Revenge

Cold fire was still burning inside me, when late that night I was brought out from my basement dungeon. I silently dressed in the pants given to me, and was brought to the yard. It was surprisingly brightly lit. Carl had left soon after his show, but the guard who had brought Ana was there. And so was 'el jefe', the local big man. So, this was it. The end. No revenge for me. Once again the good guys finish last, while the bad guys will get everything. My grim thoughts were interrupted when I was pushed down, to sit in a chair placed in the shadows.

When I took a closer look at the situation, it looked like a celebration of a new agreement and I did my best not to show how much I understood. So I just looked around while still trying register and hear everything possible. Without doubt Carl or his company was involved with smuggling ... drug importing. Since everything was working inside a profitable company, nobody suspected anything. If you are already making millions do you need more? Apparently, you do.

The party went on, then at some point 'el jefe' stood and started his speech. I could follow him quite well, but made sure that it did not show. As I was sober, unlike most of the men taking here at the party, I could sense that he was heading to something with his speech. He talked about trust and reliability as foundations of our small family, our business - his business. And how a man's word was his life. Then, after a greasy joke, he all of sudden picked up a pistol and shot that one particular guard between his eyes. Then he sat down and finished his burrito and beer.

I made sure that I looked shocked because of the shooting, while I was cheering inside. I was still alive. I might be able to have my revenge.

Some time later, the boss rose and came to me.

"I do not like family things to be told outside the family. Not even to friends if they are not family. Business is business but family is family."

And then he walked back to his place by the table, and I was escorted back to my servant's room, not to the dungeon downstairs. It seemed to me that 'el jefe' was not too pleased because of Carl's actions. And he had been even less pleased that there had been someone inside who had leaked some information to Carl. That gave me some, even if very vague, but some hope.The following morning I was woken by a girl who looked tired, and wore much too much make-up. She was slim and could not have been more than fourteen years old. There was one guard by the door who talked to her in Spanish. I understood that she was supposed to take care of the wounds on my back. Then he turned to me and used probably half of the English vocabulary he knew.

"Your nueva puta."

That was how Sofia was introduced to me. She looked like she had just been picked from some illegal whorehouse nearby, which was probably also the truth.