Disclaimer: No money is made from this. This is for entertainment only! All dialogue is directly from the episode.
Author's Note One (1): No Beta. Reviews feed my soul!
Author's Note Two (2): Longest and final chapter.
Chapter 4: Reality (James POV)
The little girls lead us into the chapel. Teresa lays unmoving on the cold stone floor. From our distance, I'm not even sure she is breathing. Just when I feel my heart start to race with worry, she lets out a loud gasp. She sits up panting trying to reclaim her breath.
The rat rushes forward, skidding to his knees beside her. "Hey-hey, hey. You're all right. You're back." He comforts her with a tight hug.
She pulls back first and asks a question that surprises me. "Where's James?"
"I'm here." I tell her as I slowly approach her, managing to keep the surprise from my voice.
What the fuck happened when we were stuck in that cell?
Our eyes lock, no words are spoken, but she seems to relax in my presence.
The moment is broken to a slow clap behind her. "Bueno Muerte. You had to die to be reborn into my family." El Santo tells her.
Wait! She died?
"The beetle was poison." She says confidently without missing a beat.
Beetle? What beetle? What the hell have we gotten involved with?
"Not for the pure of heart." He replies as he pulls the pendant from his neck. "Now you are one of us." He approaches her and places it around her delicate throat.
I can't help but tense slightly at his actions.
"It is time for you to create yourself, Teresa Mendoza. I shall expect the first payment for the metric ton within the week. Go with God. My enemy, La Capitana, watches the Death Road." He states barely pausing between thoughts. Walking towards the entrance to the chapel, he continues. "Be careful, mi'ja." He wags his finger in my face as he passes me. "And there is still a Judas among you."
El Santo exits quietly and Teresa relaxes even more right into the shoulder of that rat; pulling him closer, she is touching him everywhere!
I can't deal with this. I exit in hopes of finding our stuff and getting the hell out of dodge, a.k.a. Bolivia. Easier to find than I expected, but better than I hoped. The little girls are waiting with all of our belongings. It is unsettling watching girls in little blue dresses handle our weapons with ease.
~ TJ~ TJ~ ~ TJ~ TJ~ ~ TJ~ TJ~ ~ TJ~ TJ~
Hopping in the freshly loaded truck, I can't help but glare at the rat. I sigh before retrieving my cell phone and dialing George's number.
After he answers, I let him know we got the product and that we'll be at the border in a few hours.
"Sorry, Giant Peach. That ship has sailed. Have to catch you on the next one." George replies with that annoying voice of his.
"Look, we got held up. We're on our way to your cross point now." I plead with him to wait for us. We have a metric ton of blow and without George we have no way to exit this Godforsaken country.
"See, that ain't my problem, Kemosabe. I gave you a deadline. You shat the bed." He's pissing me off!
"No, you need to wait for us." I hiss back at this arrogant douche.
"Give it to me." Teresa commands ripping the phone from my hand before acknowledging the King "George? It's Teresa."
"You don't know what we've got." She replies to however he phrased his refusal this time.
After a pause, Teresa yells. "We've got a metric ton of Bolivian flake. And that's just the start."
"A week." She replies. He must have asked for our payment deadline.
She has been maintaining her composure during this call, but George's mouth is getting to her. Her hand rubs her eyes as he continues to run his trap.
"Please, you're the only one who can help me." She has switched to begging. Not a good look for her, but if it works who gives a shit!
"Okay." She sighs.
She's giving up? She never gives up!
"George, thank you." She continues.
Oh! He agreed! Thank Jesus!
We now just need to focus on making it to the border. Teresa tells us we have 'til sun down.
"El Camino de la Muerte. The most dangerous road in Bolivia." Guero breaks his silence after we turn left onto a new road. 'The Death Road.' The one El Santo warned us about.
Bouncing over pot holes, I turn to Teresa, who has tensed up.
"Careful around this bend." She says after we pass a shrine on the side of the road.
"Why?" I ask.
I know El Santo warned us about this road, but something is off. This isn't just heeding the words of a crazy cult leader. This is an uncomfortable feeling in the gut.
She turns her face forward again and tells me, "Nothing. Never mind."
A little further and fruit crates and baskets litter the side of the road, while a covered truck blocks our path.
"Andele, cabrones." Is hissed from the driver's seat, once we are stopped.
"Where are you going?" Teresa asks after Guero turns off the truck and open his door to exit.
"I gotta take a leak."
I roll my eyes as I light a cigarette and hop out to survey the damage.
"We'll find a way to make the shipment work." Teresa tells me as I step closer to her.
"This isn't a one-off. El Santo expects weekly payments. And to make those payments, we're gonna have to move three times what we have been. Your boyfriend screwed us by coming down here." I tell her simply.
