They rode on and let the silence consume them.
After a while she looked over at Primo, his dull face hung slack and without expression. He still had the gun pointed at Neesha, not at her head, his arm had dropped as he grew tired of holding it so high. Now aimed indifferently at her side and his grip was loose.
Els leaned over to Neesha and whispered, not caring if the big one heard her, and too quiet for the one driving to hear. “Neesha.”
She looked over at Els, worry and uncertainty had turned her face into something that caused Els physical pain to see. “What?” she said, barely perceptible, almost mouthing the word.
“I have an idea. I think I could do something, but I want you to know. I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”
“Don’t do anything. They’ll kill us.’
“They’ll probably kill us anyway. I think we should try something.”
“No. We can wait for Seve. Seve can-”
“Seve’s dead, Neesha. The little one told me he killed him.”
“No.” Neesha shook her head in disbelief. “He couldn’t.”
“He did. They killed him and they’re going to kill us. I know you’re scared, but listen. He’s sitting right in front of me. The next time we go around a curve, I could grab him, dig my fingers into his eyes. He’ll wreck the car trying to fight me off, and we can run if we move fast.”
“No. He’s got a gun pointed at me. And we’re not wearing seat belts. Don’t do it.”
“I have to do something they’re-”
“Hey! Shut the fuck up back there,” Gusano yelled from the driver seat. “You don’t talk to each other. If you say one more word, Primo’s gonna fuck your friend up while you watch. Keep quiet for her sake, crazy bitch.”
Els sat up and faced the seat in front of her.
The miles passed behind them while Els waited for a sharp turn. She would have to move fast. Primo’s gun was still pressed against Neesha’s side, so he wouldn’t be immediately able to draw on her. Gusano kept glancing back in the rear-view like he expected her to do something. He wasn’t as careless and inattentive as his partner. Those eyes peering back at her in the mirror were intelligent and calculating, and that worried her.
She could sense Neesha’s anxiety beside her, it transformed her into something taut and strained tight. Her biggest concern was Neesha. If she failed to make Gusano wreck the car, if he just shook her off and kept driving, she knew they would hurt Neesha. She also realized the possibility of them dying or at least being severely injured in a wreck, but she liked those odds better than letting the two men take them wherever they had planned, and doing God-knows-what with them.
She looked though the windshield, headlights burning against the night, illuminating the unpaved road ahead. She saw the turn coming up. She looked over at Neesha and nodded her head slightly to prepare her. The whites of Neesha’s eyes bloomed and she shook her head back at Els.
Els clenched her fists. She could almost feel her fingers plunging into Gusano’s eyes, the nails raking across them, the tips worming their way through his closed lids to gouge the soft and tender orbs they hid. She could feel the moment coming, the opportunity rushing at her.
The curve lay a few seconds away and Els brought her hands up behind the headrest. This was it. She tried not to think of the impact.
They were on the curve now, and Gusano turned the wheel.
“Don’t!” Neesha screamed and she threw her body across the seat and wrapped her arms around Els.
Primo, surprised by the abrupt motion, jerked to attention so suddenly he squeezed the Uzi’s trigger, firing a shot innocuously into the floorboard.
The gunshot was deafening in the close quarters and the only sound that followed was the high ringing in their ears.
They could not hear their individual screams as the car drifted onto the wrong side of the road and into the path of a speeding eighteen-wheeler just rounding the curve.
Seve snapped the wheel back just as the truck passed them, horn blaring, with barely enough distance to keep the paint-job intact.
Primo reached over and grabbed Neesha, pulled her back across the seat and held her in his one-armed bear hug.
As Els’ heart beat slowed to normal, while Gusano screamed in Spanish in front of her, she took the time to reflect on the fact that if she had succeeded in attacking Gusano, they would all have been smashed in a jagged trap of metal, bleeding to death or dead with their shattered bones ripping through their flesh.
Okay, fine, she thought, I can wait. There will be another opportunity sooner or later, and when there is, the two of you will die screaming. That’s a promise.
THIRTY
The drive through the dark countryside was approaching its end as the Volvo climbed a sloping hill leading to a one-story ranch style house surrounded on three sides by a chain-link fence. The car stopped at a gate and Els’ eyes followed the drive that led up to the house with the hills continuing to rise beyond it. That was where they would run when they got the chance, back into the hills, past the point where the chain fence ended. Els knew they were in Colzorona now, which put Blancasinato North-West of here, no more than a hundred miles.
Another Mexican man wearing a Hawaiian shirt too big for him opened the gate and they drove up and parked the car in the garage. The door did not close behind them after they pulled in. The girls listened to the big bald man and the smaller one talk to each other in their incomprehensible language. Els could feel Neesha’s body contract as it stiffened with dread.
“Neesha, listen to me,” said Els, “Whatever happens, whatever they do to us in there, I just want you to know, I’m here and I love you. We’re going to get through this. We’re going to live, even if I have to kill every person in that house with my bare hands, we’re going to walk out of this together. We’ll walk right out the front door.”
