Prelude to a Storm

by Cecily Magnon

be ready soon.” He looked at her one more time, before turning to leave.

  “Sam! What if he saw you?!”

  “Whaat?! I was hot, too!” Sam chortled loudly. “When he comes back, I’m going to ask for his name and number!”

  “No! Sam!”

  “Yes! You’re such a chicken. That guy is so into you!” Sam’s smile was making Sarah nervous.

  ‘Weelyam’ came back with two plates of steaming food. He set the plates down carefully in front of the girls and smiled. “Disfruten, enjoy.” The girls gawked at their plates and looked at ‘Weelyam.’ He seemed pleased at their surprise.

  Their mouths were salivating at the bright plate of food he’d brought them. The plate was laden with fresh crisp salad, two small soft tacos, and a small cup of savory rice, jeweled with green and red bell peppers.

  He started to turn to leave, but Sam stopped him.

  “Wait. Weelyam?” Sam was exaggerating the accent. “Is that really your name?” She took a bite of her taco, the juices from the chicken dripping down her fingers. “I’m Sam and that’s my best friend, Sarah,” pointing her taco at Sarah.

  He smiled, placed a hand over his heart and bowed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t properly introduce myself. My name is William Koraki. Please, call me Will.”

  “Koraki?” Sam’s eyebrows crinkled, “That doesn’t sound Spanish.”

  “It’s Greek.” Will said.

  “Ooh. A living Greek god,” Sam teased. “What are you doing here amongst the mortals? Is that your mom? You don’t look like her.”

  Will simply smiled and started to leave, but Sam stopped him again. “I’ll stop. I swear.” She crossed her heart and fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Just one more question?” Sam asked in her sweetest, most sincere voice.

  “Si, Señorita,” he replied patiently. The Spanish rolling off his tongue like honey.

  “Can my friend have your phone number?” Sam asked with a bright smile.

  Sarah was not smiling. Her stomach tightened, exciting the already frenzied butterflies in her gut. She wanted to vanish into thin air. She was going to feed Sam to a zonkey.

  Will looked at her and then at Sam. “I can do better. If the two of you would allow me to accompany you after lunch, for a short time. I can make sure you’re both safe.” His eyes flicked to the window at the front of the restaurant. “There’s been a lot of strange activity around here lately and it’s really not safe for two young women to be by themselves.”

  “We’d love your company, but it’s broad daylight. What could happen?” Sam asked.

  Sarah’s heart was pounding. She’d felt safe, relaxed since they’d been at the restaurant, and… she gulped, remembering the taxi driver’s warning about bad things walking the streets. “Hay cosas malas que andan por estas calles,” the man had said.

  “Enjoy your lunch. Take your time. When you’re ready, I’ll make sure you get safely back over the border.” Will gave them a gracious bow before leaving them with their meal.

  “Hmmm. You think he’s serious?” Sam asked.

  Sarah sagged in her chair, beginning to feel uneasy. The air itself felt like it was changing, getting heavy. She rubbed her arms and looked to Sam in all seriousness. “Yeah, I think he is.”

  The girls ate lunch slowly, neither one in a hurry to leave the shelter of the restaurant. After about an hour of them sitting and staring at their empty plates, the voluptuous woman came back out and slammed their ticket down with a heavy hand. “Chu pay and go!” She turned and squeezed her ample hips in between the aisle of tables to head to the cash register.

  The girls hesitantly got up when Will came out from the back room, slinging a duffle bag over a shoulder. He smiled brightly at the girls and motioned for them to stay where they were. Will turned to the woman at the register and flashed a devilish smile.

  She gave him a knowing look. He took her hand and placed a chaste kiss on top of her fat fingers. She pulled her hand back and smacked him playfully on the shoulder, saying “Sácate! Pero ten cuidado!”

  She wanted them to be careful.

  Will walked toward the girls, but turned around one more time to spy on his friend at the register. She had her arms crossed over her full bosoms and her left eyebrow raised all the way to the middle of her forehead. She watched the trio closely as they exited the restaurant.

  “Don’t worry Rosa! We’ll be fine,” Will yelled out.

  Once outside, the trio started to walk toward the Avenida. Sam broke the silence during their walk and asked Will, “So what’s been going on around here that you have to chaperone us?”

  Will didn’t answer, but looked towards Sarah who was avoiding making eye contact with him.

