Blue Coyote Motel (38 page)

Jose silently vowed to never let Luisa know that her husband's head was probably on a spear somewhere in a remote jungle village in the Amazon. He only hoped the old man wouldn't hear about it, but from Tomas' discussion of cremating Jorge, he knew that the old man probably knew as well. Jose took care of the details for the service as they made their way to the airport to catch the long non-stop flight to Los Angeles.

The flight to California was a nightmare. Senhor Ortega wept on and off during the entire flight. Jose was glad they were in first class. At least there were fewer people to witness his grief. The thoughtful flight attendant kept a supply of Kleenex available. By prearrangement, Jorge's California driver met them at the airport. Jose told him what had happened and he, too, wept. Jorge had been much loved by the people who worked for him.

Tomas had been to California several times since his son had moved there, but the heavy traffic on the 405 Freeway in the airport area made his sad journey even worse. He wanted to tell Luisa and get it over with and being stuck in traffic just added to his grief. It was one o'clock in the afternoon, yet every traffic lane was filled with cars. It was like a giant parking lot snaking lazily into the distance.

He called Luisa's parents from his cell phone once he and Jose had an idea of what time they would arrive at Luisa's home. There was no way to break news of this type gently. Diego answered the phone. Tomas took a deep breath and began, "Diego, this is Tomas Ortega. I have some very sad news. My son was murdered yesterday at one of the company mines in the Amazon. I have flown from Rio with my manager, Jose, to tell Luisa, but I think it would be good if you and Juanita were with Luisa when she is told. We are just now leaving the Los Angeles airport for her home.”

The news of Jorge's death devastated Diego and Juanita. Once they had a chance to digest the terrible news related to them by Tomas, their thoughts turned to Luisa and Carlos. They agreed with Tomas, that it would be best if they were with Luisa when she was told. Arrangements were made for Jose and Tomas to pick up Diego and Juanita and then go directly to Luisa's home. "Do you think Luisa will be home?" Tomas asked Diego.

"Yes, it is Carlos' naptime and she never goes anywhere during that time. We will see you shortly."

Tomas and Jose picked up Diego and Juanita and drove to Luisa's nearby home. They were all quiet. What was there left to say? With heavy hearts, they got out of the car. Tomas told the driver to wait, as he and Jose needed to return to Rio. Jose had made reservations for them on a flight that left at eight p.m., but with the traffic, an international flight, and security lines, one had to plan on being at the airport several hours before the departure time for an international flight.

Luisa's maid opened the door in response to the doorbell. If she seemed surprised to see all of them, she didn't show it. "Mrs. Ortega, you have some guests. If you need me, I will be in the kitchen," Ana said.

Luisa came down the stairs, clearly surprised to see the four of them standing there, particularly Tomas and Jose. She looked at their faces and knew something had happened to Jorge. "What is it? What's happened? It's Jorge, isn't it? Where is he?" Her parents quickly crossed the tile floor and held her. She pushed them aside. "What's going on? Tell me." Her voice began to shake with emotion.

"Jorge was murdered yesterday in the Amazon by members of a lawless band of angry men led by a man who is intent on closing down the mines. It was a quick death. He didn't suffer," Tomas said, tears once again running down his cheeks.

Luisa's knees buckled. Diego caught her and led her to a nearby couch. She began to cry. "Dear God, what do I tell Carlos? He loved his father so much. We had a calendar and we would mark off each day until he came back. As young as he is, I think he understood. How do I go on without him?"

There was no way to respond to her questions. Tomas walked over to her. "I am so, so sorry. I asked him not to go. I told him the jungle had changed in the short time since he had last been there. He felt he would be safe and insisted on going. I will regret with every breath I take for the rest of my life that I did not forbid him to go."

Diego called Father Connery at the church. "Father, this is Diego Chaves. There has been a tragedy in our family. Could you come to Luisa's home? You've been here before. Please hurry." Father Connery said he was on his way. The Ortega family had been very generous to the church and Father Connery was ready to help in whatever way he could. Next, Diego called Selena and told her what had happened. She told him she would leave work immediately and be there as soon as possible.

