Laura 01 The Jaguar Prophecy

by Anton Swanepoel

  Taking the gun from the night stand, he goes to the door. He listens for a few seconds for any sound from outside, and then slowly he opens the door and peeks outside, pistol ready. The hallway is empty.

  Quickly he picks up the clothes and puts them just inside the room, then picks up the food and closes the door, locking it. Elisabeth has made them toast, scrambled eggs and fruit salad with yogurt in. She has also left them two glasses and a jug of orange juice. They eat eagerly, then take a shower before getting dressed.

  Victor looks at Laura’s T-shirt with the two hearts over her breasts and her bare feet, her hair is uncombed, and she has no makeup on. She is gorgeous, a natural beauty that needs no makeup or jewelry.

  “I think we need to get new clothes before we go any further Laura, especially shoes for you.” Laura nods and walks up to Victor, taking his left hand in her right, and waits for him to pick up the backpack and open the door. They find Elisabeth sitting behind her desk, giving them a wide toothless smile. She had gone back half an hour later after she had put the food down and seen it still outside the door on the floor. From curiosity, she had placed her ear against the door and heard them making love. Deciding to leave them alone she had walked back to her office, remembering the days when her Tom was still alive.

  “Thank you for your hospitality Elisabeth. Can you please call us a taxi to go to the beach?”

  Elisabeth nods at Victor’s request and picks up her phone. She dials her son, who runs his own taxi business, and asks him to come and pick up two people.

  “Pablo, my son, will be waiting for you outside in fifteen minutes,” Elisabeth announces after replacing the receiver. Victor thanks her and goes over to the only bench in the office.

  After sitting down, Laura joins him and whispers, “What are we going to do after we get new clothes?”

  Victor looks around to make sure no one is listening. Elisabeth is reading a book and does not give any indication that she has heard Laura.

  “We will take a bus and continue towards Peru, crossing the first border by bus, using the crowd as cover. After changing busses we will continue to a small airfield further up towards Peru where we can hire a small private airplane to fly us to Peru. The bus ride is about two days, depending on how bad the roads are and whether we get stopped by any local gangs.”

  A horn is heard outside and Victor stands up, says goodbye to Elisabeth and opens the door. After making sure there are no suspicious looking people outside in the road or near the taxi, he lets Laura exit and follows her.

  The taxi is an old Ford Escort, 1.6 liter carburetor, probably a 1984 model. The car is painted black with white lettering on the side saying “Pablo’s Taxi Service”. Although the car is old, it is in mint condition, fitted with new chrome wheels and tinted windows.

  After opening the car door for Laura, Victor climbs in on the same side, and even before he closes the door, asks Pablo to take them to a beach shop where they can buy beach clothing.

  Pablo wastes no time in getting them to the beach and a cousin’s beach shop. The parking area is already crowded with cars and taxis, and Pablo cannot find a parking space. There is a row of six shops between the parking area and the beach, and Pablo informs them that the one they should go to is the second one, and to tell the owner that Pablo sent them.

  Victor gives Pablo a US$100 bill for the ride, and after seeing Pablo’s face says, “If you wait for me until our return, you can get ten more of those.”

  Pablo looks up wide-eyed at Victor, and then eagerly nods his head in agreement. Victor helps Laura exit the taxi, and they walk together to Pablo’s cousin’s shop. The shop is a typical holiday beach shop, sporting beachwear, sunscreen, towels, surf boards, items vacationers normally forget like toothbrushes, and a variety of souvenirs.

  Victor tells Laura to get herself a bikini and a few tshirts, along with a few shorts, shoes, toiletries, a hat and a fleece jacket. Victor gets himself three tshirts, a hat, a Speedo costume to function as underwear, shorts, and toiletries to shave with.

  After grabbing a few snacks of candy bars and six bottles of water, Victor and Laura take the items to the counter where a middle aged Mexican man with his Hawaiian shirt half unbuttoned, waits for them.

  “Hi, Pablo sent us.”

