“We don’t drink that fag stuff…uh, no offense.”
Felipe craned his head to see Johnny’s dangling ear. He said, “There is tequila at the bar. Help yourself.”
Johnny brought back two bottles of Patron, no glasses. He sat one bottle in front of Jesse and took the other to the far end of the couch.
Felipe looked at Jesse and couldn’t take his eyes off the blue, lemon-sized knot on his forehead.
“Is it noticeable?” asked Jesse.
Felipe raised his eyebrows, “Somewhat.”
At the same time, Johnny worked to hook the inner tube over the top half of his ear, but every time he released the stretchy rubber, he whimpered with pain , then pulled it away again. Felipe watched, fascinated as Johnny did it three more times.
“You know,” Jesse said, pointing at his brother’s ear, “That reminds me of those old German swordfighters who cut each other on the cheeks so they’d have scars to show.”
“You mean I could say I was in a swordfight?”
“Yeah, or machete fight, somethin’ like that. It’s a brand of machismo you could wear, like those sword scars on the cheeks, sayin’, I’m a tough man, don’t mess with me.”
“You think people would see my ear and think that?”
“Sure. Them Germans didn’t have to explain what those sword cuts were, did they?”
“I guess not.”
“Heck no, they didn’t. Everybody already knew.” Jesse took a satisfied swallow from the bottle, sure he’d made his point. “Just like they’ll know with your ear. It was me, I’d leave it like it is.”
Johnny thought about it while he took several more swallows of tequila. “You’re right,” he said. “It’ll be my message to the world, saying, Look out, a tough man’s comin’ your way.”
Jesse toasted him and they both drank again. Felipe looked at them a moment, then put more brandy in the snifter and raised it in a toast. “To the Barbosas, and their unique perspective on the things of this world.”
The brothers grinned and drank some more.
When the phone rang, Felipe picked it up and held it to his ear. He didn’t speak, but listened for a full minute before saying, “Come by tomorrow for your pay.” He hung up the phone and tossed the heating pad to the side. “Bobby Mata and the Indian girl are at El Soldado. Drive your car to the back and go in that way. I will pick up Cleto Holguin on the way and we will go in the front. They won’t get away from us this time.”
“Where do we take them?” asked Jesse.
“The abandoned slaughterhouse near the cattle pens at the edge of town.”
The brothers nodded, “Good place. Good place for what we want to do.” They left and Felipe heard them driving away as he put on his boots and fastened his gun belt around his waist. He checked the pistol, slid it in the holster, and grabbed the keys off the end table by the couch. As he got into the limo, he said aloud, “I will make you wish your mother had drowned you at birth, Mr. Mata.” He smiled, started the limo and drove away.
***
Bobby ordered dessert and asked Anda, “Are you enjoying yourself?”
“It’s wonderful. I have never seen so much food.” She looked at the loaded table and saw the owner bringing fresh plates.
There were slices of several pies, fresh made flan, fried ice cream, and several kinds of pastries. Anda took small nibbles of the pies and the flan, then settled on the fried ice cream. Bobby watched Anda, happy he could do this. She had eaten very little, just slivers of each thing, enough to taste, leaving most of the food looking untouched. Bobby knew why. Anda had been in a starved state and her stomach wouldn’t hold much. After what would have been two bites for a normal appetite, Anda stopped eating the ice cream and touched her stomach.
“I can’t eat anything more,” she said.
“That’s fine. The owner will gather the rest for us and we can
take it to eat later.”
“I would like that.” Anda looked past Bobby’s shoulder and saw a roiling cloud of dust through the restaurant’s front window, like someone driving in fast.
The owner hurried to Bobby and leaned down, talking in an urgent voice, “One of my sons saw our waiter friend out back several minutes ago. He said the man was talking on a cell phone, and my son heard him say you were here, with the girl.”