As the tragic death of Jorge became a reality, they started the difficult task of making plans for the memorial services, both in Rio and the one Luisa wanted for Jorge in California. Tomas told Luisa that he had authorized the cremation of Jorge's body and Luisa agreed that this was the right decision to have been made under the circumstances. He told her that they would have a funeral Mass in Rio as well as at the local church and that Jorge's cremated remains would be entombed in Rio in an underground crypt in keeping with the tradition of cremation in the Catholic Church.

Tomas' secretary kept calling, telling him that the newspapers and others were asking for a statement from the company regarding the murder. Evidently one of the guards who had come from the mine had leaked the story to a newspaper in return for money. There were people to be called and things to be dealt with when a life was shortened by murder.

The next few days were a blur for Luisa. Although Carlos had been told, he was too young to realize what it meant. A funeral Mass was held at the local Catholic Church in Huntington Beach, attended by the few people Jorge and Luisa had come to know since moving to California.

Luisa and Carlos flew to Rio, accompanied by Diego and Juanita. Both families had been members of the oldest Catholic Church in Rio for decades. The large funeral Mass was attended by all of Rio's society, politicians, business community, Jorge's beloved employees, and the press. It was one of the largest funeral services to ever take place in the Church. Every pew was filled and cameras filmed the service, feeding it to an overflow crowd gathered in an adjoining building.

Although the death was tragic, it was a story made for the newspapers and the Rio newspapers made the most of it. A wealthy gold mine owner from one of the founding families of Rio murdered by indigenous tribesmen in the Amazon, leaving a beautiful young wife and infant son was a story that even made its way into
People
magazine and the supermarket tabloids.

Unfortunately, the story also told how Jorge's head had been paraded on a spear deep in the Amazon. In true tabloid fashion, some unknown member of the "paparazzi" had managed to find his way to the remote village where Jorge's head was displayed and had taken a photograph of it. Grief stricken, Luisa stayed at home most of the time and avoided any painful interviews with the press. When she finally ventured out, the tabloids had already moved on to the next "big" story.

Even though she was burdened by a broken heart, there were decisions that could only be made by Luisa. Should she sell the Rio condominium? Close out the Rio accounts? Go into the family gold mining business? Stay in Rio? Go back to California? Sell the boat? Sell the Huntington Beach house? Move to a smaller home in California? Her mind spun with all the critical decisions that had to be made. While most experts say no big decisions should be made until a year after the death of a loved one, many of Luisa's decisions simply couldn't wait.

After being in Rio for a few weeks she decided to permanently move back there. Although her sister and parents still tied her to California, without Jorge, the big house on the water held little appeal for her. She decided to sell it. She called John and asked him if he knew someone who might be interested in the boat. She didn't care about making a profit on the house or the boat. Given her state of mind, she couldn't deal with such details.

When she told her parents that she had decided to move back to Rio, that her roots and Carlos' were there, not in California, her parents decided to move back to Rio with her. They enjoyed California, but they missed their friends and other family members. They, too, would miss Selena, but they couldn't stand to be so far away from Carlos during his childhood years. With Jorge gone, they knew Luisa and Carlos would need them more than ever.

After many long talks with Tomas, Luisa agreed to join the family business. She promised her parents she would not go to the mines, but she would help run the company from Rio. Jose was promoted to General Manager of all the Ortega mines. He was highly respected and coming from the indigenous people, he would have no problem supervising the employees, which was such a large part of a successful gold mining business. Luisa and Jose got along well. She knew Jorge had completely trusted him and she looked forward to working with him.

When Luz and Manny found out that Luisa was moving back to Rio, they asked if they could have their old jobs back. Luisa was thrilled to have them in her employ once again. Luz told her to forget about looking for a nanny, that she could be a nanny and a maid. She clearly adored little Carlos.

