The Savage Little Flea

by Steve Shadow

  She looked up from under her huge eyelashes. “I don’t know and I don’t care. If he is alone he will fall down begging. He is a bully and a coward. But if he has many men with him then he will be honor bound to make a show. He is too proud to lose face. Either way is of no concern to me. He will pay for treating me as he has done. I like you Jack, maybe we continue together, I don’t know but I do know that Luis will not go unpunished.”

  I held my head in my hands. Maybe I should run for the airport and just go home. I had a strong feeling that this was not going to end well.

  We stared at each other; we stared at the walls. We watched tiny lizards crawl along the ceiling. The food that we had barely touched was congealing in front of us. Fabiola and I were about ready to head back to our room and get some sleep. A knock on the door had us jumping up. Chuey and Chico came in and closed the door behind them. We once again took our seats.

  Chuey looked excited. “We find people, they see Luis and Shelly. They say 3 nights ago. They go to Palenque to talk to village people.”

  Chico said something I did not catch. I looked at Fabiola.

  “He says that a good friend of his in the cantina said that Luis was with Shelly and three others that he did not know. He thinks the other wrestlers left Luis when he made it clear what he was up to. He thinks they will try and bargain with the Indians for the relics.”

  She spoke rapidly in Spanish to Chico and Chuey. “We must leave now. We want to be there at sunrise before they can make a deal and get away. Chico’s friend thinks that some of Luis family may be coming from Acapulco; he is not sure. Let’s get everything together and go.”

  She moved to the table and began loading all the weapons and ammo into a carry all.

  Chuey and Chico said they would wait at the car. Christ, this was sudden. I was beat, I wanted to sleep but I hauled myself outside. We loaded everything and took off into the night.

  As we rode on into the dark night with only the headlights to guide us I could hear the sounds of the jungle all around us. Birds screeched and bats swarmed. We had to go slow because of cows and goats in the road. The animals eyes shone in the headlights beams. They looked like four-legged zombies. The temperature dropped and a dank musty odor filled the cars interior. I felt myself shivering but I don’t think it was from the cold.

  Chuey explained that we had to see the guards at the entrance to the national park. The people they had talked to in Villahermosa had told him who to bribe for information and to get them to ignore what might go down in the closed park. Just like Chicago “mordida”, literally the bite, was the way things were done.

  We arrived while it was still dark. Chico parked beside a small cluster of what appeared to be souvenir stands outside the entrance to the park. One shack had lights on. I could hear a generator humming from behind the building. Once again Chuey had us wait in the car while he and Chico went inside. Jose and Eliondo stood on either side of the car with their weapons at the ready.

  We sat in silence waiting for their return. Hopefully this would be over soon. A slight wind came up and the trees waved back and forth. The palm fronds made a lot of noise. The full moon cast a silver glow over everything. The humidity hung over us like a blanket. We had to keep the windows closed because of the hordes of insects that were everywhere.

  When they returned, after 20 minutes, we pulled behind the shacks. Once again after rapid bursts of Spanish, Fabiola explained the plan.

  “These pinche guards sell themselves to the highest bidder. Luis has already been to see them. We paid more so now they help us. Luis is going to meet the Indians at daybreak inside the park near the main temple. He has three men with him and the gringa. The guards are going to let us in so we can set up an ambush. We have to go now because they are due soon. They paid off the guards to let them in early. The Indians seem to know a way in without coming through the main gate. We must hurry.”

  Everyone seemed ready. We pulled out from behind the shack and through the gate which was left open for us. Chico slowly drove down a shell littered path. Our headlights picked out vine-tangled buildings from the ancient Mayan ruins. The guards had given him instructions on where to hide the vehicle. Chico found the path that led us up and behind the main temple. It faced a cleared square. Once behind the temple we were on a small hill hidden in the dense foliage. We now had to wait for Luis to show up. Everyone once again checked their weapons. The men in front lighted cigarettes. The smoke was awful but it helped to keep the bugs at bay. My stomach was in knots. Little was said except for the occasional burst of Spanish between the men. Fabiola looked at me and grinned. She squeezed my leg.

