by Olivia Myers
After the obligatory lecture, Felicity went off to document the different types of hieroglyphs in each location with her camera. She was entranced by one area in particular which had one of the few structures left intact. A giant, stone wall, covered in engravings of leaping jaguars falling from the sky. At the top of the image was the head of a large jaguar above the clouds, its gaping mouth spewing the other jaguars onto the world. While running her fingers over one jaguar’s ears, Felicity heard the snapping of a twig. A flock of green parrots then scattered into the sky, squawking in fright. She turned quickly, but nothing was there. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck lifted, although there was no breeze. She had the feeling of being watched.
Suddenly realizing her class was gone, she ran around the ruins. “Ling! Emilio! Rochelle!” she called. The loud cries of birds mocked her from the foliage. Her friends were gone. Had they left without her? Surely they’d notice if she wasn’t with them on the trail.
Sitting down on a rock, Felicity held back tears while trying to calmly assess her options. Hearing human voices nearby, she thoughtlessly ran towards them. Puzzled the sounds were off the trail, she continued slowly. However, she stopped once she saw that the people were not her classmates. Crouching behind the trunk of a thick tree, Felicity saw they were actually armed men in dark green regalia. They were transferring white, rectangular packages into a black jeep.
With a shudder, Felicity read the name sloppily painted in white on the vehicle: Selvagens Verdes. She held her breath as one man passed by her, only five or six feet away. Near the base of his neck, partially covered by a bandana, was a familiar tattoo from the night before – a biting snake’s head. Looking at the other men, she saw that all of them had it.
Davi’s one of them, she thought with a gasp. She started to turn so she could back up the way she had come, but a large hand clasped across her mouth. Felicity shrieked, but her noises were muffled. She kicked and flailed but it was no use as the man carried her to the others.
He forced her to the ground, and the dozen other men stopped what they were doing and surrounded her. The one holding her down addressed a person facing away from the group and smoking a cigar. Her Portuguese wasn’t the best, but she had prepared enough to get the gist.
“What do you want us to do, Enzo?” he asked gruffly.
Exhaling a plume of white smoke, the man turned around and walked closer. He had a cold expression on his scarred face and an eye patch over his left eye. The symbol on the patch was the same as the tattoos. Leaning towards Felicity, he held her face firmly with a gloved hand, making her look directly into his working eye.
He let out another stream of smoke directly into her face, chuckling when she coughed. Finally he said, “Tie her to the tree and let the animals take care of her.”
Within moments, two men had her bound to a trunk, the rope tight and rough. They gagged her with a filthy handkerchief.
“Shouldn’t we take her to the base, Enzo?”
“No, that one doesn’t have good meat,” he replied as he got into the passenger seat on one of the vehicles. Before closing the door, he flung his cigar in her direction. It landed with a hiss on the damp ground at Felicity’s feet. With a whistle from Enzo, the rest of them clambered into various vehicles and fled into the jungle.
However, Felicity noticed a few of the men had stayed behind.
One of them came near with a cruel smile. “I’ve never been one to waste, menina.” Laughing, he whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, I’ll try not to be too rough.”
Closing her eyes, Felicity told herself not to cry. She braced herself for the cruel man’s touch, but suddenly, echoes of gunshot exploded throughout the forest. Felicity opened her eyes. One of the other men was shooting his rifle.
“Why the hell did you do that, Ernesto?” the man growled.
“I thought I saw something but I think I got it.” He edged into the trees until he was out of sight. “Yeah I –”
His words were interrupted by a scream of terror. Suddenly it cut off, and he was silent.
The leader now grabbed his own assault rifle. “Diego, go check it out.”
The other man hesitated but a stern look finally forced him to follow Ernesto’s trail. As soon as he was out of view, he yelled loudly and shot several rounds from his rifle.
There were the sounds of something rustling in the brush, and Diego crawled out on his hands and knees. Before he was completely out in the open, something grabbed him by the foot. Screaming, he was forcefully dragged back in. Felicity closed her eyes. His horrendous screams continued until they trickled into a gurgle.
The man with the cruel smile was now shaking with terror and frantically pointing his gun in all directions. He then glanced upward over Felicity’s head. His eyes widened in horror.
Fearfully, Felicity followed his gaze into the branches above. It was a great, snarling jaguar, and it was ready to strike. The man tried to ease his finger towards the trigger of his gun, but before he could fire, the beast jumped down in a blur of orange and black fur.
Growling viciously, the jaguar bit at the man’s arms as he screamed and tried to protect his face. Felicity shut her eyes as the gruesome scene continued in front of her. The gag was the only thing keeping her from screaming.
Suddenly the man’s screaming stopped.
Felicity opened her eyes to find the jaguar leave the body and walk towards her.
She stiffened as she felt its muzzle near her hands. She then heard gnawing as the ropes binding her fell slack. Within a few moments, she was free. She removed the gag from her mouth and looked at the beast. For roughly five minutes the two stood still, quietly staring at each other. She almost felt like the jaguar’s jade eyes were trying to tell her something. But that would be crazy. Illogical.
