by Jack Davis
By dinner, Tejada was still going strong. He was just starting to explain how to use computers. Alvaro had just learned, or thought he had, the basics of how to use computers to find things to buy. He planned on having Tejada show him in the coming week on a computer in the prison administrative office. He was about to tell the young man to stop for the day when he heard something that put two questions in his head.
“Buying things over the computer or phone makes it hard for the police to find you.”
“Jose, how do they find you when you use a computer?”
“Jefe, I don’t know exactly, I think they use the computers too. They also go to where the packages are sent. That is why it is so important to change the mail spots every month.”
Alvaro nodded. “That makes sense. Is that how you got caught?”
Alvaro saw the youngster turn red.
“No. I was ratted out.”
“By who?” Alvaro became angry, feeling he’d been lied to. “You told me you work alone.” He stood and walked across the cell toward Tejada. “Who else did you work with? Who else knows about this?”
“No, no, it’s not what you think. It’s not,” said Tejada as he covered his head with his arms. “It was my girlfriend, my girlfriend turned me in.”
“What, why would she do that?” Alvaro loomed over the skinny credit card thief waiting for a good answer.
“I cheated on her…” The fear in Tejada’s voice was replaced by what Alvaro could only describe as justified resignation. “…with her friend.”
Alvaro laughed. “You cheated on your girlfriend, with a friend of hers, got caught, and all you got was jail?” He turned and walked over to the cell door. “You got off easy.” He opened the door. “We’re done for today. You come back tomorrow, and we’ll talk more.”
Over the next week, Alvaro learned everything he could ever want to know about credit card fraud and more. When he came up with a question or something he’d forgotten, Tejada was summoned to explain. Alvaro wanted to make sure he remembered everything, but he also wanted to analyze what Tejada was telling him to make sure it was the truth. Asking the same question in different ways and multiple times not only locked the information solidly in Alvaro’s mind, but it also would have exposed any deception if the answers were different. They weren’t.
Alvaro’s first revelation was how extensive a criminal element there was on the internet. That was until Jose explained that people smart enough to use computers would necessarily have a well-structured organization and plan; this made sense to Alvaro. He was more shocked when he learned these criminals had a structure similar to “real gangs” or other organized crime groups. He was mesmerized by all aspects of internet crime.
When Alvaro thought of the money Tejada had been making with such limited resources, he knew this could be a gold mine. If it were as good as he was being told, it could be his ticket off the street and out of the dangerous world of drugs and gang life.
The sixth day of the credit card fraud explanation started as usual.
“Jose, come in and sit,” said Alvaro as he dismissed the King who had brought Tejada.
“Thank you, Jefe. Today we should talk about how to use merchants.”
Alvaro smiled. “That sounds good, but first we have to talk about your future.”
He watched Tejada’s facial expression change to one of concern.
“How is your cell?”
“Jefe?”
“How is your cell? I mean compared to some of the others you’ve seen. Compared to the one you slept in the first night, and the ones with twelve people in four cots? How’s your cell?”
Alvaro watched Tejada swallow hard. He knew it hadn’t gone unnoticed by the intelligent young man that he had gone from a tiny cell with twelve inmates to the same size with only two other inmates the second day.
“My cell is great. Thank you getting me out of the one I was in. Thank you.”
“Prison is never a good place to be, but it can be worse than deadly without someone watching out for you.” Alvaro opened a small refrigerator and removed two Dos Equis and handed one to Tejada. He noticed his companion was sweating. “Here, have something cold.”
“Thank you. Thank you for everything. I will repay you when I get out. I will repay you for everything.”
Alvaro cocked his head and let a curious look come over his face. “How?” He didn’t wait for the reply. “How are you going to repay me for you not getting raped so much the first week that it is better to kill yourself than be used as a human toilet? Huh?” He let the question hang in the air as he took a long drink of beer.
Tejada looked at the floor and began to sob softly.
“I’ll tell you how: first, you are not going to mention what we have talked about to anyone, ever. If anyone asks you, you tell them I told you, you couldn’t talk about it.” He paused as Tejada looked up and wiped his face.
“Next, you are going to help me set up a credit card gang on the outside. Third, when you get out, you work for me.” He squatted down in front of the young man.
“Thank you, Jefe.” His next sentence got stuck in his throat.
Alvaro knew he’d made his point. “It’s hot today. Drink the beer while it’s cold.”
A week later, Alvaro had Tejada follow him into one of the prison’s administrative offices. There on a desk was an old IBM computer. The machine had been new in 1997 but had been treated well over the past decade.
“I want you to teach me about computers.”
“Jefe, it isn’t simple to learn.”
Alvaro looked at Tejada and smiled. “We have a lot of time, and I guarantee, you don’t have anything better to do today.”
Tejada grinned knowingly. “As always you are right. To turn on the computer…”
17 | Overcrowding
Mexico City, 03/09/09
Seven months after being sent to prison for ten years, Alvaro was told he would be released within a week due to “the overcrowded condition of the jails.” It seemed fitting to him that a bribe to the police had put him in jail, and a bribe to the courts would get him out.
When he finally had a firm release date, he told three people: Maria, Diamond, and Tejada.
