Words of Love

chapter TEN



“Last one,” said Frederico. “Take it or leave it.”

They stood staring at the single Mayan vase on the table. It was a tall cylinder, nearly two feet in height and about six inches in diameter. The black and tan painting stood out clearly from the cream colored background. Though the images were somewhat eroded and faded, they were still recognizable: yet another great lord sitting cross-legged on his throne.

The buyer stared hard at it. He’d thrown back the hood of his slick rubber poncho, which was dripping all over, though he was careful to keep it away from the vase.

Frederico glanced at the rain through the screen on the window. It was still coming down in buckets. Although it happened to be the first storm of the season, it was the biggest storm Frederico had experienced. The buyer had come by road, not an easy thing in this weather. But the river was impossible.

He looked back at the buyer. For a moment, he considered killing the man.

The big truck he drove would come in handy. As his fingers settled on the handle of the machete hanging at his side, he imagined hacking the man’s throat. He looked down at the man’s front pants pocket. The serious buyers always brought cash. And this was a serious buyer. There was probably at least five thousand dollars in his pocket.

Frederico stared at the pocket as the buyer circled around the vase, still careful not to touch it or drip water on it. But here was the problem, always the same problem. If he killed the buyer, he couldn’t buy anything in the future. He could have the truck and five thousand dollars now, but that’d be it. And if too many buyers disappeared, they’d all stop coming.

Frederico folded his arms over his chest.

“Take it,” he said. “Or leave it. Five-thousand.”

“Wait a minute,” the man said, finally looking at him. “You just said it was four-thousand.”

“That was before. Now you’re wasting my time.”

Frederico put his hand back on the machete. The man stared at it, then glanced at the vase, and then back at the machete.

“All right,” he hissed. “All right.”

He dug into his pants pocket and removed a roll of large bills.

Frederico smirked.

“When will you have more?” the man asked.

Frederico glanced through the screen and looked at the muddy river in the distance.

“When the rain stops.”