Schism

by Britt Holewinski

  Because of her forced exile to Santa Rosa, Maria had only been able to minimally assist her friends, who had carefully maneuvered their way into the roles of the drivers of the trucks that transported the drugs north to America. They would falsify the numbers detailing the amount of drugs they were carrying and keep the difference for themselves, which they would then use to trade for other necessities, like food and gas. And within the cargo they would hide a person or two, whatever they thought they could get away with, and head to Santa Rosa. Once there, Maria would house and feed them until they regained their strength before sending them on their way, sometimes alone and sometimes with another shipment of drugs heading deeper into the States.

  “That’s what you saw me doing that morning last year when that truck was driving away from my house,” she recalled for Andy. “Those were my friends in the truck, and we had just put two young girls inside. It took nearly a week for the wounds on their backs to heal enough so they could stop sleeping on their stomachs.”

  Nearly half of the drug shipments that came from Mexico passed through Santa Rosa on I-40, and many of these shipments were bound for New York. Maria further revealed that she had heard rumors about what was going on there, but hadn’t pieced the puzzle together until Ben and Jim had told their story. “Unfortunately, the cartel in Juarez has only gotten stronger in the last year. Their numbers have increased and lately they’ve been keeping better track of their laborers, which has made our work much more difficult.”

  But what ultimately made her decide that it was time to leave was learning during her trip to Albuquerque that the cartel had stopped keeping handwritten records detailing each shipment and had started using computerized ones. This now made it impossible for her and her friends to continue falsifying the shipment records. “In a way, it’s probably for the best. We were fighting a losing battle, and the fact that we were still helping the cartel transport the drugs was only keeping them in control. And every time we saved one, another person was taken to replace them.”

  Her decision made, Maria vowed she would never have anything to do with drugs again. But sitting now at her kitchen table, she considered Andy and Ben’s request carefully.

  “I have to know exactly what you need the drugs for. If you really need them to help take down this Sean person, then I’ll make an exception.”

  “We need them to bribe people in Sean’s network. People that might know where he’s keeping the virus. And to buy some supplies that we’ll need once we get to New York.”

  “And that’s it?”

  “That’s it,” Andy assured.

  “Well,” she began, “since this is the last time, you might as well take advantage of all my connections. I’ll get you more than just drugs. I’ll get you to New York by the end of next week.”

  ***

  “We can keep trying to convince ourselves that Sean will simply disappear and never send people to find us again,” Jim said to Ben, “or we can figure out a way to finally destroy him. But we’d be fooling ourselves if we think he’s a problem that’ll just go away. This is our fight, so let’s finally finish it. For Karen, if not for us.” He rarely mentioned Karen by name, but he knew when he could use her memory to make a point.

  Ben thought about the decision to go to New York long and hard, but ultimately he had no choice. He had to destroy the virus forever.

  Concerned about Katie and Morgan living in the dangerous city, Jim suggested staying in Princeton. “It’s only fifty miles from the city, and it’ll probably be empty with all the students and professors being dead.”

  “And the university library has got a ton of books that would be great for gathering information,” said Charlie with a blush of excitement.

  Brian remained strangely quiet about going to New York. He didn’t seem to have an opinion one way or another on the matter, which struck Andy as odd. He had been pretty quiet in general since coming to Santa Rosa, and she wondered if he regretted leaving Aspen.

  The night before they were planning to leave, he came to talk to her. She was organizing her medical books when he knocked on her bedroom door. “Come in,” she called out.

  Brian entered and closed the door behind him.

  “What’s up?” Andy asked distractedly.

  He leaned against her desk. “I, uh, I was wondering if you could look after Susan for me when you all get to New York.”

  She stopped her sorting and looked up at him with confusion. “What are you talking about? You’re not coming with us?”

  “No, at least not right now.”

  “I don’t understand…”

  “I need to go back to Aspen for a bit. There’s some stuff I need to take care of first.”

  “Umm, okay,” she muttered slowly. “Does Susan know you’re not coming?”

  “Yeah, I already told her.”

  “And she’s okay with it?”

  “She’s fine. I know Charlie will take care of her, but I’d feel better if you looked out for her, too.”

  “Well, of course, but I have to admit that I still don’t understand why you need to go back to Aspen, especially after what happened to me there.”

  “It won’t be forever, I promise. But I left some really good friends behind.”

  “Okay…is it because you’re worried about going to New York?”

  “No, I’m not worried, and that’s actually why I need to go back to Aspen.”

  “I still don’t understand.”

  He took a deep breath. “I know. I’m not explaining myself well. See, I really believe in what you’re all about to do because in a small way, I was trying to do the same thing in Aspen. And now I feel like I’ve abandoned my friends, so I’m going back to convince them to come with me.”

  “Oh…”

  “I don’t know exactly what you’ll all be up against in New York, but you’ll probably need more help.”

