztāc-octli,” he shouted. “Sorry! No more chelas359 or guaro360 together.”

  We kept on walking and I felt lost. Lost in my jungle. Even if it weren’t my jungle, it was the jungle and I never felt lost in the jungle. The jungle was my home. But I was no longer a child, living happily, one with the jungle. Yes, I had become lost. There was no Molly. I couldn’t spend time with my friends drinking and fokin around. Taat was here, but I rarely met him or spoke with him. Teul had to tell me he was okay. Tóolok must have forgotten how to fuck by now. My life was just fokin miserable … and lost. “I was, indeed, Teul’s ‘Lonely Boy’.” I frowned. That foka could sing.

  Wah-co!-Wah-co!-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

  I stopped, raising my hand. Everyone froze and the jungle fell quiet. Zyanya, Yochi and the two Warriors in the lead immediately turned around, facing me. Someone approached from behind. “Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e and his drove,” said Taat. “He masked their smell by enchantments.”

  “Defensive circle and a to’bal-rib wall,” I cried out. “Sk’op Fireteam to the trees. Children to the trees. If the wounded can’t get up the trees, we’ll surround them.”

  Zyanya, Yochi and the two Warriors were with me as we rushed into the circular defensive formation the Warriors were already establishing. The smell of musk struck my nose, and moans and barks tore from the jungle followed by the thunder of hooves as the hach-k’ek’en horde, with flashes of black, flashes of red, white sharp tusks, white bristled foaming lips, crested sharp bristles on their backs, descended upon us from all sides, crushing the many pink flowers that fell from the canopy and covered the jungle floor.

  Because of the trees and the undergrowth, there were difficulties in establishing our defence and we were not able to achieve the circle formation as quickly as needed. There were breaks in the line and all Warriors were not involved in the defence as some were helping with getting the children and the injured into the trees. Two hach-k’ek’ens got in before we were able to close the circle. They immediately sank their tusks into Mazatl and Nenetl’s legs as they stood, trying to get the children to safety. Blood sprayed across the jungle floor, coloring it red. I heard their cries of pain and surprise, yet they did not fall. I was about to go to them, but Bas and Ichik had already slammed
their maquahuitls onto the heads of the hach-k’ek’ens.

  The circle closed and the to’bal-rib wall was doing its job as we were able to fight against each hach-k’ek’en as it approached. Yet, occasionally, there were cries of injury and blood spurted as tusks ripped into legs. When one Warrior was injured, he pulled back and was immediately replaced. If there were no one to replace him, we closed the circle more tightly.

  We fought, but for all we killed or injured, more came. I felt the hair stand on my head and my eyes were drawn to the jungle in front of me. A hach-k’ek’en was standing on its hind legs, looking directly at me with blood-red eyes. Just behind it was the Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e. The hach-k’ek’en dropped down to all fours and charged. I raised my maquahuitl, but too late. I felt the tusks on either side of its mouth tear into my legs, and the intense pain made me cry out and stagger. He drew back about two yards and stood up, and I saw in its eyes that he was going to try to get its tusks into my chest. I held my to’bal-rib in place, covering my body, but the pain was excruciating and I felt dizzy. It hurled itself towards me, but howled with an inhuman sound as seven ch’abs from the Sk’op Fireteam sank into its flesh. It stared at me, dropped to all-fours, and started to turn around to head back into the jungle. Seven more ch’abs sank into its body and he howled in anger and pain, its cry resounding and echoing through the mountains. It started to stand, but toppled over and fell to the jungle floor. I looked to see Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e, but he was not there.

  The battle lasted no more than a few minutes then as suddenly as they had attacked, they withdrew, leaving blood stained carnage over the jungle floor, over the torn carpet of pink blossoms. Our defence formation had remained strong and the archers in the trees had proved deadly. Dead and dying animals surrounded us and the stink of hach-k’ek’ens, blood, shit, entrails, and death covered the jungle.

  My whole body was covered with blood, foul smelling frothy spit, and each of my calves had been hacked by tusks and were very painful. The wounds burned, oozing blood, and I wondered why the injuries hurt so much as they were not very deep. The pain became so intense, I had to sit.

  “Let me look at your wound,” demanded Teyacapan.

  “Check the Warriors first,” I said.

  “I have arranged a group. The Warriors are being looked after. You are our Kaloonte’ and the hach-k’ek’en that attacked you was different form the others. It is my duty to make you live.”

  I stared at Teyacapan. Yesterday he would have seen me killed without any remorse. Today, it was his duty to make me live. “Check the fokin wounds if you must,” I said. He kneeled beside me.

  “The wound is not very deep …”

  “I know that.”

  “… but the hach-k’ek’en’s itzel-chub361 has entered it.”

  “Won’t the blood wash it out?”

  “No! That hach-k’ek’en was enchanted. The itzel-chub has already entered the muscle. Your leg will turn black.”

  “Black? You’re fokin joking. And you said that so matter-of-fact.” He just continued staring at me. “Get me Taat.” He nodded and left. “I didn’t know whether I believed Teyacapan or not, but I decided to have him do what he wanted as long as Taat was there. I had to admit, however, that hach-k’ek’en was not normal. It stood on its hind legs and stared directly at me with evil blood-red eyes. Before long, Taat and Teyacapan had returned and were looking at the wounds together.

  Yochi interrupted us. “The Nacons have given me their reports, Kaloonte’. I have already briefed Zyanya.”

  “I am treating the Kaloonte’’s wounds,” scolded Teyacapan. Yochi looked at me.

  “The treatment will wait, Teyacapan. I will take the brief then you may have me all to yourself.”

  “I need …” He saw that my decision was made. He nodded.