The sound of people talking loudly in the distance broke the trance. Some of them were calling her name. Her classmates! As the jaguar leapt into the thick foliage, she saw it had a long scar from its back towards its flank. Felicity began to run toward her group.
***
She decided not to tell them about what happened. It was a mixture of shame, panic, and lingering disbelief. She rationalized to herself that bringing it up would only cause unnecessary trouble. Her group hadn’t suspected a thing, and Professor Johnson had only chastised her for getting lost in such a dangerous area.
Felicity spent the next two weeks silently sticking close by the group whenever they went out, or using free days indoors with her head stuck firmly in old textbooks.
Despite Pedro’s numerous pleas to visit the Cesta de Lenguas, she could not bear the thought of going anywhere near the jungle without her group. However, as the midpoint of the summer semester passed, Felicity knew that she needed to get some actual hands-on research done. Most of her classmates were already nearing the completion of their own projects.
She couldn’t even tolerate Carol’s strategy of working. That consisted of shopping with her new boyfriend, Davi, and claiming to be gaining insight into local, modern culture. (Which of course Professor Johnson had given his full support to.) Thankfully, Davi’s club had been shut down after the fire for renovations. It didn’t take long for the police to postpone its reopening, because as they investigated the fire, they found numerous amounts of drugs and paraphernalia at the scene. Of course, the smooth talking and wealthy man had gotten out of the matter unscathed. Felicity knew it would only be a matter of time before the party house was open again. However, for the moment it seemed the threat of police surveillance was keeping Carol safe.
In the end, Felicity had no choice but to face her insecurities and travel to the isolated area. Pedro Gutierrez had decided to come along, but she knew he be of no help if they came across Selvagens Verdes. Making their way towards the facility, her violent memories began to plague her. She’d nearly been raped and killed by the ruthless gang, which made sense in their twisted world. But Felicity could still not explain the beast that had spared her.
Except, it had freed her. That had made no sense at all. Felicity shook her head. As long as she never had to see the jaguar again, it was a mystery she was happy to leave unsolved.
Pulling into the muddy parking lot, Felicity pushed aside the intrusive thoughts. Pedro ran up to another middle-aged man, who he introduced as his old friend Joseph Rivera. Felicity shook his hand. While explaining the reason for her visit, she noticed Joseph’s smile become less enthusiastic.
“Is something wrong?” Felicity asked.
Joseph responded, “No. Well…you see, the only Barasana interpreter we have left at this location is Jebá, and he can be a bit…difficult.”
“What do you mean?” Pedro asked.
“Most of our translators are friendly. They do their best to ensure peaceful relations on both ends.”
“Is he cruel to the natives?” Felicity asked.
“No, no! Actually he’s very good at making sure there are no culture misunderstandings,” Joseph replied. “It’s mostly our end that he can be a bit temperamental with. Jebá doesn’t approve of the modern encroachment into native territories. However, a few of our sponsors endorse it.”
After her violent experience in the jungle, Felicity didn’t think there should be modern encroachment into the native territories, either. “You don’t think he would work with me?”
“Tough to say, He’s not a big fan of outsiders.” Seeing her disappointed look, he added, “But you know, it never hurts to ask. I’ll be back in a second.”
He disappeared within the former mission, and Felicity began to speculate what backup projects she could possibly complete on such short notice. While cursing herself for not checking with the facility sooner, she was relieved to see Joseph return beaming in delight.
“We must have caught him in a good mood today because he said yes!” he exclaimed.
“Did he seem eager to work with her?” Pedro asked.
“Well…no. But I made sure that he would be polite and professional.”
Excellent, Felicity thought. Not only had she almost been murdered, now she was going to deal with an uncooperative subject. She reluctantly entered the building and went towards the designated room. There she found a man whom she presumed to be Jebá, finishing up a conversation.
She introduced herself in Portuguese, and asked if she could speak with him. The tall, dark-complexioned man said nothing, but merely nodded as he took a drink from a canteen. The primary interview ran rather quietly as Felicity stuck to yes or no questions. These elicited only nods, head shakes, or disinterested stares. He never offered any sort of vocal expansions to his answers, when he actually gave them. Once she finished the primary interview, she went on to the questions that would make up the majority of her report.
Felicity first started with a basic childhood question. “How would you describe your childhood?”
It was hard to hear, but his low, rumbling voice replied, “Fine.” This seemed to be the answer of choice for him, as he continued the entire conversation with this and variations of it: “alright,” “okay,” and neutral grunts.
Three hours later and her patience wearing thin. Felicity sighed, running a hand through her curls. She was hot and sweaty. The fan in the corner did little to cool the room.
Then something amazing happened. Jebá finally spoke a complete sentence in perfect English. Unfortunately it also was a question.
“Why are you here?”
“Um…to speak with you about your experiences living here?”
“No,” he said. “Why did you come here - to Brazil?”
