The Time Stone (22 page)

“
Born and raised in the
west coast and headed hopefully to your place,
handsome!?”

The bartender brought their drinks and
they sipped them and talked more about their interests in local
activities. A few drinks later, they were discussing going home and
then a young woman with blonde hair approached and yelled at
them.

“
I knew you were cheating
on me you bastard. I don’t want to see you again.”

“
Wait, Elizabeth!” Said
Broad.

“
What?” Mercedes stood up
tripping over herself over too many margaritas.

“
Who is this slut?”
Elizabeth yelled.

“
Who you calling a slut,
you Trollope?” Mercedes screamed shoving Elizabeth back with both
hands. Soon Elizabeth shoved her back and the two women were
embroiled in an amateur wrestling match on the ground of the
bar.

“
Ladies, please” yelled
Broad trying to straighten it out but the wrestling switched to
exchanging blows. Mercedes picked up a beer bottle that fell to the
floor and smashed it against Elizabeth's head who then felt her
head and then seeing her own blood on her hands fainted. Mercedes
got up and looked around at the people looking at her and the
police running through the door yelling “hands up, you’re under
arrest.” She was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly
weapon and convicted. After that her inability to verify her
identity and a “mix-up” in her paperwork made them think she was an
illegal and undocumented Mexican immigrant and an immigration judge
ordered her deportation. The process was quick and without
question.

“
It’s like I’m
cursed.
” She thought to herself sitting on
the bus. “
How could this happen? How come
my parents couldn’t stop it? I am totally
screwed.
”

The bus came to a stop at
the border and a chubby border patrol agent walked on and yelled
first in English then in Spanish that they had arrived at the
border and they must exit the bus single file and await processing
on both sides of the border before they can go home. Mercedes
thought to herself, “
I’m going to be
homeless in a country I’ve never visited. I can’t believe this is
happening to me.
” She walked out of the
bus in order and was processed by the officer on both sides, asking
her routine questions that were obvious to answer “no” to because
she was in police custody, like “do you have any fruits,
vegetables, or other items to declare?” And “are you travelling
with company?” So she was released from police custody and
detention into the port of Juarez City, Mexico. She walked around
in the darkness of night fearful that she would be attacked or
assaulted. She had nothing of value nor any belongings but the
clothes on her back but feared for her safety as she saw the
squalor of poverty and violent muggings take place before her in
the inner city so close to the border. No sooner than leaving the
bus did she immediately smell the stench of marijuana smoke and
tequila near the sudden burnt ash of a steel oil drum and she
thought to herself, “
Oh my God, where do I
go? There isn’t even a church nearby.
” She
did not want to fall asleep in any alleyway in such a dangerous
part of town so she walked for miles until too tired to continue
and the daybreak was starting to come. She saw a small farm house
and walked over and knocked on the door. The door opened and a
small frail elderly woman answered in Spanish, “hello”. “Uh, my
Spanish is not that great. Hello. I am looking for a room” said
Mercedes in her best Spanish fluency but broken to say the least.
“My God, Are you American?” Said the woman in Spanish. “Yes,
American, Yes” responded Mercedes in Spanish smiling and nodding,
“do you speak English” She asked in Spanish. “When my son arrives,
Juan Carlos.” The older woman yelled into the house in Spanish as
she opened the door all the way and Mercedes entered slowly. “Mama,
I was sleeping, why did you wake me?” A young man with a muscular
build comes out shirtless from his bedroom, with short dark hair
and a tan complexion. He spoke in Spanish and opened his eyes and
sees Mercedes and stops in his tracks. “Oh” they stare at one
another only for a second but for both seemed like an eternity as
they both found one another incredibly attractive. “There is this
American woman” said the old woman to her son in Spanish. “She
needs a room for the night, I think. This is my son, Juan
Carlos.”

“
Hey, you speak English?”
Said Juan Carlos.

“
Yes.” Replied
Mercedes.

“
Welcome, we got a spare
room. Only three pesos per night.”

“
Um, I don’t have any
money, it’s a long story. I can work it off. I can do housework and
maybe fieldwork if it’s not too strenuous.”

“
I see. I think that can
be arranged.” He smiled and she nodded in return.

CHAPTER 51

The darkness stood still in the
twilight of the secret facility not too far away from the
farmhouse, in an abandoned factory. Figures moved around slightly
disturbing the stillness but something still remained that rendered
it still and empty. “Hurry up, let’s deliver this stuff very
quickly.” A dark crinkled voice uttered in Spanish yelling at one
figure in the darkness as a group of men in dark ninja garb stood
ready to accept their mission. “We are here for the item.” One of
them spoke in a hoarse and crinkly voice.

“
Hey,” Broad spoke to a
number of men in dark suits and glasses with broad brimmed hats. “I
didn’t think it was necessary to do her like that. Setting her up.
Why did we have to set her up too? Was it necessary?” He added
nervously but hiding it very nonchalantly as he was partially
intoxicated.

“
We must remember the
essence of our existence.” A dark crinkly voice emanated from them
but not from any one apparent individual. “The last time is
approaching and the project remains true. We cannot allow for any
setbacks and for the truth to be, there must be a sudden return and
certain events occurred in time.”

“
Right, I forgot.” Broad
added.

They faded from sight as they vanished
in the blink of an eye and Broad breathed a heavy sigh of
relief.

CHAPTER 52

In the farm, Mercedes was working in a
barn near the house moving bales of hay from the far end to the
center for pick up.

