The Secret Diary of Cameron Baum
MEXICO DAY SIX
I join John and his mother at the table in the shade of the awning outside Miquel's RV. This has become a daily ritual, a chance to take stock of our situation and plan what to do next. So far our plans are on hold since the new forged IDs have not yet arrived. Sarah Connor is becoming stressed out and irritable. Plus la change.
"Six days now and still nothing. How much longer?"
"Miquel did say it could take up to ten days."
"Anything could be happening back home."
We have no internet access and TV reception is limited to the local Mexican channels. It is easy to fear the worst. Easy for the human imagination to conjure monsters out of the unknown. And there are monsters out there. I am proof of that.
Today the camp has visitors. Two men arrive early morning in a black Lexus. One is old with greying hair and seems to be in charge. The other is young and muscular and seems to be the protection. It takes one to know one. Both wear business suits despite the heat and the rough terrain. The older man carrrries a black attache case. They ignore the three of us and head towards Antonio's RV. He opens the door and ushers them inside. There is no Shakira playing today. Possibly they are not music fans.
"Who are they?" Sarah Connor wonders aloud.
"No idea," John replies. "Pretty expensive set of wheels though. I'm amazed they didn't lose an axle on the way here."
Miquel emerges from his RV. He yawns and stretches. "Good morning all! It's a fine day, si? Is that coffee fresh? Excellent. Pour me a cup, if you will."
"We have visitors, Miquel."
Miquel glances towards the Lexus. His smile fades. "So I see."
"Friends of yours?"
"Friends of Antonio's. They visit occasionally."
"What do they want?"
A shrug. "I don't inquire. Antonio's business is his own."
"It's your camp, isn't it?"
"Of course. Had I known they were coming today I would've suggested you stay out of sight."
"Why? Are you ashamed of us?"
"Of course not, Chi-Chi! You are on the run from the law, no? The fewer people know you're here the better it is for us all."
"Are in you any trouble, Miquel?"
"Trouble! I am wanted by three separate law enforcement agencies. It is nothing I cannot handle."
"Because we could help. Some of us have certain...capabilities." She glances at me when she says this. Miquel notices.
"Ah yes, I have heard of the little one's prowess with guns. Roberto and Carlos were most impressed. El diablo, indeed!"
Mia and Snowy wander into camp. Her hair is wet as is Snowy's fur. I surmise they have come from the quarry lake.
"Mia! Good, there you are," Miquel seems relieved to be able to change the subject. "Today is a school day. Math, I think. Go to your RV and prepare for the lesson."
"Oh papa, not now! Snowy and I want to play!"
"Yes, now. Education is important. I have no intention of raising an imbecile."
"Can Snowy join in?"
"Why would a doggie care about math?"
"He does! He's really clever. He can count and everything."
"Very well. As long as he behaves. Come, we must make a start.
The three go inside Mia's RV. The door is shut behind them.
Sarah Connor says, "That was interesting."
"Yes," I agree. "Snowy is good at math, though he struggles with long division."
"Not the stupid dog! Things are happening in camp that Miquel doesn't know about."
"Or he doesn't want us to know about," John suggests. "It's not quite the same thing."
"Wish I knew what the suits were discussing over there."
"Why don't you go and ask?" I suggest.
Sarah Connor rolls her eyes. "I think we need to be slightly more discreet."
"You could whisper. That's more discreet."
"Let's take a look inside the Lexus," John suggests. "Could give us a clue why they're here."
But the Lexus has blacked out widows and will not give up its secrets so easily. All we see are our reflections staring back at us. John bends down and cups his hands around his eyes to try and cut out the glare. He presses against the vehicle's bodywork.
beeepbeeepbeeepbeeepbeeep!
The alarm sounds. John backs away but not before the door to Antonio's RV opens and the bodyguard charges out, a gun in his hand.
A gun...
I place myself between John and this sudden threat, shielding him from harm. If a shot is fired it will be the last thing this man does, I shall make sure of that.
"What are doing? Get away from that vehicle!"
"Hey, man, chill!" John tells him, raising his hands in placation. "Just checking out your wheels. That a V8 under the hood? Sweet. What's the mileage - ten or fifteen to the gallon ?"
The gun is lowered though the scowl remains. "Just get away from there."
"Okay, man, no biggie."
The threat goes back in the RV. John blows out his cheeks in relief. "That went well."
"Hardly," I point out. "You were almost shot."
"Yeah, there's always that way of looking at it."
The two strangers reemerge from Antonio's RV ten minutes later. They get back in the Lexus and drive away. I notice that the black attache case is no longer in the older man's possession. Shakira resumes singing. Her hips don't lie apparently. Why would they? They are only hips after all.