  “Oh good, Pablo is a good kid, I will give you 10% off,” the man replies and starts ringing up the items.

  “Do you have any prepaid cell phone cards?”

  “Yes, $20, do you want airtime as well?”

  “Do you have one that can access the internet through 3 or 4 G?” Victor is hoping to book their bus tickets online using his cell phone.

  “No, only EDGE speed is available here for pre paid cards, minimum $50 balance needed to activate it. Interested?”

  “Yes, please, give me one and add $100 for internet connection.”

  The man looks Victor up and down then nods and reaches behind the counter. He pulls out a stack of phone cards and hands one to Victor, then pulls toward him a small machine that looks like a credit card pay point. After pushing a few buttons the machine prints a receipt.

  “Use the directions with the phone card to activate it, then call the number on the receipt and enter the code displayed on the receipt.”

  Victor thanks him, then pays the man and tells him to keep the change. Taking the two bags with their purchases from the counter, Victor says goodbye to the owner and heads out of the shop towards the parking area, with Laura following closely behind. On reaching the parking area, Victor looks around, but can find no trace of Pablo or his car. Shrugging his shoulders, he starts to walk to another taxi that is parked four cars from them. The driver sees them and immediately opens the rear door of his taxi for them.

  Victor gets within two steps of the taxi when a car suddenly comes to a stop next to him with tires squealing, honking its horn, it is Pablo. Hanging out of the driver’s window, he yells to Victor, “I had to drive around the block, not allowed to park in the middle of the road, sorry for being late.”

  The other taxi operator waves him away, thinking he is lying, but Victor greets Pablo and thanks him for coming back, then opens the door for Laura, getting in after her.

  “Where to now?” Pablo asks grinning in anticipation of the money owed to him.

  “The bus station, and step on it.”

  “Ok, bus station coming up fast,” responds Pablo, but does not move the car, he just waits.

  Victor laughs and reaches inside his backpack, counting inside the bag, then pulls out ten notes. Pablo eagerly takes the money and then pulls away as if his life depends on getting them to the bus station as fast as possible.

  He zigzags his way through traffic, honking his horn and shouting at other drivers on the road. On a few occasions they barely miss pedestrians and other cars, and on two occasions Pablo steers the car onto the sidewalk to get around traffic jams, honking at pedestrians to get off the sidewalk and out of his way. Laura is holding on for dear life to the grab handle above the door, while Victor just rocks with the motions, busy with his cell phone, never looking up, not even when Laura screams as they almost crash into a truck head on, Pablo swerving at the last moment.

  Suddenly Pablo brings the car to a screeching halt, causing Laura to bump her head on the seat in front of her.

  “Bus station,” Pablo proudly announces.

  Laura jerks her door open and jumps out, yelling “Maniac!” to Pablo, who totally ignores her. Victor finishes something on his cell phone and then slowly looks up and checks that they are at the correct bus station.

  “Excellent driving Pablo.” Pablo is now glowing with proudness. “Tell me Pablo, how much money do you make in a month?”

  Pablo thinks for a moment and then replies “$2000”, doubling the actual figure.

  “Pablo, I want you to do me a favor, I want you to take a two month holiday, starting immediately.”

  “Why?” Pablo asks, his smile gone and concern on his face.

  “No one is
to know that you drove us around, or that we were even here. Go to the States immediately for two months and if someone asks, tell them a family member there is sick, understood?” Victor says sternly, putting a bundle of cash in Pablo’s hand. Pablo stares at the money, ten packs of ten $100 bills.

  “That serious?”

  “Life threatening serious, you understand?” Victor asks now a little less stern.

  “I am gone,” Pablo replies, grasping the seriousness of the situation. Victor climbs out of the car, taking their bags with, and goes to stand next to Laura. Pablo wastes no time in getting away.

  “Why did you ask him to go so fast, and what were you doing on your phone the whole time?” Laura is a little annoyed.