The night before he told Tejada he lay on his cot thinking about how completely unprepared the teen had been for prison. It seemed odd that someone as smart as Tejada had not taken prison into consideration when he had decided to become a criminal. The young man had planned for nothing other than his day-to-day life outside. He hadn’t had protection lined up; he didn’t even have money to bribe the guards for something as basic as a blanket. He was totally unprepared for an eventuality of the life he had chosen. How was it that he, Alvaro, could foresee this and plan for it, and someone as smart as Tejada was so unprepared? Planning, Alvaro knew, was a key to being a successful criminal. He would look after Tejada and educate him on what it took to be a good criminal.
As he thought more about the meeting and everything surrounding it, Alvaro considered the prayers of his wife and children. Although he still had difficulty believing in God, he knew meeting Maria was more miracle than chance. Now, as he thought about his meeting Tejada in prison, where he actually had time to listen and absorb what the young man was saying, it didn’t take a great leap of faith to come to the conclusion that this had all happened for a reason. Tejada, the non-criminal criminal, and he were destined to meet.
When Alvaro was released, his Kings were there to meet him, plus two. The other two he knew; they worked for Diamond. Alvaro had been well liked by the men and boys who worked for him, and they were genuinely glad to have him back and hopefully in control.
After all the handshakes and hugs, the two strangers moved forward. The one who spoke was thin and had a beak-like nose. “Diamond wants to talk to you.”
“I have some things to take care of first.”
The other messenger stepped up. “He wants to talk to you now.”
Alvaro, looking at the two, re
alized they had been given strict orders to bring him as soon as he got out. There was urgency in their faces. Alvaro decided to test his limits.
“I haven’t been with my wife for months. I’m going home to see her and my kids. I’ll come to see Diamond tonight. I’m not going to do anything stupid.”
The envoys seemed to be weighing their options. Alvaro knew they were in a tight spot. Surrounded by his men, trying to force him to come with them didn’t seem like the smartest plan. On the other hand, going back to Diamond and telling him they had walked away without trying wasn’t the best career move either.
He repeated himself, “I’m going to see my wife. You’re not invited. I know Diamond will be at the store tonight. I’ll meet him there.” He turned to leave, and the beak-nosed man grabbed his shoulder. The two were set upon by Alvaro’s men and wrestled to the ground.
Alvaro turned back and knelt next to the two struggling men. “I’ve just been released from prison. I get to love my wife today and see my kids.” He looked up and breathed deeply, as if the air were fresher outside the prison walls. “I am very happy right now, that’s why you get to leave without being hurt. I’ll be there tonight.”
As the car pulled up to his apartment building, Alvaro was surprised, then slightly nervous when he didn’t see any sign of his kids or Maria. He had been at homecomings for other gang members, and there was always a party with friends, food, and welcome home signs. Something wasn’t right. Alvaro immediately thought about his refusal to see Diamond. Fear gripped him.
He burst from the car closely followed by the other occupants. Wanting to call Maria’s name, Alvaro thought better of it in case someone was there who shouldn’t be given a warning. He scanned the other doors and windows as he rushed up the stairs to the second-floor apartment door. He tried the knob; it was unlocked. He had been given a beer, his phone, and his Glock pistol when he had first sat down in the car; now he pulled the weapon from his waistband. He quickly turned to Jesus and Paco, who were right behind him the whole way, and nodded. He burst through the door, scanning the living room, gun ready.
In the middle of the room on their old sofa was Maria, in a sheer red negligee. She smiled, blushed, and instinctively covered herself with her arms.
Alvaro closed his eyes and opened them again. He smiled and looked at Jesus, who had already turned away.
“I’m sorry, Jefe. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Everything’s okay,” said Alvaro, also blushing, as he lowered his gun. One more quick look at his gorgeous wife and he pushed his friends out the door.
“Everything’s fine. We need to go,” said Jesus to Paco in the hallway. Then without looking at him, to Alvaro, “What time you want us back, boss?”
Alvaro, unable to take his eyes off Maria, said, “I don’t know, I’ll call you.”
Later, as he lay next to Maria on the floor stroking her thick dark hair, she explained there was a big party planned for him at her family’s house. Rosa and little Guilli were there waiting. She had planned their time alone because she didn’t want to wait to be with him until after the party.
Alvaro kissed his wife on the forehead and held her close.
Every time I think I couldn’t love you more, you prove me wrong.
At about the same time Alvaro and Jesus burst through the door of the apartment, Diamond’s messengers arrived back at his office.
Entering the room neither could look their boss in the face.
“Where’s Alvaro?” Diamond demanded as he stood.
“Jefe, he wouldn’t come,” said the shorter of the two.
“He wouldn’t. We tried, but all his men were there and stopped us,” said the second.
“You told him I said immediately?”
“Yes,” said both, nodding their heads vigorously.
The shorter man continued. “We told him. He said he was going to go home and see his wife first.”
Diamond looked at the sofa where Carlo and Lupe sat. “See his wife first? He went to see his wife first?”
The men on the couch looked at each other then, almost in unison, nodded and shrugged as if in agreement with Alvaro’s decision.
