I woke up the opposite way of how I fell asleep. I was hot and sweaty. Sebastian took the blanket off of himself at some point and it was doubled up on me. I pushed it off and started to rub my eyes. I looked toward the window. It was cloudy out. The weather matched my mood. I just wanted to stay in bed even if the springs were poking through the mattress. I looked up at Sebastian who was sitting up against the wall with the computer on his lap. I decided to stay quiet hoping he would as well. I shut my eyes and turned back onto my stomach.
Sebastian whistled. "Leah come on sunshine wake up."
Sebastian said this quietly and I could tell he was focused on whatever he was reading. I figured I would be able to get ten more minutes of rest before he started to get annoyed that I wasn't getting up. I was not sure if it was the sleep schedule or the food but I didn't feel good.
Sebastian slapped me on the butt. It startled me. "That was too hard!" I snapped at him and flipped over.
"Get up sweetheart we have a Chinese lord to feud with!"
"What time is it?"
"Almost 4:00 pm."
"Really?"
"Really, really Leah."
I slept hard and I had no energy to get up. I grabbed my phone off our bag on the ground. Nelly sent a picture to the group text we had going between the three of us. It was a picture of me at Wal-Mart in a pair of stirrup stretch pants, a bright yellow tank top and Velcro shoes. We would occasionally play dress up when we were bored in college and it would keep us entertained for the night. Nelly and Gwen would pick out an outfit from the adult woman section usually targeting grandma-wear. All of us would have tears in our eyes from laughing so hard as we tried on our outfits. The caption of Nelly's text was 'Baby come back!' with an emoticon of a smiley face with tears streaming down. It was like they thought I was in Mexico on a suicide mission with their sentimental texts. I replied right away so they didn't have to hold their breath long. I guess I would have felt the same way and I thought of how I felt when Nelly threatened to cross the border by herself last month.
"How you feeling?" Sebastian asked.
"Kind of yucky. I need some fresh fruits and vegetables."
"What?" He asked confused.
I glared. "What?"
"I thought you said you would surely be hungry for your leftover lo mein this morning."
"Oh gross!" I shrieked at the thought.
He smiled. "Drink a bottle of water sweetie I don't want you getting sick on me. Stay hydrated."
I plugged my phone in the outlet and grabbed a bottle of water. It was lukewarm but it tasted amazing. I only had a few sips of water while we were staked out in the car the night before. I didn't want to have to pee. I would have given anything for a banana at that moment. I settled for another energy bar.
Sebastian had been up for awhile getting himself all psyched up for Ping. Today was the day we would take action. We were approaching Ping for better or worse. I knew it might be our only chance and my only fear was that our presence would harm Grace. If we couldn't get Ping to agree to a deal what would her fate be? We had to get Grace free. We couldn't leave Mexico without her.
We dressed and walked across the street to the market on the corner. It was November 2nd, which was officially the Day of the Dead. We were in a poor little area of Juarez, I couldn't imagine what the scene was like in the popular metropolitan areas of Mexico. We bought two Gatorades inside and two bags of crunchy Mexican pinwheel chips from the street vendor who was stationed outside. The chips were doused with hot sauce and were so tasty. Sebastian informed me they were called duros. Duros were the bomb and we walked the street feeling like two kids at a carnival. There were booths lined up on the street with people selling different things from skulls to paintings.
With no face paint on I felt different, exposed. I couldn't hide behind a mask and I felt like a true foreigner. The sun was getting close to starting its decent. I told Sebastian we had to head to Ping's soon but he didn't flinch. I feared Sebastian would let another day pass before confronting Ping. He bought a plate of tacos from a vendor and both of us scarfed them down in silence while watching all the people move around in their costumes. There was what appeared to be an altar set up close to us. It had flowers scattered around and even had food lining it. I look around and noticed more areas were being set up like this.
Sebastian whistled to a young teenage girl next to us to get her attention. He spoke with her in Spanish for a while. She handed him a paper skeleton mask before walking away. He held it up to my face and laughed. "You look scary with that thing on."
"I'm sure I do. So is this holiday like Halloween on acid for them?"
Sebastian smirked. "No the girl said this is a happy holiday and everyone's favorite holiday. It's a celebration and they believe the dead are here with them during this time."
"Oh. So what is with those altars is that for the deceased?"
