Chapter 14. Nothing Gold Can Stay
“Some days are just terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days.”
– Lorena’s Prayer Book
Outer Region of Los Tios, Mexico
Lorena climbed out of the uncomfortably firm bed she inherited from her mother. She stretched in front of her window as the sun began to rise, careful to keep on her good foot and letting the first light of the day warm her skin.
She lowered her torso down to her knees and extended her legs, resting her injured ankle on top of the strong one. Finishing her stretch, she proceeded to do push-ups until she could no longer lift herself, and then brought her knees to the floor to do a few more. After completing her push-ups and the remainder of her cautiously executed exercise regimen, she found a comfortable summer dress and slipped it on. She glanced at her crutches lying on the wall, continuing without them. Walking softly, she brushed aside the blanket that served as the door to her room.
She stepped out into the bar, still empty as expected, and crept midway down the stairs to check on her boys. Three sets of feet, all dangling at the edge of their beds, accompanied by a harmony of monstrous snoring and man-stink told her everything was in order. There sat three additional empty beds, though Lorena had no use for them.
Lorena returned to the top of the stairs and grabbed her prayer book as she exited the bar. She limped across the road, keeping an eye out for scorpions and rattlesnakes, having come across them before at first light. She brushed aside the chantry blanket-door to find her dog sleeping on his side in the corner. She smiled, seeing her Perrito finally able to roll around. She lit the candles and began reciting her hymns.
As she proceeded through her recitations, her dog growled at the imaginary terrors dancing around in his head. The dog rolled over in his sleep—apparently hitting a sore spot on his ribs—and jerked himself awake. He lazily climbed to its feet, sauntering his way over to Lorena and licking her face mid-chant. She gave the pup a stern look before noticing the plate Kody had left him yesterday was empty.
“Perrito, are you feeling better?”
She pulled the dog close, hugging him and rubbing his head. Though she had no way to be certain, she was sure she could see a smile in the dog’s large dark eyes. Lorena stood up, brushing aside the chapel door, motioning for Perrito to walk through ahead of her. Instead, the dog stayed by her side, and the two walked through together.
Lorena wandered down the street, watching the early risers go about their day. A few neighbors tended livestock, some townsfolk washed clothes, and others made linens and crafts or tended to whatever small crops they could maintain. A local hunter appeared to have only recently returned, skinning a pair of freshly killed coyotes.
Lorena returned to the bar, inviting her dog inside. She walked the dog to her room and tapped the floor next to her bed gently with her sore foot, indicating where he should lie down. Perrito followed her instruction, continuing to pant well after the walk had ended. Lorena herself sat on her bed only for a moment before her stomach rumbled. She got up and left her room, heading to the stairs.
“Siggy! Breakfast!”
She stood and waited, repeatedly tapping her good foot against the wood grain. Waiting too long, Lorena carefully marched down the stairs and over to Siggy’s bed, pulling the thin blanket off him to reveal his lean, naked body. Though she’d lived this scene so many times before, an unexpected warmth overtook her. For what might’ve been the first time, her cheeks turned flush. Looking at Siggy from the corner of her eye, she did her best to toss the blanket back over him. Still not awake, she walked over to his side and lightly slapped him on the cheek.
“Siggy, time to get up and get breakfast started.”
Lorena received little more than a groan. Being persistent, she amused herself finding different ways to pester him until he finally kept his eyes open long enough to pay attention. She practiced poking him in various places, tapping his forehead, and even tickling his feet. Reluctantly, Siggy climbed out of bed, tossed on some clothes along with his blue kerchief, and ambled up the stairs to start breakfast. Lorena started back toward the stairs, stopping in front of Adelais’s bed. She hesitated for a moment before making her way back upstairs.
Lorena took a seat at the bar, finally able to rest her foot, and began walking her fingers along the wooden counter, waiting for breakfast. As she played with her rough hands, she heard clumsy fumbling as the scruffy-haired city dweller made his first appearance of the day.
“Morning, stranger.”
“Hey.” Kody nodded, taking a seat at the table.