  “Making sure no one is following us. We entered a beach shop with jeans on, and you with no shoes. Then we bought a variety of clothes vacationers would normally have, and I got a prepaid card with internet access at a beach shop, paying double what I could get at the local mall, including the fact that I paid the man in hundred dollar bills. We attracted a lot of attention and I needed to make sure no one followed us or sees us getting on a bus, which is why I asked Pablo to go on a two month vacation.

  “I also booked our bus tickets for multiple routes and bus changes to get to our destination at the airfield while Pablo was driving, no one will be sure what busses we will actually get on, and it gives us options should we need them.”

  Laura feels a little stupid for going off like that; all this is so new to her, yet so exciting. Her heart is still beating wildly in her chest, and she has to admit, she is actually starting to enjoy her new life.

  Their bus is not due to depart yet for another hour, allowing them time to change into their new clothes in the restrooms, and look a little more like normal vacationers. Laura elects to wear shorts with her two piece bikini underneath, followed by a blue cotton button shirt that she only knots at the bottom, leaving the buttons undone. She does not like shoes and rather opts for sandals.

  Victor elects to wear board shorts with sandals, and a beach shirt which depicts girls dancing. He buys a small suitcase and stuffs the clothes they are not using into it. When it is time to depart they take their place in the line, waiting for the bus operator to check everyone off.

  The station has a small office building with ticket booth, which Victor avoided needing to go to by booking tickets online. The small run down office building is flanked by restrooms on either side. In front of the building is a large freestanding roof, allowing parking for eight busses. Several rows of benches for people to wait line the walls.

  When it is their turn to board the bus, Victor produces their fake passports and informs the driver that his tickets were bought online, quoting the booking number. The driver quickly scans his printed out list, and confirms their booking. After checking their passports he returns them together with the receipt for their purchase, wishes them to have a nice trip and to take a seat on the bus.

  The bus is a well kept and new Greyhound bus, with air-conditioning running which Laura and Victor welcome. Most of the back seats are already taken and Victor decides to take the front two seats, directly behind the driver. He wants to hear everything the driver and co-driver are talking about.

  After 20 minutes all the passengers are on the bus and they head off towards Valladoid, their first stop. From there the bus will travel to Jose Maria Morelos and then onwards to Chetumal, where they will continue to Belize City. In Belize they will change busses to continue towards Peru.

  Victor secures his backpack between him and Laura, knotting one shoulder band to his wrist, then uses the spare shoelaces he bought at the beach shop to lock the zippers by using several knots to secure them all together. He does not want anyone to lift the bag from them while they are sleeping, or open it and help themselves to the money. Victor then covers the bag with a fleece jacket he bought in the beach shop and makes himself comfortable, trying to get some rest.

  Laura cannot sleep and stares in wonder as the city makes room for the countryside. She watches in amazement at all the new things she is seeing, how other people live.

  Laura had never really been outside a city, and never seen people live in such poverty. It makes her sad at first, but then she starts to note how friendly the people alongside the road are, waving at her and smiling as she waves back.

  How odd that these people can be so happy with so little. Laura is used to hearing people constantly complain each time they return their books about how tough and hard life is. And from people that cannot even dream of having to miss one meal.

  Eventually Laura becomes tired and decides to make do with the opportunity to get some rest. Placing her head on Victor’s shoulder, she closes her eyes, dreaming of how the two of them are going to buy a sailboat and just sail the ocean. She does not care where to, just as long as she can be with Victor, and no one tries to kill them.

  Victor wakes briefly when they stop in Valladoid, dropping off some people and picking up some more. After making sure no one of the new passengers looks suspicious, he goes back to sleep, giving Laura a kiss on the cheek before he does so.

  At Jose Maria Morelos, the bus stops for half an hour, filling up with diesel at a roadside station. There is a small cafeteria, and after finding a seat for them Victor orders tacos and Coca Cola for the two of them from the waiter. He does not want to use the snacks and water he bought at the beach shop just yet, knowing that they may need it later.

