A handsome young pre-teen Mexican boy turned up at the NNP Information Office today. "I need to meet with Adam Leroy Forest," he tells Suzie Kay, "my name is Roberto deVega, I am son of Salvador deVega, the boss of the Central Mexico drug cartel. My father has plans to attack Adam and his family. So I am offering myself as a hostage." Suzie Kay called us at the Hacienda, by chance getting me on the line. Adam was out at the New Naked Lake, working on the dock with a crew of Nokhons and did not have a cell phone on him due to our let's-not-be-traced policy, so I asked to speak with the boy on the phone. "Hello, Mister Forest. I need to meet with your son, Adam, if it's at all possible." He knew who I was and spoke rather good English. "You say you're the son of Salvador deVega here to be our hostage? I don't suppose your father would be happy about that." "No, I had to run away from home. But he doesn't know where I am... yet... I hope." "I see. How did you get here from Mexico?" "I hitchhiked. It took me a week." "Really? How old are you?" "I'm twelve. But I'm ahead for my class, so I'm in High School now." "Okay, well, Roberto-- right? If you just wait there at the NNP Office I'll come and pick you up right now. I'm pretty sure Adam will want to meet with you, so I'll be there in about 20 minutes, okay?" Driving into Monroe I couldn't help but wonder if deVega already had agents here in Monroe looking for his son? He'd previously sent hit-men here twice, what would he do when he learned where his son was? And even without hit-men, there were laws. If I pick Roberto up and take him home would we be attacked by a team of well-paid lawyers accusing us of kidnapping a minor? In other words could this be one of deVega's own strategies? Was Roberto what he said he was, or was he actually working for his father? By the time I arrived at the office I was pretty anxious about this kid. Suspicious even. But he was just a nice kid. From his educated voice over the phone I'd expected a young but slick Latin charmer, confident, a self-assured rich kid and son of a dangerous and powerful drug lord. But it took me about five seconds to identify him for what he really was: an absolutely dedicated S&F fan. He was a noble young man ready to sacrifice himself to protect his idols-- but he was also mostly a wanna-be, like Suzie Kay, wishing they could join in and be part of the band. You couldn't identify him as Mexican, he was tanned and dark-eyed, dark-haired, but his English was international, he could have been from anywhere. He seemed mature for his 12 years, but not quite like a teen-ager. No arrogance yet. "Okay, Roberto, I need to ask you: are you in the USA legally?" "Yes, I got a 3 months tourist visa at the Tijuana border." "Even though you're underage and traveling alone?" "I'm from a rich family, we've traveled a lot. I've got special stamps on my passport." I considered taking the boy over to Sheriff Chesterson just to be sure that some authority was informed of the situation, but decided to let Adam make those decisions, It was he who was at war with deVega. So I took him out to the Hacienda.
Elaine was the only one home. She was very gracious to the boy, offering him food and tea. Not that Roberto seemed starved, he had evidently had enough cash on him to eat well in restaurants, although evidently not enough to pay for hotels or public transportation all the way from central Mexico. His clothes were slightly rumpled, but not especially dirty. He looked tired, but happy to have arrived. So she prepared a guest room upstairs, where he could sleep until Adam showed up. He gratefully accepted the offer and was sound asleep within minutes. Elaine and I discussed all those problematic considerations I've already mentioned, wondering just how wise it was to take this kid into our home, but agreed that we had to take care of him for the moment at least. Once Adam spoke to him he could ascertain just how true the boy's words were. Although we both already felt that Roberto was being honest with us and not a spy for deVega. About 5:00 pm Adam arrived back from the lake project with four other Nokhons, all hoping for a slice of Elaine's sugar-free chocolate brownies. They were all in good spirits, having just finished building the super-springy Bigfoot-sturdy diving board beside the main dock. So they'd had to try it out, launching themselves far out into the lake, yelling and giggling like 500-pound children. Adam announced that the dock was ready for summer season. Elaine announced that we had a guest from Mexico. "Roberto, Salvador deVega's son?" Adam responded, remembering the name, "And you say he's come here to be our hostage?" "Well, that's what he said," I relayed, "we need you to verify his story. But he's sleeping right now..." "No, I'm awake," Roberto said, now standing on the stairs. If he had been sleepy he looked quite awake now, eyes open wide at the sight of five real live Sasquatches filling up the living room, all naked and hairy. Adam walked over to the stairs and reached up to offer his hand to the boy, "Hi, I'm Adam, in case you can't tell." The boy hesitated before putting his small hand into Adam's huge hairy mitt, coming down two steps, where they could be eye level to each other, studying Adam's face intensely. But then he grinned and shook hands enthusiastically. "Yes, I recognize you, nice to meet you, Adam Leroy Forest." "And I recognize your voice from our telephone conversation. Nice to meet you too, Roberto. But I must admit to being surprised that you've come here to be our... hostage." "My father is planning to blow up this house when you are not home, but everyone else is-- he's afraid to kill you, but he wants you to suffer. I couldn't let him do that, so I came here so that he can't." "But he doesn't know you're here yet?" "No, I'll have to tell him. So that he doesn't attack." "Right, but we'll wait with that a bit...er... unless he's supposed to blow us up today?" "No, he doesn't have a Cruise missile yet." "He's going to launch a Cruise Missile at us?" "He decided that was easier than planting a bomb under your house."