With all that had happened in the last few weeks, Luisa had completely forgotten about Freedom. She had noticed that she was feeling tense, angry, and subject to sudden verbal outbursts, but she rationalized it all as being caused by Jorge’s death. Now she realized she was two weeks late in taking her next Freedom pill and that the pills weren't in Rio; they were in California.
Well
, she thought,
I
can
take
it
when
I
return
to
California
next
week
.

Luisa had no desire to go back to California, to where she and Jorge had been so happy. She knew the memories would overwhelm her, but she also knew there were business matters to attend to there and she was the only one who could take care of them. She needed to put the house and boat up for sale and decide what to do with their household goods. It would be a very busy time. Fortunately, her parents had decided to travel back to California with Luisa and Carlos as they, too, needed to take care of business matters before returning permanently to Rio.

The thought of Jorge and his forgotten pill crossed her mind. Once again she wondered if it had played a part in his death. When Tomas had told her that Jorge had not taken a guard with him when he went to relieve himself, she was pretty sure that his lack of judgment was from drug withdrawal. She would never know, but she began to develop a hatred for the drug on which she had become so dependent.

The night before she was to fly back to California, Luisa suddenly woke up shaking, not an uncommon occurrence for her since Jorge's death, but this time it was different. She had been dreaming and Jorge had spoken to her in the dream. He told her he had caused his own death because of faulty judgment brought on by his failure to take his regular dose of Freedom. So strongly could she sense his presence, it was as if he was in the room with her.

He pleaded with her to quit taking the drug. He told her he knew she might have some rough times caused by withdrawal symptoms, but that eventually she wouldn’t feel she needed the pill. He begged her to stop for Carlos' sake. Carlos needed her to be drug-free. Jorge reminded her that anytime Jeffrey wanted to withhold the pills for whatever reason, he could. He reminded her of how crazy and unpredictable Jeffrey had seemed when they saw him during the Memorial Day weekend. What if Jeffrey really went off the deep end and she could no longer get the pills? He told her to get rid of her reliance on Freedom and that the longer she waited, the harder it would be. He told her to call the psychologist, Sean, so he could help her. Although the dream was both startling and vivid, gradually it subsided.

She decided she would call Sean in the morning. With her decision made, she fell back into a deep and dreamless sleep, waking rested for the first time in weeks. After taking into account the time difference between Rio and Denver, she called Sean.

"This is Sean Moriarty, may I help you?" the voice on the other end of the phone said.

"Yes, you may remember me. My name is Luisa Ortega. We met at the Blue Coyote Motel. My life has changed dramatically since I last saw you. My husband, Jorge, was murdered in the Amazon and I've decided to take my son and move back to Rio. But that's not why I'm calling. I feel that Jorge's death was somehow related to his forgetting to take his Freedom pills to Rio with him on his last trip. I need to get off the pills. I’m two weeks past when I should have taken one and I feel foggy, kind of 'off.' I've even had bouts of sweating and the shakes.

“I kept your business card and you said to call if any of us ever wanted to talk. I remember that you chose not to take the pills. Maybe you can help me. I have decided I can't take them any longer. I have to be there for my infant son and the pills are interfering with my duty as a mother." It was a long explanation of her concerns, but Luisa felt much better after she had spoken.

Sean said, "Of course I remember you and I am so sorry to hear about Jorge. I liked him. I think I can be of help. You may remember Sam. He, too, decided not to take the pills. We knew we were going to go through some rough times and we have, but it's much better now. Sam and I decided to talk once a week via Skype. We formed a two-person group based on the successful model used by Alcoholics Anonymous. The basic premise is that you can't deal with problems of addiction by yourself, but you can help someone else and someone else can help you. The two of us are helping each other. You are welcome to join us. We talk at 9:00 p.m. every Wednesday night. If you're not familiar with Skype, have someone install it for you on your home computer and have them show you how to use it. With Skype we not only talk, but we can see each other as well. As I said, it's all done with your home computer. Skype also has the ability for group talks. I can set that up for the three of us. Sam and I are doing very well. I really think it would help you if you would join us on Wednesday nights."