  “Relax Jack, this will be fun, eh?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I said. “I can’t wait for the fun to begin. Just promise to scatter my ashes in Lake Michigan if this deal goes south.”

  She looked at me wondering what the hell I was talking about. “Never mind,” I said. I stared out the window and tried to keep breathing.

  26

  The jungle was alive with noise. Birds chattered and monkeys howled. I imagined snakes slithering through the underbrush and giant scorpions skitting around the trees. I looked around at my companions and was hit by a strange sense of eerie dislocation. Once again I wondered how I ended up here? I had grown up an orphan in the city. I had no family and no roots. I’m not even sure if Sennett is my real name. I had no idea who my parents were nor did I care. A series of foster homes, some good, some bad left me on the street when I was a teen-ager. To get out of the weather I spent countless days and nights in movie theaters. It was easy to sneak in and I could sleep all day. I could always get the perv’s to buy me food and drink and then I would ditch them. Once I got old enough to work I went back to the little movie house I used to sneak into and got a job as an usher. The manager, Mr. Tan, convinced me to go back to school. I not only finished high school, I even finished college. Unfortunately all those years in movie theaters skewed any sense of reality I might have had and led me to feel that the world that Hollywood gave me was much preferable to the real one. That is why I ended up buying the very same theater I had worked in for years.

  I thought I had adapted reasonably well considering my past but here I was. I always felt I was street smart and in control of my life but events of these past few months showed me that I was wrong. I let myself get swept along on a crazy ride that would probably come to a bloody end this morning.

  Jesus, what did I care about some goofy Mexican wrestlers? It wasn’t the money. I looked once again into the dead serious faces of those around me beside this steaming SUV in the middle of a Mayan ruin in a foreign country and realized I was just as lost as when I first ran away and hit the streets.

  My jangled thoughts were interrupted by Fabiola jabbing me in the side.

  “Mira,” she said while pointing out the window. “See those Indians climbing down the hill? Everyone get ready. Luis will show himself soon.”

  She was right. The Indians, all dressed in white, stood at the side of a small temple building in the middle of a large square. They were all of nearly the same height. They had the large noses and sloped foreheads that were common to all Mayans. They were shod in huaraches and had machetes in sheathes attached to their rope belts.

  Coming around a curve we spotted Luis, Shelly and three armed men. They greeted the Indians who stood silently in a semi-circle. They then all sat on the ground and began to talk. Shelly stood to one side. She had a mirror out and was checking her make-up and swatting at bugs.

  We watched them as quietly as we could. Jose, Chico and Eliondo left us to circle around behind them. Chuey and I prepared to climb down the hill and confront Luis. If they ran then they would encounter our three friends. Before we could start down the hillside, Danny suddenly jumped in front of us. He began running down the hill while yelling out Shelly’s name. We could not stop him. The group below us jumped up. As Danny neared them one of Luis men raised a rifle and started shooting. Shelly, who had turned a
nd seen Danny running at her, began screaming.

  “Shelly, Shelly,” Danny hollered as bullets tore across his torso. He had failed to put on one of the flak jackets. He fell and tumbled down the hill. Shelly put her hands to her head and kept screaming. Luis, with panic in his eyes, punched her in the face. She fell to the ground. Luis started screaming in Spanish. The Indians, thinking they were under attack, unsheathed their machetes and started hacking at Luis’ men. Everyone began shooting. Chuey, Fabiola and I fell to the ground as bullets flew all around us. Danny lay a few yards below us. Blood was spurting from his neck and chest. We could do nothing. We could not shoot at Luis for fear of hitting the Indians or Shelly.

  I burrowed as low as I could and shut my eyes. The noise from all the shooting echoed off the stone monuments. I shuddered in horror watching the life leak out of Danny. I was sure we were all going to die. I looked to my left to catch one last glimpse of Fabiola and Chuey.