"Yep they decorate the alters with the dead people's favorite food and drink. Look over there."
Sebastian grabbed my shoulder and turned me so I could see the altar set up behind us. It had candles lit around a margarita machine and a bunch of pictures with flowers surrounding it.
"Nice!" I laughed. "This is so wicked. It's kind of creepy all those skulls and the pictures of the dead surrounding it."
"Yeah they place gifts and some of the dead people's possessions on the altar too."
I glanced around and noticed all the people circulating the area. "Wow it's early and the scene is even more vibrant than last night. They like to party!"
"Perfect distraction for us to visit Ping."
I leaned up against Sebastian. "Maybe he will be in a festive mood and let Grace go."
"We'll see." Sebastian nuzzled my hair. "Let me do the talking when we get in there Leah. Okay?"
"Sure. You ready?"
Sebastian nodded while shoving the last taco in his mouth. I followed him as he made his way to Ping's restaurant. Inside it looked like a family had rented out most of the restaurant for their very own Day of the Dead extravaganza. Tables were pulled together and the head table was set up like the altars we saw outside. There were skulls, flowers, pictures, alcohol bottles and food. It was crowded with every table being occupied. Sebastian and I walked toward the front of the restaurant where the bar was. To the back right was the kitchen and to the left an area that led to the stairs. There were so many people that we were having trouble navigating our way to the bar. Sebastian tried to slide by an elderly man but got denied. After waiting patiently he elbowed his way to the bar with me holding onto his belt loop behind him. Sebastian asked if Ping was in and the overweight bartender chuckled saying take a number. The bartender was Chinese and his accent was thick.
Sebastian looked back at me and shook his head. "This is impossible."
I held my breath as we made our way back out of the sea of people. I held on to the tail of Sebastian's shirt. We finally caught our breath in the corner near the stairwell.
"We're going to have to come back tomorrow," Sebastian said. "It's a freaking zoo in here."
My eyes lit up. "Should we check out upstairs?"
Sebastian looked at me like I was crazy.
I glared at him. "Why not? I can just say I got lost looking for the bathroom if anyone catches me. Might as well take advantage of the chaos and check out the rest of this place."
Sebastian was not amused by my idea but motioned me up. "Go for it."
He was daring me to go. He thought I wouldn't. I hesitated then started walking up the flight of dusty stairs.
"Cover me," I whispered before going any further.
When I got to the top I looked down a long hallway before me. To my left was another long hallway. I was suddenly worried. From the outside Ping's place looked small. Upstairs I could tell this place was huge and the restaurant was a small sliver of the building. It was fairly dark and I had a flashback to my grandma's basement. When I was a little kid I would run down to the basement to get a
n ice cream bar from the freezer and run back up as fast as I could. My grandparent's basement was the scariest place in the world when I was a child. It felt like a real monster lived down there and it had a soul.
I took a few gentle steps down the hall that was directly ahead of me. I stopped and stood still trying to listen for any sounds. I got nearly halfway down the hall when I stopped again. I feared what was lurking behind the doors. A vision of hanging bodies popped into my mind and I decided I was done exploring. I turned and took a step back toward the stairs when I heard a loud creek. I instinctively brought myself up against the wall like a chameleon. A door opened up near the end of the hallway and a ray of light shined against the wall. I stepped laterally inching my way closer to the stairwell so I could start my descent back down the stairs. I was getting ready to bolt just like I did after grabbing my ice cream bar when I heard a loud voice. I froze and kept still with my back against the wall looking straight ahead. The man was speaking Spanish. A jolt of panic ran through my body but I couldn't move. The man had a loud stern voice and it kept getting louder as he approached me. Don't just stand here. I slid to my left quickly and then ran. I slammed right into Sebastian. He put his arms around me and yelled at the man in Spanish. He abruptly whipped my body behind him shielding me by putting one arm in the air and keeping one arm on me. It was hard to see because Sebastian had me pinned to his back. I maneuvered and saw why, the Mexican man had a gun pointed at Sebastian's face. They were speaking fast back and forth in Spanish. I only recognized the words Ping and Mr. Ho.
