Hector translated Rolly’s capitulation. Rio smiled. She put the guitar down, took the money from Hector.
“Akth her again,” said Rolly. “About the truck.”
Hector interrogated Rio. They conversed for a moment before Hector turned back to Rolly.
“She took the truck. She was frightened. There was blood on the floor. There was someone outside. She wanted to get away. That is why she took the truck. She is sorry.”
“Who wath outhide?”
“¿Quién estaba afuera?” asked Hector. Rio looked at him, then over at Rolly. She pointed at him.
“Creo que era usted.”
“She thinks maybe it was you,” said Hector.
Rolly nodded.
“Sí,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. Rio packed a big wallop for such a small package. “Es verdad.”
“Lo siento,” said Rio.
“She’s sorry,” said Hector.
“De nada,” said Rolly.
“What’s that all about?” Hector asked.
“Thee knocked me out.”
“Really?”
“Put me in the hothpital.”
Hector whistled.
“Don’t mess with Mexican girls, amigo.”
“Yeah,” said Rolly. “Tell her heeth dead. Thenor Velathqueth. Thumun killed him.”
“Señor Velasquez es muerto,” Hector said to Rio. “Lo asesinaron.”
Rio looked down at the ground, then back at Rolly.
“Sí. Temí tanto.”
“She feared as much,” said Hector.
“Doth thee know who killed him?” said Rolly. Hector asked.
“Sí, le conozco,” she replied.
“Who wath it?”
“El doctor.”
The glinting blade flashed in Rolly’s memory. He put his hand to his neck, stroked the loose skin and stubble under his chin.
“Doth thee know the doctorth name?”
“¿Usted sabe su nombre?” Hector asked Rio.
“Llaman Ramoñes,” said Rio.
“Ith that hith firthd or lath name?”
Hector asked. Rio said something, shook her head.
“That’s all she knows,” Hector said. “Ramoñes.”
“Why did Ramoneth kill Theñor Velathqueth?”
Hector asked, translated Rio’s answer.
“Velasquez tried to marry her. The doctor did not like it.”
“Ith the doctor her pimp?” Rolly asked.
“¿Es el doctor su chulo?” said Hector.
Rio looked at Rolly like he was an idiot.
“No,” said Hector. “He is the doctor.”
Rolly sighed. Knowing the doctor’s name didn’t make him feel any safer, but it might be useful to Bonnie. He reached in his pocket, pulled out his phone.
“¿Quién es él que llama?” said Rio.
“She wants to know who you’re calling,” said Hector.
“A friend of mine,” Rolly said, putting the phone up to his ear. “Poleeth.”
“No policía,” said Rio. She stood up and glared at Rolly. “No policía.”
“She says...” Hector began.
“I got it,” said Rolly. He hit the cancel button, looked over at Rio.
“No policía,” she said.
“No poleethia,” said Rolly, agreeing. He tapped on the phone, switched over to camera mode, found the pictures of Ramoñes and Tangerine on the back porch.
“Ith that the doctor? Ramoneth?” he said, passing the phone to Hector, who passed it to Rio.
“Sí,” said Rio.
“And the woman?”
“Señora Tangie.”
“How doth thee know them?”
Rio didn’t respond to Hector’s question. She looked back and forth from Rolly to Hector.
“Necesito el dinero,” she said. “Ahora.”
Rolly didn’t need Hector’s translation. He reached in his pocket, pulled out a credit card.
“You better get that money,” he said, handing the card to Hector.
“Definitely,” said Hector. “I wanna see how this turns out.”
“Tell her thee hath to tell me everything, the whole thtory, or no dinero. Thee can’t leave anything out.”
Hector nodded, laid out the terms for Rio in Spanish. She listened and nodded.
“Sí,” she said. “Hablaré todo.”
“We’re good?” Rolly said, checking with Hector.
“We’re good,” said Hector. He turned towards the door. “I’ll be back. Pronto.”