-0-
John and I are busy on a project. We are at the shore of the quarry lake. Around us are a dozen rubber inner tubes salvaged from the automobile graveyard, thirty planks of wood from the perimeter fence, several lengths of rope, screws and nails.
"Pass me the screwdriver, will you. The crosshead."
I oblige. We are building a raft. Something for Mia to remember us by when we leave. She and Snowy look on. "Will it really float?" Mia asks.
"Oh ye of little faith," John grins. "It'll float. Trust me."
The final nail is hammered home by early afternoon.
"Okay, ready for the big launch?"
"Yeah!"
"Cam, help me push it in the water," John says, adding in a whisper, "Don't make it look too easy."
We push the raft into the lake. I puff my cheeks to suggest this is arduous when really I could do so with one finger, even the little pinkie.
"Yea, it floats!"
"Yup. All aboard who's coming aboard."
We climb on. John gives the raft one final shove so that it drifts slowly towards the middle of the lake.
"Note the ladder I added to the side," John remarks. "Now you can use it as a swimming platform. Dive in and climb out. I'll demonstrate."
He pulls off his shirt and dives into the water. He surfaces immediately and yells, "C'mon! What are you waiting for?"
Mia jumps in feet first, holding her nose just before vanishing beneath the water. Snowy takes a short run up, executes a neat forward roll, then splashes into the water. The big show off.
"C'mon, Cameron!" Mia urges once she has surfaced.
"Cam's not much of a swimmer," John explains.
"I'm more of a sinker," I confess.
John swims round to the ladder and climbs out. Mia follows then Snowy. His paws are too small for the rungs so I reach down and pull him out by the scruff of his neck. It is undignified but needs must.
"It's great, John! Thank you for making it." She hugs him.
"Pleasure, kiddo. Don't forget Cameron helped."
"Thank you, Cameron!" She hugs me too.
"Hey!"
Sarah Connor. She stands high up the shale slope, hand raised to shield her eyes from the strong sun. She descends towards us fetching up at the lake shoreline while we float several yards out on the raft.
"So this is where you all vanish to."
"Pretty cool place,huh?"
"Is the water safe?"
"Safe enough to drink, though Cameron says it's very deep. Not a good place to get a cramp."
"I'll take my chances."
She removes her boots and jeans and wades into the water in tanktop and panties. I notice her legs are long, tan and shapely. It is fortunate she is John's mother or I might get jealous. Bitch.
"Oh this is wonderful!"
"Refreshing, isn't it."
She makes several circuits of the raft in various different swimming styles: breaststroke, backstroke and a curious froglike motion known as butterfly. Go figure.
"Was this raft already here?"
"Cameron and I made it. Mia comes here most days. It's for her benefit really."
Sarah Connor swims round to the submerged ladder and climbs out. She sits down and stretches out her legs to dry in the sun. Her tanktop clings wetly to her smallish breasts. At least we have that in common.
"Know what this place reminds me of? That reservoir outside Tijuana. It was a commune. All kinds of crazies hung out there. We fit right in."
"Oh yeah, the reservoir. That was a lifesaver. Man, that was a hot summer. Remember that crazy hippy, Marco? He wanted to put LSD in the water supply and turn the whole city on."
"Right, Marco. Shacked up with a girl called Moonflower."
"Moonchild. She believed in UFOs. Every light in the sky she thought was the starpeople come to take her away!"
"Even if it was a 747!"
John and his mother laugh, happily recalling a shared memory. A memory I have no recollection of since I wasn't part of their lives then. Jealous much? Maybe a little.
Mia steers the inflatable dinghy alongside the raft. She stands up and salutes. "Permission to come aboard, captain?"
John returns the salute. "Permission granted, sailor."
Mia lifts Snowy onto the raft then climbs up herself. "Hi, Sarah!"
"Hello, Mia. Do you come here often?"
"All the time. It's my favourite place in all the world."
"So your father knows where you are?"
"Of course. Papa taught me to swim here. Did you see the raft John and Cameron built? Isn't it fantastic? I didn't think it would float but it does."
"It's very nice."
"I'm so glad you came to our camp. You're all so nice. I hope you never leave!"
Sarah Connor looks away, a pained expression on her face. Even John seems discomfited by her words. Typically Snowy chooses this moment to shake the excess moisture from his fur. Water droplets fly everywhere, including over Sarah Connor who reacts with predictable anger.
"Hey! Bad dog!"
Woof woof woof!
"Don't you bark at me!"