“Always avoidin’ me. Over here.”
Lorena pulled out a chair sitting next to her. She sat waiting as Kody failed to make a move of any kind. Done with her hand-game, she stood up and hobble-dragged him over, sitting him down in the chair next to her.
“Sleepy?” she asked.
“I guess. Don’t sleep well.”
“I get that.” Lorena nodded. “So, let’s talk cousins.”
“Sure. I have a few on my dad’s side, although I haven’t seen them in forever.”
“We’re not talkin’ ‘bout yours. Ya’ didn’t really tell me why you’re lookin’ fer mine. Jes’ because we haven’t said anything don’t mean none of us haven’t noticed ya’ wearin’ Jake’s jacket around.”
“I just need to talk to Alma, that’s all. Don’t care about her brother. Besides, I found his jacket at his old place when I was looking for her.”
“Okay. So ya’ know that Jake’s a bandito, right? Or was, anyway. Ran off after bringin’ down a world of hurt on us. Walkin’ around wearin’ that thing is an insult ta’ every decent person here. Ever wonder why Ade don’t like you?” Lorena took a breath, changing subjects.
“Back to what we were talkin’ about: I dunno what’cha see in Alma. Love my cousin, don’t get me wrong, but she was always kinda a flake. So, say those crazy siblings’re out here. Mebbe Jake gets dumb and tries ta’ hide out with the one or two people he didn’t piss off yet. Then what? Gonna bring him back here and cause even more trouble fer us?”
Kody sighed. “I don’t care about Jake, or what Alma was like when you knew her. All I care about is finding her so I can work on finding a way home.”
Lorena leaned toward him, sticking her finger in his face. “People not carin’ ‘bout anything but themselves is how everyone else gets hurt. Ya’ better know what you’re doin’. We can’t afford any mistakes.”
“Breakfast is ready!” Siggy interrupted their conversation.
They piled into the kitchen, each grabbing a plate and serving their own food. Trudging up the stairs partially dressed in no particular fashion, Adelais found himself at the end of the serving line. Lorena waited for him to load up his plate before looking over his bandaged abdomen. They all took a seat at the table, enjoying Siggy’s fine breakfast cuisine together.
Kody and Siggy finished first, taking their plates to the kitchen before heading downstairs to get ready for the first patrol of the day. Lorena remained at the table with an empty plate while Adelais continued eating—his plates tending to be much larger.
“How you feelin’, Ade?”
Adelais nodded, chewing emphatically to illustrate talking wasn’t the best idea while eating. Lorena chuckled to herself, and took her plate into the kitchen. She checked the chore chart and found today was her day for the dishes. She scrubbed them clean without much trouble, humming Iron and Wine’s “Fever Dream” as she washed. She received Adelais’s plate just as she finished the others and rinsed it off. Putting the dishes away, she went back into the bar and carefully knelt to look at Adelais’s waist.
“What’re you doin’ Lore? You ain’t no nurse.”
“Ain’t an idiot either. Jes’ wanna make sure yer okay.”
She unraveled Adelais’s bandages, knowing full well he’d never remember to dress them himself. She walked back into her room to grab fresh bandages and filled up a basin of water in the kitchen.
She came back into the bar as Kody and Siggy were coming up the stairs.
“You two headed out?”
“Just a quick patrol,” Siggy responded.
“We’ll stay out of trouble.” Kody met Lorena’s eyes as he spoke.
“Good. Stay safe. Both of you.”
Lorena’s eyes lingered on Siggy as they left. She returned to Adelais, kneeling and looking over his wound. She wiped it with a clean cloth, gently inspecting his skin to make sure it was clear of any infection. She re-wrapped his waist and secured his bandages.
“This ain’t a small cut. Ya’ got lucky, Ade. Ya’ gotta stop doin’ this ta’ me.”
“I did it for you. Say I left Alejandro alone, what woulda happened ta’ ya’? Think he woulda jes’ fergot ya’ brought him down in the middle of town?”
“And what? I’m not s’pose ta’ protect myself?” She looked up to him.
