Lynda. This further infuriated Ramon. Ramon was getting into the protective mode. This was what Wayne was trying to accomplish. It worked. Ramon asked Lynda for her phone number. She gave it to him. He was really getting into her.
At the end of the evening, Ramon walked Lynda home. She invited him in. Ramon came in and set on the sofa. He looked around the room. He said, “Lived here long?”
She said, “No; I just dropped out of college and moved here.”
He seemed to accept that. He said, “Lynda, I really like you. You are going to fit in just fine around here.”
She yawned, and Ramon took the hint. He asked her, “Do you want to meet us at the same place tomorrow?”
She said, “Sure,” and yawned again. Ramon left.
Shortly after, there was a knock at the door. Lynda looked through the peephole. It was Wayne. Lynda opened the door, and Wayne walked in.
Wayne said, “I was rough on that boy, but I think it made him ‘bond’ with you.”
Lynda said, “I think I am in with that group. You need to stay in the background now.”
Wayne said, “I agree. I will check on you from time to time.” Wayne gave Lynda a hug and said, “Don’t worry; I just have a feeling that everything will be fine now.”
The next evening, Lynda was back at the bar. Rico was not there, just Ramon. She played pool with Ramon. She did not have to let him win; he was a very good pool player.
Ramon treated Lynda as if she were a queen. He seemed very impressed with her. He bought her beer and talked about his job.
She let on to him that she was an unhappy student, and was not going back to America. He asked her if she wanted to go to a meeting and meet some other people who were in the same boat. She agreed, and he said that a meeting was scheduled for Friday night.
Friday evening, he picked her up and they went to the meeting. There were fourteen people in attendance. The meeting started with everyone drinking beer. Not a good start, Lynda thought. Lynda did not speak, but listened carefully to who said what. She noticed that Ramon seemed to be the leader. The meeting actually started with a roll call. Everyone was present. Ramon introduced Lynda. There were only three other women present. The other people did not seem afraid of talking in front of Lynda. She was surprised. The three other girls all spoke English well, and stood by Lynda.
Rico was there. He was one of the most vocal of the group. Rico bragged about their recent fire-bombing at the local university. It seemed that they were planning another attack. They were unclear where and when. At the end of the meeting they all had more beer. Lynda was irritated that they did not discuss more. She hated the thought that she would have to wait a week to find out more information. She decided to work on Ramon
Lynda invited Ramon to dinner Saturday night. After much thought he said, “Okay!” She was determined to get some information out of him.
When the meeting was over, Ramon took Lynda home. He was not very talkative. She left him alone.
Ramon showed up at about seven Saturday night, and Lynda had a good American meal ready for him. She had wine and candles. Ramon seemed to be impressed. She had her gun under her pillow in the bed, just in case. Even though she did not know why, she did not trust him.
Ramon was well-dressed, and -mannered. He brought her flowers. Lynda really went on and on about how beautiful they were. She figured that Ramon probably spent less than a minute picking them out. They were not that fresh.
They discussed schools and families during dinner. After dinner she had Ramon sit on the sofa while she put the dishes in the sink. She went in and sat down across from him. He seemed disappointed. Lynda asked him, “Why do you hang out with all those people? They strike me as a bunch of complainers who really do nothing!”
At first he seemed to take offense at her question, then he said, “Those people are capable of blowing anything in the world up. We are planning on making a strike in the US that will stun the capitalists.”
Lynda pressed on, “Then you are a socialist?”
He seemed more agitated, but fought hard for control. “I guess I am, by your definition. I believe in taking from the rich and giving to the poor!”
She smiled. “A little like Robin Hood?”
“Exactly!” he said. “We are planning to threaten the US government with blowing up a building if the do not pay us twenty-five million dollars. If they don’t we will blow up a stadium during a game.”
Lynda did not smile. “Ramon, they will not pay you; they will hunt you down and kill you!”
“We will not be so easy to find, and we will keep blowing up stadiums until they do pay us to stop!” he said.
She thought deeply. “What are you going to do with the money?”