Adam assured us that Roberto was telling the truth-- as he understood it, of course. Then we had to decide what to do with/about Roberto, as well as his father's plans. But first the girls came home from Seattle, having been at the Uiversity of Washington all day, and they had to make a fuss about young Roberto, who was googly-eyed and half-hysterical about meeting two of his favorite pop stars in the whole world: Melly and Lissandra from Squatch & Friends. Then Masnia and Magga showed up for a few moments and he was "totally wiped out". We let Melly and Lissandra know that we wanted him to keep talking, to tell us as much as he could about deVega's plans and whatever else he knew that might be relevant, so the girls drilled him a bit. He preened under the attention. "You had money, why did you hitchhike all the way here from Mexico City?" Melly asked, slouched on the sofa half-tangled with Lissandra. "Why not fly or take a bus?" "Because my father probably had his agents watching airports and bus stations, they're expert at catching people trying to escape. Hotels are risky too; I had to avoid being registered. Couldn't use my credit cards, just cash, took the battery out of my phone so I couldn't be tracked." "Gol, how do you know all this stuff?" "Movies, James Bond, Jason Bourne, everybody knows all that." "Rilly, but to actually DO it," Lissandra was impressed. "Yeah, you're the crown prince heir of a nasty drug lord," Melly challenged him, "why aren't you a helpless spoiled brat?" "Maybe I am," he said and giggled. "Rilly, I sure was," Liss confessed, "back in high school." Melly nudged her with a bare foot, "Hey, you still are."
The girls took Roberto outside for a tour of the Hacienda grounds: Mead Hall, out to the Camp. That was fine with Adam and myself, since we needed to discuss the situation in private and decide what to do about him. Adam and I called Doug to tell him about our visitor, since he's responsible for the legal business activities of the NNP. He was at the courthouse in Monroe, but soon drove out to join us. We all agreed that legal action was the best course, since none of us were willing to murder anyone, not even deVega. At least, not yet. But to effectively legalize we had to establish evidence of deVega's own illegal intentions. Perhaps even falling into the category of International Terrorism, which would be nice. So Adam called Earl Chesterton, our local Chief of Police, who happened to be out patrolling the outskirts of Monroe and he offered to come out to us. It was to our advantage that Earl had been in on the incident with deVega's Mexican hit men attempting to assassinate Adam two months earlier, so he was already sympathetic to our problem with the drug lord and this was just a continuation of that drama. We explained the newest permutation of that situation. "Do you think we should contact the DEA?" I asked, "they probably know who deVega is." "Oh, they do," Earl said, "but they tend to make compromised deals that might not be so good for the kid. So let's wait on that." Doug, our local genius, came up with a plan: Roberto would call his father to inform him of where he was, which we were obliged to do anyway. We would record that conversation with a video camera, establishing us as witnesses-- including a Chief of Police --and hope that deVega would say something incriminating. Everyone wanted to be in on it, so that evening we gathered in the living room: Elaine, Melly, Lissandra, Pokey, Maki, Masnia, Doug, Earl, me. But young Roberto, carrying the whole show, was isolated in the office, his phone plugged into an extended speaker system in the living room so that we could monitor everything without deVega being aware of an audience. Roberto put the battery back into his cell phone, making it active again. We heard many beeps and whistles announcing SMS's stacked up since he'd turned it off, doubtless frantic messages from his family wondering where he was. He punched the direct number to his father's cell phone. We all waited in silence as it rang in far off Mexico. "Hola Papa, sí, es yo." "Al fin, mocoso, donde estás?" (Having access to the recording, I've had time to translate the following conversation from Spanish.) "I'm at the home of Adam Leroy Forest." "The Bigfoot? What the hell are you doing there?" "I told you I didn't want you to blow up their house, so now I'm in it." "You little traitor! I suppose you think I won't just blow it up anyway?" "With me in it? Well, I hope not, Papa, I don't want to be killed." "Then you'd better get out of there-- or those monsters will kill you before I do." "No, they're all very nice people here. They've invited me to stay a while." "No you're NOT! I'm going to have them all arrested for kidnapping. You are MY son, not theirs! And when I get you back here I'm going to punish you like..." "But they