  Laura is full of energy and her green eyes sparkle with love and excitement. She peppers Victor with questions about his life, his upbringing, his training, almost not giving him a chance to answer before asking the next question.

  Slowly she melts him a bit, causing him to show his softer and more playful side. Their waiter is a young but rude man in his early 20’s. He goes around the tables cursing people for making a mess or even taking too long to order, and in general is a jerk to all the customers.

  Victor takes a packet of chips from the rack and when the waiter passes again, quickly puts a chip on his shoulder. Everyone in cafeteria bursts out laughing when they see it. The waiter however is not impressed and after brushing the chip from his shoulder storms towards Victor, demanding an apology.

  Victor calmly stands up and before the waiter can stop him, plucks some hair from his head. Holding the hair up in front of the waiter Victor says, “There you go, better?”

  The waiter is dumbfounded and demands to know why Victor has pulled out some of his hair.

  “To make a hole, so that the pressure in your head can escape and allow you to relax.”

  The customers go into renewed laughter with added zest. A lady who is sitting at the table next to Victor was busy drinking soda at the time and starts laughing so much that she spills her drink on the floor. The waiter is now furious, clenching his fists. He curses Victor, but does not move. Victor does not appreciate being cursed at, and without hesitation head butts the waiter, breaking his nose. The waiter starts crying, holding his nose, and then spins around and tries to walk away briskly. However, he slips on the spilled soda and comes down hard on the floor next to Victor.

  Just then the driver enters and announces that they will be departing in five minutes, asking all to take their seats on the bus.

  Victor shakes his head at the waiter, now slowly getting up and trying to leave with as much dignity as he can master. The other passengers come to Laura and Victor and shake their hands and thank them for the fun and for putting the waiter in his place, apparently he constantly belittles everyone when they come to eat there.

  The owner had not had the guts to fire him, as he believed the waiter to be dangerous. Now, seeing that the waiter is nothing but mouth, he decides to fire him.

  Laura and Victor are given the choice of any seats on the bus and decide to take the rear seat, as it is one long bench, allowing five people to sit next to each other or two people to lie down and sleep. This works great for Victor and Laura, who still have a long way
to go. They sleep until the driver wakes them when they cross the Mexican border at Santa Elena.

  A customs officer boards the bus and inspects everyone’s passport, stamping it on the bus, as Victor had hoped they would. From there it is an uneventful trip until they stop in Belize City at the bus station where they are to change busses.

  After getting their small suitcase, Victor thanks the driver and tips him $20, using the change he received after purchasing the meal at the cafeteria. He knows that he needs to be careful of showing the $100 bills he has with him. The bus station is more modern than the one in Mexico, having an air conditioned waiting room with seating for 100 passengers. There is also a small snack shop, where Victor purchases sandwiches and water for him and Laura.

  While waiting for their bus, Victor sees a flyer for private trips from Belize to Bogota City, Colombia. He phones the number on the flyer from a local payphone and waits for someone to answer. After several rings the phone goes to voicemail. Victor hangs up and after waiting several minutes tries again. This time someone answers the phone.

  “Harry’s Adventure Travels, how can I help?” The voice sounds out of breath.

  “I saw your ad for trips to Colombia, can you take two people?” Victor is hoping that they will be able to save time by flying, plus avoiding official customs in large airports at the same time. He is also hoping that once they are in Colombia, he can arrange with the man to continue onwards to Peru.

  “When do you want to go?”

  “Today.”

  “No can do, busy giving the old bird a service, maybe next week.”

  “Can she fly?” Victor is hoping he can bribe the pilot into skipping a service.

  “Yes, but she really needs a new starter, if it packs up we are stranded.” The pilot does not want to let a customer go, but he also does not want to fly with the chance of being stranded.

  “How about triple your normal fee, and you take the part with, if it breaks down in Colombia you can fix it there before going home, if not you’ve lost nothing and got a good deal.” Victor waits for the pilot’s response.