"He's saying sorry. Look, see." Mia shows her the iPhone. She takes it and stares at the contrite words on the screen then asks, "Okay, what is this?"
"Cameron gave it to me. It tells you what Snowy's barking. Isn't it amazing?"
Sarah Connor turns to stare at me. "You made a dog translator? I don't believe it."
"But it's true!" Mia insists. "Go on, ask him a question."
"What's my name?" she asks. An easy one. Snowy's tail wags. He loves to talk to people.
you are sarah! I am snowy!
"Where are we?"
mexico! snowy not see salma hayek yet!
"Was it you who messed in my vegetable patch back in LA?"
Snowy hangs his head in shame.
snowy very sorry! sarah not punish snowy?
Sarah Connor smiles and shakes her head. "A dog translator." She faces me and says, "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"
"You disapprove?"
She considers this then shakes her head again. "I guess it can't hurt. Mia, you didn't show your father this, did you?"
"No. Should I?"
"No. Let's keep it our little secret."
"Okay! Come on, Snowy, let's go sailing again. Acapulco, I think."
"Acapulco?" Sarah Connor asks as they get back into the dinghy and paddle away.
"It's that rock over there," I explain. Duh! Isn't it obvious?
"Ri-ght..."
"Hola!"
Another visitor. Carlos this time. He descends the route Sarah Connor chose only he is not as nimble on his feet as her. Halfway down he stumbles, sprawling clumsily on his face. He gets up hastily, brushing grit from his clothes while cursing in fluent spanish. Sarah Connor frowns and glances over at Mia. She is too absorbed playing with Snowy to pay any attention.
Carlos reaches the shoreline without further mishap, his scowl becoming a grin when he notices how little Sarah Connor is wearing and how much bare flesh is on display.
"What do you want?" she asks coldly, all too aware of what he is staring at.
"Can't a man enjoy the view, senorita? It is simply stunning. You are stunning."
"What do want, Carlos?"
"Miquel send me to find you."
"Well, you've found me. What is it?"
"Miquel say what you were expecting has arrived."
-0-
"It's here, Chi-Chi! Just as I promised it would be."
Miquel hands a now fully dressed Sarah Connor a thick manila package.
"Note I have not opened it. That way your new IDs are a secret even from me."
"Thanks, Miquel."
"My pleasure. If the the documents aren't what you require tell me. I have had many dealings with this forger. He can be disciplined if necessary."
"I'm sure everything's fine."
Miquel goes back inside his RV. Sarah Connor rips open the package and is about to extract the documents when she hesitates. Across the way Antonio is seated on the steps of his RV and staring directly at us. "Let's go somewhere more private," she announces.
We walk a distance away from camp. Finally we are far enough from prying eyes and the package is reopened.
"Looks okay to me. Here, you take a look."
She hands me the documents. I scan them, comparing them to the real thing I have filed on my database. "This is fine workmanship," I admit.
"Good enough to fool a customs inspection?"
"I believe so."
"Good. We leave at first light tomorrow. drive to Mexico City and catch a flight back to the states."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" John says. "Airports have fully body scanners now. cameron will never get past those. Plus Snowy wouldn't be allowed on board."
"What d'you suggest - another stolen powerboat?"
"You catch the plane. I've thought of a way we can get Cameron and Snowy over the border. We'll drive-oops!"
John stumbles but manages to avoid falling. A length of chain is protruding from the ground. I bend to throw it aside. More chain comes up. Then a hole in the ground appears.
"What did you do?" Sarah Connor's tone is accusatory. I get the blame for everything.
"Nothing."
"Maybe an old mineshaft from the quarry?" John suggests.
"I see steps."
A flight of wooden steps lead downwards. We descend with me taking point, just in case of trouble. Below is an underground room or cellar, a roughly square ten feet by ten, the walls lined with metal shelves. On the shelves are clear plastic bags containing an unidentified white powder.
Sarah Connor groans and says, "Oh no! Miquel, you idiot."
"What is it?" I ask.
"Cocaine," John explains. "Guess Miquel's in the drug smuggling business." He picks up one of the clear plastic bags. "If this is pure cocaine then there must be several million dollars worth here. What are we going to do?"
"Do? We're gonna seal this place up and make like we know nothing about it. We leave in the morning anyway. This isn't our concern. We're not narks. I just thought Miquel had more sense than to get mixed up with drugs."
We go back up the steps. Outside waiting for us to emerge are Miquel, Antonio and Carlos, the latter two are pointing guns at us.
"Oh Chi-Chi, what have you done?" Miquel sighs.
"What have I done? What about you, Miquel? Drugs? I thought you had principles."
"It's complicated. You wouldn't understand."
