Ganado: a novel

by Manolo Mario

  The headache was present, but the focus on his solution seemed to put it aside. Arriving at the top, he peered into the office enough to see Alonso putting a large ledger away in a cabinet and locking it.

  ~~~

  The rap of the nightstick on the doorframe startled Alonso. He turned, surprised to see the officer and didn’t offer a greeting right away. He briefly glanced at the calendar on the wall to make sure he had not forgotten the day. He then turned fully to the officer with a smile.

  “Good day, General. Is everything all right? This visit is unexpected and not on our agreed upon schedule.”

  “I know it’s not the day, funny man. And what is it with you people? Why must you constantly call someone by what he is not? I’m a Lieutenant. Are you mocking me?” Alonso felt Santiesteban move a bit closer to the desk, baton in hand.

  Not fully understanding, Alonso half stuttered. “No, General … I mean, Lieutenant. We’re friendly and happy people. We enjoy keeping things light and making light of otherwise serious matters.”

  “That will be your undoing! You live a miserable life in blood, guts, nasty smells, and flies.” He swatted away a few.

  “No, you have it all wrong officer. It is a rich life. We work. We have our families, especially our children. We go to church and we have a good time.” He saw the Lieutenant turn away and lift a hand to the side of his head.

  “I think you are an idiot and so are your cohorts. You are nothing but pismires in the scheme of anything.”

  Alonso offered a smile and spoke pleasantly, “Don’t be so harsh Gen... Lieutenant. I’m sure if you gave it some proper consideration, you would agree. So what is it that made you stop in?”

  “I’m here to collect the fees for my services in advance.” Santiesteban rubbed his temple.

  “But this is not the day.” Alonso turned, looked and pointed at the calendar. “It is not until Friday.”

  “I don’t give a damn, you fool. My needs are not dictated by the calendar. So, I am changing our arrangement. I want it now!” And with the statement, he took his nightstick and slammed the calendar off the wall, chipping the paint.

  Defensively and now concerned, an alarmed Alonso affirmed. “General, our arrangement is firm. We took your word as an officer and a gentleman and I don’t have any money to give you in any case. The safe is empty. Everything was delivered to the bank earlier and the bank is currently closed.”

  “You are an ass! As an officer and a gentleman, our arrangement is whatever I want it to be! Do you take me for an idiot!? I bet you must have something there.” Alonso followed the line of the baton as it pointed at the safe. Santiesteban moved further about the room, darting looks from one area to the next and tapping on cabinets. “What’s in there?” He tapped harder on a cabinet.

  Alonso stuttered outright. “Wellell, ththose arrre vavarious work schschedules and producduction trackcking, we like to kkeep.” He saw the redness appear on the cop and it unsettled him, but not as much as the big wooden stick.

  “Production? Ha! I’ll tell you what. I’ll take some beef. It will keep me for today, until you get me money tomorrow.”

  Alonso felt trapped, alone. Everyone had gone and all the beef was distributed. “But, General, we are closed! All the production has been delivered. We have nothing here.” He looked at the officer, who turned increasingly redder.

  “I can suggest for you to visit one of the butcher shops near here. If you hurry, they may have some items left”

  Alonso saw the cop wince and make a guttural noise. Then the cop gained his language, but he heard the anger. “If I hurry? Perhaps there may be something left? Who do you think I am? You are making me angry and offering nothing, you no good bastard!”

  Alonso took a breath and forced a smile in a friendly manner, trying to rebalance the conversation. Clearly, he needed to reason with this man and cool him down some. “Now, General, you do not need to be angry. We can only do what we can and the timing is off. Have no mind of this ‘bastard.’ I take no insult for my parents. After all, every man who works with cattle knows that the owner of the cow is the owner of the calf. So my father would have never admitted that I wasn’t his son. Right General, hahaha.”

  Alonso preserved his smile, but he saw Santiesteban freeze in his place. His face scowled into a question mark as he pressed his eyelids shut. Alonso wondered if the man was ill and reached to help him. Unexpectedly, in one swoop Santiesteban swung his nightstick and struck Alonso across the jaw, knocking him down onto the side of the desk and to the floor.

  “I am a Lieutenant! You imbecilic bastard! I am tired of the mocking, the insolence and the lack of respect for your betters!”

  The stick came down again as Alonso, groaning, used his arm to block it. He got out an exhale that sounded like a muffled “hee.”

  “Keep laughing, you cowardly pig!”

  Santiesteban continued bringing the stick down, on his rib cage, his head, and made a fierce barrage targeting Alonso’s left leg. Santiesteban grunted and drooled and cursed and sweated and raged with each strike. Alonso’s kneecap popped and several other bones cracked from the assault. He tried to crawl away, but couldn’t. He hurt more than ever and his limbs couldn’t react. He lay motionless besides his desk. Then, his head felt a blow and all went dark.

