by Gerald Lopez
“How?” Bart said.
“The Bufo Alvaris, better known as our friend ‘the toad’, secretes a venom,” Jenna said. “Last night, Rachel and her guests smoked the crystalized venom. The toxic part of the venom, bufotenine, is burned off in the smoking process, but not when mixed in with chupa and other ingredients.”
“The chupa!” Bart said. “The toad venom is part of the chupa cocktail!”
“While everyone was staring at the toad in amazement, I was able to text Dr. Farrow and tell her of the toad’s involvement, on the slight chance its venom was used in the cocktails,” Jenna said. “By the time I was able to leave those tripping fools alone with Julia, your… Dr. Farrow had texted me back.”
“And,” Bart said.
“And she could 100 percent confirm that the toad venom was one of the ingredients in what you told me Jonesy referred to as ‘the soup’. And it is definitely sounding like a soup with ingredients being just tossed into the mix.”
“This is good news, right, Jenna?” Bart said.
“Yes. It gives Dr. Farrow some concrete findings to show the government folks, and more importantly, it helped the patients. Dr. Farrow told me that the patients are showing significant improvement since the doctors were able to deal with any effects caused by the toad venom. But this is just the start, and I’m concerned by how ingredients are being thrown together in these cocktails. The majority of the patients are still in critical condition.”
“I understand that, but we’re getting somewhere, aren’t we?”
“Yes,” Jenna said. “The information about the toad saved a fifty-year-old woman’s life, and helped stabilize some earlier patients, whose lives were on the brink.”
“Oh God,” Bart said. “One ingredient, one success, but how many more ingredients are there still to find?”
Chapter 48
By Grace
JENNA HAD fallen asleep next to Bart, and the two had to rush to be ready for the day when they finally got out of bed. Bart’s schedule included inspecting the main restaurant with James, and Jenna was scheduled to lead an aerobics class in the gym.
JAMES GAVE the restaurant kitchen two thumbs up, and he and Bart sat down for drinks and a pastry. Moments later, their waitress Debbie walked up to them looking distressed.
“What’s wrong?” James said.
“You’d better go out front to the valet station… and quick,” Debbie said.
James and Bart left their drinks and food, and made their way to the valet station. Before they even made it outside, they could hear a woman yelling. Once they got outside, Bart could see the woman was yelling at George, who was out of uniform, dressed in denim shorts, sandals and a T-shirt. A thin little girl with long straight brown hair held George’s left hand, while he carried a small boy with short black hair in his right arm. The woman, who was wearing a maid’s uniform different from the resort staff’s uniform, had just roughly pulled the little girl away from George, causing the girl to cry.
“Hey, watch how you treat that kid,” Bart said.
The woman turned and glared angrily at Bart, but he put his back up. That was when he recognized her. She was in unflattering pants and a baggy top with her hair in a bun. The uniform did a lot to disguise her identity.
“Do you have something to say to me?” Lorena said, then she pushed Bart hard in the chest. But he stood fast, which made her even angrier than she already was. “Well, if it isn’t another Maynard Shores faggot! You bastards must grow on trees here.”
“What seems to be the problem, Lorena?” James said calmly.
“Are you seriously asking me what the problem is?” Lorena said. “You have the nerve to ask if I have a problem, when I find out that idiot husband of mine is bringing our two small children to this perverted whorehouse you call a resort. Is that what you’re asking me, little man?”
“Umm… yes?” James said, meekly.
“You really are a stupid faggot, then,” Lorena said. “Just like the rest of the so-called men in this place.”
An older woman with gray hair, who was dressed in a uniform similar to Lorena’s walked up to her. “What’s the matter, mija? You need help?” The woman said to Lorena in a Puerto Rican accent.
“Yeah, I do,” Lorena said. “Take my kids home.” She passed the little girl to the older woman, then turned to George and spoke in a lower tone, but one seething with rage. “Give her Milo.”
“They’re my kids too, Lorena.” George said.
