Opposite Worlds

by Sasha Pop

  Rodrigo patted Juanito on the back, who was just standing there paralyzed, not believing what he was seeing.

  “Snap out of it. We are leaving.”

  Still holding the grenade up, he turned around and started walking back towards the car.

  El Paladino was trembling with anger at the defiance that this young man was showing him. Pulling the pistol from his coat, he fired two shots that landed inches on the side of Rodrigo’s feet.

  “Hold it right there. I will not miss next time,” he said with the eyes of a mass-murderer.

  Rodrigo turned back to face him, and to everybody’s shock pulled out his Magnum and pointed it back at El Paladino. There were a good fifty feet between them now, and even with all the practice he had in the last month there was no guarantee he could hit him. This insolence angered the boss further, who snapped and screamed in Spanish:

  “Shoot him!”

  The gang men looked at each with hesitation.

  “But boss… he has that thing!”

  Juanito took advantage of the havoc by sprinting back to the car, while pulling out his Berettas and shooting in every direction, forcing the attackers to instinctively duck. Rodrigo didn’t hesitate either and hurried back towards the Civic, tackling the man who was watching over Pablo to the ground and using him as a human shield while he got inside the vehicle.

  El Paladino’s men regrouped and got cover behind empty barrels.

  “Open fire, they are getting away, dammit!”

  Pablo pressed hard on the pedal, the adrenaline enough to make his heart stop. In the last hour he had imprinted the sketch of the scrapyard well in his mind, knowing now every corner. Even with bullets flying past them and scraping the car paint, he knew which turn to take that would lead them to the weak fence that was their escape route. They could hear that El Paladino’s men were now in pursuit, with the loud roar of the Cherokee and the Hummer audible behind them. On the freeway, Pablo’s Civic would not stand a chance to compete with these monsters in speed but in this scrapyard filled with obstacles it came down to a matter of driver’s skill.

  On the back seat, Rodrigo and Juanito were ducking for their lives. Rodrigo noticed blood at his friend’s shirt and immediately rose up, not caring he was now exposed.

  “Let me see,” he ordered.

  “Ah… it is just the shoulder. They got me when I was running,” Juanito answered in clear pain.

  Verifying that the wound indeed was not too serious, Rodrigo sighed with relief. It needed medical attention but could wait a little – they had bigger problems to deal with at the moment.

  “Listen man,” Pablo spoke, keeping his eyes on the road. “There are some barrels up front. They might have some oil there left. If you drop the grenade there, that will be sure to stop them.”

  Rodrigo agreed with the plan. He would have to expose himself outside the window to throw it accurately, but there was no other way out of it.

  “They are closing down on us,” Pablo cringed, looking at the rear-view mirror. “Get ready, now!” he screamed with all his might as they flew past the barrels. Rodrigo had stuck his head out the window at that very moment, unleashing the grenade and a sea of fire behind him. Besides the explosion, he could hear the sound of brakes of the chasers squeaking. They had to make and emergency stop not to be engulfed by the flames.

  “There is an alternative route that they can take that will lead them to our destination. We have to hurry,” Pablo said. It was too early to celebrate.

  Rodrigo looked back, observing the hell he had just caused, speechless. He wondered if the attackers had survived, with the realization that he might have just taken a person’s life dawning upon him. It didn’t matter that they were enemies set on destroying him; he still didn’t want to have anybody die by his hand.

  Juanito noticed the conflicted state his friend was and patted him lightly on the shoulder with his good arm.

  “You did the right thing. They were going to get us otherwise. You better get used to it, there is no room for mercy here,” he said this gently, his respect for Rodrigo having grown tenfold. Just moments ago, he, the experienced one of the two had been paralyzed with fear, and it had been his friend’s cold judgment and unwavering courage that had saved them.

  “Brace yourselves,” Pablo interrupted them, gripping the wheel like a bulldog. They were rapidly approaching the fence, and Juanito’s and Rodrigo’s hearts sunk to their stomachs as if they were on the world’s highest rollercoaster. The metal of the fence that they were targeting was very small, barely six feet wide, with enough space only for a car like the Civic to blast through. On the sides, there was a sizeable concrete wall. A small mistake here would mean they would crash right against the concrete.

  Praying to heavens, they blasted down the fence, only slightly damaging the hood. The rocky terrain that followed barely resembled a road, but in the distance could already be seen a highway that had no barriers.

  “Yeah!” the three of them yelled in unison, congratulating each other like it was New Year’s. Rodrigo had his eyes on the road ahead; it represented the hope of life that he had come to abandon just a while ago.

  “Look in the mirror,” Juanito called his attention.

  Rodrigo turned to see what he was talking about, and saw the two big cars stuck before the metal fence, not able to go through the small opening between the concrete wall. “They were alive!” he was about to scream from relief. Juanito just smiled.

  “So what is next?” Rodrigo asked. “We patch you up and take you to the airport?”

  The original plan was for them to go back separate ways, with Rodrigo carrying on himself the burden of the merchandise by land.

  Juanito contemplated for a moment the question. Then he smacked his fists against each other, as if he had just reached a tough decision.

  “Change of plans,” he said. “We will drive through the border together.”

  Rodrigo was surprised at the turn of events but deeply grateful.

  “Are you sure about this?”

  “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

  Back in Pablo’s hideout, Rodrigo examined the wound on Juanito’s shoulder. Between a bunch of cussing and outright screaming when he was removing the bullet with rudimentary tools, he finally managed to stop the bleeding.

  “I don’t know what was worse, El Paladino or you,” Juanito complained.

  Pablo laughed at the youngsters.