  ~~~

  Santiesteban panted, spent like a boxer finishing the twelfth round, but his opponent never got a punch in. His unbearable pain eased. He leaned against the wall to catch his breath. He looked down to see Alonso on the floor, blood oozing from his mouth and head. His body, and particularly his leg were contorted at odd angles. He could not tell if he was alive. Santiesteban muttered, “Good, I’ve killed this insolent bastard. He will not be making any more jokes. Perhaps the others will learn from this lesson and not defy me again!”

  He looked at the nightstick and saw the blood dripping from the end. A rag hung by the door and Santiesteban wiped it clean before throwing it on top of Alonso.

  The beating helped him overcome his anger and pain. Santiesteban felt exhausted, but better. He thought about what happened and knew if anything came to pass, it was his word against that of a Negro worker. He would affirm he visited with Alonso, but testify that he left him in good order. The idiot prick was dead anyway. His head cleared. Then, he realized he left with empty hands, like he had walked in.

  Chapter 20

  Galo reached the hospital late in the afternoon, entering through the emergency ward. He found Elio and Rico standing next to each other with a pale look on their face. He met them in the middle of the room, ”I was getting ready for bed, when Fefo came running up to the house. He said something happened to Alonso and they rushed him to the hospital. I wonder if it was a paper cut or did the lead from the pencil get stuck in his finger?”

  Neither smiled, which told Galo it wasn’t a light situation.

  Elio’s voice quivered, “I wish it were that simple, but he is in grave condition.” He leaned in so that no one else could hear. “Alonso was assaulted; beat up bad.”

  Galo stepped back. “Well, shit on his mother! Who did he make fun of now?”

  Elio waved his hand down, “Keep it low! Fefo said the one person who came in was our favorite policeman. He said he saw him go up the stairs, but Fefo left to continue cleaning. He did not hear anything. When he was about to leave, he thought it strange the office door was open. He knew Alonso was meticulous and would not have left it open. He found Alonso unconscious on the floor of the office in a bad way. He feared he was dead and was afraid to move him. Fefo ran down and flagged a cart from a friend and they did their best to get him here.”

  Rico pumped his fist into his other hand, “That assgrind! We should go and give him some of his own medicine!”

  Elio grabbed Rico’s arm. “Calm down. You will do no such thing. For one, we’re not sure. Second, we need to wait to see what the doctor has to say. Third, once we are sure, we need to go to Alonso’s house and deliver the news to Elena. If
he makes it and he wakes, we can find out for certain. In the meantime, we must assume that it was the cop. If he learns Alonso survived, he may come and finish the job.”

  Galo looked around the room. “The cop won’t do anything now. He only has Fefo to speak against him. He can easily say Alonso fell down the stairs. Shit, he’s probably counting on Alonso dying or else forgetting the event or being too scared to speak of it.”

  Rico demanded in a voice a little too loud for Elio’s liking, “We can’t go to the police. It was one of their officers! We should go and kill the bastard!”

  Elio reached and put his hand on his mouth with a shhhhh that startled Rico. “You speak like death and killing somebody is an easy thing. Because you slaughter steers, it doesn’t mean the same as killing another human.”

  “Human being? Whoever did this is an animal!”

  “At this point, our focus should be on Alonso and no one else.”