Rolly and Rio listened to Hector thump down the back stairway. They looked at each other. Rolly smiled. He didn’t know what else to do. She had him beat. They waited in silence until Hector returned.
“Here’s the money,” said Hector, brandishing the bills in a fan.
“I’ll take it,” said Rolly. He took the money from Hector, turned back to Rio. There was a spark in her eyes. Men would trade money for anything. She didn’t even have to let these men touch her.
“Thtory firthd, money after,” Rolly said, displaying the twenties Hector had given him.
“¿Qué?” she said.
“Tell her I want the whole enthilada. About her and Velathqueth. About Ramoneth and Tangerine. About Friday night.”
Hector conveyed Rolly’s demand. Rio looked back at Rolly. She spoke.
“This doctor guy, Ramoñes,” Hector said, interpreting as she spoke. “And Señora Tangie. They brought her here, from Tijuana. To help her. So she could go on TV.”
“What did they do?”
Hector asked. Rio looked around the room. She seemed uncomfortable, looking for an escape. Rolly waited. She turned back to face them.
“Her father. He hit her,” Hector said, as Rio began speaking. “Her father said she was a witch, that her face had been marked by the devil. Sounds like she had a scar, maybe a cleft palate, something like that.”
“Like in those pictures,” Rolly said. Hector nodded.
“She ran away with a man, when she was fourteen. This man hit her also. So she ran away from him too. Then she lived in a house, with other women. The women were prostitutes. Ramoñes came to the house, once a week. He gave them medicine, inspected them. He said he could fix her, make her face so that men wouldn’t hate her, so they wouldn’t hit her. He said he would make her like the girls on TV. Sounds like maybe he’s a plastic surgeon, or something.”
“He operated on her?”
“Yes. He made her face like it is now.”
“Muy bonita,” Rolly said, indicating approval of the doctor’s handiwork. Rio tilted her head, blinked her eyes, a slight, bashful flirt.
“Smooth operator,” whispered Hector, singing the words from the song.
“Yeah, yeah,” Rolly protested. From what Rio had told him so far, Ramoñes was an angel-of-mercy, not the scalpel-wielding, dope-smoking, psycho who’d tried to kill him. Rio continued her story.
“One day a rich American lady came with the doctor,” said Hector. “It was Señora Tangie. The doctor said Señora Tangie was looking for girls like her, to put on TV, that she would pay for her operation. Señora Tangie had beautiful clothes and jewelry, like the women on the telenovelas. She decided to go with them.”
“Where did they go?”
“The doctor gave her some medicine. She fell asleep. When she woke up, she was in Señora Tangie’s house. She had bandages. All over her body. There was much pain.”
“The doctor operated on her?”
“Yes. Señora Tangie was there. She took care of them. She gave them new clothes.”
“Them?”
There was another girl. Like her. The doctor fixed them both.”
“He worked on her face, too?”
“Yes. He fixed everything.”
Rolly thought for a moment. Ramoñes and Tangerine weren’t benevolent angels. He’d seen enough to know that.
“Hector?”
“Yeah?”
“Thee thaid thee had bandajeth all over?�
�
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Where elth did he operate?” said Rolly.
“Besides her face, you mean?”
“Yeth.”
“You want me to ask her?”
Rolly nodded. Hector spoke to Rio. They conversed for a moment. Hector’s eyes grew larger with each response she gave. His legs curled up under the chair.
“Ay, caramba!” he said when they’d finished. “You’re not going to believe this.”
“What?”
“Well, I had to ask her a couple of times, to make sure. She started telling me the doctor fixed them, made them whole, she and the other girl, like they used to be. I didn’t understand at first, but, well, it sounds like he did some operation to make them uh...”
“What?”
“They’re virgins.”
“Are you sure? ”
“Yes. That’s what she said. He put the mark on her.”
“What kind of mark?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What’s it look like? Can she show it to us?”
Hector asked. Rio stood up, undid the top button off her jeans. They dropped to the floor, exposing her delicate tan legs, and a pair of pink panties with the words ‘Jungle Love’ printed on the front. It wasn’t the best time for Vera to walk into the room, but Rolly had no control over that.