  Sam was walking slow and falling behind Sarah and Will. “Like, has there been a lot of crime? Drugs, kidnapping, robberies, what?” she asked.

  Will stopped walking and waited for Sam to catch up to him.

  Sarah hadn’t noticed him stopping and kept walking ahead.

  “Sarah!” he screamed out. She turned quickly toward Will. A strong wave of energy rushed at her as he ran in her direction. Her heart raced too fast, making breathing difficult.

  Danger was near, she could feel it.

  Get down! Will’s voice was a command in her mind -- clear and spoken with so much force that she had to obey.

  Sarah looked towards the direction of the Avenida. A man was heading for them at a fast clip. He looked like a bull aimed straight for a waving red cape.

  “Oh. My. God!” Sarah uttered. Fear spiked her nerves.

  The man’s eyes glowed white in the distance. Yes, bow down to me, Beautiful! The bullish man jeered in her mind.

  She suddenly felt Will next to her, blocking her on one side. Her scalp tingled with Will’s voice in her mind. He was calm, but full of authority. Run Sarah. Take Sam back to the restaurant.

  Sarah crawled away from behind Will’s legs. She struggled to get up and run, as loose gravel slid from beneath her sandals. She finally found her momentum, after all the dust she’d kicked up and hurried to reach Sam.

  She pulled Sam quickly back to the restaurant. It was empty of patrons as Rosa stood by the door, waving for them to hurry up and get in. She slammed the door shut and locked it quickly with a large skeleton key.

  Without delay, Rosa walked towards the center of the small dining room and stretched her arms to either side of her full figure, her palms facing the ceiling. She dipped her chin toward her chest and began to chant words, foreign to both Sarah and Samantha’s ears. The chanting was rhythmic and melodic, reminding Sarah of something tribal.

  The chant started soft, only audible as a whisper, but grew louder, stronger, and more intense. The air inside the restaurant sizzled with electricity, the charge sparking the air like stars in the daylight. Rosa brought her arms in quickly, clapping her hands with power.

  Warm air rushed at Sarah and Sam, their hairs blowing back from the gust created by Rosa’s clap.

  Sam was transfixed, looking at Rosa with wonder and excitement. Sarah put her hand lightly on her friend’s shoulder, keeping her in place while Rosa rushed to the store front window and peeked out.

  Both girls quickly followed suit and squeezed next to Rosa for what available space was left. “Dios mio!” Rosa exclaimed as she made the sign of the cross.

  Across the street, Will and a bull-like man were facing off. The man was as tall as Will, but the aggressor was thick and bursting with muscles. The man looked crazy and completely drowned in rage.

  Sarah wondered if he was on drugs. She’d heard a lot of news reports lately about people becoming uncontrollable and violent when they took PCP, Angel Dust. Is this what she was seeing?

  Her head felt like it was going to split open. She looked to her side, feeling Rosa’s intense gaze bore into her. Your mind is opening. Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, as the pain spread over her skull. Don’t fight it, Mija. Sarah blew out and opened her eyes slowly. The intimidating woman was still
looking at her and nodded slightly. Sarah felt relief as the pain started to diminish and Rosa finally looked away.

  She started to open her mouth, wanting to ask Rosa about her headache, when a loud growl brought her attention back to the conflict outside.

  The man had roared, his jowls shaking violently, as he rushed at Will. Will easily avoided the assault and got behind him. He jumped on the man’s back and wrapped his muscled arms around the head and throat.

  The man’s large nostrils flared while he fought to resist Will’s hold. He arched back and reached for Will with thick, large hands. He gripped him by the shoulders and flung him over his head.

  Will rolled on the dry dirt and skidded on his back, his face grimaced with pain. The man watched, and waited for Will to charge at him.

  Will rose to a crouched position and ran -- aiming low for the abdomen. The attacker bent forward, Will’s momentum too great to stop. The man hit a nearby pole, the brittle wood shattering from impact. Will dodged the falling pole and ran to grab for the duffel bag that he’d tossed aside earlier.

  Sarah remembered Will slinging the black canvas bag over his shoulder when they left the restaurant earlier. In the chaos of the last few minutes, she’d forgotten about the bag until Will reached for it. He pulled a rope out; it was bright white, thick, with the ends anchored to sharp, silvery-white shards of metal.

  Will spun one of the tipped ends next to his side and a sharp whistling pierced the air. He smiled, his soiled face mocking the angry man who growled menacingly.

  The rope spun