The Black Minutes

24
Testimony of Sidronio Garza, Ranch Foreman

I remember it like it was yesterday. The Blind Man asked me how to get there and I told him. I worked right next to that ranch my whole life; how could I forget?
From San Juan Río Muerto, I told him, you take Highway 180 toward Victoria. You can’t go through Aldama, because the Río Colorado flooded around Siluma and they closed the road, so at the crossroads in Estación Manuel you have to head toward González. Once you’ve crossed the Arroyo del Cojo and the Cerro del Nagual, you’ll see a dirt road that goes to Gómez Farias: take it, because the others are all closed. When you see a sign that says Ciudad Victoria, you go straight through there, and at the next intersection you head for San Fernando. Don’t take the old highway, because you’d end up in the part that’s flooded out. This highway I’m telling you about crosses the Río Purificación, which feeds into the Río Colorado and passes by the Padilla Reservoir. From there to San Fernando, it’s easy.
About twenty minutes after San Fernando, you take the road toward Matamoros; if you see a sign that says Valle Verde, don’t even think about going that way. Instead, take the road that goes through Arroyo del Tigre; you turn fifteen minutes into it, when you see a sign that says Paso Culebrón.
From there on, everything gets really complicated; there’s a lot of curves. You’re going to see a road that goes toward the checkpoints, but don’t take it, keep on straight and you’ll go through Las ánimas, La Venada, El Refugio, and Ojos de Miel; you just go straight through till you get to a ranch called La Gloria. Once you’re there, at the very end of Paso Culebrón, you’ll find a dirt road with a row of mango trees alongside it. There’s a rusted tractor that’s falling apart, and about thirty feet past that is the ranch you’re looking for. You have to go through two gates before getting to the house. Watch out for the security guys, El Chuy and Don Cipriano. Don’t let your guard down with El Chuy, he’s kinda crazy; he’s always got his rifle and he watches out for Cipriano, who’s an a*shole. You better not get there at night, because if people aren’t allowed to go in there in the daytime, who knows how they’ll react at night. What did you lose over there, if I may ask? You don’t know who owns that place? OK, OK, I’m just asking.