  The shooting from below us suddenly stopped. I slowly raised my head and saw that the Indians had turned around and run back into the jungle. Luis and his three men were running back down the path they had entered from. Fabiola fired her pistol at them; they did not stop. Chuey and I ran to Danny. Chuey put his hand on his neck to try and stop the blood pumping out. It was too late. I knelt at his side. His eyes fluttered and he moaned, “Shelly, Shelly”. His head flopped to one side and he was gone. Chuey was holding him and muttering in Spanish. I leapt up to see Fabiola still running after Luis. I yelled for her to stop. She didn’t listen. I began to run down the hill after her. Suddenly another loud burst of gunfire shattered the air. I fell once again to the ground and saw Fabiola do the same ahead of me. We could not see what was happening through the trees. I lifted my head. The shooting had stopped as suddenly as it had begun. I pushed myself to my knees and found myself staring into Shelly’s dead eyes. Her throat was slashed wide open. Blood soaked the front of her blouse. I lifted her hand but she was dead. She must have gotten in the way of one of the Indians machetes. I knelt there in shock. All this death. Poor Danny, poor Shelly.

  The gunfire erupted again. Fabiola got up and ran forward into the trees. Chuey was at my side. “Jack, mi Dios, is bad, muy bad. Come, we help the others.”

  He pulled me up. I could not move: I was frozen. He was holding a smoking pistol. He pushed me forward. The gunfire had stopped once again and a heavy silence fell over the ancient Mayan site. The glistening moss-covered temples looked down on us. This felt like a dream, a nightmare. I was overwhelmed; I began to shut down once again. Chuey kept pushing me from behind. I stumbled forward as we made our way down the path. We came to a clearing. The three men that we had seen with Luis were dead. Their shot up bodies lay twisted and bloody. Fabiola was kneeling beside Eliondo. She had taken her shirt off and torn it in strips to bind his wound. Chico and Jose seemed unharmed. Chuey was yelling at them.

  I went to Fabiola’s side. “How bad is he?” I asked.

  She turned to me. “He is losing blood. We must get him to a doctor.”

  She screamed something and Chico began running back up the hill to the car.

  Chuey and Jose kept looking down the path ahead of us.

  “Where is Luis?” I asked Fabiola.

  “He got away. Never mind him, we must help Eliondo.”

  Chico came bouncing down the path in the car. We lifted Eliondo into the back of the SUV. I stood in a daze; not sure what was going on.

  Fabiola pushed me into the front seat. She got behind the wheel and drove us away from this bloody nightmare.

  “Wait,” I screamed. “What about Chuey and the two others? We can’t just leave Danny and Shelly. What the hell is going on?”

  “They will stay and try to hunt down Luis. We will come back for them. They must do something with the dead bodies. Our bribery will only go so far. The park will open soon and turistas will be all over the site.”

  She drove like a madman as I tended to Eliondo in the back. He was moaning loudly and screamed with each bump. His face was taut with pain. The cloth that he was bound in was turning crimson. We bounced down the unpaved road until we hit the highway and sped back to the hotel. I tried to keep pressure on his wound but my hands were shaking so bad I had trouble holding them in place.

  It was not a short drive but Fabiola was afraid to go anywhere but where we were known. Thankfully Eliondo had passed out. We sped down the road avoiding people and donkeys.

  Fabiola brought the car to a screeching halt in front of the hotel’s entrance. Our slimy little host, Senor Santiago, came running out. Fabiola barked at him in Spanish. His mouth dropped and all the color in his narrow face drained away. He turned and yelled something to the boys in the lobby. They came running outside with a stretcher. They loaded our wounded gunman onto it and took him back inside. Santiago and Fabiola exchanged more words.

  “Come Jack, we must return to Palenque.”

  I climbed back into the car without thinking. It was then I noticed my shirt was covered in Danny and Shelly’s blood. I nearly threw up. I tore my shirt off and threw it in back. I was still in shock. I couldn’t think straight. Fabiola just drove and said nothing. I saw Eliondo’s blood all over the back of the SUV. His Kalasnikov was still there. I reached back and picked it up. I checked that the magazine was full and seated properly. I pulled back the bolt and chambered a round. I didn’t think about what I was doing, I just knew that I felt better with this thing in my hands. I was gripping it as hard as I could so my hands would stop shaking. The images of Danny and Shelly kept flashing past my eyes. Death came so quickly. Just like the two goons that Malo had killed in the theater lobby. One minute you were alive and then in an instant you were gone. The luxury of assuming life would go on unhindered was no longer an option. This was definitely a far cry from any noir film I had ever seen. The massive amount of stylized Hollywood mayhem I had seen bore no relationship to the real thing. This was visceral and left me shaken and scared. My hands began to ache from squeezing the weapon so hard.

