CHAPTER 11 - THE ACCOMPLICE
Ramon continued driving down the deserted, dusty road, but somehow he knew he wasn’t going directly back to Cristo. Not yet. There was something he had to do first. He let the Baka guide him and the car began to point away from its original purpose. Before he knew it, he’d driven off the main road and onto a small, winding, rutted road.
Ramon continued along the side road, basking in the knowledge that he was the chosen one. The Baka would guide his destiny. The Baka would protect him.
Ramon relaxed behind the wheel, the small car becoming one with the narrow road, when suddenly, before he knew it, he realized he’d come upon the Haitian border. He remembered stories of the border patrols. Not everyone survived a border crossing, or so he’d been told. Men with rifles were said to leap from the trees to threaten unsuspecting travelers.
He slowed the car to a crawl and peered nervously into the foliage. His eyes searched the bushes and trees. As he passed under the branches of a large tree overhanging the path, he caught sight of a man hidden among the leaves above him. He looked again. There was a second man. And a third. All three sat suspended in the thick branches above his head. And all three held weapons.
Ramon realized the rifles were pointed in his direction and he froze in horror. For the first time since striking his bargain, he questioned whether he’d become truly invincible. The men in the tree remained silent. For a time, neither Ramon nor the men moved or spoke. Then Ramon realized these men were asleep. Far from being a threat to him, they weren’t even aware of his presence. The Baka had protected him after all.
Ramon threw back his head and laughed aloud with relief. The border patrol remained asleep, completely unaware of his presence, and Ramon recalled one of the Baka’s promises.
"You will come and go at will, moving about undetected in the presence of your enemies."
Ramon chuckled. This was as good as being invisible. He put the car in gear and continued along the bumpy, back road. Before he knew it, he was driving along the edge of a cane field. The small car continued along the path until it came to a fork in the road and then veered sharply to the left as if it had a life of its own.
Now he was driving down what appeared to be little more than a broad footpath between the cane breaks. And here he saw workers at their silent, backbreaking toil in the field. Their sweet, gentle faces bent to the cane, resigned to their fate. Large, dark patches of sweat spread in ever-widening stains across their simple clothing. And, since he was invisible to them, no one took notice of the small foreigner in the dusty, green Chevy.
Then Ramon came upon a worker who was different from the rest. Stripped to the waist, sweat glistening on his dark skin, he did not toil as did his fellows. He simply stood there, alone amidst the cane, some fifty feet from the road where the Chevy was about to pass.
He was taller and handsomer than the others, his strong, square jaw bearded, and his eyes were neither gentle nor accepting. He stared straight at Ramon. His eyes seemed to say he would do anything. And he would be loyal, loyal to anyone who would take him from this cane field.
Ramon reacted with surprise. He can see me, he thought. Then Ramon realized the tall Haitian, far from being a threat, was a gift from the Baka. "This man will be another pair of hands for me to do my will," Ramon whispered. The little sorcerer watched as the Haitian drew closer. When the stranger drew abreast of the car, he paused.
"If you come with me, you must come alone," Ramon whispered. "If you come with me, there is no going back."
The tall man hesitated. He thought of his wife, her beautiful, dark eyes, the sweetness of her touch. The anguish she would feel when she realized he was gone. And he thought of their infant daughter, knowing his wife wouldn’t be able to feed the little one without the meager wages he earned as a cane worker.
But the hesitation was only momentary. The man realized this was the one opportunity he would ever have to escape the killing life of the cane fields. He could either die a slow death with his family or abandon them and save himself. The choice was clear.
"I am Joseph," he said.
Ramon threw open the car door and Joseph slid onto the passenger seat. The two men sat silently as the little car headed back to Cristo. For a while they seemed to lose track of time, but Ramon knew this was because the Baka was in control. The Baka was guiding them.
Ramon shot a glance at his passenger and felt Joseph sensed this, too. The taller man shifted uneasily in his seat. The time for the midday meal had come and gone. By now, his woman would have missed him. She would be calling his name, searching frantically, the child in her arms.
Joseph turned to meet Ramon’s gaze. Ramon smiled. He understands, thought Joseph. There need be no pretense between them. I like this man, he thought and grinned broadly at Ramon. Ramon grinned back. This man is now my brother, Ramon thought.
The two were now alike, forever bonded by the Baka. In that moment, Ramon knew the extent of his new power was limited only by his imagination and this man, this Joseph, would help him realize those ambitions.
Regarding each other in this moment of triumph, their grins grew broader until, finally, both men threw back their heads and laughed aloud. Ramon pressed hard on the gas pedal and the little car bumped wildly along the dirt road.
He had done it! Everything had fallen into place. The last shreds of fear and self-doubt fell away. Ramon glanced again at Joseph, who’d begun to doze in the seat beside him, and flushed with excitement. The little man had bargained with the Baka and survived. And the price he must pay in return for the demon’s services was nothing. Nothing at all.
Thoughts of all the plans he would soon set in motion began to swirl in his mind. In sharp contrast to his original trip to Liberte, Ramon found the drive home brief and pleasant. He passed the time thinking of his secret place in the forest and his herbs, potions, bones, and shells. He thought of the book of power that he must again bury in the ground. With the help of the Baka, he would unlock the book’s secrets. And the more he thought of the book, the faster the car went.
Darkness fell by the time they’d pulled up at a food shanty beside the road. Joseph opened his eyes as Ramon switched off the ignition. In answer to his companion’s unspoken question, Ramon said, "We’re in the Dominican Republic, just outside Cristo." Ramon opened the car door and stepped out. "Come on," he said, "let’s see about our dinner."
CHAPTER 12 - THE