Both Sides of the Border, page 24
“Emilio? Are you here?” Still no answer.
“My name is Lupita,” a voice whispered.
“Lupita? We were on the train together? It’s me, Dolores.”
“Yes, you shared a tortilla with me. That’s before they stopped the train and caught me and brought me here.”
“Yes. We don’t know where our brother Emilio is.”
“I’m sorry. Maybe we can find him later. I’ll look for him wherever they take me.”
“Thank you. I hope they bring him here later. Maybe in another van,” Dolores whispered.
A loud noise happened outside the safehouse.
“What was that?” Lupita whispered.
“I don’t know,” Dolores answered.
They all sat in the silence. Unable to move. Unable to see. Hungry, tired, and afraid.
The door opened again.
“Any of you need to take a break? You’re going to be here a long time,” the man said.
All three answered, “I do.”
“Great,” the man said sarcastically. He took Lupita first and cut her wristband free, but he didn’t allow her to take off her blindfold. He guided her to the other room and closed the door.
Then he yelled back to her, “Tell me when you are ready to go back to the other room.”
The man let each one take a turn. Then he put the wristbands back on each of them. Dolores was last. Once she was inside the restroom, she gently pulled her blindfold up to see the type of place she was in. It reminded her of an older home she might see in Honduras. It seemed small and run-down. She quickly pulled the blindfold back down and called the man to take her back.
Sitting beside each other in the room, they waited. The man was talking on the cell phone in another room.
“Yes. Yes. Okay. I’ll come and pick them up now. Take them where? Okay, and then I’ll return here? Yes. Okay.”
The man came into the room with Dolores, Ernesto, and Lupita and said, “I’ll return in a few minutes. Don’t talk or try anything stupid. There’s a guard outside watching the house.”
He then went in the hallway and asked the other man, “Are you ready? Rico called us back.”
“Okay.”
They heard the men leave. The van sped away.
Dolores said, “Did either of you try to look around when your hands were free?”
Ernesto whispered, “Yes, and when I had the chance, I peeked through the crack in the door.”
“I tried to look through the door, but I couldn’t get my blindfold up enough,” Lupita said.
“Ernesto, did you see anything?” Dolores asked.
“It’s an old house and very run-down. It looks like it’s about to fall apart.”
“I thought so, too. Did you see a window?”
“Only in the restroom. And I looked through it. I saw the yard in the front of the house. There’s no guard there.”
“Do you think there’s a guard somewhere else around the house?”
“We didn’t hear him speak to anyone else except on the phone,” Lupita said. “He didn’t even talk to the other man who was in the van until it was time to leave.”
“Good point,” Dolores commented.
“How can we get out of these handcuffs?” Ernesto asked.
After a few minutes, Dolores asked, “Did either of you see anything in the bathroom that would work to cut these?”
“No,” they said simultaneously.
“We must come up with something,” Dolores said.
They sat in the silence.
After several minutes, Ernesto said, “Hey, I wonder if the bathroom window has glass in it. We could break the glass and use the broken glass to cut these.”
“That’s an idea,” Dolores said, “but I’m not sure the glass would cut the plastic.”
“Probably not,” Lupita said.
“Maybe when they come back, they’ll bring Emilio,” Ernesto said.
“We can pray for him,” Dolores said.
It felt like the hours passed as the three sat helpless.
“Dolores,” Ernesto said.
“Yes?”
“Lean over here. I will pull your blindfold up with my teeth. Then you can look for something that might cut these off.”
Dolores scooted over to Ernesto. He leaned forward and took Dolores’ blindfold with his teeth. They tugged and worked the blindfold up so Dolores could see.
“There,” she said. “I can see, Ernesto. I’ll look around.”
Dolores got up carefully and walked through the house. She peered into each room before she entered it. It appeared that this place was not used as a house. There was no furniture. There were no dishes in the tiny kitchen. She used her elbow to pry open a kitchen drawer. Everything was empty. She returned to the room and sat down beside Ernesto and Lupita.
“There’s nothing. But there’s no one here except us. There’s no guard.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Ernesto asked.
“Yes. Come here, and I’ll help you each with your blindfolds.”
Soon, the three kidnapped victims could all see. Their hands were not free. But they could stand up, and they could see.
“Now, let’s try to open a door,” Lupita said.
Lupita turned her back to the front door and wiggled the latch with her hand.
“I’ve got it. We can leave; but if they find us, they will kill us,” Lupita said.
“And if we stay, we’ll be sold . . . or worse. I heard them talking about a good price we would bring. You know we’d end up in a brothel. I can’t stay,” Dolores said.
The three escaped out the front door and ran as fast as they were able. The wind was increasing; and because of the heavy cloud cover, there was no moonlight. They ran down a dark road and turned on a street of small houses. Inside a window, they saw a woman making tortillas.
“There,” Dolores said.
They followed her.
Dolores knocked on the door with her elbow and quietly said, “Miss, miss, can you help us?”
“Oh, you poor child!” the woman said as she opened the door. “Come inside, all of you.”