"What's complicated about just saying no?"
"Because saying no gets people I care about killed."
"You mean your wife?"
"Some Colombians noiced how adept I was at smuggling arms across borders. They wanted me to do the same for their packages. I refused. They wouldn't take no for an answer."
"Oh and I suppose the money we pay you is given to charity?" Antonio sneers. "You are paid well for your trouble. What happened to your wife was your own fault."
"Please, Antonio," Miquel begs. "I know these people. They have secrets of their own. They will not tell what they have seen."
"I warned you when they arrived, compadre. You swore they would not snoop. It seems you were wrong again."
"We won't tell anyone. We'll be gone tomorrow," Sarah Connor insists "You'll never see us again."
"I think not. Will you do the honours, Miquel? Since you know them so well."
Miquel's shoulders slump. "No, you ask too much. Take them far from here. And bury them deep. I don't want Mia to chance upon their bodies."
Miquel walks away. Antonio gestures with his gun for us to walk ahead of him. John leans in and whispers, "Wait for my signal."
"No talking!"
We are escorted at gunpoint deeper into the quarry. "Okay, far enough," Antonio announces. "Stop and turn around."
John sinks to his knees and sobs, "Please don't shoot! I don't want to die!"
Antonio grins and says, "Cowardly Gringo. I bet a hundred pesos he pees his pants!"
"You lose, asshole!"
John punches him in the groin. This must be the signal he mentioned. I take the opportunity to punch Carlos in the chest. He drops his gun and flies backwards ten feet before collapsing. He doesn't get up. I retrieve his weapon and fire one shot into Antonio's skull. He ceases writhing in pain on the ground. Pain will never trouble him again. Or anything else for that matter.
"Dammit, there was no need to shoot him," Sarah Connor scolds snatching the gun from my hand. "We could've handed him over to the cops."
She fires two more rounds harmlessly into the ground. "Why did you do that?" I ask.
"Miquel will expect to hear three shots."
John asks, "What do we do now?"
"Go back to camp and try and grab our stuff without being spotted. These two won't be missed for at least an hour. Once we're clear we'll tip off the police. Tell them where to find the drugs.
"That amount of dope he'll go to jail for a long time."
"He tried to kill us, John. What d'you suggest - we strike him from our Christmas list?"
-0-
I return to the RV. Mia and Snowy are seated on her cot. She is feeding him strips of beef jerky. I pull my pack from under the bed and stuff it with my belongings. "What are you doing?" she asks.
"Leaving."
"When are you coming back?"
"Never."
"I don't want you to go."
I say, "Come, Snowy."
"No! Please don't take Snowy!"
"He's my dog."
"But...but..." her tiny face crumples. "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU ALL!" she screams.
She jumps off the cot and locks herself in the bathroom. I can hear her sobbing through the door. Snowy whimpers pathetically. He looks from me to the closed door of the bathroom where Mia's weeping is loud in the confined space. "Well, are you coming with me or staying here?" I demand.
Before I can learn where his true loyalties lie gunfire sounds from outside. Automatic weapons. And John and his mother have only handguns.
"Wait here," I order Snowy. "And don't let the girl go outside."
-0-
I find them sheltered behind one of the RVs. "Roberto saw me," John explains. "He and Miquel have Uzis while I'm down to half a clip."
"It will suffice," I assure him taking the gun.
I step out of the shelter and advance towards the two men. Roberto rakes my chest with the Uzi's rapidfire. My croptop is shredded. Bummer. It was my favourite one.
"El diablo!" he shouts as his bullets have no effect. I raise my pistol and shoot him twice in the chest. Miquel is slow bringing his weapon up and realises I have the drop on him. He throws his hands in the air. I hesitate and spare his life. There's a first time for everything.
John and Sarah Connor arrive at my side. She steps forward and punches Miquel hard on the jaw. His head snaps sideways and a trickle of blood drips from his mouth. "You miserable sonofabitch!"
"I had no choice, Sarah!"
"There's always a choice. It's called right or wrong."
"What will you do with me?"
"Tie you up and call the cops. Your dope dealing days are over."
"They will throw me in jail."
"It's better than you deserve. You were going to stand by and let us be murdered."
"Please. They will take Mia away. She has no relatives, only me. They will put her in an orphanage. They are bad places in Mexico."
"You should've thought of that before."
"Oh darling, Chi-Chi. I'm so sorry, I cannot allow it."
In one quick movement he pulls a gun hidden behind his back and aims directly at me.
My reflexes are quicker.
My aim is truer.
My bullet deadly accurate.