"We didn't have a choice." She snaps back to my cynicism.
"We could have thought of something else in those three days. One that doesn't end up with us dead." Despite my actions recently, I don't want to die yet and definitely not to El Santo's sicarios.
Great the rat is back! "Wouldn't have made a difference. You had to make a big move. All your suppliers were burned. All right, somebody would have tried to move in on your territory." He informs me.
"None of that has anything to do with you." I snap back.
"You put her in the middle of this." He accuses as he points to his little girlfriend.
"Stop it." Teresa says halfheartedly, her attention no longer focused on our conversation.
"Camila's backed into a corner. She's paranoid. She's out there just swinging in the dark. I mean, how long you think it's gonna be till it's Teresa who's not supposed to come back from a mission?"
I try to act nonchalant, but that is my biggest fear. Sadly, his words also bring Teresa's attention back to us.
"Huh?" He pauses waiting for a response.
I refused to acknowledge his accusations.
"You gonna take her out if Camila tells you to, James?" He continues to berate me with questions that I don't know the answer to because I'm afraid to ask them to myself.
"Stop it." She commands him.
"No, no, no, hold up, babe. I want to hear what his answer is."
I take a drag from the cig and pick at my nails.
"You have no idea what loyalty is." I tell him. It's cryptic enough to anger him, but also hides my real decision behind ambiguity. Because if I do think about it, I'm afraid the answer is 'no,' and that's a dangerous response.
"Sounds like a yes to me."
Let him think what he wants. I have risked a lot for Teresa. In reality, it is more than I have done for Camila!
"This is ridiculous. We're still alive after all that happened to us, okay? We have the product. We have the transpo. I'm tired of your bullshit." Teresa says trying to getting us to see that this mission is a success. She is tired of our continuous cockfighting, and I can't blame her.
We take a few moments to recover from our latest fight, when I notice that one of the locals cleaning up the fruit has turned away from us. When he turns back, I caught sight of a walkie. "That guy has a radio. Looks like you led us into another ambush." I tell the rat simply, before I turn to face the locals pulling my gun from my waistband, but keeping it behind my back.
"Shit, he's a lookout."
No duh!
"Where's Teresa?" Guero says panicking.
Wait! What? Where did she go? She was just here!
Guero takes off towards the jungle. A weapon discharges and Guero shouts for Teresa.
A soldier appears and the fire fight begins. We manage to catch shelter some ways into the jungle. We stand against a tree assessing our safety. I realize we are safe rather quickly, but Guero is still unsure. I see this as my chance to complete my mission.
I aim my weapon at the back of his head. "You're gonna get her killed."
He turns to face me.
"She doesn't know who you really are, but I do." Rats aren't to be trusted. "You don't deserve her." He will drag her down to his level and that sharp-tongued beauty will be destroyed by this asshole!
"Do you?" He asks me.
My grip falters for a second, but I quickly regain control. That's not what is up for debate right now. "I've been around people like you my whole life. Selfish. No loyalty."
A rifle crack puts an end to my speech. I feel the slug snap into my shoulder and I drop to the jungle floor. Shit, that hurts! My hand grasps at the wound. The rat took off at the sound of the gunshot. Damn Coward!
I survey my surrounds and see the soldier right in front of me, rifle pointed at my head. Guess this is the end. Two gun shots confirm my suspicion… or not! I must not be dead, seeing as my shoulder still burns and Guero approaches me clearing the area.
"You saved me." I say in awe as he returns to my side.
He turns from the now dead soldier and glares at me.
"Why?" I ask as I attempt to sit up, groaning as I do so.
"You kept her alive when I couldn't."
No! "She kept herself alive." I tell him truthfully. There are several times she should have died, but apparently she is part cat.
"Hey, I'm not saying I'm not gonna kill you." He tells me as I stand. "I just... I ain't gonna kill you right now."
I smile at his truthfulness.
Rapid gunfire has us ducking and running toward the source. Several moments go by without words or gunfire. I'm starting to worry, but then I hear her voice!
"Guero! James!" Teresa yells. We find her standing on the road surrounded by baskets of fruit and a dead soldier, wet, muddy, and covered in blood.
No obvious injuries from a quick glance. What happened in that jungle? She doesn't say another word. She barely even looks at us as she turns and heads to the truck.
We sit in the truck cab nursing our wounds. I wish I could say or do something to help Teresa, but she won't tell me what happened. Plus, she won't allow that closeness when Guero is here.
By the way, how is it the only one of us that escaped unharmed is the rat, the Judas?
The silence ensues for the rest of the trip to the border.