They explained to the woman what had happened to them as she was cutting their handcuffs off. They took their blindfolds completely off.
“Oh, those horrible men. Cartel, you know. They’re all over Matamoros. They’ve ruined the whole city. Here, sit. I’ll give you food. I know you are hungry.”
The woman closed the kitchen curtains so that no one could see inside.
“You can stay here as long as you need to stay, but we can’t let the cartel know. We must keep the curtain and the door closed at all times,” she said.
“Thank you,” Dolores said. “I’m Dolores, and this is Ernesto and Lupita.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Juanita,” she said.
“Nice to meet you, Juanita,” Dolores responded.
Then Dolores added, “We’re hungry. And we appreciate the food. But Ernesto and I are missing our brother. He was taken, too. He’s younger. He’ll be very scared. We can’t stay too long. We must find him.”
“Please, stay here to eat. And drink plenty of water.”
Juanita gave each of them tortillas, grilled chicken, beans, and rice. She handed them a large bowl of fruit as she said, “Please, take some.”
“Thank you.” Dolores smiled.
“Oh, this chicken. So delicious,” Lupita said.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had chicken. Thank you, Juanita,” Dolores said.
They finished their plates. Dolores and Lupita helped Juanita clean up after the meal. Ernesto watched out a small crack in the curtains of the window for any signs of the van or the men.
“So far, all is quiet. No van, no men searching for us,” Ernesto said.
“Good,” Lupita said. “We should leave and walk while it is dark.”
Dolores and Ernesto agreed.
Juanita said, “Before you go, let’s say a prayer together. We’ll pray that God protects you from these bad men and that you will find your little brother.”
“Thank you,” Dolores said.
Juanita said a beautiful prayer. They made the sign of the cross, and then Juanita hugged each of them and wished them well.
“And someday, if there’s no more cartel, please find me again and let me know you are all doing well.”
“We will,” Dolores said. She gave Juanita another hug and said, “Thank you again for the wonderful meal.”
The three escaped kidnapped victims hid between the houses and behind trees as they zigzagged through the southern part of Matamoros. The progress was slow. They stayed completely out of sight. Every time a car, truck, or van came down the street, they hid. If anyone walked down the street, they hid.
“Think we are out of range? Where they would not look for us?” Lupita asked.
“Before they took us, they had spotted us eating in a gas station on the outskirts of town. We traveled quite a distance away from the gas station, all the way into the main part of Matamoros, and they found us again. I’m not sure we are safe anywhere in Matamoros,” Dolores said.
“That’s scary,” Lupita said.
“Yes.”
The wind continued to increase. They ducked in between houses and bushes. They advanced further until they reached the buildings of Matamoros.
“Ernesto, this large building looks like the kind of place we might have been when they first kidnapped us,” Dolores said.
“Maybe. I wish we could’ve seen it. But the building seemed pretty big, like this one.”
“Yes.”
Then Ernesto asked, “Should we try to get closer and look inside? If this is the building, Emilio could be there.”
“I don’t want to get taken again,” Lupita said.
“What if I go by myself to look, and you and Ernesto stay here out of sight?”
“No!” Ernesto said. “You might be taken off again and leave me alone.”
“Okay, we can wait here a while and watch this place. It may not be the same place. Watch for any vans going in and out of the parking lot.”
They sat behind a small wall that was part of a large bed with tropical plants. They hid behind the plants, where they could see through and watch the parking lot.
Nothing happened for some time. Lights were on inside the building, but there were no vans on the outside. They waited.
A van pulled in to the parking lot. Men got out, but they weren’t the men who had kidnapped them. These men had tattoos on their faces and were yelling loudly. One was on the cell phone yelling. They couldn’t make out what was happening. In minutes, the men got back into the van and sped away.
Four police cars came racing by and chased the speeding van. Four other police cars, federal narcotics official cars, and police trucks pulled into the parking lot. A television news crew came in and jumped out to start filming.
“What’s going on?” Lupita whispered.
“Looks like the kidnappers are being arrested.” Ernesto smiled.
The police went inside the building and brought out a nicely dressed man with handcuffs. Other officers were loading scores of drugs into a truck. A few people walked out from the building in a line and were also arrested and put in a different truck. The television crew filmed the whole episode. The police put yellow tape around the parking lot and on all the doors. The police car with the man, the truck with the drugs, the truck with the people in the line, and all the other police cars left. The television crew returned to their truck and left the scene.
“Well, that was something. Those other people in the line, I’m not sure they were kidnapped,” Ernesto said.
“I couldn’t tell either, but we won’t know now,” Lupita said.
“No sign of Emilio.” Dolores sighed.
Dolores was suddenly overcome with emotion. She could not stop the tears from coming. Ernesto put his arm around her.
“We’ll find him,” he said.
The wind began to increase dramatically, and it started to rain. The wind roared even more. Tree limbs broke. Trash and small objects were blowing down the street. Just as quickly, the rain stopped, but the wind continued.
“This is a bad storm,” Ernesto said. “Maybe we should go in an empty building until the storm is over.”