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t belong here, Senhorita. You’ll get yourself killed if you stay.” He spoke with conviction.
“You have no right to say that,” Felicity said angrily.
“Perhaps.” He began to walk away. “I look forward to our next meeting, Felicidade.” As he opened the door, a flock of doves pecking on the ground suddenly flew off in a panic. “Try not to get lost in the jungle…again.”
***
Even two days later, the comment still sent chills up her spine. Felicity’s mind tried to see it as a joke, but the implications of what it meant if he actually knew were huge. For one, it could mean he was one of the members of the Selvagens Verdes. She racked her brain trying to remember if she had seen anything resembling a tattoo on his neck, but to no avail.
“Are you planning to actually do something today?” Carol asked. “You’ve been sitting in those ugly pajamas all morning. Shouldn’t you be working on your project or something?”
“Shouldn’t you? Shopping at a mall is not a project!” Felicity snapped back.
“It is according to our dear professor,” she replied with a gloat. “But seriously, you’re really bumming me out. Why don’t you visit that guy at that boring talking place?”
Putting her head under her pillow she groaned, “Because he’s an unhelpful jerk.” And probably a part of a killer gang. “Why are you still dating that other guy? I told you he’s dangerous!”
“Yeah, so you say,” Carol said.
Felicity had told her that his tattoo was identical to the gang members’ now constantly reported by the news, but Carol didn’t believe her.
“I know you’re probably just jealous,” Carol said, “but please stop bad mouthing my future fiancé.”
As soon as Carol had left, Felicity grumbled every curse word in the book. Trying to get her mind off of her dim-witted roommate, she turned to a book she had borrowed from Pedro’s library. Since Felicity could no longer count on getting information from humans about the Barasana culture, she would have to rely on text. Flipping through the pages describing various mythologies, she found an image nearly identical to the one carved into the stone wall that had entranced her.
The content discussed the origin myth of the Barasana tribe. As Pedro had told her on that first night, the jebá-beca believed that long ago an ancient jaguar deity gave life to the tribe. The original ancestors were large jaguars that roamed the land and protected the forest from men. Over time, as man became more predominant, they slowly began to take over the form of men. Many lineages lost their magic forms, and could no longer take on the shape of their god. However, the tribe believed that some still possessed jaguar blood, and could walk both as a man and a beast.
But the words couldn’t explain away the suspicions the wildest parts of her imagination were now raising. If Jebá wasn’t one of the Selvagens Verdes, could he have been the jaguar? She laughed the idea away, but it persisted. Stop it, Felicity, she told herself, angry for even entertaining the idea. As she got ready for bed, Felicity decided it was finally time to face the man again. She was not going to let anything get in the way of finishing her project, especially not some harebrained idea about a human being able to shape-shift into a jaguar.
***
For the next week Felicity stuck to her guns. Although Jebá tried his best to deter and ignore her questions, she persisted – even staying after hours until he finally relented. Eventually she began to crack his wall. On the seventh day, Felicity actually managed to make him answer a question on her first try.
“What was the most challenging part about growing up in an isolated village?”
“Staying isolated,” he responded.
“What do you mean?”
“My people are connected to the jungle. And we are all connected to one another – in blood and spirit,” Jebá answered with conviction. “From what I have seen, ‘civilized people’ try to sever that connection by attempting to make us ‘modern’.”
As she quickly sc
ribbled down his answers, he asked, “May I ask you a question now, Senhorita Felicidade?”
“Is it about the reason why I’m here again?” she asked stiffly.
“No,” he replied with a slight frown.
“Okay then.”
“Do you believe in things you cannot explain?”
Where the heck did that come from? Felicity thought as she tried to articulate an answer. “I-I don’t know. I mean…I suppose I always try to come up with a logical explanation for things.”
“I see,” he grunted, getting up to leave.
In a fit of desperation to have him stay, she suddenly began spilling unfiltered thoughts. “But certain events have recently made me start to question whether everything that happens can have a logical explanation.”
He stopped, but didn’t turn around. “What events?”
“I’m not sure…” Felicity hesitated. How could she explain the most traumatic and strangest event in her life to an almost complete stranger? She felt herself blush when she remembered her wild idea about him being a mythological jaguar-man.
Watching her closely, Jebá said, “Perhaps we should discuss this elsewhere.”
***
The two traveled along a trail behind the main building, turning down a small passageway that was hidden by brush. The forest was uncharacteristically silent; she realized it was the distinct lack of bird calls.
“It’s so quiet,” Felicity said.
Jebá said, “The animals fear a predator nearby.”
Anxious at the thought of meeting a jaguar again, or some other vicious creature, she stuck closer to him. They eventually arrived at a large tree. Barely visible through the thick canopy, Felicity saw a tree house built around the trunk.
Jebá uncovered a pulley lift hidden by large leaves. He gestured that Felicity should stand on it. Stepping on after her, Jebá began to pull them up. Felicity was surprised to see his strength as he effortlessly lifted them quickly to the house. She felt herself blushing as she thought of how strong his arms looked.