The man relaxed for a moment and took a step back. He pulled out a walky-talky and fidgeted with the button before speaking into it loudly. The man had the same demeanor as the cop who pulled us over during Nelly's Tijuana drug run. He looked cold and evil. He was younger looking and clean-shaven. He was wearing rugged khaki cargo pants and a stained white tee shirt. Since I couldn't understand what he was saying I inspected him thoroughly. The gun he had in his hand was a 9mm Glock. I looked right into the barrel as it moved slightly from side to side.
The man put the walky-talky back in his pocket and motioned us to walk down the hall toward the room he came out of. Once in the room he put the gun to his side. He said something about Ping. He then looked me in the eye and said something that sounded scary. He was nearly at eye level with me which would make him around 5'8". I stared right back at him not wanting him to sense my fear. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
"Ella no habla Español?"
"No," Sebastian said.
"Ah okay. Okay I speak English. Mr. Ping will be here soon. Sit."
There was a love seat that looked like it barely survived a tornado and two wooden folding chairs. It was a tight squeeze for both of us to sit on the love seat. We sat down awkwardly and Sebastian stood up right away knowing both of us fitting in it was not going to happen. I sat on the edge not wanting to absorb the fabric anymore than I had to.
The man kept the gun down by his side but started twirling it. He had a muscularly build and looked intimidating. I imagined he could kill an animal with his bare hands or with one kick from his black combat boots. I knew if there were no weapons involved Sebastian could hold his own against this man. That Glock scared me though and we would have no chance against it. The room we were in was nasty. There were boxes scattered around and a small desk stacked with a bunch of crap all over it. There were two windows in the room and they had bars on them. I started hoping Ping would be the same exuberant man he appeared to be the other night when he was greeting patrons in his restaurant.
I hadn't made eye contact with Sebastian. I didn't want the man to pick up on anything and I was trying to act as emotionless as possible. I could hear the floor creek down the hall and the sounds of footsteps. In the doorway Ping appeared. Jolly Mr. Ping with a big grin on his face. He was wearing tan pants and a cream poncho.
"Hell-low!" He shouted. "So what do we have here? Visitors. Eduardo no gun. We don't need gun put away!"
Ping walked toward us stretching out his hands.
"Sir." Sebastian said reaching out his hand. "My name is Sebastian and this is Leah."
"Welcome! Welcome!"
I reluctantly shook his hand and cringed inside as he patted my shoulder then looked me over. He looked from Sebastian to me then repeated. Eduardo holstered his gun and had his arms crossed staring at me. I stood tall with my shoulders back. I did not flinch at all.
Ping finally spoke. "You two married?"
Sebastian hesitated. I was not wearing my ring. I didn't bring any jewelry. Sebastian was debating if he should say yes or no and what the consequences could be for either answer.
Sebastian took a breath. "Yes."
Ping shrugged and smiled. He walked over to look out the window then slowly walked back to us. "So." Ping talked painfully slow dragging out his words and he has such a high pitch that it made it difficult to hear him clearly. He had hands pointed together at his chin trying to take us in. "Mr. Ho sent you?"
Sebastian didn't hesitate. "Yes Mr. Ho told us about you sir. We are here for business."
"Oh, business." Ping sounded amused. "Tell me what Ping can do for you."
Ping was an obnoxious cocky prick. I wanted to kick him in the teeth. His mannerisms and voice were driving me crazy. I was glad Sebastian was able to be so calm and even keeled when he talked to assholes.
"We would like to make a trade," Sebastian said confidently.
Ping laughed hysterically. I looked at Sebastian not showing a reaction to see if he had one in response to Ping's outburst. Sebastian didn't waiver his expression and patiently waited for Ping's laughing to subside.
"Yes we have a business proposal. The young woman Mr. Ho gave you, Grace." Sebastian paused seeing if Ping would acknowledge her.
Ping cocked his head. "You mean Rain?"
Sebastian and I glanced at each other not knowing if he was talking about Grace.
"You want to trade me for my Rain?" Ping laughed again. "She is my best. Perfect Mandarin and Spanish. She very valuable to me. And Ho not give me Rain I paid for her. She's mine!"
Sebastian drew a blank.
Eduardo smiled and stood up straight. "Trade for the white girl?"
Ping tilted his head. "Ah ha. That's interesting. Yes?"
"No," Sebastian said coolly.
Ping smiled. "No? Why not? I think trade fair."