didn't kidnap me, I came here by myself to stop you from hurting them. And I'll say so the American police..." "You'll say NOTHING to any police! Our family does not forgive snitches! Just remember your Uncle Gustavo... so keep your puta mouth shut. And you'll come home NOW. Take a plane, I'll arrange a ticket right aw...." "I'm sorry, but no, Papa." "No?" Salvador deVega sounded rather surprised, evidently not accustomed to having people say that to him. There was a moment of consideration, then: "Well then, your best friend, your schoolmate Antonio? ...he's going to have a very bad accident. Might end up crippled or blind, or even dead, it's all up to you." "No, Papa! Don't do that, por favor!" "And Clarita? That nice little girl you are friends with? I will give her to my carteleros. The especially brutal ones. You're not too young to know what they will do with her. If you are not back within two days she will pay for your disobedience! Come home, your Mama wants you. And I want to punish you!" Roberto was crying now, just a little boy unable to withstand his father's will. But then Adam stepped into the office and gently took the cell phone from the boy's hand and spoke into it. "Oye Salvador, tu puta serpiente, you know who this is." "El jodido bigfút..." "Exactmente, cabrón. I just want you to know that Roberto is here safe and sound. He's free to go home or stay a while if he wants. Good kid you've got there. But the main thing I need to tell you is that we've recorded this conversation and might be sending copies of it to your neighbors-- to Antonio's and Clarita's parents, to General Antigone's anti-corruption office, it's already registered with the police here in my town. So if anything happens to those kids, well, your neighbors will know who did it-- and they might just kill you. "You think I am afraid of my neighbors? It is them who must fear ME! I will simply have them killed too, and anyone who defies ME..." "We're still recording, you know. But anyway, another thing: you seem to have forgotten the terms of the curse I've put on you. If you blow up my house to kill everyone but me, just to make me sad, you will NOT be able to breathe any more --at least not while conscious-- for the rest of your life. I DID stipulate that my friends and parents are under protection of that curse. Think about it." "Put my son back on the phone!" deVega commanded. "I don't think he wants to hear more of your threats right now," Adam looked down to the boy, "or do you?" Roberto shook his head. "So not right now, maybe later." "Then I can threaten you instead..." "Listen Salvador, if you actually do manage to scare me --or piss me off enough-- I will simply be forced to come back down to Mexico and deal with you myself. Personally. Physically. Remember last time? You were at home surrounded by all your armed guards but they couldn't stop me from taking you anyway. In fact it was quite easy, them being only human. Last time I made the mistake of turning you over to the corrupt authorities, but I won't do that again." "Hah! I already know you are not a killer, so what can you do?" "Hmmm. I'll have to think about it a while, since threats made in anger can often be self destructive. But hey, I can always do a better curse. Or rather, worse, considering that it's for you." Adam turned off the phone and handed it back to Roberto, who was looking up at him, tears all over his boyish face. And love for his hero. "If you have Antonio and Clarita's numbers coded into your cell phone maybe you should call and warn them." Roberto wiped his eyes, in control of his tears now, but shook his head, "I don't think it will do any good and would only scare them. Their whole families would have to leave right now and I don't see how they can all get out of Mexico if my father's men decide to go after them. They can't all hitchhike." "Would your father really murder all his neighbors?" Chief Chesterton asked. Roberto regarded Earl's police uniform for a moment, then said "I'd better not say." "Enough said," Earl responded with an respectful nod. "But what about your mother and sister?" Adam asked, "Will he harm them to get at you?" "I don't think so," Roberto said, but looking worried. "You know, Roberto, you don't need to be our hostage," Adam told him. "It's a noble idea, but it might cause more trouble than it's worth. And your father might just launch a missile even with you here." "He won't. I know that, he wants me to inherit his empire." "Are you expected to become the Cartel Boss when you grow up?" Doug asked. "No, he wants me to be the respectable future of our family." "Ah, the Michael Corleone tradition," Doug quipped, "but we all know how that worked out." "I am NOT like Michael Corleone," Roberto insisted, as if offended, "he believed that his father's way was acceptable. I know better." "Oh... you've