“She waited until now to come to you, which is odd,” she said.
“No, she waited until you came to her. Once she saw you were here, she took her chance,” Eduardo sighed.
“How did she know you would not turn her away?”
“Ah, my lovely wife, she was relying on you to not turn her away with her infant,” he said.
Ryanne snuggled closer to him, “I will not turn you away either mi esposo,” she whispered, her hand going lower under the covers. “I would like to know though, what is the square root of 12,985?”
Eduardo moaned slightly, “113.9517.”
“Multiplied by 97,” she said rubbing harder.
“Eleven thousand fifty-three point...,” he said trying to catch his breath. Her hand stopped moving.
“Point what?” she asked.
“Point 3191848,” he said moving closer to her, reaching for her.
“No,” she said pushing into his chest. “Not yet,” she said, toying with him.
“Ryanne,” he said, pulling her close. “You will not receive me during my need that you have caused...I am aching to be with you.”
Ryanne pulled back the covers, swinging long legs from the bed to stand in the bright light of the morning shining through the window. The light making the night gown almost translucent against her dark skin. The thin patch of dark curls evident though the sheer material as Eduardo almost slithered his way across the large mattress to get to her. Hearing her husband calculate large numbers in his head turned her on something fierce.
“If you want me, come and take it,” she said.
“It is unwise to play such games with me wife. I am not a man to trifle with on such matters,” he said to her.
She faced him, lifting the gown, then lowering it quickly. The heady scent of her readiness for him forced his pupils to dilate. He said nothing more as he sprang from the bed, pulling her close, raising one of her legs level with his hip, and impaling her. Ryanne clung to him, nails sinking into his skin, clamoring to get all she could from him. He hefted her into his arms, turning, falling to the bed, still inside of her, working feverishly to bring them both pleasure.
Unable to cry out as his mouth found hers, he kissed her deeply as her body tightened around him, pulling him under.
I am lost in her.
Chapter Eleven – Good God Man!
Wednesday – Las Tierras
“Bobby Ray, what time did he say he would be here? It is hotter than Satan’s house cat down here,” Lucille said.
“He said ten am, Lucy Girl,” Bobby Ray said calmly, wiping away sweat with a cotton handkerchief. “It is 9:52. He is not a man who likes to be late.”
“I am never late,” a voice said behind them. “Follow me.” The man in the white cotton peasant pants and black sarape said as he walked past them. The straw hat on his head, hiding his hair and face.
“Wait a minute, I am not following Juan Valdez anywhere,” Lucille said.
“Me either,” Bobby Ray said. “I need some verification Señor!” he said with bass in his voice.
The man slowed, turning to face Bobby Ray. To his surprise it was Eduardo Delgado. Bobby Ray opened his mouth, but the look on Eduardo’s face told him to not utter his name.
“The key,” Bobby Ray said. “Is in the brass monkey at noon.”
Eduardo’s eyes came up from the under the hat to look at Bobby Ray’s face. “I do not know what that means,” Eduardo said.
“You are supposed to give me back the monkey key code word, Señor,” Bobby Ray said.
Eduardo said, “Move your ass...with a key in your monkey.”
“Bobby Ray, I don’t think he knows how to play the game very well,” Lucille whispered. “Wasn’t he supposed to come back with something like ‘mother’s milk from the monkey is bitter’?”
Eduardo reached for his knife. Tonda walked by, bumping Bobby Ray with his shoulder, continuing down the side walk. Eduardo followed quietly putting the knife away.
“The game is afoot Lucy Girl, grab that bag and let’s ride,” he said following behind the two men. They rounded the corner to come to a wagon, filled with straw. Tonda, large but silent, lifted Lucy around the waist, up into the soft bed, the lowering her gently into the wagon. For Bobby Ray he pointed as he rounded the cart, drawn by two donkeys. Eduardo rode shotgun with his head down, appearing to be asleep as the wagon rolled down the street. The Blakemores were seated low in the back of the wagon watching the city of Medellín grow smaller.