“We will use it to get more people on our side. Soon we will have an army of soldiers.” Ramon smiled and held his hands open, like he had just thought this out.
Lynda knew that she was about to find out something very important. “So giving to the poor is just a ruse?”
Ramon grinned. “We will give some of it to the poor. But they will still be poor. You cannot give poor people anything. They should earn it, but they are too lazy.”
“What stadium will you blow up?” She smiled at him.
“This year it will be the Super Bowl. We already have access to it by many workers. We will have bombs rigged under the stands. It will be chaos. Thousands of people will die.” He smiled and raised his hands to the ceiling.
She looked at him with lust. “I am in, Ramon. Count me as a member of your group!”
He enjoyed the look in her eyes. He had found a new dedicated member. And she was American. He said, “Let’s celebrate; let’s get drunk.” He downed his glass of wine.
Lynda poured them both a drink and thought that she needed to cool him off. She said, “Let’s walk to the park and swing, okay?”
Ramon was confused. He wasn’t sure what she was asking, but said, “Okay.” His thoughts were elsewhere.
Lynda carried the bottle with her. They went to the park, and swung.
Wayne took telescopic pictures of the young man and stayed in the shadows. He watched Lynda swing. Lynda passed the bottle and Ramon took a long drink. He handed it back to her and she took a little sip. They kept passing the bottle back and forth.
Ramon was really swinging high, when he just fell out of the swing. He landed on one leg and his hip. He rolled over screaming. “I think I broke my leg.” Lynda was quick to his side. She felt his leg. She could not feel a break. Ramon was so drunk he wasn’t sure which leg was hurt. She helped him up, and he put an arm across her shoulder. He limped back to her apartment. As she set him down on the sofa, he reached up with his other hand and squeezed her breast. She swatted at his hand. She gave him another drink and he kept the bottle. He just kept drinking. He fell over to the side of the sofa. He was out.
Lynda took the bottle before any spilled, and put a pillow under his head. She picked his feet up and set them on the sofa. Ramon moaned softly. She got a blanket and covered him up. She went and undressed and put her pajamas on. It was cool in the apartment.
She woke up the next morning to her stomach being rubbed. Ramon was in bed with her, and was up on one elbow, looking at her. She moved his hand over to the bed, and she tried to sit up. He slid up behind her, and put his arms around her and squeezed her tightly to him. She was about to panic. She reached back under the pillow and the gun was gone.
Lynda said, “Ramon, let me go!”
He let her go for a split-second, but ran his hands up under her pajama top and grabbed both her breasts. She grabbed at his arms, and pulled them back out. She slipped off the bed and stood up. She looked at him. He was naked. She said, “Ramon, go put your clothes on. It is time for you to leave.”
Ramon stood up and faced her; he grabbed for her again. He said, “Miss Lynda, we are on the same team now.” He had
barely got the last word out when she took his arm, pulled it around her body, twisted and threw him on the floor. He was stunned.
“Okay, okay, I will go. You don’t have to play so rough.” He got up and walked unsteadily into the living room and gathered up his clothes. Lynda shut the bedroom door and changed clothes.
When she came out of the bedroom, Ramon was just putting his boots on. She ushered him to the door, and he got in his car and left. She shut the door.
She was barely into the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. It was Wayne.
Wayne looked like he had been up all night. He said, “I didn’t know what to do. I waited all night by your front door. If you had screamed I would have busted in.”
Lynda felt sorry for Wayne. She told him to lie down on the sofa. He took his shoes off and laid down. She gave him the same pillow and covered him up with the same blanket. She said, “I did not sleep with him, if that is what you are wondering!” Wayne did not answer; he was asleep.
Quietly, Lynda did the dishes and tidied up the place. It reeked of wine. She opened some windows and had a draft moving through the apartment.
The air moving through the apartment was warm. She went in and put on her short shorts and a cut off tee shirt. She sat in the chair and read her book, “The Craft!” She was getting to like that author. About mid-afternoon she looked at the sofa, and Wayne’s eyes were open. He was watching her.
“Hello, sleepyhead.”
Wayne smile