“Nothin’ wrong with that.” He shrugged. “Just sayin’…did it fer you is all,” he muttered.
“I know ya’ did. So that mean we gotta worry ‘bout Alejandro comin’ back here fer you, or fer me?”
“He ain’t comin’ back.”
The look on Adelais’s face told Lorena to leave the subject be. Curiosity wasn’t going to win her any favors today. Adelais stood up and walked to the front door, stepping outside the blanket.
Having finished her work for the morning, Lorena went through the kitchen to the back porch, taking a seat to rest her ankle. She dangled her feet in the sand, dragging her toes across to draw pictures. The warm dirt grazed softly along her heels as she played around, trying to decide what to make. Her toes worked their way along the sandy ground until eventually a crude puppy with a party hat, eating a chicken was born. Examining the funny-looking chicken, she stomped him out of existence and began anew.
While playing in the sand, she heard a faint commotion on the other side of the bar. She pulled herself up one of the support pillars on the porch, and leaned over the railing to see if she could find anything. She searched around, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
As she started to sit back down, several banditos ran up from both sides of the building. Limbs shaking with adrenaline, she escaped into the kitchen and slid open a fake panel built into the wall, placed there by her mother as a precaution against bandito raids. While it wasn’t able to protect Sarita, Lorena had found success with it in the past. She began to close herself off inside when her dog howled nearby.
Abandoning the hidden room, Lorena hobble-ran to her bedroom, coming upon a bandito with a drawn knife encroaching on her dog. She slammed her body into the bandito, tripping him over the dog and causing him to fall face-first into the wall. She grabbed her dog by the neck and dragged him back to the kitchen.
She managed to push the dog into the hidden room before hitting the ground hard on her back, violently tackled by a bandito entering from the back porch. The force of the blow bounced her head off the hard wood floor and knocked the wind out of her. Trying to regain her focus, she remained dazed as the bandito climbed on top of her. She struggled, managing to force the bandito off her and knee him in the groin.
As she tried to regain her feet, two more banditos grabbed her wrists and ankles, holding her down. She tried to scream, but as soon as she opened her mouth, a knotted gag was tied around her head, muting her voice. She tried to flail about, but couldn’t free herself from the banditos’ grasp.
The injured bandito got back on his knees and pulled out a knife, cutting her dress open down the middle. He grabbed at her chest and began fondling her breasts. Her heart pounded fiercely against the walls of her ribcage, the weight of the bandito pushing down on her making it nearly impossible to breathe.
She struggled, trying her best to squirm free. Thrashing her body about, she attempted to escape the dirty fingers clawing all over her. Her waist stung at the snapping of a cotton waistband as her underwear was torn off.
She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the burning tears streaming down her face as a disgusting, sloppy tongue wriggled its way around her body. Working herself free of the gag, she bit the closest bandito, buying herself a temporary reprieve, before feeling foreskin and sticky dampness on her inner thigh. She forced her eyes shut, trying to fight her way free.
Amid the chaos, multiple shots rang out, dropping the banditos all over her onto the floor. She lay still, shivering and naked, covered in blood mostly not her own. With unremitting trembling, she opened her eyes long enough to see the immediate threat had passed, and scrambled back to the hidden panel, concealing herself in her safe room with the dog.
She slid back as the panel slid opened, screaming out in response before she realized who had opened the door. Siggy stepped inside the room, closing the door behind him and putting his gun away. She embraced him, clutching him as she tried to control her shaking. He held her only for a moment before taking off his shirt. He offered it to her along with his kerchief.
“I’m so sorry, Lorena, but ya’ gotta do what ya’ can with these quick as possible. Ade and Kody are holding ‘em off, but we gotta get outta here.”
She wiped the tears from her face, improvising with the clothes Siggy gave her. She hid behind him, leaning on him for support, as he listened for movement on the other side of the panel. Unable to hear anything herself, she debated whether it was worth the risk to re-enter the fray. Siggy cautiously slid the panel open, checking the scene. Catching a glimpse over his shoulder, she saw her three assailants dead on her kitchen floor. Siggy turned back to her.