“Listen to me, you lousy son of a bitch,” Lorena said, her voice shaking with barely controlled anger. “It is only by the grace of God, that I don’t kill you right now, George. You know I don’t want our kids anywhere near this place. Your little lover boy Joe and you can work here among the perverts, but I don’t want my children any place that knowingly harbors child molesting perverts. Rebecca, get Milo and take him and Amy to your house.”
The older woman walked up to George, who was reluctant to hand her his son.
“George, why don’t you let your children go home with Rebecca,” James said. “They don’t need to see their parents like this.”
George looked at Rebecca. “Milo needs a car seat.”
“I still have my grandchildren’s car seats in the car,” Rebecca said, as she gently picked up Milo.
“I’ll go by your house and get them after work, Rebecca,” Lorena said.
“I don’t want to go, Mamá,” Amy said. “I want to stay with Daddy.”
“Daddy’s busy right now,” Lorena said. “You go with Miss Rebecca, and be a good girl.”
Amy cried loudly as she walked away with Rebecca. George looked at Lorena with a pitiful expression.
“I just stopped by to check the schedule, baby,” George said.
“I don’t give a damn why you stopped by here,” Lorena said. “You brought the kids with you. And I told you to never bring our children to this place.”
She was staring at George with her hands angrily crossed on her chest, when Joe, who was in uniform, walked outside of the lobby entrance and toward them.
“What the hell is going on out here?” Joe said. “Someone inside told me George and Lorena were fighting.”
Lorena looked at George angrily, then spoke. “I’m done out here. I should’ve moved away from Maynard Shores a long time ago. I’ve got things to finish, but this conversation isn’t over, George.” She turned and walked toward the lobby, as Joe walked up to her.
“Lorena, what’s going on?” Joe said.
Without saying a word, Lorena looked at Joe and shoved him in the chest so hard that he fell backward onto the pavement. George and Bart helped him up.
“Are you OK, Joe?” Bart said.
George looked at everyone and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He was clearly embarrassed. “You know how passionate Latins can be about things,” he said, and smiled weakly.
“That does not happen in this resort ever again, or you’ll find yourself out of a job,” James said to George. “Am I understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” George said. “I was just checking my work schedule. I’m leaving now.”
James looked at Bart, then walked toward the lobby. After brushing some dirt off Joe’s uniform, Bart followed James back indoors.
“That was strange,” Bart said.
“Couples argue all the time, but I won’t have a staff member engaging in that sort of behavior at work,” James said.
“It seemed to me like Lorena was the one doing most of the talking, and she looked like a volcano about ready to blow.”
“I’d hate to be around when she actually blows.”
“James, what is she doing here, anyway? I thought she worked nights cleaning Julia’s salon and spa.”
“Sometimes, she comes in during the day to meet with Julia, or to check on things. She’s wearing her uniform, which means she either went to some other job sites earlier, or will go to them later.”
“That makes sense, I guess,” Bart said
. “I just realized something. I haven’t been to Julia’s salon since I’ve been back at the resort.”
“If you want to go now, I have paperwork I can work on, and we can meet again tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” Bart said. “Oh, I meant to ask how Gabriel’s doing… if I’m not being too nosy.”
“He and I are both doing very well. We’ve spent every night together since that night.”
“You dog you,” Bart said. “I always knew you had it in you, James.” He patted James on the back when he saw him smile, then remembered something important. “Has Gabriel, by any chance, heard if his father plans on stopping by anytime soon?”
“He hasn’t heard anything yet.”
“OK, thanks,” Bart said. “I’ll head over to Julia’s.”
“I would take the long way there, and walk slowly, if I were you,” James said. “Just in case the volcano known as Lorena is still ready to blow.”
“I think I’ll do that,” Bart said. “Maybe I’ll stop by the chapel and say a prayer.” He chuckled, waved to James, and left.