seen the movie?" "The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola. And read the book by Mario Puzo-- in English, because that's the original version." "Well... okay, so you're a literate young man," Doug also nodding in respect. "So what do YOU want to do?" I asked the boy. "I want to stay so my father can't blow up your house." "Roberto," Earl said, "maybe you can give us a moment for the grown-ups to discuss..." "Discuss what to do about me? No, I'll take part in that discussion, thank you! I'm not ignorant of the legal problems involved with an underage foreigner-- immigration and custody laws, for example --but I've also had more time to consider the solutions than any of you have." "Really?" Chief Chesterton asked. "Your Nokhon Nation Project is running a school here. I can enroll-- I can even pay tuition and room and board as a foreign exchange student, making it just as legal as any of the other international schools I've attended outside of Mexico..." "Well, money's not necessary..." I started to object. "Let the boy have his say," Earl insisted, "he's on the right track; establishing a legal precedent." "Actually" I had to note, "the only subject our school offers is language: Nokhontli and English for the Nokhons." "Perfect, I shall learn the Sasquatch language-- Nokhontli?" "You really want to?" I had to ask. "Are you kidding? I speak four languages already-- okay, not all so fluent as English-- I'd LOVE to be the only Mexican kid who can speak with the Bigfoots." "Actually," Adam mentioned, "we did meet some squatches in Mexico --Chiapas, near Agua Azul-- and they spoke the same Nokhontli as I do, so you might even be able to use it, who knows?" "What about our telephone recording?" Doug asked, "do we have anything incriminating enough to use against deVega in court?" "That recording is only evidence if he carries out those threats," Earl informed us, "otherwise he's just an angry father trying to scare his runaway son into coming home. Saying unwise things is not the same as doing them." Then he turned to Adam, "But as a deterrent to killing local kids, it should be pretty effective, which is the most important. So that was a good move, Adam." "What about the deVega's legal rights?" I asked, "Can he actually charge us with kidnapping if Roberto tries to stay with us?" Earl shrugged, "Well, we already know he's got some high-powered American lawyers working for him: we met about six of them when we jailed those cartel hit-men. Those guys were obviously guilty of attempted murder but got extradited to Mexico right away, supposedly to go on trial down there instead of here in the States. But then they got released and as far as we know all charges have been derailed somehow." "But deVega is a known narco lord," I mentioned, "famous for having people killed and feared by his neighbors, can't we contest that Roberto would be better off away from his influence?" "Problem is that deVega has never been convicted of any crime, neither in the USA nor in Mexico, so officially he is a respected and upstanding citizen. Anything to the contrary is unproven hearsay. And Roberto is his son; no one here has a more valid claim." "But what if I don't want to go back?" Roberto asked, "At least not just yet." "Legally, that doesn't matter: you're a minor and a foreigner, your parents are responsible for you. They own you. Unless you've been abused, of course. Any nasty stuff going on?" "Nasty stuff? What's that mean?" Earl looked a bit embarrassed about having to spell it out, so Adam said, "He means physical beatings or sexual tampering." "What?" Now Roberto was embarrassed and shocked, "You mean...? NO!" "Just asking," Earl shrugged again. "I think you'd better expect some of those lawyers to be showing up on your doorstep tomorrow. But at least I can make sure they don't have any Monroe Police backing them up." "Fine," Adam said, "then I can deal with the lawyers myself." "Oh boy," Roberto grinned like an excited little kid, "can I watch?" "Hey, I'm not going to beat them up, or anything," Adam insisted, then grinned, "Although that might be fun." Earl nodded, but seriously, "You'd better play all this very legally. And you'd better decide if you want the hassle at all, since he IS an unexpected complication. I mean, as far as I know, Roberto was not exactly invited to come here. Sorry kid, just sayin." Adam said, "You mean do we want to have Roberto stay here as our guest? Well, considering that he traveled all this way alone just to warn and protect us from carteleros, I'd have to say he's quite welcome. And I believe he does minimize the threat of direct terrorism from his father, who will probably not try to murder us en masse while he's here." Adam looked at the boy, "Entonces, tu estás invitado. Bienvenido, Roberto." "Gracias," said Roberto with a big smile.
|