The bumpy ride lasted less than an hour as the wagon came to a stop in an empty field. Tonda jumped down from the cart, removing stowed away bags of groceries from under the hay, walking into a grove of small shrubs. Tonda moved fast, returning quickly to remove more bags, taking it back in the bushes.
“Bobby Ray, what in the hell is going on? Are we having some kind of picnic or something? I mean really. It is insufferable enough to make me ride in the back of a mule powered wagon, but I am not sitting on the ground eating,” Lucille said loudly. “It is simply undignified!”
This too was said loudly as she dislodged the wedgie from her butt, pulling straw from down the front of her blouse and wiping her nose on the back of her sleeve. A loud sneeze followed accompanied by a wet spray of spittle which landed on the side of Bobby Ray’s face.
“This way,” Eduardo said.
They drug their one carry-on bag behind them as they too bent their heads to enter the grove of trees. A bright blue helicopter awaited them as Tonda held open the door. His hand extended to aid Lucille into the whirlybird. Bobby Ray followed, securing the doors, and his wife’s seat belt. He knew the procedure as he reached across the back of the seat, tapping Eduardo on the shoulder. The rotors started with the push of a button and they were off, up in the air flying, headed to Las Tierras. The buzz of the city died down the further they flew. Green pastures as far as the eye could see, with thick groves of trees, farm land and small lakes appeared on the landscape as Eduardo flew the Blakemores to his home.
Tonda pointed, “Welcome to Las Tierras Verdes de mis Antecedents.”
“The green valleys of my ancestors,” Lucille translated. “You ancestors are buried here Tonga?”
“Tonda,” he corrected. “My name is Tondanamańco Velez Contońa Sergio.”
Bobby Ray’s eyes were wide. “Well fuck. No wonder they call you Tonda. That is a mouthful and a name fitting a big cow poke like you,” he yelled over the rotors. He looked at this wife. “Just call the man Tonda okay Lucy Girl?”
The helicopter turned sharply, dropping in elevation, coming in low over farmland, then going back high, and finally slowing, as Eduardo expertly sat down the bird on a large red X of a concrete pad. The rotors stopped twirling. Eduardo exiting the helicopter, hat in hand, a slight smile creeping to the corners of his lips. He spoke brightly to the Blakemores, “Welcome to my home.”
“That was a helluva ride!” Bobby Ray said, reaching for this wife, then his luggage.
“Leave it, it shall be taken care of. Come, come, Ryanne is eager to see you,” he said with a smile as they rounded the century’s old two story home to come to the front stairs. Stiff knees and a sore bottom from riding in a wooden cart for an hour protested as they climbed the stairs.
“Señor y Señora Blakemore, turn around,” Eduardo said.
Bobby Ray and Lucille turned about, looking first at Eduardo, then up at the land. Her hand went to her chest as Bobby Ray removed the baseball cap. Tears came to his eyes at the beauty of the land which reminded him so much of a picturesque oil painting of a time long forgotten.
“I wake up to this beauty each day,” Eduardo boasted.
Ryanne flung open the door, actually happy to see the Blakemores.
“...and that beauty as well,” he said with a wink.
“Come on in, come in,” Ryanne said, hugging Lucille then Bobby Ray. “Welcome to our home.”
Before anyone was able to get settled, Marianna came from his office. She wore an
all-white suit, and red silk tee, red lipstick and high heeled red shoes. “Señor Delgado, there is a loose issue at VH7 which requires your immediate attention,” she told him.
Bobby Ray tried to hide gawking at her, but she was possibly one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen in his life. He even told her so.
“Lucille, take a gander at this remarkable creature,” he said to his wife. “You are quite possibly, one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life. Well, that is second only to my Lucy here.”
“Gracias, Señor Blakemore. I welcome you both to Welcome to Las Tierras Verdes de mis Antecedents.”
“These are your ancestors too?” Lucy asked. “Well, hell, I guess so. You live here.”
Eduardo quietly tapped Bobby Ray on the arm. “It has been days since you have ridden. I know how much you enjoy your morning rides. Would you care to accompany me on a fast ride through my fields to VH7?”
Bobby Ray’s face lit up, “Sure! I don’t know what VH7 is, but anytime in the saddle is good with me.”