  The three sat and waited for what seemed like ages. Elio stared at the floor with elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Galo leaned back. He replayed in his head the berating he gave Elio when he learned of the payments to the cop. If the cop did this to Alonso, he had every right to explode. The more he thought, the more he considered Elio. He knew that Elio would accept the blame for what happened. He sneaked a look towards his friend. If Alonso died, Elio would face his partners and more importantly, Alonso’s wife. Elio said it was a business decision.

  Their patience was wearing thin when the doctor burst through the doors. The three men jumped out of their chairs and met the white coat at the opening. With a somber look and a grave tone, the doctor eyed each one, “I’m afraid that I’ve done all that I can.”

  A long moment passed in silence.

  “Is he dead?” asked Elio.

  “No, but he is in a bad condition. He has a broken jaw, a broken left arm, two or three broken ribs, and his leg is badly mangled. It is broken in six places at least and the kneecap is cracked. There also appears to be head trauma from where he bled. The most critical part that we are not sure of is internal bleeding. Though his blood pressure appears stable, there are so many areas that could be affected we will not know for twenty four hours what will happen.”

  The men grew paler as the doctor continued, “I was able to set his jaw and wire it so he could have liquids eventually assuming there are no complications. The orthopedist on duty also set his arm. Without knowing if he was bleeding internally, we did not wrap his ribs, so he is breathing, but shallow and I’m sure it would be painful if he were awake. The orthopedist is not willing to do anything with the leg until later when we know he is out of serious condition. He will be in pain for some time. We have given him a sedative and are observing carefully to make sure he is breathing easily.”

  “Can we see him?” asked Galo.

  “He is unconscious, but one of you can go in for a couple of minutes.”

  Galo pushed Elio forward and he followed the doctor through the doors while Galo and Rico returned to their seats.

  The doctor pulled the curtain back and a nurse was taking the blood pressure. Alonso’s face was bandaged and there were ice bags at his chin. His head was wrapped in gauze. His left arm was in a cast that seemed to start at the shoulder and run down to the tips of his fingers. There was an icebag on the cast and a tent made out of sheets covered his legs. Elio held firm to the doorframe and swallowed hard. After a brief moment, he backed out and the doctor followed him.

  “Señor, even if he makes it through the night, we may need to take the leg. If we save it, he will be crippled for life. I don’t know what kind of a fall he took, but I imagine he hit at least fifty steps on his way down.”

  Elio stared at the doctor, “Are you serious doctor? Have you seen falls that cause this amount of damage?”

  “To tell you the truth, anything is possible.”

