by Mike Gomes
The breeze increased on the water and Falau stopped to watch the men returning from the water in what looked like large rowboats. Pulled up to the side were nets that held fish that lacked in bounty. Since coming to the island Falau had seen the articles in the local magazines about how the fishing was not what it once was. The big commercial fishermen would cruise in and cast their wider and deeper nets taking everything in the area leaving us the side bits for the locals. Not a story that was particularly different from any other port in the world. Back in Boston the fishermen dealt with the same issues.
As the big man moved down the promenade he could hear music in the distance and followed its sweet sound. It was not techno or dance but rather traditional. The big man’s interest immediately sparked to find out more about the music and what was happening around it.
After a short five-minute walk Falau approached a park that had its center cleared out. He could see that people were milling in and out of the park and listening to the music and enjoying a New Year’s Day celebration. Kids had their faces painted and balloon animals were in their hands. The men and women were smiling and sipping the local wines. If the night before had been for the tourists, this festival was for the locals to enjoy.
Falau approached the opening looking to a young woman who was collecting 5 Euro for entrance into the festival. The big man reached in his pocket and pulled the bill out and handed it to the woman and exchanged a smile with her. Her eyes dropped in a coy embarrassment as the big man's smile met her with eye contact.
“Have a good time.” said the girl lacing her words with flirtation.
“I will do my best” said Falau letting a small laugh come from him. Under better circumstances the big man would have spent more time talking with the young woman even if not to bed her he would have enjoyed the flirtation and superficial conversation.
Walking into the park the trees that surrounded the outside became much thinner. The small paths opened into a wide-open walking area with a dirt ground mixed with pea gravel. The footing left a lot to be desired and pulled up the instinct for the big man to find safer ground, but the festival was no place that he was looking to get into a conflict. The conflict was going to be happening later when he had more time thinking of exactly what he had to do.
Moving to the side of the park area the big man found a string of tables that were equipped with waiters taking drink and food orders. The sun splashed down into the area and warmed the people sitting who were protected from the wind by the line of trees that faced the sea and its breeze.
Sitting down he grabbed the standing menu on the table and saw it was written in Portuguese. Attempting to make out anything he flipped open his phone looking for a translation application.
“Olá, Señor.” said the waiter moving in on the table to wipe it down as the big man sat at it.
“Hi. Do you speak English?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” said Falau placing the menu back down on the table. “Can I get a diet soda and a small cheese plate?”
“Yes, sir. No problem at all.”
“Knock it off!” called a man from across the opening but behind another small set of trees that blocked the customers at the tables from the rest of the festival.
The waiter looked up and shook his head in disgust.
“You guys having a problem?” questioned Falau looking over to the noise.
“Just a few rowdy boys from up the hill. They came in a little while ago marching around like they own the place. But today one of them looks like somebody got the best of him. His arm is all bandaged up.”
“Did you say it was two boys? Are they teenagers?”
“Yes. You may have seen them around. They take a lot of pride in stirring up trouble. The police will take care of them all in due time.”
As the waiter walked away Falau pulled himself up from his seat and made his way to the corner of the tree line. Peeking his head around the trees he looked across the open area and scanned the people one by one before falling on the likes of Candido and Carlos. Despite their activities the night before they were out on the streets causing problems already.
Carlos sat on the edge of a short brick wall and lit a cigarette letting Candido light his with the head of it. The boys laughed and joked with one another giving the impression they had nothing to worry about.
Continuing to watch the boys Falau saw the boys looking around them and when anyone would get close they broke into laughter. They went out of their way for conflict. They were intentionally trying to be seen. The big man nodded his head realizing that Carlos was smarter than he looked. He knew that if the boys were active in the community then it would look like they had no guilt or fear of being out in public. They were just trying to do the things they did every day.
As the boys continued to build their alibi Falau scanned the crowd looking for police or undercover police that might be watching the boys. It would be perfectly normal to have them followed if the force had the manpower to do it. Looking to the opening from where he assumed the boys came from he seaw another young man sitting off to the side with his jacket collar flipped up and him trying to tuck himself into it. The jacket and clothing were unmistakable. It was Joaquim. He had forgotten or refused to listen to the advice of the big man. He was following the boys but for what reason Falau did not know.
Getting up Joaquim started his movement and walked in a slow and steady pace matching the other boys step for step. He seemed content to just monitor their behaviors from a distance.
Falau pulled himself from the cover of the tree and started to walk to the boys.
“Sir, I have your drink and cheese here.” said the waiter stepping in front of him.
“I don’t want it anymore.” said the big man looking over the top of the waiter seeing Joaquim starting to get closer to the other boys.
“Sir you made the order and you still have to pay for it. We cannot give an open drink or food to other customers.” said the waiter becoming impatient with the man not paying attention to him.