Miquel collapses to the ground clutching a chest wound which is fountaining blood. "Chi-Chi," he gasps. "Please, I beg you, take care of Mia. If not for my sake then for hers."
There are no more requests, no more last words. His eyes lose focus and his head lolls to one side. Death has claimed him.
Sarah Connor curses. John waits patiently until she is done. "What now?" he asks.
"We stick to the plan."
"I meant about Mia. We can't dump her in some hellhole orphanage."
"What do you suggest - take her with us back to America?"
"It won't be so bad."
"We're not the Walton's, John."
"No, we're the Connor's. And this is how we roll. We leave no one behind."
There is steel in John's voice. Authority. An early glimpse of his future self. His mother meets his gaze but is the first to look away.
"Let's go and ask her. Maybe she won't want to come with us."
-0-
Mia becomes hysterical when she is informed her father is dead. This is to be expected. It is over an hour before John can have a serious discussion with her.
"Mia, you have to make a choice." he says kindly. "Either come to America and live with us, or we'll leave you with the police and they'll find someone to look after you here in Mexico."
"I want to stay here!"
"You can't, sweetie, no one's here to look after you."
"I want to stay here with Snowy!"
"I'm sorry. No can do."
"I'll come with you on one condition."
"What?"
She raises her chin defiantly. "Snowy becomes my dog."
"Snowy is my dog," I point out.
"Then I'll stay here! I don't care."
John says, "Cam, I need you to be the bigger person here."
"You want me to be taller?"
"Remember back in LA when you were on the verge of...you know," Sarah Connor says. "I told you you owed me."
"Not then, not the next day but one day."
"That day is now."
"Very well. Snowy is Mia's dog."
"You mean it?"
"Yes."
"Then I come with you."
-0-
I carry Miquel's body into the underground room and place it beside the other bodies. Sarah Connor follows me down the steps carrying a jerrycan of gasoline. She splashes the contents over the bodies and the shelves laden with drugs. We climb into fading daylight. It is almost dusk; the heat of the day becoming a sultry evening.
"Is that everyone?"
"Yes."
She sighs. "This needn't have happened. We should've done things differently."
"The past is what it was. The present is what it is."
"Oh very profound. From a book?"
"TV. The Young and the Restless."
"You watch serials?"
"It aids my vernacular. What up, biaitch."
She takes a silver Zippo lighter from a pocket and snaps it open. A small flame appears, flickering in the light breeze. It seems she is about to toss it into the underground room before hesitating and lowering her hand. The flame gutters and dies out.
"I will do it if you are squeamish."
"I'm not squeamish. It's just...you wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
"This is all my fault. That little girl's an orphan because of me. Things went bad in LA so quickly. First one safe house then the other. It felt like the ground was moving under my feet. I need somewhere familiar. Someone I could trust. Or thought I could."
"The drug trade is inherently dangerous. It is likely Miquel would've been killed anyway once his usefulness expired."
"Is that meant to make me feel better?"
"I don't know. Does it?"
A shake of the head. The lighter is reignited. This time she tosses it into the hole in the ground without prevarication.
We watch the flames consume everything. John approaches. He is carrying the black attache case. "Found it under Antonio's bed," he explains. "Take a look."
He pops the clasps and opens the case. Inside are neat bundles of used dollar bills.
"A hundred thousand dollars, give or take."
"Drug money."
"Would be my guess, yeah. What do I do with it?"
"I don't care. Throw it in the fire."
John hesitates. "We're gonna need travel documents for Mia. My plan is gonna cost money too. I was thinking maybe we take what we need and donate the rest to a charity before we leave."
"Fine. Do that then," Sarah Connor says in an odd lifeless tone. "How's the girl?"
"As you'd expect. Fine one minute crying her eyes out the next."
"I'll go and see if she wants anything to eat."
John and I remain. We stare at the billowing flames. They are curiously entrancing.
"Mom blames herself."
"Yes."
"It's not her fault."
"No."
"I hope we're doing the right thing taking Mia with us."
"We won't know until we try."
"Do you have any knowledge of Mia in the future?"
"No. However..."
"What?"
"There are memories I cannot access. They have been placed behind a firewall."
"By whom?"
"By you, of course."
John frowns. "Why would I do that?"
"Presumably to prevent prior knowledge from influencing my decisions in this time."
"I can't believe I would let that girl be orphaned if I could stop it happening. I must be a miserable sonofabitch to do that."
"But still handsome."
It is no consolation. I didn't expect it to be.
-000-
If you begrudge Mia Snowy then you've a harder heart than I.
Next, a much lighter chapter. John's plan to cross the border. It involves Spring Break. Woo hoo!