The days passed and became a week on
the farm and Mercedes was already starting to feel at home,
somewhat lonesome, but feeling the brunt of hard labor on her bones
and the heat on her brow. “Sixteen bales for the sales.” She said
mimicking Juan Carlos’ words to her as she stuck the pitch fork in
her hands into the hay and tossed it into the barn. She had rolled
up her sleeves of her denim shirt to her elbows and tied her hair
in a bun. She wiped the sweat off her brow. “Damn, this is back
breaking.”

“
I know, but you look
gorgeous doing it.” Juan Carlos uttered as she turned and saw him
with a wife beater on. She stared at him. He stared back at
her.

“
You always come fast at
women like that” she smirked.

“
Only the ones that I
like” he smiled. “You’re doing a real good job here. I think you
are the best field hand we ever had.”

“
Thanks, I am trying
really hard to impress you. All those years of night school for
manual labor, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers…” Mercedes
gasped.

“
No doubt you will be
great.” Juan Carlos added.

“
Um Juan Carlos I saw some
people that looked like cops asking questions nearby. Do they know
about me?” Mercedes inquired nervously.

“
I don’t think so, why?”
Juan Carlos asked with a curious frown.

“
No reason. Um... when do
we eat?” She uttered not thinking of anything else to
say.

”
Soups been on. Come in
the house.” Juan Carlos said.

“
Thank you.” Mercedes
replied gratefully.

“
You’re welcome.” Juan
Carlos smiled.

Inside the house, Mercedes and Juan
Carlos sat at the table and broke bread while joking about the
simple life.

“
Sometimes the difference
between field work and house work is just a napkin away” he tossed
one at her.

“
That’s true. I am so
happy to avoid both,” she laughed.

“
Maybe you’ll marry me and
become co-heir to Hernando Farm.” He smirked and she looked at him
with a shocked grin as she lowered her glass in mid sip and leaving
a milk mustache on her lips. “You have a little something” he
gestured with his finger on his lips.

“
Oh” she reached up but he
stopped her with his hand “allow me” he leaned in and kissed her on
the lips and they embraced as they continued the long passionate
kiss.

Mrs. Hernando walked in and stood in
awe as she turned and made the sign of the cross. “Oh my God,” she
said in Spanish and turned back and saw them still embraced and
kissing.

CHAPTER 53

The winds blew over the country field
in the evening hours near the farm on the outskirts of town, as
Juan Carlos met up with several friends who were wearing the usual
farm hand clothes, overalls and plaid shirts.

“
So, JC are we gonna do
this or what?” Spoke one farm hand with a pair of coveralls
on.

“
I am thinking Pablo. You
said this would be something that could help our future. But it’s
basically a cult, ain’t it?” Juan Carlos Said.

“
Well, you in or out?”
Pablo uttered.

“
My mom goes to church.
I’m catholic. I can’t join a cult!” Said Juan Carlos.

“
You ain’t doing that. You
got to be down with us. Put this on.” Pablo throws Juan Carlos a
black robe and outer garment with reddish ties. “Put it on.” He
smirked and Juan Carlos held the suit in his hands and realized his
oldest friend was right. He would don the suit and join their
group.

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“
Sometimes a man has to choose his own way and make a big
difference in his own life and the ones he cares
about.
” Juan Carlos searched the depths of
his soul and piloted his own consciousness into the reality that
was his physical self-embodiment in his bedroom that night as he
walked back and forth, pacing in his eloquent pose until finally he
broke and thought about his mother and what she would think. Then
he thought about Mercedes and a possible future with her even
though they just met and had not really connected.
“
Could he be a good husband and father as
a member of a group of radical religious
fanatics?
” He thought to himself. “I just
want to feel like somebody again,” he whispered to
himself.

“
Hey,” Mercedes
interrupted him in his room.

“
Hey,” he whispered
sitting down in only his underwear and not caring if she
saw.

“
I just want to say,
everything you’ve done for me… how I feel about us… what I want and
what I think you want…” she broke up her thoughts before
him.

“
I know,” he uttered. “I
want you too but there is something bigger than us and I can’t
fight it. I feel I belong to a bigger organization with a deeper
meaning.”

“
Nothing wrong with that,
is there?” She smiled sheepishly.

“
What I am going to do may
seem regretful or wrong to most people but it is the right thing to
do! I want you…but” he beckoned for her and she sat down on the bed
beside him. “I want you to know that I cherish you and want you to
remember me as you knew me.” They stared at one another and into
one another’s eyes, into their souls. “I want you to remember me
for who I am before you now, no matter what happens.”

She shook her head but then shed a
tear as she held his hands in hers and clutched them tightly. She
knew he couldn’t tell her more specifically what he meant and she
was fine with it. “I’ll always stand by you!” She said.

He nodded in return hoping she meant
it because his allegiance would be very costly.

CHAPTER 54

The next day at early morning, the
rooster crowed over the small town of Javierita with a loud cock a
doodle doo awaking everyone beginning the bustle of movement in the
town square edging on through the busy day. The local church was
preparing for its mid-morning mass as the priests blessed the
candles and flowers for the ceremony carried by a couple of altar
boys in a small procession to the chapel and the bell swung ringing
in harmony with it. Dozens of farmers and merchants began their
local run to market with their produce and wares. The stroke of
local commerce enveloped the proper atmosphere as fruit pickers
sold their wares and farmers marketed their livestock and produce
to those passing by. The sophism of society wandered blessing those
with modern philosophical tidbits.

“
Open your heart to those
in need. Time heals all wounds as does the good life.” Then
suddenly a loud explosion erupted near the church and flowers went
flying into the air as the broken limbs of young men splattered the
bloody mess on the steps of the chapel. “Oh my God!” Yelled the
monsignor and the old women in attendance crossing them.