“I know yer scared, but I promise—no matter what, I won’t let anyone hurt ya’.”
Siggy pulled her close, giving her a kiss on her forehead. He took her hand and slowly led her out of the hiding spot. The duo moved surreptitiously to the bar, where Kody and Adelais stood guarding the door.
“They gone?” Siggy asked.
“Dunno… don’t see ‘em. Like they disappeared…” Adelais trailed off, peering out of the window. It took him a moment to notice Lorena, banged up and half-dressed, hiding behind Siggy. “Ya’ okay, Lore?”
Still dazed and trying to find some semblance of balance on regaining control of her body, she looked to Siggy, who subtly shook his head.
“I took care of her,” Siggy replied.
“Good. Dunno what these bastards are up ta’, but no way in hell I let them touch one a’ mine.”
“Adelais, look around.” Kody maintained his watch. “They came straight here. They didn’t even touch the pelts in the street.”
“Shit, they were after us.” Adelais thought aloud.
“Him, actually.”
Lorena fell into a chair near the bar, violently shoved from behind. She sprawled out on the floor as she looked up to see a bandito wearing a burka standing behind Siggy. Adelais and Kody both fell to banditos storming the front entrance of the bar, leaving Siggy alone to fight the small tyrant. “R…run,” was all Lorena could manage with her scratchy voice.
Siggy spun around to face his opponent, reaching for his gun. The vicious bandito threw a punch that launched Siggy into the bar, producing a deafening cracking sound as the wood broke on impact. Grabbing one of the many knives littered on the floor, Lorena lay waiting as the bandito approached Siggy.
The bandito drew close, allowing Lorena an opportunity to stab the knife deep into its calf muscle. As she lunged, the blade clinked on metal and slid against the boot, landing little more than a graze on the leather. The surprised grunt emitted from the bandito was enough to catch Adelais’s attention, causing him to abandon his current target in favor the bandito attacking his brother.
The menacing bandito reached out with both hands, grabbing Siggy behind the head and pulling him close. The bandito whispered something to Siggy, but Lorena couldn’t hear it over the rest of the conflict. She climbed to her feet and grabbed at the bandito’s arms, but a swift elbow to the gut knocked the wind out of her, dropping her back to the floor. All she caught was Siggy’s respons
e as the bandito spun him around and held him in a half choke with one arm as it pulled the knife from its boot with the other:
“Ya’ betrayed him. What’dya expect? But we can stop the fightin’—”
The bandito loosened its grip enough to cut Siggy’s throat, forcing the blade so deep into his neck it caught on his jugular on the way to the carotid artery. The bandito dropped Siggy to the floor and headed out through the kitchen doorway.
Lorena watched Adelais barrel after the burka-covered bandito, but the bandito Kody had been fighting launched itself onto Adelais’s back, dropping him back to the floor. Kody and Adelais fought the remaining bandito while Lorena crawled over to Siggy. She lifted his head, watching him bleed out. She tried to stop the blood, but she accomplished little more than bathing her hands in it before Siggy’s neck ran dry.
“Just keep breathing…”
Lorena nurtured him, her tears once again flowing and decorating both the sanguine floor and lifeless cheeks. She thought she could hear muted punches being thrown in the background, but it was impossible to tell. She jumped at a hand landing on her shoulder, quickly turning her head to see Kody kneeling down beside her.
“Adelais.”
Kody called out to him. Lorena heard little more than one-sided punches landing against what she assumed to be bone. Kody called out to him again, and once again, no response. Lorena heard shuffling of some kind and a conflict between Kody and Adelais, but Siggy never left her sight. A heavy thud hit the floor behind her; Adelais must’ve finally realized what had happened.
“Ade…”
Adelais carefully picked up Siggy’s body, taking him from Lorena. She fought to hold onto him, refusing to let go, but Kody restrained her and unlatched her fingers, allowing Adelais to take his brother. Covered in blood, sweat, and bleeding still, Adelais walked out the front door, carrying his brother with him.