Sebastian shook his head. "She doesn't speak those languages."
"She doesn't need to," Eduardo quipped.
Ping laughed. "Yeah she stays quiet that fine with us. Don't need to say a word."
I was uncomfortably numb inside. I was afraid my gig of acting confident and calm was in jeopardy. There was no way these two men didn't sense the fear that had washed over me.
"No that is out of the question," Sebastian said. "That's not the deal."
"Okay what is the deal?" Ping screeched with anger. "You tell me what you had in mind and I tell you if it's a deal."
My confidence that we would be leaving Mexico with Grace started to dwindle. I felt bad for thinking this but I wanted to get out of there any way possible. Having two lives saved is better than losing three.
"$25,000 for Grace," Sebastian responded. "For Rain."
I was relieved that Ping's reaction to this was not his annoying laugh. He put his hand to his chin and thought on Sebastian's proposal. "Ah." Ping hesitated. He tapped his size 5 shoes on the floor. "Well that can't be deal. How I replace my translator? She speak both and speak it well."
"In this town?" Sebastian asked. "I think with that amount of money you can find a Chinese girl and a Spanish girl that speaks their language fluently."
Ping was considering the deal and it made me wonder at what price he bought Grace from Mr. Ho. Ping started pacing again. Eduardo's body language indicated he was not happy Ping was considering the deal. I was fearful of Eduardo more than Ping. He was the one with the gun and I could tell he had distain for Sebastian. While Ping was in c
harge I didn't think there would be any retribution if Eduardo went rogue and shot us both.
The room was silent as Ping contemplated his decision. Eduardo hopped off the edge of the desk and broke the silence telling Ping he wanted to talk to him alone. Ping walked out of the room and Eduardo followed him shutting the door behind him. Both of us were silent. Sebastian put his finger up indicating to stay quiet. He waited a moment before pulling me close to him.
"Sebastian what do we do?" I was shaking slightly.
"It's going to be okay just stay calm and alert okay Leah?" He kissed my head. "You good?"
"Yeah I'm fine. I love you Sebastian."
"I love you too. Hey we're getting out alive and we're bringing Grace with us."
I nodded. "What if he says no to the money and -"
Sebastian cut me off. "Leah relax just react and run for your life if something happens don't look back for me."
"Sebastian quit the shit."
"Leah I am serious." We heard footsteps and voices outside the door. "Just follow my lead sweetie."
"Okay." My lip quivered. "I Love you."
Eduardo walked back in with a smirk. Ping followed with his cheesy ass smile. He had his fingers together at his chin and started tapping them. He sat on the desk and looked back and forth at us. His random face hairs creeped me out. How did they grow like that and why didn't he shave them?
"I have deal," Ping said.
Sebastian and I waited for him to continue but he just looked at us with a smile. He started tapping the tips of his fingers together again. It was making me nervous. What kind of crazy deal did this Chinese dude have in mind?
"Sea-bast-on you look like nice young man. Respectable and honorable. I have deal. You see truck out there?"
Sebastian and I took a few steps to our left to look out the window. Through the bars we saw many vehicles outside by the building next door. There were two trucks that looked exactly the same except one was white and the other was black.
"Yeah."
"You know how to drive stick?"
Sebastian nodded. "Yes."
"Deal is tomorrow you drive that white truck out there over the border. Take to establishment not far into the US. You do that and give me $25,000 Rain goes with you."
"Alright I can do that. Where will Grace be?"
"Stop with the Grace! Her name is Rain! I go over the border in the other truck with Le-ah and Rain with me."
Sebastian thought for a moment. I did too and all I could think about was that I didn't trust these people. Why was driving a truck over the border part of the deal?
"Well?" Ping asked. "This is fair."
"Sounds like a deal to me," Sebastian agreed. "You have Rain's passport right?"
"Oh yes and she will get it when we cross."
I knew Sebastian didn't trust Ping and I got the feeling he was agreeing to this just so we would have a deal locked down.
"Alright let's do it." Sebastian forced a smile.
"Eduardo go call Manuel and tell him his services are not needed tomorrow."
Eduardo nodded his head and walked out of the room.
"What time do we leave in the morning?" Sebastian asked.
"8:00 am. You be ready to go at eight sharp?"
Sebastian nodded. "We'll be here."
"No the girl stays."