  “Thank you, doctor. It would be good if you and the hospital kept this situation and his condition highly confidential. We have many people to communicate with and many decisions to make. In case of the flies21, I wouldn’t want any individual trying to finish what the fall didn’t.” The doctor nodded his assent.

  ~~~

  Galo placed a hand on his shoulder, “How bad is it?” He read Elio’s face.

  “Not good at all. Can you believe it? The one of us who never hurt anyone or anything; never slaughtered any animal is crippled for life, if he lives.” He dried a tear.

  Galo shook the man. “Listen Elio, get your shit together! Pull your cojones up and get them straight! We need to go see Elena and we can’t be this way!

  A chair rolled in the room from Rico’s kick, “I’ll kill the fucking animal!”

  “You too, get your shit together! You’re not going to do anything until we have time to think. Put the chair back and let’s get to Elena,” barked Galo.

  ***

  Elena took the news without understanding the situation. She appeared confused about the injuries. Was it an accident? She couldn’t tell, but was concerned at the way the three men were continuously telling her not to worry. Of course, she was worried. She demanded to be taken to the hospital.

  Her sobs were loud and flowing. “Oh Alonso! My poor Alonso is dead! How could this have happened?” A nurse ran to her with a tablet to calm her nerves.

  Galo and Elio held her arms and walked her out to the waiting room. As gently as possible for someone so despondent, they set her down on a chair and made her drink more water. Rico left them for some fresh air.

  “Elena! Elena, look at me!” Galo moved her face a bit so that she made eye contact. She whirled and did. “Alonso is not dead. He is hurt badly and the doctors are doing their best! You need to be strong for him!” This seemed to get her focus and she drank the water fully.

  She blew her nose and breathed deeply, “I want to stay here tonight.”

  Galo looked at Elio with a question mark on his face. “Elio, can you stay? I will send Carmen over.”

  With a nod, Elio sat next to Elena. “Galo, make sure that Rico gets home and I’ll assume you will open the business tomorrow?”

  “Definitely. I’ll walk the tiger back to his cage. Hey! You need to get some sleep also! You hear?”

  * * *

  21 Meaning in case of any unforeseen situation

  Chapter 21

  Rico and Galo opened Matadero El Sol at four in the morning and got the crew working without issue. The deliveries from the prior evening brought new cattle and the day promised to be quite profitable. There were no missing employees and everyone had enough experience to know their respective stations and division of labor. It ran like it should.

  Once the machine took steam, Galo and Rico pulled Fefo aside to the office and offered him a chair, but he refused. Galo began the questioning. “Fefo, we want to know everything you know and remember from yesterday. We heard there was a cop here. Can you describe him?“

  “Yes, Señor Galo. He was a tall man with a thick brown beard to his cheekbones, light squinty eyes, which were opened wide when I saw him. He spoke with a funny Spanish accent. Yes, Señor.” He gestured at each feature he mentioned and seemed to bounce. “This Spanish man asked for my master. Can you believe that? Now, just because I’m a Negro, he has no right to think me a slave. My father fought for independence and I told him as much! I swear the next time I see the shit eater, I’ll whack him with my mop!”

  Rico rubbed a fist into his hand. “Don’t get worked up, Fefo. You won’t get to him!”

  Galo gave Rico a stern look and it stopped him in his tracks. “Listen Fefo, I heard from Elio that this cop had bad manners and couldn’t help himself. He talks bad to everybody.” Despite being calm, Fefo kept shaking his head.

  “I guess you are not buying my story. Do you remember the bull that got loose inside the plant last year? It took six men to rope and pull him back into the pen. We slaughtered it right there. Well, the cop is like that loose bull.”

  Fefo nodded and pl
ayed with his lips. “So, once the cop is in the pen, will we slaughter him?” It hung in the air for a while.

  No one answered. After a long pause, they went back to question Fefo to repeat everything he saw and heard. It became more confusing when they pressed Fefo for what he didn’t see or didn’t hear. He went further this time to explain how he found Alonso and what he did to get him to the hospital.

  ***

  At the hospital, Elena, Carmen and Elio fell asleep on chairs in the waiting area. It had been in the wee hours of the morning when they finally gave out. Elena saw Alonso and went with Carmen to the chapel to pray for him before dozing. The nurse came out twice to let them know there had been no change in his status. She assured them they were watching him carefully. Lucky for them there were no other emergencies throughout the night and the waiting area remained quiet. The same three people that were present the prior afternoon were the only other people in the waiting room.

  The sun had been up when Elio uncomfortably stirred. After shaking off the sleepiness, he realized the nurse held a tray of coffees. The aroma of the freshly brewed espresso brought him from his sleep. He rubbed his face and whispered to the nurse.

  “Is everything all right with Alonso? Has something happened?”

  She shook her head from side to side whispering ‘no’, and moved over to stir the ladies as well. They each straightened and took the coffee. Once everyone was fully awake, the nurse began to provide information of the most current status.

  There had been no change from his condition the night before. His pressure was steady. His breathing shallow and every hour they provided him with oxygen to make sure he would be getting enough. His heartbeat held steady and firm. He had been able to remain asleep, but stirred briefly. She felt he was in pain, but they did not want to provide more sedatives until they knew more. She expected the doctor to come in closer to mid-morning to determine the next course of action. She did state in her professional opinion the fact that he did not deteriorate or experience bad episodes during the night. She felt he passed the worst of the possibilities. She would let the doctor make the final determination. The nurse suggested they go home and come back around ten that morning.