14
beet red
SHARP PURPLE STARS EXPLOEDED IN FRONT of Wara’s eyes. This could not be happening.
“Lázaro?” She struggled to push away from Alejo, all the while unable to take her gaze off Lázaro in the doorway. He was wearing the same kind of Irish cap he had always worn, along with a casual sweater, jeans, and hiking boots. His eyes were hidden behind the same sunglasses he had been wearing in the truck in Coroico.
Wara gasped loudly. Lázaro ripped the sunglasses from his eyes and gaped at Alejo. “Wara?” Lázaro said dumbly, gaze dashing back and forth between Wara and Alejo. “You’re the one they found…?”
Wara’s eyes were torn away from Lázaro as Alejo’s hand forced her head against his chest. She tried to pull away angrily, then froze, weak-kneed, as she heard him unsheathe the hunting knife from his belt and saw its blade out of the corner of her eye. Remembering her position as captive, Wara let herself hang limply against Alejo as one of his hands continued digging into her cheek. With the other, he pulled at the plastic ties around her wrists and cut her hands free.
Through his t-shirt, Wara could hear the steady, slow tempo of Alejo’s heart, totally composed, completely devoid of the fear that caused her own heart to race. She hated him for it.
By now, the bridge of Lázaro’s nose had turned beet red, and his fists clenched at his sides. “That’s my girlfriend, you idiot!” he growled.
Alejo started with surprise and a moment of silence rang over the tent. “Your ex-girlfriend, isn’t it?” he finally said coolly. “This is the missionary you used to go out with? Well you should thank me then for doing you a favor. Her boyfriend is dead, along with Salazar. Don’t get your knickers all up in a knot. C’mon, let’s take this outside!”
Alejo’s fingers dug into her arm as he dragged her through the tent door. The others drew back to make room. Lázaro, apparently not satisfied in the least with Alejo’s calm explanation, swore foully and then rushed him, slamming into him from behind. Wara felt the momentum of the push twisting her off her feet. An arm caught her around the shoulders, yanking her back up to standing as Alejo released her.
She saw Alejo land on both palms just before hitting the ground and release a lightening backwards kick that caught Lázaro under the chin, spinning him around with a grunt. Wara struggled to look behind her and realized that the man now holding her was Benjamin, the one with the wire-rim glasses. One forearm clamped tightly around her neck, threatening to cut off her airway if she moved. Wara was trapped, watching as Lázaro and Alejo flew at each other again in some kind of martial arts stance, each taking a few violent punches.
Like Alejo had said earlier, most of the guys who had been up here on the mountain were already gone. An older guy Wara hadn’t seen before had appeared, however, watching the scene with displeasure, arms crossed in front of his chest. The man was actually much older than the others, wearing olive green pants with multiple pockets, a t-shirt, and one of those khaki vests full of zippers and flaps favored by foreign journalists in a war zone. A neatly-trimmed beard peppered with gray gave the impression that he could be a kindly grandfather, except for how his eyebrows were now knit into the perfect V, scowling first at her, then at the fight.
Confused and numb by all the blows and shouts, Wara’s mind finally registered that Alejo had launched himself from the ground with a somersault and brutally knocked Lázaro to the dirt with a kick to the ribs. Spinning in a half circle, Lázaro fell with a thud, swore at the attempt to rise, then gave up.
“Enough?” Alejo panted, sweat running down his back. “I like you, che, and I really hope that’s enough. I didn’t know, I promise you. Just for you, I won’t touch her again.”
“Yes, I think fun time is over.” The authoritative voice of the grandfatherly newcomer carried over the group.
“Asalaam alaikum, Ishmael.” Wara saw Alejo grin at the older man. Then Nazaret’s brother began speaking a different language, clipped, as if reporting facts. Lázaro was painfully picking himself up off the ground, a bloody gash running above his right eyebrow. He walked gingerly towards the rest of the group, keeping a wary distance from Alejo, listening. From time to time he threw a guarded glance at Wara.
Soon after their little conference, the older guy turned his beady gaze back on Wara. She was still pinned against Benjamin, eyes barely slit open, for the first time ever not trying to figure out what language everyone was speaking. Sweat dripped down her back and she was terrified.
“I am so sorry,” the older guy was saying with a smile in smooth Spanish, “that this has been allowed to drag on this long. I’m sure you are a nice girl. ”
The smile died away, and he unsheathed a long, curved hunting knife with a smooth whine, turning his gaze towards Lázaro. “My son, it’s time for us to move on,” he explained patiently to Lázaro in accented Spanish. “Apart from being a witness to the bus accident, she can identify you.”