My heart dropped. I looked at Sebastian and waited for him to clear this up.
Sebastian's face went pale. "What do you mean?"
"Your woman stays here for the night." Ping tilted his head then put his hands up in the air. "She be safe. I promise she be safe. She stay here. Her and Rain stay here. You come in the morning and we leave."
"No deal. Leah and I stay together."
"This my deal!" Ping glared at Sebastian. "This my deal! Understand?"
Sebastian looked at me. I couldn't believe what was happening. I didn't even look at him I stared blankly ahead at the dirty wall.
"What's the arrangement where will she stay?" Sebastian asked nervously.
"She will be fine."
Eduardo walked back into the room.
"Eduardo go get Rain," Ping said. "Bring her here."
He nodded and left the room again.
"You have stuff on you?"
Ping was looking at me. I was confused. "Stuff?"
"You have personal items on you? Cell phone? Passport?"
I acknowledged that I did. I didn't want to risk getting frisked by him or Eduardo. I was wearing a black sweatshirt over my black shirt that fittingly had skull and crossbones on it. Sebastian and I had laughed when I put it on earlier that day because I joked that I would be able to blend in with the locals by wearing it. I had a small wallet that held my driver's license and a credit card in my sweatshirt along with my cell phone.
"I keep until tomorrow," Ping said.
"No I can take them." Sebastian reached out his hand and grabbed my wallet and phone out of my sweatshirt pocket before I could.
Eduardo walked in with Grace. She didn't react to seeing us.
"My Rain! My Rain! Tomorrow morning you go back to the US."
Grace gave us a quick look. She didn't know what to think. Her demeanor didn't change as though she knew not to get excited about anything Ping said.
"Let's go." Ping called out. "Come with me you two stay night in box."
Box? Everyone started to follow Ping. Was I the only one who thought this was bat shit crazy? What was going to happen to me? With each step my mind wandered into the darkness. I imagined the worst. Sebastian walked behind me closely. I glanced back for a look of assurance from him but there was none. I was hoping he was plotting of a way to keep me from staying in the box. Ping stopped at a door in the hallway. There was a small square window in the middle of the door. It was see through but it hadn't seen Windex in years. I stepped back so my body was touching Sebastian's.
"In you go." Ping twirled his hand in a circle then pointed to the door.
Eduardo unlocked the door. The room was dark and a strong stench seeped out. I forcefully pressed my back against Sebastian wanting him to save me from this. Grace reluctantly walked in and Ping looked at me sternly for not following suit.
"In you go."
I couldn't believe this. That annoying voice! I wanted to kick him in the nuts and run. Instead I stood frozen in place not wanting or feeling like I could move.
Eduardo gave me a death stare. "Go now!"
I didn't move. Eduardo grabbed my arm and I used all my might to get away from his grip. Sebastian launched at him with such force that I crashed up against the wall and fell. I gazed up from the ground and saw Sebastian wrestling Eduardo each attempting to pull the gun from Eduardo's holster.
"Both of you STOP IT!" Ping screamed at the top of his lungs.
I looked over my shoulder at Ping he was pointing a gun at Sebastian. Both Sebastian and Eduardo paused.
"We have a deal. This is the deal." Ping was squealing. "You leave come back at 8 am to drive truck. That's it! GO!"
Both Eduardo and Sebastian got up off the floor. Once standing Eduardo sucker punched Sebastian in the stomach. I could only watch as Sebastian fell to his knees.
"Enough!" Ping screamed. "You get out of here and you get the girl in the box." Ping looked toward me. "Now you go!"
Sebastian slowly stood up. He put one hand in the air to show compliance and kept one hand on his stomach.
Eduardo grabbed me and pulled me up to my feet. He gritted his tobacco stained teeth together. He smelled like a wet ashtray. I put all my weight back and he pushed me through the door. His hands were forceful against me and I fought to get out of his grip.
"No!" I yelled. "Stop!"
It all happened so fast. The door shut and it was over. I felt the life go out of me. I screamed out for Sebastian. I put my hand to the glass and frantically hit the door. There was darkness everywhere. I felt dizzy and that smell! What the hell was that smell? I lowered myself to the floor. I couldn't see anything. I couldn
't hear anything. I could tell Grace was saying something to me but I was going deaf and my vision was gone.