Neesha started to cry again, a single tear ran down her cheek and then more followed. “Shut up. Just shut the fuck up. You’re not going to do anything. We’re going to fucking die. Don’t you understand? There isn’t anything you can do. Whatever they want to do to us, there isn’t anything we can do to stop it.”
It made Els feel sick deep inside of herself to hear Neesha give up so easily. “Don’t talk like that. It’s not true. You have to have hope or they’ve already beaten you. You have to have hope, even if there isn’t anything else.”
“Seve was our hope. Seve was our hope and he’s dead, Els. They killed him just like they’re going to kill us, or worse.”
Primo got out of the car and Gusano turned around in his seat. He had the gun pointed at Neesha, but his eyes never left Els.
Primo opened Els’ door, reached in, clamped his meaty fist down around her arm and pulled her out.
The brake lights turned the concrete driveway behind the car red, as Gusano put the car into gear.
“What about Neesha? What about her? Where are you taking her?”
She struggled in Primo’s grip, her questions had devolved into one long howl, a single word she screamed and it echoed through the dark hills: “No.”
She raised her right foot and brought it down hard over the top of his dress shoes. With enough strength she would have broken the bone, painfully. But his grip did not falter. Instead, he took her head in his hand, palm wide enough to hold her skull like a basketball, and shoved her face against the window. It was not hard enough to break her nose, but he pressed her head into the glass with enough force that she could hear, and even feel, the glass begin to buckle with a sound like old ice cracking.
Neesha saw Els’ face slammed against the window and shut her eyes to avoid the sight of her distorted visage mashed flat against the glass.
Primo pulled her head back and she still struggled while Gusano backed out of the drive and drove away. She was screaming, furious, her face a deep red in apoplexy.
The big man dragged her into the house through the kitchen entrance. Inside, the nauseating fumes of fre
sh paint turned her stomach.
He shoved her into an interior room, living room with a couch and hardly any other furniture, where three men stood waiting. Two of the men were young, dressed nice. They didn’t wear suits, but Els could tell their clothes were expensive. The third man was older, Els guessed he was in a position of authority- he seemed the most annoyed to be there.
They watched in amused silence as she wriggled in Primo’s hold. She managed to dig her heel into his shin, and he threw her down onto the carpet. Free, and feeling like a wild animal surrounded by sudden and unfamiliar predators, she sprang to her feet. One of the younger men approached her and her hand shot out lighting quick and she drove the heel of her hand into his nose. It crumpled like an aluminum can under her palm. Blood gushed out of his nose and splattered in heavy drops on the carpet. His hands went up to cradle his broken face, blood pooled In his palms and ran down his forearms.
She stood waiting for the next one, or all three to come at her. Her eyes held the same murderous savagery as Karlstad’s had earlier that night. Her chest heaved and she even drew her lips back over her teeth in a crude snarl.
The older man calmly pulled a can of mace out of his jacket pocket and showed it to Els.
“My name is Calisto,” he said. “I understand you’re very confused right now, but I must ask you to try and conduct yourself in a more civil manner. If you can manage and behave, this business will be done a lot more smoothly. But if you choose not to, you will force us to resort to a more drastic manner of conducting it. I hope it won’t come to it, but you should realize by now that your friend, the black girl, she’s going to die if you don’t cooperate. And I can assure you, it will not be pleasant, and it will not be quick. Do you understand? I need to ask you a few questions. Answer them honestly and simply, and no harm will come to you or your friend. You have my word. Do you understand me?”
Els was silent.
“Oh dear, I think she might not believe how dedicated we are to this business at hand. Tell me, would you recognize your friend’s teeth if, in ten minutes, someone showed them to you in a bloody handful? Or maybe her ear? Would you like that?”
Els’ eyes narrowed at the man, “I’m going to kill you,” she said, quietly. She looked at Primo leaning over, pulling up his pant leg to inspect his shin. “I’m going to kill you, too. And your two friends here, I’m going to kill them as well.”
Calisto’s expression never changed, “That’s a lot of killing. I don’t find the scenario very likely, however. But I can’t fault you for using your imagination. I’m sure the bodies are piling up in your mind as we speak.”
“I’m going to gut you like an animal,” said Els.
Calisto brought his hands together in one loud clap. “Very good. But before you start carving us all up, I need you to answer a few questions for me. Keep in mind that we could very easily gut your friend like an animal. Your cooperation will be the only thing that keeps her safe.”
“You need to keep her safe,” Els fired back.
“How childish,” said Calisto. “I don’t know why I expected better.” He paused for a moment staring into her hateful gaze. It flickered like a candle inside a jack-o-lantern. “You are an American citizen, I presume, yes?”
Els didn’t respond.
“And you have a valid passport?”
Els only glared at him.
“Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Have you ever been searched crossing the border between the US and Mexico? Are you currently aware of any government lists your name might be on?”
“You’re going to die,” said Els.
“Do you have any allergies? Have you ever had major surgery that required you to be under anesthesia?”
“I’ll kill you last, I think.”
“I think we’ve reached the end of the questionnaire. You’ve done most poorly. Your friend is definitely not going to like how you’ve answered my questions, but you’ll get to try again later. Before we conclude there will be a brief physical examination, I certainly hope you’re not shy.”