“Oh, ok. I understand.” The big man’s hands fumbled around in his pockets and pulling out a hand full of Euro he gave it to the man. “Great. All set. Thanks.”
“Sir this is far too much.”
“Consider it a tip.” said the big man as he looked down to the waiter and smiled.
Just as the exchange between the two men stopped a scream rang out and Falau’s head popped up and focused on the boys across the opening. Joaquim was wrestling with Candido as Carlos moved in from behind on him.
Cracking a hard-right hand Carlos met Joaquim’s head with his fist. The boy let go of Candido instantly and his body started to go limp.
Candido seized the opportunity pulling the small knife from inside his jacket. Flipping his hand to the side the blade popped open and snapped into place. The boy’s fingers gripped the handle tight and he thrusted forward using just his arm.
The blade of the knife was just two inches long, but it sunk itself into the right side of Joaquim's chest all the same. It slipped between two of the lower ribs causing the boy to open his mouth and gasp for air before falling to the ground from the mix of the fist and the knife.
Candido and Carlos set off as fast as they could running to the closest exit and toppling several attendees at the festival as they pushed their way out.
Opting to his full sprint the big man covered the ground quickly and dropped to one knee next to the boy who was conscious and staring up at him.
“Someone call an ambulance. Please.” shouted the big man as people reached for their phones and started to dial.
Joaquim grabbed the hand of the big man and held it tight in his own. “I should have listened to you and just stayed home.”
Chapter 29
One by one visitors to the festival started to gather around the fallen boy and the big man kneeling at his side. The blood had started to flow out from the boy’s chest causing a distinctive red stain to develop on
his shirt. The pattern grew and spread in various directions spanning six inches in just a few seconds.
Pulling the shirt up the big man inspected the wound through the grunts of the boy. The blade entered and exited him cleanly. The blood was flowing smoothly, and no air bubbles accompanied it indicating that the lung had not been struck. With some luck it could be a straight puncture wound that didn’t interfere with any of the boy’s internal organs.
The boy’s eyes remained glassy and out of sorts. Falau inspected him and felt that his disconnected look was more of an indication of the harsh punch that he received than the stab wound. Reaching down the big man tore a piece of the boy’s shirt from the bottom and rolled it up into a ball measuring approximately one inch in diameter. He pressed the ball into the open wound creating his own clot for the cut.
“Ohhhhhhhh!” the boy moaned as the cloth entered him.
“It’s just temporary, Kiddo. We need to stop the bleeding and then the doctors will take care of everything from there.”
The boy’s hand locked onto the big man and pulled at the sleeve of his jacket with the pain coursing through his body. “I just don’t listen. I didn’t listen to my mom. I didn’t listen to you. Now it might kill me.”
“You’re not going to die. You’re going to be in a hell of a lot of pain but you’re not going to die.”
“Maybe I should be the one to die. Not Silva or José but me.”
“Or maybe you didn’t die for a reason. Maybe you’re supposed to do something with your life other than cause misery for other people. You’re being given a chance to do the right thing kid, don’t screw it up.”
Pulling back from the boy Falau looked up and tried to move himself to look through the crowd anxious to see if an ambulance was coming. “Did anyone call to the ambulance? Anyone?”
An English voice jumped from the back of the crowd “I called. They said that they would get here as fast as they can, but the traffic is heavy.”
Looking down to the boy Falau saw the blood had slowed its escape from the wound in his chest. The small makeshift plug was doing its job halting the blood from leaking out of the boy.
In a flourish of enthusiasm, the big man scooped the boy up in his arms causing the boy to grunt hard and gasp for air.
“Sorry, Joaquim. No time to wait.”
“You’re loco, old man. You had a hard time getting to the hospital without me in your arms last night. You’re probably going to drop me.”
“If I do I will land on top of you to break my fall.” said the big man giving a quick wink to the boy.
Pushing his way through the crowd that was more intent on seeing what was happening than moving for the man to make his way through, Falau got to the entrance to the park and passed another smile with the girl taking the tickets. This time her face fell with confusion to the big man carrying a boy.
Outside the park the area opened but the man in the crowd was right. The traffic was at a standstill. Numerous trucks were taking down the decorations for First Night and clogging up the road ways.
Pushing himself to a trot the big man saw the hospital on the hill and focused himself in a straight line for it. Having no idea about where the streets would lead he was sure with his size and ability he could turn any kind of dead end into a throughway if he needed to.
“Go out to the left it is a gentler slope.” said the boy now laying his head against the chest of the big man.
“You going to navigate for me?”
“I will do what I can, but I think the cloth you stuck in me fell out. I can feel my side getting wet.”
Falau pulled the boy slightly from his body and saw the drops of blood gathering in a small tribe on the ground. “No time to fool around. We need to get on the move now. I am not going to lie. This is going to hurt, a lot.”