A trickle of blood from the wound Alejo left was slowly winding down Lázaro’s face like a shiny maroon caterpillar. He gaped dumbly at the knife that the man now extended towards him
“Lázaro,” Wara stammered, heart slamming against Benjamin’s arm. The fact that Lázaro, too, was here, part of this, was absolutely surreal. “How could you do this? Noah was your friend, wasn’t he? How could you want to kill him? He never did anything to you! ”
Lázaro just stared at her, possibly realizing for the first time that Noah too had been on the bus. He glanced at the old guy, nervously, and his hand closest to the offered knife twitched. Wara took in that Gabriel, standing next to Lázaro, appeared ready to vomit, one hand clutching his throat, staring at Wara’s neck.
Feeling faint, Wara realized that they were going to slit her throat.
Lázaro stumbled a slight step back, and at that moment Wara saw the flash of the knife against the sun as the old guy moved straight towards her, impatient. She felt Benjamin’s grip on her tighten as he said, “I’ve got her, Mr. Khan.”
And then, from the side, Alejo was moving forward, marching towards her with a face full of calm fury. The fist that connected with her face shot white hot rays of pain through her head, splattering her vision with colored lights. Benjamin must have released her just as Alejo’s punch slammed into her nose. Wara twisted around backwards on lifeless knees, then crumpled to the ground with a jolt of fire.
Evil lights flashed in front of her eyes, and she wanted to pass out, die, anything. No such luck. Wara shrieked in agony as someone grabbed her hair and pulled her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to secure her against them because it was obvious that there was no way she could stand.
Oh God, please help! Get me through this part…
“Stand up!” a voice grated into her ear, and Wara’s heart sank as she realized it was Alejo She heard herself breathing loudly, vision swimming with the pain. Alejo yanked her hair back and Wara saw the silver of a razor-sharp knife blade, only an inch away from her exposed neck.
“We have extenuating circumstances here, sir,” she heard Alejo say calmly. “Gabriel shouldn’t have to watch this. I’ll take her into the forest.” He dragged her in front of him so her bare feet skimmed the grass, then barked into her ear, “Walk!” To the other men he called, “We’ll meet in town!”
Alejo pushed her ahead of him into the cover of the mossy forest, dragging Wara along as he stomped through the grass. Her vision had cleared enough to make out the trees, but everything still shimmered and she was sure if Alejo weren’t holding her up she would have just dropped to the ground. She absently realized the salty stuff dripping across her lips was blood and that her nose was probably broken.
May Nazaret never hear about this, about what her brother has done.
They pushed quite a ways into the forest, ducking under hanging tree fronds and circling giant banana plants. Then Wara’s foot hooked on a big root and she went hurdling towards the forest floor. The vision of the flashing knife waving near her neck told her Alejo was going down with her. Wara’s breath pumped out of her chest with a sharp gasp as his body slammed on top of hers, pushing her face into the raspy grass. A rough hand clamped across her mouth, sending rays of pains surging though her skull.
“Don’t scream,” he whispered lowly in her ear. “Whatever you do, don’t scream. I’m not going to hurt you.” Breathing heavily, Alejo rolled off of Wara and sat listlessly on the ground by her side, one arm propped up on his knee.
In a daze, Wara rolled over onto her back painfully, unable to stop shaking. Her eyes were beginning to swell. She gingerly wiped her sleeve across her face in an attempt to clear away some of the blood that was still flowing from her nose and stifled a sob at how much it hurt.
God, what is happening?
“You’re going to kill me later, then?” Even though Alejo had told her to be quiet, she had to know.
He had been staring off into the jungle, but now his gaze jerked sharply back to her. Wara winced and raised her arm, cringing. He didn’t hit her again, and she opened her eyes in time to see Alejo hurl the knife off into the forest as if it were a deadly scorpion. He turned away from her and threw up onto the prickly tropical grass, gasped for breath, and then threw up again. Finally he lifted his head, white as a sheet, and wiped his mouth shakily on his sleeve.
“I’m so sorry,” he choked. “I told you I wasn’t going to hurt you. Oh God, I’m so sorry. Nothing’s going to happen to you now, ok. I’m gonna take you where it’s safe.”
Wara started to feel everything around her fading away. Maybe she was dying. The giant pine tree branches overhead were starting to sway as if a lazy breeze ran through them.
No, that was ridiculous. She couldn’t be dying from a broken nose. But she felt so dizzy, and simply couldn’t move.
What was Nazaret’s brother saying? That he was sorry he had broken her nose? Why? He hadn’t looked sorry a few minutes ago when he did it.
And what was with the puking?
Everything is spinning around so fast.
Wara vaguely realized that she had been scooped up and was moving through the trees. Alejo must be carrying her.
She slumped against his shoulder, and the sounds of crickets singing among the banana trees and grass crunching underfoot slowly faded away.