La Discusión
(The Discussion)
“Hector!” screamed Vera. Both men jumped, turned to face Vera as she stood in the doorway, steaming like a basket of fresh tortillas. Rio remained unfazed, with her pants on the floor.
“It’s not what you’re thinking,” said Hector.
“Why’d you take that money out of the cashbox?” Vera said.
“It was for Rolly. For her.”
“For her?”
“It’s okay. I charged his credit card.”
“What for?”
“He’s trying to get some information from this girl. She’s like a witness. She needed some money.”
“How stupid do you think I am, Hector?”
“Vera, ith...” Rolly said, trying to intervene.
“I’m not talking to you, Rolly Waters,” said Vera, refusing to look at him. “I thought you were a nice man, a real caballero.”
“Hector wath helping me.”
“You’re drunk too. I could tell when you came in.”
“Ith the painkillerth.”
“She hit Rolly over the head,” said Hector, nodding at Rio.
“Yeah, well, he probably deserved it.”
“She knocked him out.”
“Good for her.”
“The poleeth have a body,” Rolly said. “Atha morguh.”
“They’re gonna have a couple more pretty soon,” Vera said. “Unless you explain why senorita jailbait’s standing there in her undies.”
Vera paused, looked around the room at each of them, including Rio.
“I’m waiting,” she said, crossing her arms. “And it better be good.”
“Sheeth got a mark,” said Rolly. “The dead girl. On her rear end.”
He walked to the table, picked up the notepad, searched for a writing utensil.
“Here,” Vera said, pulling a pencil out from behind her left ear. Rolly took the pencil, drew the pattern he’d seen in the coroner’s photograph, the letter “m” with a dropped loop at the end. He showed the picture to Vera.
“Ith Virgo,” he said.
“Yeah, and I’m an Aries. So what?”
Rolly and Hector glanced at each other.
“She’s a virgin,” Hector said.
“And how do you know that?”
“She told us. This doctor, he’s a plastic surgeon or something. He did some sort of operation to make her a virgin. He fixed her lips. Her mouth, I mean.”
Vera rolled her eyes.
“And I suppose you guys were just checking to make sure she was telling the truth?”
“No, no” said Hector. “It’s the mark. She said the doctor put a mark on her. Rolly wanted to see it.”
“Yeth,” Rolly nodded. “I, umm...”
“What is it, like a tattoo or something?” asked Vera.
“More like a thcar.”
“A car?”
“No. Thscar.”
“Oh. So does she have one?”
Rolly and Hector looked at each other.
“We don’t know,” Hector said. “We were just getting ready to look.”
Vera crossed her arms again.
“No, really,” Hector pleaded. “We haven’t seen it. You came in before she showed it to us. Really. You speak Spanish. Ask her yourself. Ask her about any of it.”
Vera glared at them both again, lowered her arms, took a step towards Rio.
“Hola,” she said to Rio. “¿Está bien?”
“Sí,” Rio nodded. “Estoy bien.”
Vera began a rapid-fire interrogation. Rolly couldn’t understand a word either woman said, but he detected a certain protectiveness creeping into Vera’s tone as they spoke. Rio smiled. Vera pointed at the two men. Rio laughed. Hector and Rolly exchanged diffident glances. Women were brutal.
Vera concluded her interview, turned back to the men.
“Turn around,” she said. “Look away.”
“What?”
“She’s going to show me this mark. You don’t get to look. Now turn away and face the door.”
Rolly and Hector did as they were told, waited until Vera told them they could turn back.
“Did you see it? Was it there?” Hector asked.
“Yes,” Vera nodded. “She told me about some other stuff, too. This cowboy who helped her.”
“Jaime,” said Rolly.
“Yes. And she told me your mother was very nice.”
“You trust us now?” asked Hector.
“Trust, no, but I believe you.”
“Did thee thay anything about the other girlth?” Rolly asked.