“Hurt’s better than dead.” said the boy doing his best to muster up a smile for the big man.
His feet hit the ground in rapid succession crossing the main street with ease and up onto the inner streets and the start of the climb to the hospital.
As the ground started its vicious pitch the big man’s heart started to pound harder and harder. Pushing his breathing out he attempted to control his heart rate and overcome the physical limitations he had. Falau had always lived by the thought that when it came to physical things it was all mind over matter. If you simply push harder, you can accomplish most things. The body always had a little bit more left in it and unless you dropped to the ground unable to move an inch further you were not giving everything you had.
“Stay to the left.” muttered the boy turning his head getting a look of the street in front of them. “Just follow that road. Its longer but it will take you right to the hospital.”
The road that the boy indicated had a far gentler slope and meandered in a curving fashion. It twisted to the right and then back to the left and made for esthetic value than for a function of getting a person to the hospital the fastest.
The incline was far more forgiving, and the big man huffed and puffed but could see the hospital’s arching beams on the front showing him he was getting closer. With a final burst the big man made a charge for the front door hitting them before the automatic opener could trigger them to fully open.
The lobby of the hospital was open, and several glass booths stood across the room with people working with patients that came in.
The big man grabbed the closest wheelchair and placed the boy in it and pushed him directly to the closest open window.
A pretty woman with light skin and tight curly hair clicked away at her computer not raising her head to greet the man on the other side. The glass window had several small slits in it for the two people to communicate but the woman in her late forties had no interest in engaging in that at this time.
“Hey. Can you help me?” said Falau leaning in toward the window?”
“Señor, you need to take a ticket and wait your turn like the rest of the people here.” said the woman without looking up at the man.
“I can’t wait. This boy has been stabbed. He needs help now.”
“Señor, like I just told you, he will have to take a ticket and then he will be called.” the woman still refused to look out at the man and kept to her typing.
Lifting his large hand, the big man knocked hard on the glass several times causing the woman to jump in her seat and pull back from the window with her eyes wide and mouth ajar.
“The boy is bleeding. He could die. Do you want to live with that for the rest of your life? Let him in to see a doctor.”
The woman shifted her look from Falau to the boy in the chair and pulled herself to a half standing position to look over the boy’s body. Pursing her lips, the woman sat back in her chair. “Does he have a ticket yet? We do have a system.”
“You’re fucked, you bitch!” snapped Falau standing up and pounding his fist hard against the glass causing the woman to jump out of her chair and move to the far side of the room.
Grabbing the back of the wheelchair the big man pushed the boy to the entrance to the emergency room and pulled on the handle that was locked and only rattled in the hand of Falau.
With a bustle of activity, the door pushed open and two young men in scrubs came through the door leaving it open for Falau to grab. The young men made brief eye contact with the man and then aimed themselves for the front door. Falau grabbed the door before letting it shut and pushed the boy in.
“I NEED A DOCTOR!” yelled Falau trying to draw the attention of any of the hospital staff. “THIS BOY HAS BEEN STABBED. HE NEEDS HELP!”
Jumping into action several nurses and doctors rushed to the boy forcing the big man out of the way. A man with gray developing around his temples and a chiseled and hardened look in his eye that could only be developed through years of experience took control of the situation and pointed where he wanted the boy to be taken to leaving Falau alone watching the boy be whisked away.
Chapter 30
In an i
nstant Joaquim was gone and under the care of the trained professionals of the hospital. Falau turned himself and walked to the door he had slipped through with the boy just a few moments before.
“Excuse me, Sir.” called the voice of a woman from behind Falau.
Stopping the big man he turned back to the voice to see an attractive blond woman that looked to be in her late thirties coming at him. The woman was dressed in hospital scrubs and her hair was pulled back into a bun. Her blue eyes immediately caught the attention of Falau.
Falau pointed to himself and the woman nodded yes reaching her hand out like she was trying to grab the man before he could go.
“Sorry to call you from across the room. We just need some information about that boy you brought in.” said the woman getting up close to the man and sighing loudly.
“Oh, ya. Sorry. I am a little out of it. It was a hell of a thing that happened to the kid.”
“Hold on one second.” said the woman who moved to the central station where all the doctors and nurses located themselves to work on their computers. The woman leaned over and pulled out a clip board equipped with a blank piece of paper and a pen tethered to it.
“Sorry about that, sir. I just need to be able to take the information down to help the doctor. I am Caterair one of the nurses here at the hospital. Can you tell me what happened to the boy?”
“Sure, but I don’t have a lot of information. He was at the festival downtown and had a run in with some other kids. I was having a drink off to the side and saw the fight start. One of the other kids stabbed him as he was fighting the first one.”
“Did you come here in the ambulance with him?”
“He didn’t come by ambulance. I carried him.”
“You carried him? From the waterfront to here?”