That flicker of hatred danced in her eyes.
“Please remove your dress.”
Els let loose a gob of spit that connected with Calisto squarely on his right cheek. He registered no emotion as he produced a handkerchief and wiped the dripping sputum off his face. He put the used handkerchief back in his pocket. “I wish it didn’t have to come to this,” he said bringing the can of mace to her eye-level, “But I can’t say I won’t enjoy it.” He pressed down on the nozzle and a jet of liquid ejected from the can. The spray hit Els full in the face and she screamed like a wounded animal. It was like a nest of wasps all stinging her in the eyes at once. The pain was unrelenting and seemed to surge in intensity with no limit. Each second was more agonizing than the last. She was disoriented by the pain and she struck out blindly, clawing at the air, howling.
Calisto watched her flail around for a bit, swinging her arms in desperate arcs, reaching out to grab at anything her fingers could touch. He picked his moment and rammed his fist into her solar plexus.
Els reeled, doubled over as the breath left her body. She was blind, staggering, with no air in her lungs when Calisto drove his knee up into her chest and she went down. She brought her knees up to her chest in a fetal position and Calisto delivered a savage kick to her kidneys. Pain rippled through her body and she felt she might actually vomit. He kicked her again, and something inside her head began to spin.
“Get her up,” Calisto commanded.
The two younger men pulled her to her feet and held her up by the shoulders.
Els was done. She let them hold her up, her head hung and a cascade of limp hair swung down over her face. She could taste blood in her mouth, and she spit a thick red strand of it onto the carpet.
She felt unknown hands on her and the front of her dress was torn in two, the fabric screamed as it was ripped away.
Air on bare skin. Her breasts hung exposed from the giant rip in the front of her dress. And then the feel of Calisto’s hands on her. He grabbed the soft flesh and squeezed it, feeling the weight and texture as if he were handling a cut of steak.
“Very good,” he said approvingly. “I think you’ll do very nicely. Of course I’ll need to hear the opinion of the doctor. But I think he’s gonna like you fine.” His hand kneaded her breast some more. “It’s too bad you didn’t feel like talking to me. I thought you valued your friend’s life more than that. But don’t worry, she’s not going to die right away, we still need her for leverage. I wonder how much you’ll feel like talking when we give you her severed hands to hold. Maybe that will make you more comfortable, do you think?”
“Don’t,” Els muttered weakly.
“What’s that?” asked Calisto. He cupped his hand around one ear and leaned closer to her. “Could you repeat that, please? It sounded like you said ‘don’t’. Don’t what? Don’t stop at her hands? You want the whole arm, huh? We can do that.”
“No, don’t hurt her. Please.”
“Why not? Are you deciding to be a good girl now? Did you figure out that maybe we’re not fucking around with you? Do you have something you’d like to tell me?”
Els had a brief vision of herself: a young girl, tied to a chair in a shed on a hot summer day. Her father was there. He wanted the numbers. Hold on to the numbers. I’m sorry, papa, she thought. She raised her head to meet Calisto’s gaze. “My passport is outside. It’s in the garage, in my purse. I dropped it earlier.”
“Primo,” said Calisto. He told him in Spanish to go outside and get her purse and bring it to him. He turned his attention back to Els. “What else?”
“My name is Elizabeth St Claire, and I can get across the border without being searched. If it’s what you want I can swallow cocaine.” Her eyes and the skin around her face was still screaming in agony. She couldn’t open her eyes. “If you don’t want me to swallow it. . . I’m a virgin. I don’t know if I can. . . Carry it another way, but I’ll try. I’
ll do whatever you want if you won’t hurt Neesha.”
“Ah, the spirit of cooperation was in you all along, it just needed a little coercion,” Els was glad she didn’t have to see the satisfied smile on Calisto’s face, just hearing it was enough. “That’s all I wanted, a little cooperation. You shouldn’t make this any harder than it has to be. Now that you’re on board, allow me to assuage some of your fears. You will not be required to swallow anything, or damage your tight little cunt by cramming anything up it. I don’t consider myself a sadist. It’s just business. But you can believe me when I tell you that all you have to do is be a team player, and the instant you’re done, you’ll get to see your friend’s face. Do you believe me?”
Not a word, thought Els. “Yes,” she muttered.
“Very good. And I guess you don’t need to hear what happens if you drop the ball, eh?”
“No.”
He clapped his hands together again. “Splendid. Really it is. I just knew you’d come around. I have the highest of hopes for our little partnership, I really do. Now it’s off to bed. We have a very busy day planned for you tomorrow.”
He told the younger men to take her to her room and they led her down the hallway to a door with a padlock on the outside. One of them unlocked the door and they pushed her through. The door clicked shut behind her and she heard the lock snap closed. She was trapped.
The sting around her face had faded, feeling now like she had been recently slapped. She sniffed to keep her nose from dripping down her face. The room was dark, Els could barely open her eyes and when she did the world was just an ugly black smear. She put her hands out in the lightless room.
Mules:: A Novel Page 17
