Just a Kiss (25 page)

She gave him a warm smile and then kissed his nose.

He slipped his pants on, and as soon as Celina put her white halter dress on he then picked her up and scooped her over his shoulder and she squealed.

“What are you doing?” She giggled. “Please put me down.”

“We’re going down to the waterfall one last time, to get cleaned up from all this lovemaking. I don’t want you to get sick on me.” He gently spanked her behind.

He shocked her. “What?”

“Yes my darling, I know that women can get sick with urinary infections and yeast infections due to poor hygiene after sex, and I don’t want to be the cause of that.”

She giggled with such happiness.

“I may have not been sexually active, Celina, but I am aware of how a women’s body functions.” He carried her out of the crevice with ease, all the way down to the waterfall.

They got dressed and
gathered their belongings. Getting ready to leave the cave, Pancho hoisted his backpack onto one shoulder and took his rifle in his hands. They found the motorcycle, right where they had left it a few days ago, behind some shrubs. They drove down the mountain and headed towards his godfather's ranch.

Four miles later, they drove up to the entrance of the ranch. Pancho slowed the motorcycle down. He looked in every direction, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

“Look Pancho!” Celina pointed to the steps of the house.

Pancho had already seen the body lying on the steps from a distance. He immediately knew that something was wrong. He turned off the engine and scanned the premises, hoping it wasn't an ambush, because it was already too late.

“Wait here,” he instructed, getting his rifle ready.

Walking slowly to the steps of the front porch, he stopped to look at the body of a young boy, who had a bullet wound to the head. He concluded that he had been dead for at least a day, based on the body temperature, stiffness, dry blood, and ants crawling over the body.

He proceeded up the stairs to the front of the house and saw a woman lying on the floor, through the screen porch door. When he opened the door, he recognized the older woman; she was his godmother. He saw blood on her body, but no bullet wounds, so he checked for a pulse, but then realized that she was beaten to death.

Tears filled his eyes, and he knew that Rafael was responsible for this massacre of innocent people. He swung the rifle to one side and held the older woman in his arms, as he cried softly. This woman had always shown him nothing but love and affection. Rafael was an animal to have hurt this old lady, but he had because he was angry with Pancho, and he knew how much his godparents meant to him.

Then he heard a noise coming from behind the sofa. He laid the woman’s body down, slowly rose to his feet, and walked over cautiously with his rifle in his hands, expecting the unexpected. He felt his heart skip, and his chest tighten. His breaths came only in shallow gasps, not knowing whom he would find.

“
Padrino
,
padrino
!”
he shouted, rushing to his godfather's side when he saw him behind the sofa. He appeared to be breathing, but barely. The old man was lying on the floor, covered in blood, and badly beaten.

“Pancho,
hijo
…” the old man's voice trailed off, as he tried to take a deep breath.

Pancho got on his knees, lifted his godfather up, and looked into his bloodshot eyes.
“
Por
favor
padrino
,
perdoname
…
perdoname
.
”
He then began to cry loudly, as he asked for forgiveness from him.

The old man lifted his weak hand, placed it on Pancho's lips, and said, “
No
llores
, no cry. You did not do this to me. Rafael did, and you need to be careful, because he will kill you. I always told your
papa
to be careful with him, because I never trusted him with you. He has a bad heart, and he has always been jealous of you.”

Pancho nodded his head, as tears rolled down his face--tears that refused to stop, as he listened to his godfather’s last words.

The old man was breathing in shallow breaths now. “I was waiting for you to come… so I could tell you…I don't want you to dwell on this.
Si me
entiendes
?
”

“Si
padrino
,”
he replied, through the knot he had in his throat.

The old man smiled at Pancho, and slowly closed his eyes.

Pancho knew that he was gone, but searched for a pulse hoping for a miracle. When he could not find one, he screamed loud,
“
No
padrino
, no
padrino
!
”

Celina
ran into the house, and stood at the entrance of the door. She could see Pancho rocking an old man in his arms, as he wept. She stood there, watching Pancho release his grief. 

“Are you okay?” she asked him softly, moments later.

He looked up to see her. Tears still rolling down his face, and replied, “He killed them. That son of a bitch killed them.”

Celina's glance went from him to the two women lying on the ground in front of her in a pool of blood. Her eyes scanned the room, as they filled with tears. She turned and went back outside.
She had never seen that much blood and had never seen a dead body before. She was nauseated, from the stench in the house, and with the grisly scene.

Minutes later, Pancho exited through the front door, and walked over to Celina, who was crying under a tree.

“Hey, don't cry,
corazón
.” He knelt down, and wrapped his arms around her.

Gasping she said, “This is all my fault. I'm so sorry that this happened to your godparents.” She wept uncontrollably.

Pancho pulled back from the hold. He placed his hands on her jaw, and raised her face to look at him. “Look at me. This is not your fault.”

“Yes, yes it is!” she cried as her nose began to run.