  “We have been lucky,” updated Yochi. No one journeys to the Underworld and the city of Xibalba. But we have many wounds to the legs and feet, some of them deep. And there’s the hach-k’ek’en’s itzel-chub. We do not know if the animals were ch’u’j.”362

  I looked to Teyacapan.

  “I have already instructed my group what to do,” he said.

  “Who makes up your group?”

  “Taat, Robertson, Nah’. Nah’s a healer and the children help as they have some training in healing. I suggest we allow Taat to go back to his duties. You! I will look after you myself.”

  Arrogant foka! I looked back to Yochi. “Anything else?”

  “No, but the men are happy that they will have as much meat as they wish. We counted over ten hands,” said Yochi.

  “You cannot eat the meat, Ukab Kaloonte’,” objected Teyacapan. “The meat is, most probably, enchanted and ch’u’j. It will do you great harm. It is also best to burn the dead hach-k’ek’ens. Even the animals that eat enchanted meat will be harmed and, they in turn, will harm others.”

  Yochi looked at me. I nodded. “I will do as you wish, Teyacapan,” he responded.

  “Make sure your wounds are looked after, Ukab Kaloonte’,” I ordered, sure that Yochi wouldn’t comply as quickly as I would like. He nodded, turned around and left. There was blood draining from both his legs.

  “I will go back to my duties, Paal,” grunted Taat. I looked at his legs as he limped away. They too were bleeding. Yet, none of them seemed to be having the burning pain I was having.

  Shortly after, I began smelling the burning animals. It was not the usual pleasant smell of smoking fresh game meat. It carried the unnatural smell of the thighs of my men as Mahanamtz had prepared them for his wedding feast.

  I sat, resting my back against a hakab363 tree while Teyacapan cleaned and treated my wounds. I tried to ignore the pain in my calves, concentrating on the fragile pink flowers that were falling from the canopy and absurdly softening the bloodied jungle floor, but as I sat there I felt my legs tightening as they began to cramp. I was feeling drowsy, even with the pain, and I closed my eyes, nodding, aware that my chin was dropping towards my chest. Suddenly, Molly’s frightened face came to me and we were scrambling up into the maami tree to escape from Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e. Although I did not hear her words, I saw them on her lips, ‘Hurry! Hurry!’ I swung my head upwards, hitting the trunk of the tree. I shook it off. “Are you soon fokin finished?” I glared at Teyacapan. “I need to get up and move about. Get rid of this cramp and pain. I need to get to Ox Witz Ha.”

  Teyacapan looked up at me. “It will continue to bleed if you move about, and you will spread the ch’u’j-k’aas364more quickly by walking.”

  “I have no fokin choice,” I argued. “We have to go.”

  “I’ll finish up,” he responded, soon standing up. “That’s all I can do here.”

  “Then that will do,” I answered, defiantly. He nodded and walked away.

  Wah-co!-Wah-co!-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

  My anger swelled within me and I swung around towards the sound, ignoring my pain. “Come, foka!” I shouted. “Don’t hide in the trees you fokin kos. Come let me shoot your fokin ass. I’ll eat you raw, kos,” I shouted in rage. Teyacapan had turned back and was standing beside me. He didn’t say a word and that was good for I was insane and probably would have killed him. I looked around. The Warriors were looking at me, most of their faces expressionless. Their turned their faces and continued doing what they were doing except Eztli, Huehue, Xipilli, and Xiuhcoatl. They looked at me with the concern of the young Warrior, not yet hardened to the Way of the Warrior.

  Wah-co!-Wah-co!-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

  I made to jump up. “Don’t,” ordered Teyacapan. “You are Nabe Kaloonte’. Be one, control yourself, and do not further injuries.”

  I glowered at him, but my military training was beginning to displace my anger. I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths, taking charge of myself, once more. As my anger dissipated, the pain returned. I had to get going. I got on my knees and then held onto the hakab tree to stand. As I began walkin
g around, the spasms came with deep and intense burning that spread from the wound in all directions. I bit down on my teeth and ignored it; yet, I felt my eyes moisten from the pain and thoughts of Molly I couldn’t toss from my mind. I continued walking in small spaces until the spasms began going away. The burning and pain did not.

  “We’re ready,” said Yochi. “We’ll march on the trail when we reach it and continue to avoid the main sacbeob. Ko’one’ex!”

  Kinich was already about three hands up, probably just after nine-o-clock, when we resumed going downhill. The march was slow because of our injuries, some of the Warriors having to be helped or carried. The children did not keep us back and, at times, Yochi had to order them back into the center of the double file as they tended to drift ahead or to the sides. It was easy for them to wander as the forest floor was not very dense due to the unbroken canopy over a hundred feet above us. There were shrubs, herbs, and small trees, all with bigger leaves than usual as they tried to capture as much sunlight as they could, and large woody vines climbing the tall trees into the canopy to bathe in the sunlight there. All those, and the many little animals of the jungle, caught the attention of the children, keeping them occupied, keeping them behaving like children. After an hour, we reached the bottom of a narrow ravine where a shallow creek flowed. We crossed the creek and I ordered a short rest. As rocks and thick riverside vegetation came right down to the creek, some of the uninjured Warriors immediately cleared an area where the injured Warriors, including me, could lie in relative comfort. Thankfully, although it was hot and humid, there were not many flies.

  We started climbing a mountain that was higher than the previous one, Zyanya leading us, heading generally to the northwest. As I reflected on what I knew of that area, in my other world, I recalled that the mountains in that region rose to about twenty-eight hundred feet above sea level, reducing in height as one went northward. Ox Witz Ha, being on the Vaca Plateau, was at an elevation of twelve hundred to sixteen hundred feet.