  Taking a step toward her, Brian gently tapped Andy on the side of her arm. “I miss my friends, Andy, and if I’m going to do this thing with you all…take on this Sean character and destroy the virus, then I need to give them a chance to start their lives over again too. Or at least offer them the choice.” His eyes narrowed. “Does that make sense?”

  Andy’s mouth curled upward into a smile, and she nodded. “Makes perfect sense, but what you should’ve said is that you are coming to New York, but you need to make a detour first.”

  He let out a laugh. “I guess that would have been a better way of saying it.”

  “So when will you leave?”

  “Tomorrow, when you all leave. Maria said she’d get me enough gas to get back to Aspen and then all the way to New York.”

  “So you’ve already told Maria that you’re not coming with us?”

  “And Ben and Jim. I figured that since New York is really their territory and their past, I needed to tell them first.”

  “So Maria knows. And if Susan knows, then Charlie knows. And if Jim knows, then Morgan knows.”

  Brian looked guilty. “Um, yeah.”

  “So basically, everyone already knows you aren’t coming with us. I’m the last person you’ve told?”

  “Well, I didn’t want you to try to talk me out of it.”

  “I wouldn’t have tried to stop you if you had explained all of this to me.”

  But he raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Really? I would’ve tried to stop you if the situation were reversed.”

  “You would?”

  “Of course.” He paused, then said, “I like you, Andy. A lot.”

  “Oh.”

  Brian smiled broadly at her and she was suddenly struck by how handsome he was. She’d hadn’t noticed before.

  “Just think about that…while I’m gone.” Without waiting for an answer, he turned and left the room.

  “I will,” she whispered to herself.

  ***

  Around eight o’clock in the morning, a large tanker truck pulled up to an intersection half a block away from the two
houses. Behind it was parked a truck with a small trailer attached.

  Charlie and Susan were first to spot the trucks. Maria was outside with Julio and Carmen.

  “Don’t tell me that that’s what I think it is,” Charlie said as he pointed at the tanker with astonishment.

  Maria laughed. “And it’s completely full, too.”

  “God, how many gallons is that?” Susan asked, equally in awe.

  “Gallons? I don’t know, but I think around thirty thousand liters.”

  “How in the world did your friends get so much gas?” asked Susan.

  “They stole it in the middle of the night. It came all the way from Venezuela.”

  “They stole it?” Susan and Charlie repeated at the same time.

  “Won’t they get caught?” Charlie added. “Or killed?”

  “No. My friends aren’t going back to Juarez. They’re going to Miami after they drop us off in New York. They’ve got friends and relatives there.”

  She glanced back at her three friends who were gathered at the front of the tanker and talking to Julio and Carmen. “We all decided together that it was time to leave. The danger just isn’t worth it anymore. They are going to take care of Julio while we are in New York.”

  “Why isn’t Carmen going with them?” asked Susan.

  “She wants to stay with me. Plus, Julio has good friends going to Miami that he misses, and he’s getting too old for me to tell him what to do.”

  “Whoa, is that thing full?” Brian asked as he and the others approached.

  “Just about,” Maria confirmed, smiling with satisfaction.

  “What’s in the other truck?” asked Andy. Maria frowned and gestured for her and Ben to follow and headed toward the smaller trailer. She opened the back of the trailer with Ben’s help, and Andy saw something she’d never seen before: kilograms upon kilograms of illicit drugs. More precisely, three hundred kilos of high-grade cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, all wrapped and vacuum-sealed.

  Frozen with his arm still in the air from lifting the trailer door, Ben was stunned. “Holy…”

  “That’s…that’s a lot,” Andy said with her eyes wide open.

  “Well, you said to get as much as I could get,” Maria said as she climbed into the trailer and made a sweeping gesture with her arms. “This should be enough to get some people talking, I would think.”

  Still in disbelief, Ben stepped up to join Maria inside the trailer before gingerly placing his hand on top of the stack of wrapped heroin. He seemed afraid to touch it.

  “Sad that this is what it takes to do something good,” Maria said as she turned and hopped out of the trailer. “It’s time to find another way.” She walked past Andy and headed back to the rest of the group, leaving them alone.

  Ben looked down at Andy, then back at his hand still touching the stack of heroin. “This is what killed my sister.” His voice wavered slightly.

  “You sure you want to do it this way?” she asked cautiously.

  “No, I’m not sure, but I don’t know of another way right now.” He stepped out of the trailer.

  “Okay, then we won’t worry about it until we need to.” She stepped up and closed the trailer door. “Let’s just get to New York first.”

  Brian put his things in Jim and Ben’s truck, which they were lending to him.

  “Just make sure you bring it back in one piece,” Ben joked after handing over the keys.

  “I will, I promise,” he said and then hugged Susan goodbye.

  She forced a smile and said, “Don’t stay there long. And watch out for yourself.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he replied in jest in an effort to maintain his composure. “You be careful.”

  She gave her brother one more hug. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” He then said goodbye to everyone else before getting inside the truck.

  Andy was the last to speak to him. “I’ll take good care of her,” she promised.