He was down the hall from the chapel when he heard her again, only this time the volcano had blown. Bart could hear the sounds of someone being slapped hard over and over. Without thinking, he ran toward the double doors of the chapel.
“You lousy, stinking, perverted dirtbag,” Lorena said, slapping Mr. Orion’s face hard. “People like you should have your privates cut off and fed to the dogs! You destroy everything good and innocent that’s around you!”
Lorena was wildly slapping Mr. Orion again, wherever she could hit him. It was pure rage working itself out of her, and Mr. Orion was doing nothing to stop her. Bart walked up to her and grabbed both her wrists.
“That’s enough,” Bart said, in a commanding voice.
Lorena started to weep. “It can never be enough to make up for the horrors he’s done. He’s ruined innocent children, destroyed families, killed his own countrymen… and probably a lot more things than that.”
“I know,” Bart said. “But you can’t do anything about that. At least not here in this chapel. And not now. Go home, Lorena, take care of your children.” He didn’t dare mention George.
Bart let go of Lorena’s wrists, and Lorena punched Mr. Orion so hard in the face that he fell back against the altar, then she kicked him in the stomach. When Bart tried to reach out for Lorena, she slapped his arm away, and looked at him defiantly through tear-filled eyes.
“I’m leaving, but that man on the floor is a pig, and so are you for defending him,” Lorena said.
“A chapel is no place to fight,” Bart said. “Good-bye, Lorena.”
Lorena slammed the chapel doors behind her as she left, and Bart tried to help Mr. Orion up.
“It’s no good… I need a minute,” Mr. Orion said, before turning his head and throwing up on the floor.
Bart ran to the double doors, locked them, grabbed a nearby wastebasket and took it back to Mr. Orion. He then helped Mr. Orion sit up, so he could throw up in the wastebasket instead of on the floor, or himself.
“Now I smell and look like a pig too,” Mr. Orion said, laughing before he threw up again.
Bart grabbed the runner from the altar and used it to clean Mr. Orion’s dirty, red, and bruised face.
“I’ve been waiting years for someone to attack me like that. I’m happy it was a Hispanic woman.”
Bart took out his cell phone and called for housekeeping to come clean the mess. He was glad that the chapel floors were marble rather than carpet. After talking to housekeeping, he walked around the room and looked at his surroundings in an attempt to keep his mind off the unbelievable stench that had filled the room. The round chapel’s walls were all clear glass, which allowed people to see both beach views and gardens. Even the high-pitched ceiling was glass, which made the space feel more like an extra large gazebo than a chapel.
There was a knock, and Bart unlocked the doors to let two middle-aged housekeepers inside. As they walked toward the altar, the women looked at Mr. Orion. Bart spotted them giving the man dirty looks, and he decided to address the situation.
“Just clean up and leave the guest alone, please.”
The older looking of the woman grabbed the cloth runner out of Mr. Orion’s hands. “This is too good for the likes of an old pervert like you.”
“Give him the cloth back, and do your job,” Bart said. “That’s if you still want a job at this resort.”
“Yes, Sir,” the woman said.
Remembering something he’d learned in Sunday school, Bart spoke again. “Jesus gave his life for people like that man sitting on the floor next to you… remember that.” Then he said something similar to what he’d heard outside earlier from Lorena. “But for the grace of God… and all that good stuff.”
“Yes, Sir,” the same woman, who’d spoken earlier said. She looked at Mr. Orion, wiped his mouth gently with the cloth, then gave it back to him. “I’m sorry for my comment, Sir.”
“Don’t be,” Mr. Orion said. “You said what you thought, which means you’re no hypocrite. And what you said was no lie.”
The two women finished cleaning the floor, and Mr. Orion handed them back the cloth runner.
“Should we leave the wastebasket or take it with us to clean it,” the older woman said.
Bart turned to Mr. Orion, who waved the wastebasket away. “I’m good,” Mr. Orion said. I won’t need it again.”