“Ryanne, the Bobby Ray and I shall ride this morning,” he said. “We shall return as soon as possible.”
“Be careful please,” she said.
“You worry too much,” he said, kissing her on the cheek leading Bobby Ray out the side door towards the stables.
Lucille looked at Ryanne “You look amazing. Now let me see that beautiful baby girl, give me something to eat that is not loaded with peppers that singe my ass hairs and show me to a decent bed to take a mid-day nap – preferably in that order,” she said.
“Right this way Ms. Lucy,” Ryanne said. Seeing Saxton’s mother only made her long to see her own as well. They should be in the air and on the way, arriving sometime tonight. The excitement she felt could barely be contained.
Bobby Ray felt the same way. Two saddled, chestnut Trocha horses awaited them as Eduardo swung up on the horse’s back, not bothering to use the stirrups. He pulled the reins, turning the horse’s nose towards the field, kicking the sides, and riding hard. He didn’t look back knowing Tonda was also riding near as Bobby Ray caught up riding behind him at a gallop.
They rode for nearly twenty minutes without stopping. The horses were barely winded when they came up on a gray vented house with a metal roof. Bobby Ray slid from the saddle, his feet hitting the fertile dirt underneath. He attempted to follow Eduardo into the small house, but Tonda stepped in between them.
“Señor the Bobby Ray, you may not wish to enter this building,” Tonda said.
Bobby Ray moved his hand, stepping around the big man to follow Eduardo into the building. It only took three seconds to wish he had listened to Tonda. What he saw scared the piss out of him, as it ran down the one leg which was not pulled up to his chest from fright. As far and wide as the eye could see, filling the length of the building were cages full of snakes. A man lay on the floor, foaming at the mouth as a very angry, long black snake sat on his chest guarding him like a newly won prize. Eduardo held a pair of tongs in one hand and a hook in the other, as he quickly wrangled the poisonous Mamba, carrying it back to the open cage on the floor. The angry snake protested and thrashed, but went back into the container, as Eduardo closed it up.
“Good God man what the hell is wrong with you?” Bobby Ray asked. He showed no embarrassment over his wet pants. “Was that a black Mamba?”
“Sí, it is the only Black Mamba in this house,” Eduardo said looking about as he fetched a live mouse to slip into the feeder slot for the snake. “We have a green one here as well and have tried to cross breed the two to no avail.”
“You just handled a black mamba with a pair of tongs and a stick!”
“Again, the answer is yes, Mr. Bobby Ray,” he said.
“Eduardo Delgado, you are one bad mutherf...,”
“Shut yo mouth,” Eduardo said, laughing loudly. “I know that one! It is from the movie with the man they call Shaft....uhmmm, ahh...right on!”
“How can you be some damned calm? You just handled one of the most poisonous snakes in the world. That man is on the floor dying and you are quoting old movies!”
Tonda had come inside the building once the snake had been secured, administering antivenin to the twitching man.
“He will more than likely lose the use of his hand, but he shall live,” Eduardo said. He looked down at the man on the floor, stepping over him to check the live feed supply. Taking food to his favorite pet.
Bobby Ray was somewhat in shock, looking about the room, recognizing many deadly slithering creatures. “What do you do with all of these poisonous snakes?”
“We make anti-venom. I have the second largest repository in the Americas. This venom house is not so big. VH3 has an even larger collection of anti-venom than your CDC,” he said proudly.
“But why?” Bobby Ray wanted to know as he moved forward, looking at a small but angry little snake which had just spotted the live rat Eduardo deposited in his cage. The little snake struck the mouse several times in succession until the poor mouse shuddered and dropped dead. “What the hell is that?” He yelled pointing at the little snake.
“That is the Fer de Lance,” he said with a smile. “It is mainly, if not only, found in Colombia.”
“Again, I am not understanding this Eduardo. Why do you have so many damned snakes? I assume that VH7 means venom house 7. You have seven of these creepy ass buildings?”
Eduardo aided Tonda in getting the worker to his feet and out the door to a waiting vehicle.