“Let’s look in that building next door. We can check for an open door or window,” Dolores suggested.
The three walked around the small building.
“Nothing here. These doors and windows are all locked up,” Lupita said.
They walked to another abandoned building. Some of the windows were broken out.
It started to rain harder.
“We can go inside,” Ernesto said. He pulled on a wobbly door until it gave way. “Here we go,” he said.
They entered the dark building. They went from room to room until they found a room with no leaky roof. The wind was howling inside through the broken windows.
“At least we are dry,” Dolores said.
They waited in the dark as the storm got worse. Dolores prayed to keep them safe and to help them find Emilio.
Chapter Twenty-Six
EVA SLEPT SOUNDLY SATURDAY NIGHT, and she slept late on Sunday morning. It was the first true night of heavy sleep she’d had in many months. She felt completely refreshed. She had no worries.
Tomorrow, her classes would begin. She was prepared. She could take it easy the entire day and be rested for tomorrow. She made her favorite coffee and sprinkled the cinnamon. Still in her robe and pajamas, she switched on the TV.
“And in an unexpected turn, Hurricane León has veered from the northwesterly track to more of a northern track, which changes the trajectory. Here are the possible paths. As you can see, there is still an outside chance that it will head toward Brownsville. But most of the models place it headed for the Houston/Galveston area. Stay tuned, and we’ll update you after the National Hurricane Center flies the next scheduled reconnaissance plane out to collect more data. We’re expecting another report by five this evening, so check back with us. Remember to keep your TV set to KRGV Channel 5 News.”
Eva picked up her cell phone and called Maria.
“Hello, Maria?”
“Yes, hi, Eva. How are you today?”
“I’m doing well. I saw the weather forecast on TV and wondered about the chances of Hurricane León coming here.”
“Oh, yes, I saw that it changed course, but that usually means it will head more easterly once it gets a little further north. Don’t worry. If I hear anything else, I’ll let you know. But there are no alerts yet from the university. Did you sign on for the university alert system?”
“No. I’m not sure how to do that.”
“Go to our webpage, and you will see the instructions there. Once you add your cell phone number, you will get a text message if it looks like the hurricane will impact the university. Sometimes, they close the campus in case of flooding. They don’t want the students to risk driving in flooded streets.”
“That makes sense. Thanks. I’ll sign up right now.”
“Okay. I’ll see you after your first class tomorrow. I want to see how things are going,” Maria said.
“Thanks. Maybe we can go for coffee?”
“Perfect. Bye now.”
That is a relief, Eva thought. The university’s got my back.
Eva changed the TV to her Spanish novellas for a language refresher. When she studied Spanish, she felt closer to Steven somehow. She wondered if his trip across the bridge last night went smoothly and what he might be doing today.
She took out her laptop and found the university webpage, and she signed up for the alert system.
Eva sipped her coffee as she prepared a quick brunch of pan dulce, mango, star fruit, and bananas. Her mind drifted back to Mexico. She had an interesting thought. She knew the university schedule included a four-day weekend in the middle of the fall semester. Maybe she could get away to Mexico for a short jaunt and meet Steven. Perhaps to Monterrey. It wasn’t too far. She could ride the bus down to meet him. She would talk to him about the possibility when he called.
She ate her brunch and watched the Spanish novellas. She was able to follow most of the storyline and understood what the actors were saying. She watched two shows and got sleepy. Before long, she was dozing on the sofa.
The telephone ringing woke her. She looked at the ID.
“Mom?”
“What are you doing? You sound like you are asleep in the middle of the day. Why aren’t you packing?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Hurricane León. The weatherman said it wasn’t going across the Yucatan after all, and it is going to hit Texas.”
“Texas is a big state, and that’s still a couple of days away, Mom. I have class to teach tomorrow.”
“Well, you can’t teach if your building blows away in a hurricane!”
“Okay, Mom. Even if it comes to Texas, it may not come here. It is rare that hurricanes hit here. So, don’t worry.”
“But aren’t you right next to Houston? They said it will probably hit Houston.”
“Mom, Houston is a five-hour drive from here. Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
“You keep watching the weather. You hear me?”
“Of course, Mom. I will.”
“And the caravan is almost to Texas. Are you watching? They say it is going to some place called Reynosa or Matamor-something-or-other, Matamo . . . ”
“Matamoros. Mom, please turn off the television. Are you still doing your knitting?”
“I know you are trying to change the subject.”
“Okay, Mom, look, I’ll watch the news. I promise. Now, I need to do a few things to get ready for work tomorrow.”
“Okay. Call me tomorrow, so I will not worry about you.”
“Okay, Mom.”
Out of her mother’s concern, Eva turned the news back on. And there it was, a caravan of people from Central America heading northward. The reporter said the group was hoping to cross into the United States somewhere in Texas. The camera scanned the crowd. Some of the people looked dangerous—large groups of men, some with tattooed faces. Other people looked like families with children. There were many women with children. The news reporter then scanned back to show the state troopers, the National Guard, and Border Patrol. Maybe Mom was right, she thought. No wonder the faculty members have such heated discussions about the border.