After spraying the chapel with a strong, lavender-scented odor eliminator, the housekeepers picked up their supplies and turned to go. On her way out, the younger looking woman handed Mr. Orion a roll of paper towels. Bart locked the doors behind them when they left, walked to Mr. Orion and sat down beside him. He needed to talk to ‘pig man’ and get some answers.
Chapter 49
Tears for the Damned
“I ONCE HEARD someone say that there are no tears for the damned,” Mr. Orion said.
“Are you damned, Ernesto?” Bart said.
“What do you think?”
“If I were on a jury deciding your fate, I’d sentence you to the electric chair for your crimes,” Bart said.
“So would I,” Mr. Orion said. He laid his head on Bart’s shoulder and continued speaking. “I’m scared, and I didn’t think I would be when the time came. Back home… when I was younger, I used to live my life thinking that I could die at any moment. A soldier trying to move up in the world could take me out in an attempt to take my place. My soldier could decide he was tired of me and do away with me. But life continued on. As it does.”
“You could’ve changed things, but you didn’t,” Bart said.
“No,” Mr. Orion said. “I didn’t. Instead I grew complacent. It was easier to do what I was told to do, even when I knew it was wrong.”
“I know you and Reese were in here last night,” Bart said. “I saw you handing him what looked like an envelope full of cash. And I saw you two embrace.”
Mr. Orion sat up and rubbed his eyes. He alternated between looking down at the floor as he spoke, and looking up at Bart. “Reese is a good man, but he needs someone to take him under his wing and keep an eye on him. I’m glad you’re doing that for right now. The manila envelope had a movie of him with my boys that I had taken, that he was anxious to get back. He was grateful and gave me a kiss on the cheek and a hug.”
Neither man spoke for a few minutes, before Bart broke the silence. “That was nice of you. Why did you do it?”
“Maybe because my time here is at an end, and I wanted to do something nice for someone without expecting anything in return.” He turned to Bart. “Have no worries, though, I’ve decided that acting in the drama you and your friends have set up will be a fitting end to my time here.”
Bart looked downward, unsure of what to say. This was often the case when he was in Mr. Orion’s presence. “Why not just leave, Ernesto? I don’t understand.”
“A good man like you would find it hard to understand the mind of a monster li
ke me,” Mr. Orion said. “People have never thought very much of me. Hell, I’ve never thought much of myself. I don’t know why I was saved from death that day in the orphanage, or why my soldier kept me around, even after I’d grown up. Sorry… I’ve just lost my train of thought. It happens more and more. Soon, it’ll stop happening, and I’ll cease to exist… at least, on this earthly plane.”
There was silence again. Bart just sat and waited, trying to numb himself to the situation, while also staying alert to gather any information Mr. Orion might have to share.
“Their plan was a good one,” Mr. Orion said. “And it even worked for a while. Then it didn’t matter.”
“What plan is that?” Bart said.
“Lisa and Marcus’s plan,” Mr. Orion said. “That woman was always very clever. But there is an innocence to a young boy that just can’t be replicated with the legal age boys they send me. They can shave their body hair and dress young, but there are other things that always gave them away.”
“Yet, you stayed quiet and played the game… as you would say.”
“None of it really mattered,” Mr. Orion said. “It’d all gotten old anyway. I didn’t care about sex anymore. I’m not sure it ever really was about the sex. I thought I would practice the fine art of manipulating others to see who I could drag down into the depths with me. But in the end, even that was no fun. Nothing satisfied me… and nothing could bring back what I’d lost so long ago.”
“Why was George’s wife Lorena so mad at you?”
“I have no idea. The staff here have always talked about me and my taste in things and people. Clearly, she’d heard the rumors and believed them.”
Mr. Orion was a jumble of thoughts, and he jumped from one topic to another, which made Bart struggle to understand him. It seemed like he had switched topics again.
“George was hard to convince,” Mr. Orion said. “He seemed like a dedicated family man. But when he needed money, he finally came to Ernesto’s playroom and put on a show with the boys.”