He wiped her nose with his jacket sleeve. “Listen to me! Rafael and I have been at war, since we were little kids. We have always been competitive. Rafael can't stand the fact, that I always beat him at everything. So killing my godparents has nothing to do with you.
E
ntiendes
.
Sooner or later, something like this was bound to happen. I'm just sorry that you had to see this.” He stroked her face with the back of his knuckles.

She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him, as she wept some more. Pancho kissed her cheek and took a deep breath, as he squeezed her back. He pressed his face into her hair, inhaling deeply, and gently stroked her back.

Minutes later, he said, “Okay, let's get going. I've got the keys to the truck, and I've called the police to report the killings, so they can come and pick up the bodies.” 

Chapter
37

Spotted

Pancho and Celina drove out of the ranch gate, and turned onto the highway, headed for Monterrey, which was about hundred and twenty miles away. The drive was quiet for both of them.  So much had happened. Celina had never seen a dead body, like Pancho had. The only difference this time around, was that this was family, and not just another assignment of unknown people.

Pancho's mind filled with many thoughts. He wondered if Rafael had sent someone over to do his dirty work, or if he had been then there personally, when his godparents, and those innocent people were being tortured.

You motherfucker, I wish you had never been born,
he thought as he drove his godfather’s ranch truck.
You piece of shit. I should have said something
back in high school
when
Rafael
and
his
worthless
-
ass friend of his were robbing small trailer
s
load
ed with
merchan
dise. He would have
done some
prison
tim
e
and maybe wouldn’t have had this high position within the cartel. A
nd maybe
, just maybe,
padrino
would still be alive.

He hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand.

Celina lifted her head from his chest. “Is everything okay?” she asked, looking around, and then looked straight out the windshield, wondering what she had missed.

He looked over. “I'm sorry. Go back to sleep,” he patted her back and kissed her forehead.

She stared at him, looking at the expression on his face. She caressed his face and said nothing further, leaning her head back down on his shoulder. She could sense that he was upset and didn't want to discuss the killings at the ranch, knowing that it would only upset him.

Pancho pulled her in closer to him with his right arm, and kissed her head. Celina looked up, smiled at him, and gave him a quick kiss on his lips. He looked at the road, and then turned back to give her a hard kiss, and then nibbled on her bottom lip.

He drew in a deep breath. “Don't worry. Everything is going to be alright.” He winked his eye at her and beamed an enormous smile.

She hugged him and said, “I know.” She shook her head looking at him. “I feel safe with you.” She got comfortable again in her seat next to him, as they continued with their drive to Monterrey.

An hour later, they entered the city of Monterrey. Pancho was relieved that they had made it to the city, because they were on empty. He pulled into the first gas station he saw, and Celina woke up again.

“Hey, sleepyhead.” He tapped his fingers on her head and gently pulled her hair.

She lifted her head, met his gaze and smiled. “I know. I don't know what's wrong with me.” She sat up, fixed her hair, and yawned.

“Don't worry about it. I'm going to gas up. Are you hungry?” He opened the door to the old red Chevy truck.

She nodded her head, and blinked her eyes. “I need the restroom, too.”

“Go ahead, while I pump gas,” he replied, turning the truck off.

Celina got out and looked for a restroom while he fueled up.

When Celina returned, Pancho stated, “You see that restaurant across the street, next to that empty parking lot, about a block away?”

Celina narrowed her eyes, having difficulty seeing that far. She walked to the side of the curb, and yelled back, “Oh, now I see it.”

“Let’s eat there. I know you are hungry for some good food.” He smiled, watching her walk back to the truck. He bent down to air a low tire, almost flat, when he heard from a distance.

“
Ay,
mam
a
sita
!
”

Pancho immediately stood up, dropped the air hose, and rushed to Celina’s side.

Two young kids in a white van were driving next to Celina, as she walked back to the truck. The van door was sliding open, when Pancho grabbed her arm, and shielded her with his body. The young kid flashed Pancho the tip of a rifle, he held in his hands.

“
Danos
la
mujer
.
”
He demanded with a cocky look.

Pancho raised his hand, and showed him a grenade. He nodded his head, and said nothing to them,
pulling the pin out.

The kid’s eyes widened, and lowered his weapon, and said, “Okay.
A la
otra
.” He placed two fingers on his temple, and then saluted him.

Pancho watched them drive off. He put the pin back in the grenade, and said, “You need to be more careful. From now on you don’t stray off. We are in Mexico and things are very bad here.”

Celina’s hands were trembling. Breathing hard she said, “I’m so sorry. Were those guys with Rafael?”

“No. They were just looking at taking you in general. Any beautiful girl they see, they will take, no questions asked. I’m more than sure they had other people in the back of that van.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m so sorry.” She repeated to herself as tears streamed down her face.

He released her hold and wiped away her tears with his fingers. Then he grabbed her arm and walked back quickly to the truck. Pancho helped Celina get in, keeping his eye in the direction the van went. He was wondering if they would be back. What he failed to see, was a black S
uburban
with tinted windows parked in the rear.

Checking in

A small, white
Volkswagon
Beetle blasted his horn at them and cut them off. It was an old man. He waved his hand in the air at them, as they drove down the street.