It wasn’t the reaction Diamond had expected or wanted. His natural suspiciousness was heightened when things didn’t happen within his limited ability to plan. He looked back at the messengers and noticed their lack of bruises or torn clothing. “Get out!”
Once the door had closed and Diamond had sat again, he spun his chair in the direction of the couch. “What do you think?”
“I think I’d want to have sex with my young wife first too,” said Carlo. Lupe nodded.
“I agree,” mused Diamond, “but the second thing I would do, would be to take revenge on whoever put me in prison.”
Carlo and Lupe traded confused looks and then turned to Diamond.
He continued out loud, projecting his feelings onto Alvaro’s motives. “He thinks he was set up. He knows…” Diamond stopped and started again. “He thinks he knows who did it. The next thing I would do after pile-drivin’ the old lady would be get a knife and slowly kill the bastard who sent me to prison.”
The “me toos” from the still confused duo on the couch didn’t help Diamond’s thought process. He put his head in his hands and stared at the floor, knowing he would get no answers from the couch.
And how did he get out? He was supposed to be in jail for ten years. Out in less than a year? Did he talk? He wouldn’t be the first criminal to buy his freedom by selling out his friends.
Finally, Diamond straightened, taking a knife from his boot and setting it in the desk drawer in front of him. “Alvaro has a lot of explaining. He’d better hope I like his answers.”
As much as he wanted to, Alvaro only drank soda at the party. The conversation with Diamond was too important for his family’s future to take any chances. He left the party well before everyone was ready to let him go, especially Rosa and Guillermo. He promised to be home when they woke up in the morning.
He arrived at the Store around six p.m. It was just getting dark, but the weather was still sticky.
Pepe grinned and gave a hearty handshake. “Varo, I heard you was gettin’ out; good to see you again.”
“Good to see you too, Pepe. Diamond in the back?”
Pepe nodded and instinctively pointed to the office door.
Well, Pepe’s not acting unusual, that’s a good sign, thought Alvaro as he walked to the office.
Everything was just as before he’d gone away. The same group of half-drunk men trying to land the same group of less-drunk women. The men smoking and talking too loudly. The women wearing too much makeup, smoking, and laughing too loud. The room was permeated by the smell of stale beer; everything seemed normal.
Alvaro knocked and heard Diamond’s voice. “Who is it?”
“Alvaro.”
“Alvaro? Come in.”
Alvaro didn’t like a lot of things about the response. First, Diamond had called him Alvaro, not Varo, like he normally did; second, he told him to come in instead of coming to the door to greet him. With that in mind, but having no other choice, he opened the door.
The brightly lit room looked, sounded, and smelled the same. Behind the desk was Diamond and on the couch were Carlo and Lupe. Truly nothing had changed. His boss stayed behind the desk as they shook hands, another bad sign.
“Alvaro, good to see you, even if it is later than I expected.” He squeezed Alvaro’s hand more tightly and looked him straight in the eyes. Alvaro took the meaning. Before his hand was released, he was set upon awkwardly by Carlo and Lupe who quickly opened his shirt. Alvaro knew they were looking for a wire. He didn’t resist. They checked him thoroughly and took his gun and knife. When his hand was released, he adjusted his clothing and sat in a chair shoved in front of the desk. Carlo and Lupe stood behind him to his right and left.
As he settled into the chair Alvaro got ready for the conversation he’d gone over in his mind fifty times. He was co
nfident. He had gone through every possible scenario, and in each he would get the best of his boss.
Diamond started differently than Alvaro had practiced.
“I wanna know how you got out so early, and where you went this afternoon. You’d better convince me.” The last sentence dripped with menace.
“Jefe, I’m sorry but I needed to see Maria first. I’m sure you can understand.”
Diamond was out of his seat, leaning forward both fists pressed on the desk, his knuckles turning white. “I understand; I understand I told you to do somethin’ and you said, ‘Fuck Diamond, I’ll do what I want.’ That’s what I understand!” He was screaming by the end. “I don’t know what happened to you in prison to make you think the first thing you can do when you get out is make me look like a fuckin’ fool! In front of my people! I’ve done some crazy shit for a piece of ass, but you might have just killed yourself to see your wife, mijo.”
“She’s worth it.”
Diamond was taken off guard and couldn’t contain a laugh.
Alvaro relaxed, but used the opening to move to the offense in the conversation. “I’m out one day and suddenly everyone cares about me. No one seemed to care about me for the past seven months. Now I’m important?”
Diamond parried, “You know how things have to be; we have to know when we tell someone to do something, they do it. What happened makes me wonder if I can trust you. Trust is what the Kings are built on. Varo, you know that.”
“I trusted people and I got put in a stinking sewer because of it. I trusted people and they didn’t take care of my family. I know about trust.”
Alvaro knew he was putting Diamond on the defensive. He pressed his advantage.
“Everyone here knows I got fucked, but I didn’t say or do a thing. I did my time like a King. I figured my own way out. I paid the right people and earned that trip home. If you are going to have a talk about trust with anyone, I think it should be the person who set me up in the first place. If you don’t think you can trust me, you should kill me now.”