  “You guys are the real deal. Come get a drink with me if you are ever in Chihuahua.”

  Rodrigo and Juanito exchanged glances, understanding that they would not be able ever to go back to this city as long as El Paladino was alive.

  “What about you Pablo? Are you going to be alright?”

  “I will manage. Nobody knows we are affiliated, and I had a mask on anyway during the deal.”

  He tried to appear cheerful. He wasn’t as certain himself that his prospects were so bright and it showed.

  “It is time for you fellas to leave I guess, you have a long ride ahead of you. Try to reach the border before night time; these roads can get pretty dangerous, you know.”

  Both young men stood up and shook his hand, with a firmness and respect only possible through a bond of men who faced death together.

  “Come visit us Pablo. You will always have a spot to stay in Miami.”

  The man just smiled in return, handing them over the keys of a Toyota Corolla.

  “Take good care of her,” he told them, then adding with some sadness: “This car is a chick magnet around here you know.”

  Bidding him farewell, the two boys were off on the road, armed with a map and a few basic supplies. They had a thirty-hour drive ahead of them before they would reach Miami and about three hours before they would cross Rio Bravo that indicated the US border. It was already five pm outside, and the sun was starting to show signs of going down. They chatted happily for a bit, eagerly announcing what they would do upon arrival.

  “I will h
ave Marlene and Lucile over for a big, big party!” Juanito rejoiced. Slowly, he became more silent, dozing off. The loss of blood was significant, and he needed some time to recover. The next hour Rodrigo spent in silence, thinking of how he was driving now through his former homeland, and how he never thought things would turn out to be this way when they had left for the States fifteen years earlier.

  Arriving in the town of Ojinaga, he could notice the American influence by the bilingual signs, indicating that the crossing point to the border was nearby and Texas was awaiting them on the other side of the river.

  He shook Juanito to wake him up as they drove through the main street of the town, with restaurants on every corner. He was starving, not having eaten since the morning, however he was determined to cross the border first. He really wanted to call a special somebody… He didn’t know what he would say, but it didn’t matter…he just wanted to hear her soft voice on the other end, to know she wanted to see him again…

  The street intersected with the river, and they could already see the bridge that would lead them home. The disturbing sight of the fence on the American side of the border clearly indicated that no illegal visitors were welcome.

  Back in Pablo’s hideout, they had changed to casual clothes worthy of respectable college students, and placed the notebook with “paper” among other random books that Rodrigo had brought on the trip as disguise. It would truly be hard to find, even if somebody were to search his bag. But there was no guarantee that police dogs would not be able to pick up on it, although word on the street was that they couldn’t.

  The Toyota entered the ramp of entry at the bridge. Perhaps they would be lucky enough to simply present their passports and go on their way. Rodrigo saw that quite a long line had formed, meaning that Border Patrol officers were spending a lot of time on each car.

  “Damn it,” Juanito cursed.

  “Relax, we got all the papers and everything. It will be ok,” Rodrigo said with confidence. He felt that the worst was already behind them. An officer in a dark blue uniform approached.

  “Sergeant Hopkins. Please step outside the vehicle,” he commanded after the introduction.

  This was unexpected. Rodrigo and Juanito obeyed.

  “Is there a problem officer?” Rodrigo carefully inquired.

  “We have got a lead that two Americans were attempting to bring illegal substances to the United States,” the officer answered, gauging their reaction.

  Rodrigo felt his heart sink, hoping that his expression didn’t betray his true feelings at hearing that piece of information. Had El Padrino’s men somehow alerted Border Patrol about them?

  “You are American citizens?”

  Both young men nodded.

  “Purpose of your trip to Mexico?”

  “To attend a Physics conference at Universidad de Chihuahua,“ Rodrigo replied. He reached out to the pocket and handed the officer a brochure and an official-looking letter from University of Miami stating the intent of their visit.

  “What was the topic of the conference?” the officer asked, turning to Juanito. Even though Rodrigo saw that the question wasn’t directed at him, he intervened:

  “New developments of the world of neutrino Physics.”

  The officer looked at him in disapproval.

  “I was asking your colleague here,” he said, shifting the attention back to Juanito.

  “We were presenting on how electrical charge of the particles is affected by gravity,” Juanito said, trying with all his might to appear serious and knowledgeable, even though he had no clue about what he had just said.

  That seemed to satisfy the officer for the moment, but it was not over.

  “Alright then. We have to search the car – standard procedure.” On that note, he called over another officer from the Dog Unit who was standing nearby with a German Shepherd. The dog walked around the car several times, finally stopping near the right-hand passenger door where the bag with the books was placed.

  “So what do we got here?” sergeant Hopkins asked, opening the door and retrieving the bag, with the dog getting increasingly agitated.

  “Do you have something there we should know about?” he asked the boys.

  Rodrigo was about to burst on the inside. Here they had gone through hell, and now it all was about to flush down the toilet because of some nosy dog. For the first time in his life, he felt hatred for an animal.

  “Nothing, just books,” he finally muttered.

  The officer reached to the zipper on the bag, and held his fingers there for a moment, as if enjoying torturing them.

  “Ok, let’s see.”

  *****TO BE CONTINUED*****

  Author’s note

  This book might be over, but the adventures of Jessica and Rodrigo are just beginning, with more drama and romance coming up! What will Jessica’s reaction be when she finds out the truth behind Rodrigo’s past? Will Maestro live up to the promise of saving Rodrigo’s mother?

  To make sure you find out the answers to these questions and don’t miss the release of the next book in the Inseparable series, sign-up for the update here:

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  Thank you for reading!

  With love,

  Sasha Pop