“I make at least a million five a year solely on antivenin,” he said. “Only 40% is sold for medical use. The rest, are sold to guerrillas, soldiers for hire and the like, who live in the forests. We also sell ammunition which is dipped in venom. To get the antidote to stop the neurotoxins, you must come to me.”
Bobby Ray began to back out of VH7. “This is kind of sickening,” Bobby Ray said.
“It is not Señor the Bobby Ray. Each Czar has a deadly weapon, which is the poisonous venom of the snake of his country. If you are wounded by my bullet or my knife, you know that is it Fer de Lance venom. You can only get the anti-venom from me. The trick is to not anger me so you will not be on the receiving end of either.”
“Saxton told me about the snakes. He said each cartel leader has a tattoo of a snake on their bodies, like the head of a serpent or something,” Bobby Ray said.
“It is true,” Eduardo answered.
“You got one of them snakes tatted on you?”
Eduardo lifted the white muslin shirt, showing the snake’s head and most of the body which coiled around him. The red ruby-like eyes tattooed into his nipples made the snake more ominous than the venom dripping fangs. Eduardo turned, moving belly dancer style as the undigested meal in the snake’s belly sat in the lump while the rest of the snake seemed to move around his body.
“Good God man!” Bobby Ray yelled again. “What is that?”
“It is a man sized Fer de Lance,” he said. “I am the Fer de Lance.”
“And Victorio Rentería...he is a head as well?”
“He is Vente Minutos,” Eduardo responded.
“Twenty minutes...”
“Yes, when the coral snake bites you, there are twenty minutes left before you die,” he said. “Come, we ride, let’s get you out of those pee-pee pants before your son arrives.”
Bobby Ray’s emotions were sitting on his face. Poisonous dancing snakes. Tomorrow Connard would arrive with a fancy dancing man. He wasn’t ready for that shit either.
“Please do not worry Señor the Bobby Ray. The Black Mamba is a scary creature. This shall remain between us,” Eduardo said mounting his horse.
“That’s not why I am frowning,” he said in a lowered tone. “You know my son Connard is going to bring a ‘friend’ here...this Jason.”
“I am aware,” Eduardo said as he led his horse toward the back field, going towards the main house.
“Well...this is my first time meeting this Jason,” Bobby Ray said with his mout
h twisted.
“You have some concerns about the relationship of this Jason to your son?”
“Hell yes. He and my son are ...,” he could not say the word.
Eduardo slowed his horse.
“Señor the Bobby Ray, do you love your son?”
“Of course I love my son, what kind of question is that?”
“Then you should close the lips and do the shut up,” Eduardo said, clicking his tongue to get the horse moving again.
“Hold on there! What do you mean shut up?”
“Just as I said, shut up,” Eduardo repeated. “If you love your son, what he does behind his bedroom door should not change how you feel. Unless, he is doing something with children or small furry animals.” Eduardo shuddered. “No man should ever want a small furry animal shoved up his culo.”
“A man shouldn’t want a dic..,” Bobby Ray started to say.
Eduardo interrupted him. “You do know there are heterosexual men who prefer to have the two fingers shoved up there, pressing down in the butt encouraging the happy moment until wheeeee– there is the party!” Eduardo said to Bobby Ray who stared at him in disbelief.
“Seriously man, what is wrong with you?”
Eduardo was grinning as he said, “What? We are having the man talk, and bonding, no?”
Bobby Ray was scowling while shaking his head, “No, noooooo, no we are not!”
“I tell you what I shall do for you, Señor Bobby Ray the Blakemore,” he said. “When your son arrives. I will kill him for you. I shall bring the fer de lance to his room at night, let it loose so that it may strike him over and over with poisonous blows until he dies a slow and painful death. Your Connard shall die a painful death on the floor along with this Jason and you shall have no more shame of his ways.”
Bobby Ray’s mouth hung open, shaking his head no in rapid succession.
“You do not wish me to kill the embarrassment you call a son?”
“My son is not an embarrassment!” Bobby Ray said. “And no, you can’t kill him either!”
A Weekend with the Blakemores (The Blakemore Files Book 8) Page 9