“What other girls?”
“The oneth I told you about, in the morgue. They had that mark too.”
“You want me to ask her about them?” said Vera.
“I know what’s going on,” said Hector.
“What?”
“They do this operation sometimes. It’s called a hymenectomy. ”
“What are you talking about?” said Vera.
“I read about it in Mother Jones. There was this article about the global sex trade, international sex slavery. They kidnap young girls, sell them in other countries. The doctor fixed her up to make her more valuable.”
“There was a Chinese passport on the CD,” said Rolly.
“Yeah,” Hector shrugged. “In some cultures, like Arabs, some Asian countries, it’s a big deal if a girl’s a virgin. I mean they’re jonesing on it even more than the born-again abstinence Nazis we got over here. A girl’s more valuable if she’s a virgin. You can sell her for a lot more. This Ramoñes guy’s probably got some Chinese guys lined up already. That’s what the symbol means. It’s like an inspection stamp.”
“Men are so fucking weird,” said Vera.
“They got too many men in China, too,” Hector continued. “Because of that one child policy thing. They got a shortage of girls. Economics one-o-one, supply and demand.”
Rolly looked at Rio. Her face appeared blank, almost bored. Dr. Ramoñes didn’t want Rio back because he missed her, because she was his Royal Tingler. He wanted her back because he expected a return on his investment, before it was spoiled. The virgin Rio was money.
“I should call Roberto,” said Hector. “She’ll need a lawyer.”
“You gonna let her pull up her pants first?” said Vera.
“Yeth, yeth,” Rolly said, nodding. Vera spoke to Rio, who buttoned up her pants.
“¿Puedo tener mi dinero ahora?” Rio said, reseating herself on the end of the bed.
“She wants to know if she can have her money now,” said Hector.
“I have a couple more quethdionth,” said Rolly.
“Oh, just give her the damn money,” said Vera. “Stop playing around.”
Rolly counted out the bills, handed Rio the money. She slipped it into her pocket and smiled like victory. Rolly thought for a moment, reminded himself that Max had only hired him to find the driver of the car that ran through the terns’ nests. He could hand everything else over to Bonnie.
“Friday night,” he said. “Akth her what happened Friday night.”
“¿Qué sucedió en la noche del viernes?” asked Hector.
“Everything,” Rolly added.
“Todos,” said Hector. Rio looked at all three of them, then at the ceiling. She looked over at Rolly and began.
“They were watching TV. Friday night,” said Hector, interpreting. “She and the other girl, and Señora Tangie. They watch every week. Family Act.”
“How long hath thee lived there? At the houthe?”
“A month, maybe a little more. The funeral car came to the house. It always comes by on Friday. The doctor is gone then.”
“A hearthe? Ith that what thee meanth?”
“A hearse, yeah. I think that’s what she means. El Deudo comes to visit them. He gives money to Señora Tangie. He brings them food.”
“El Deudo? Thath hith name?”
Hector quizzed Rio, turned back to Rolly.
“She calls him El Deudo. She doesn’t know his name. It means mourner, like at a funeral.”
Rolly nodded.
“Okay,” he said. “What happened after El Deudo got there?”
“It wasn’t El Deudo. Not this time. It was another man. A luchador.”
“Whath that?”
“Like a wrestler, a big man, with a mask. He had a gun, too. He made them get into the car. He drove them out to a dark place.”
“Where?”
“She doesn’t know. It was dark. In the country. She heard the ocean.”
“Wath it clothe? To the houthe?”
“It wasn’t very far. The man went outside. He had to pee. A truck arrived. Another man got out of the truck. This man also wore a mask. Señora Tangie thought the men would do bad things. She tried to save them.”
“What did she do?”
“She took the car. The man had forgotten the keys. She tried to escape. Señora Tangie was not a very good driver, though. She got stuck in the sand. The men came after them. Señora Tangie told them to run away. She ran away from the men. She hid in some trees near the river.”
Border Field Blues Page 18