  Fabiola reached out and slapped me. “Breathe, Jack. Calm yourself. I need you to be alert.”

  I put my hand to my red cheek. I took a deep breath. I looked at her in wonder. Jesus, she was tough. My silly dreams of us canoodling in a hammock somewhere on a deserted beach seemed a little foolish now. I guess it was time to cowboy up. Like an idiot I began to think what would John Wayne or Robert Mitchum do? But this was not a movie and I was no hero.

  We arrived at the entrance to the park. By this hour a lot of tour buses and cars filled the lot adjacent to the front gate. Dozens of visitors were heading inside. Fabiola drove around the parking area. We spotted Chuey on a bench near the back of the lot. Fabiola parked and we got out.

  I ran to him. “Chuey, Chuey, you OK? What the hell is happening?”

  He ignored me and signaled behind him. Chico and Jose came out from behind the trees. They were carrying a lot of weapons. They put them in the back of the SUV. The four of them were talking in Spanish. It was too fast for me to understand more than a few words. I stood there hoping someone would tell me what was going on.

  Chuey came up to me with tears streaming down his face. “Jack, mi amigo Danny, pobrecito, he was good man. She was no good for him. Now they is both dead. I am sorry we do lucha libre again. No mas, I go home. I see mi esposa, my wife. This is all loco. No mas, please we go home. I am only happy that Eliondo will be good, I hope. Come, we must go. Is over, Luis is gone. He will run to Acapulco, to his familia. Muy malo, very bad peoples.”

  “I am also sad for the dead gringo’s but I’m going after Luis.” Fabiola said. “He must pay. I will kill him myself.”

  The four of them erupted in Spanish again. I think they were trying to talk her out of going after Luis but she was determined. The look on her face was one I hoped would never be directed at me. They continued arguing. Luckily we were way in the back of the parking lot and no one was near us. I threw up my hands. “Shut up” I yelled. They stopped talking.<
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  “OK. Chuey I think you are right. You go back home before any off this mess catches up with you. You can run the theater with Ernesto and Hector. I am going with Fabiola. I got nothing to go back to. Some things happened back in Chicago that you know nothing about. Jules and the mob will never let me live after the things I did so I might as well stay here. Chico can drive you back to Vera Cruz. You have your return ticket.”

  He looked at me and began to protest but I guess he saw that I had made my mind up and would not be dissuaded. Something had clicked for me and my doubts about what I was doing here vanished. I wanted to see this through. I also, stupid as it seemed, did not want to lose Fabiola.

  The five of us stood there. We were sweaty, smelly and filthy. We climbed into the SUV and set off for Villahermosa.

  “Chuey, what happened back there, after we left with Eliondo?” I asked.

  “Ay Jack, we try to find Luis but is no good. We are afraid for the Indians come back. We take Luis men and tie rocks on them and put them in cenote, a big water hole. I don’t know what for Danny and Shelly. Is no good to bring them back with us. Police will want to know. Is bad business for dead Americans to be in Mexico. I am sorry but I think is best we put them in cenote with bad men. I am sad for Danny. We spend many years together. We all do stupid thing to come here. We find no money. Luis must have it. Why I think you come back with me. Mexico no good for you. Bring Fabiola, we find other business. No mas Mr. Jules. What you think?”

  “No Chuey, that damn El Diablo is going to die. I don’t care anymore. I got nothing to lose now except Fabiola. Where she goes, I go.”

  She sat quietly, her blood stained sleeveless t-shirt was getting stiff with the dried fluids. She said nothing. We drove the rest of the way in silence.

  27

  When we got back to the hotel we unloaded the weapons into our room. Senor Santiago came and told us that he had a doctor come and remove the bullet from Eliondo’s shoulder. Chico and Jose decided to return with him to Villahermosa. Chuey, despite my pleas, now refused to go with them.