  “Thank you. I’ll worry a lot less knowing that.”

  She gave him a hug, which wasn’t unexpected since both Morgan and Maria had also hugged him farewell. But when she pulled away, he sneaked a quick kiss to her cheek before slipping into the driver’s seat. “Be careful,” he muttered to her as he started the engine.

  Andy stood still and touched the spot on her face where his lips had been. She didn’t notice Morgan come up beside her until Katie made a few noises in her mother’s arms.

  “I know Ben likes Brian well enough, but I’m sure he’s glad he won’t have any competition for a while.”

  Andy didn’t respond.

  Chapter XX

  “Man, I’m beat.” Andy rubbed her eyes one at a time since she was driving. The clock on the dashboard read 11:57. “It’s midnight already? Where did the time go today?”

  “Want me to drive?” Morgan asked even though Katie had just fallen asleep in her arms.

  “No, let’s not wake her. I’ll be fine,” she replied with a yawn.

  “How much farther is it?”

  “Not far. We should be crossing the Delaware River in a few minutes.”

  Morgan nodded, although she had no idea where the Delaware River was in relation to Princeton. She’d been too busy dealing with Katie the entire trip to have a chance to look at a map.

  Between driving in a slow-moving caravan, tackling the spotty road conditions stretching between New Mexico and eastern Pennsylvania, and stopping multiple times to check the safety of bridges to ensure they could support the immense weight of the tanker, the journey had been exhaustingly long. What normally would have been a three-day trip had taken them six, and once they arrived, they’d still have to find a decent place to live.

  Andy glanced back at Jim in the rearview mirror. He was asleep in the backseat. “I’m glad someone’s getting some rest,” she said quietly to Morgan.

  Morgan craned her neck to look. She smiled down at Jim but said nothing, and returned her focus on Katie and the road ahead.

  They were in the last vehicle. In front of them was the other pickup truck, which Ben was driving along with Charlie and Susan. Maria, Julio, and Carmen had remained with their Juarez friends in the tanker and trailer.

  Andy mused how the drive west the year before had seemed far less arduous, and she could only attribute this sentiment to the excitement she felt last year of heading somewhere new and mysterious with the two young men they had met along the way. But now they were like soldiers going to war, and all the inevitable difficulties they would face seemed more real as the battlefield approached.

  After crossing the Delaware River, they passed through Trenton and continued on with surprising ease until Princeton appeared in the distance. They got off the highway just south of the university, and the four vehicles pulled over to the side of the road. Everyone stepped outside and regrouped near the front of the tanker.

  “Now what?” Susan asked once they were all gathered.

  With a flashlight in hand, Ben placed a map of New Jersey on the ground and positioned the light on the center. Everyone huddled together to get a better look.

  “We need to hide all this gas somewhere,” he began, taking charge. “It’s too big to take into the neighborhoods without risking others seeing it. The less people who know we’re here, the better.”

  Andy pointed to something on the map. “What about one of these parks? Or this golf course?”

  Ben stroked his chin with his free hand. Out of everyone, he seemed to be the most alert. “Yeah, that could work. It’s not exactly hidden, but it’s better than putting it in some parking lot. We’ll find a warehouse or somewhere else later, but for tonight, let’s just get it off the road.”

  He looked at Maria and each of her friends. “You guys okay with that? I mean, it’s your gas.”

  “No, it’s our gas,” she corrected. “My friends will only take what they need to get to Miami.”

  “Okay, then we’ll put the tanker here,” he pointed to a spot on the map,
“the Princeton Country Club. It’s just down the road.”

  ***

  That next morning, Maria said a tearful goodbye to her friends and Julio. After their departure, she spent the rest of the day comforting Carmen, who was particularly upset to see her brother leave.

  “I hope I did the right thing by letting him go,” Maria confided in Morgan.

  “It’s impossible to know what the right decision is anymore, but you’re doing what you think is best,” Morgan consoled. “And you wanted to protect him from any possibility of being exposed to the virus now that he’s of age.”

  Biting her lip, Maria still wasn’t certain, but there was little anyone could say to ease her mind. Everyone was uncertain if the journey was all for a foolish pursuit. Only the fear of a potential repeat of the outbreak kept them motivated.

  That night, after a long day of settling in, Ben announced that he was heading into the city. He didn’t expect anyone to go with him, as everyone was still worn out, but after gaining a second wind, Andy felt the desire to see the New York she’d been visualizing for days.

  “Take your pistol and wear something to conceal it,” he instructed her. “We might be walking once we reach Manhattan.”

  Despite the summer heat, she brought a lightweight sweatshirt with her, which she tied around her waist to conceal her Glock. They also brought some bottles of water, dried fruit and beef jerky, two bikes, and two sleeping bags, just in case. Ben also took a kilo of cocaine with him, which he divided into ten smaller bags of a hundred grams each. He weighed each carefully with a food scale he had picked up at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma for this very purpose. The rest of the drugs had been hidden in the garage of one of their new homes.