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Today is the day. The sun is slowly slipping behind the mountains as I mentally prepare to reunite with my daughter. Spent my day clean’in up, preparing to see my youngest for the first time in years. Both dreading the encounter, while, at the same time, hoping for the best. Upon exiting the complex, I spot Diana watching from a rooftop observation platform. I wonder what last words of advice she might have.
Arriving at the Barrio with Cord thinking to myself, keep breathing. Relax. A part of me wanting to run away. Words I recently uttered echo in my mind… I gave up. Cord and Diana both restating multiple times. “She wants nothing to do with you. Neither her nor her sister.”
I expect that current reality won’t align with the images in my mind. Happy, joyful with a passion for leaning, but... So many unanswerable questions asked. I can visualize her reading by candlelight, ‘visiting’ a paper world that no longer existed and wondering why.
Temperature dropping, sunbaked streets are noisy, always filled with locals. Strangers eyed with suspicion. Dust kicks up as a dust devil spins ahead. What can one expect when the entire world’s population now gathered up and piled into half the world’s habitable space?
At the back of the cafe, we hid our rides and wait in the shadows. My stomach churning. Soon she will arrive as I close my eyes and picture her on her way.
Mask on to protect her from toxic air, dust, and viruses that permeate the air. Hand in her bag, clutching her weapon. Turning the corner approaching her entrance, still unaware of our presence, yet. Cord and I, standing back a dozen steps semi hidden in the darkness, step forward. She looks up at the last moment, freezes, and for that split second did not appear to recognize us. To be honest took me a moment to recognize her. Cord behind to my right whispers. That’s her. Two more steps, without stopping, she is inside her apartment. The door closes quickly. We hear the latch. I approach to knock. As I reach for the door handle, I hear a gunshot and feel a bullet graze my arm just above my right elbow. Cord pulls me back and two more bullets exit through the door, leaving a trail of wooded splinters. Blood oozes from my wound, shocked, dumbfounded. Grab the wound.
“Susan! it’s me, Jesse,” I yelled, words not spoken for years.
“Go to hell,” she yells.
Muted voices from afar fill the air, then silence… slowly replaced by night sounds and muted conversations. Now dark, I stand as the blood dries. Why, so much anger. She fully intended for me to die on her doorstep?
Cord add, “told ya. Let it go.”
“Cord, you need to identify yourself. Tell her about meeting her, you and Diana.”
“Sure. Susan, it’s me. We met you, me and my friend… Diana, at the cafe. We chatted on several occasions. Don’t…”
Another shot exits as we pull back.
Sliding as close as I dare next to the entryway, raising my voice to be heard, hoping to be heard, now hoping she would listen, spoke. “Susan it’s… dad. Please give me a minute and listen. That night, hired to tutor Mr. Eldridge’s sons, his daughter like I had done so often before.”
Pause… listen, nothing, so I continue.
“When I returned that evening, I found…, you and Sandra were both gone. Found your mom, her… The room was in disarray. I searched for months; I followed leads; I tried to no avail. Over the years, I have left notes on message boards and looked for messages, clues, still hoping. Mr. Cord’s, a friend recently located you and Sandra and returned… shared that neither wanted to see me ever again. I… I needed a chance to explain my side of the story, to seek forgiveness, to…”
“You’re a f**king liar,” she screamed between sob, “it was all a ruse.”
“What, what do you mean, a ruse?”
“A scheme, a plan, a way to get rid of us. To get us out of the way, to steal the cafe,” she added.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I questioned.
“Those men, the ones that raped mom, smacked us around, then dragged us away, placed us in an untenable situation for years, those men worked for Mr. Eldridge, hired by Mr. Eldridge, paid by you to get rid of us!”
Night had fully fallen, new moon, cold, so cold, my head spinning, unable to think clearly, to unravel the dissidence. I had no words. Like putting a puzzle together with missing pieces in the dark. All this time, they nurtured lies. Hearts hardened. Lies that grew from lies to indignation to anger, to a deeply rooted hatred. The door swung open, Susan stepped out, shotgun in hand, turned and there I, rather we, were staring at death.
“Mom seemed worried that evening. You had left so late in the afternoon, but beyond that, all seemed normal until they arrived. Mom recognized the brand. They claimed to have a message from Mr. Eldridge, so she opened the door. They barged in uninvited, actually elbowed in and… mom smacked down, raped as we watched, we’re slapped around, hooded and dragged away. Once back to Mr. Eldridge’s ranch, they removed the hood, and we saw your horse tied to their front porch, then placed in a darkened room, heard voices, heard your voice. How you paid to have us kidnapped. The next few years he hid us, moved to his ranch up north, ‘protected’ us from you. Turns out we were victims of… Aging, Sandra pregnant, we were sent away. Meanwhile, your reputation, your true nature grew, devious and deadly, and now wanted dead or alive with a bounty. Sis and I promised the first to see you would kill you. I guess I win.”
I had faced off many a misfit, stood at the wrong end of someone’s gun, and walked away. Sitting here, afraid to move, insides twisting, nothing made any sense. Mr. Eldridge, a typical wealthy, power-hungry, self-absorbed, family man, crooked, and me, just your regular Joe.
“Landed up north?”
Okay, head pounding, “this is Cord, an innocent friend. He’s got no dog in this story, just let him walk away.”
“His mistake. Think anyone will miss him?” she asks.
“I’m going to slowly… remove my holster and gun, my extra gun, knife, and reaching behind my back one more weapon and toss them out of reach.”
“Ms. Tucker,” Cord said.
Her eyes snapped up. “Don’t you ever use my name,” eyes blazing!
“Let me explain. Let me have a minute or two of your time,” Cord requested. “I’ve known Jesse a short time, and he has often talked about family, in a family way, and has been looking for you as long as I have known him. He had hired me to see if I could find you and your sister, Sandra. I did. I suggested he just let this… to forgo meeting and move on, he, on the other hand, has been determined to talk with you. Okay, with the minute I have remaining, I am a tracker, a private investigator. I have work for various outfits, and for independent clients, successfully.”
Susan cocks the hammer, “time is running out.”
“I have heard your story and I’m left with a few questions that, regardless of what’s about to happen, will seek answers for,” he replied.
“You’d be wasting your time.”
“And I will find answers and I will report those results to you, the truth, the rest of the story, and I assure you there is always a rest of the story. Which will own you, forever. ”
“And if I pull this trigger?”
“Hopefully, I’ll walk away and leave this…, broken, crumpled, dead man on your doorstep.”
“I have a thought,” said Jesse.
“Shut up,” replied Cord and Susan.
Chilled, head spinning.
“You do that. You investigate, but if I see him before you return, I will end the story.”
She turns, enters her room and again, maybe for the last time, I hear the door latch.
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