The bag felt heavy in his hand. This was a great responsibility and he knew
he had better not screw this up.
“Si, Jose. I can do
it. Don’t worry about me.” He said with
a sureness he didn’t really feel.
“I know you won’t fail me.” Was Jose’s response.
With that Arturo quickly left the room and headed towards
the front door. He was acutely aware of
his surroundings. The smell of the
burritos and rice that was cooking, the sounds of laughter from the other room,
the dimly lit hallway with little shafts of light from holes in the shades
highlighting the dust motes swirling lazily in the heat.
He opened the door, glad to be away from that presence, but
knowing that he had a great task ahead.
The boards creaked as he descended the stairs and he almost
jumped at the noise. He was trying to
blend into his surroundings, to avoid drawing attention to himself. That was his special talent. He could walk through a crowd without being
noticed – that is as long as he belonged there.
He remembered trying to use his special talent over in the
rich neighborhood, among the socialites.
It had failed him miserably and he had drawn too much attention to
himself. So much, in fact, that he caught a charge for the blunt he’d had on
him that day. It was an important lesson – keep to the streets where he
belonged.
That’s where he was today – where he belonged.
The only problem was that he wasn’t himself. The package he held made him nervous and that
made him stand out in the crowd. His talent was failing him.
“Get ahold of yourself” he thought. “Calm down and go with
the flow. This is a day like any other day.
You are just cruising through from point A to Point B. Relax.”
His internal mantra was working. He was starting to relax and as he did he
faded from people’s consciousness. If
you had asked anyone he passed, they couldn't tell you if he was there or not.
“Three more blocks.
Just three more blocks and I can be done with this mess.”
He desperately wanted to be done, to know that his mother
would be OK. She didn’t even know she
was in danger, but she was. That was the
threat, the power Jose had over him. If
he failed to deliver the package, then his mother would be hurt.
The next block was the hardest to get through. It was his old block, but now it was enemy
turf. He had lived here a couple of years ago, but that was before he met Jose
and started working for him. He had been
so young and dumb and full of himself then.
Halfway down the block he saw her. She was just getting out of the car and had
her back towards him, but he knew it was her – Angela. She had been his first major crush and they
had hooked up but that was before she met Rodrigo. He had been crushed when she dumped him, but
thought he was over it.
Apparently not as his heart suddenly ached for what might
have been. This in turn blew his cool
and started making him nervous. He might
as well have started shouting and flashing lights as he stood out from his
surroundings.
People started to notice him – the guy doing the yard work
on the corner, the kids playing basketball halfway down the block and lastly
Angela turned and saw him. She knew he
was working for Jose. She knew he was
the enemy. What would she do?
She gave a quick glance to the car and then turned away not
saying a word as he passed.
He looked at the car and saw the reason for her glance.
Sitting in the drivers seat, on his cell phone was Rodrigo. He was preoccupied with the call and not
looking in Arturo’s direction. Trying to
regain his calm, Arturo maintained his pace and started his mantra again, more
fervently to himself.
“you can do this. No
big deal. Nothing to see …”
He heard the door open he had just walked past.
“ain’t no way he’d be fool enough” he heard Rodrigo say but
he stopped mid sentence. “Hey. Fool,” he shouted and grabbed Arturo’s arm.
Not expecting the touch Arturo jumped and lost his hold on the
package.
He desperately tried to grab it as it fell, but all he
succeeded in doing was knocking it into the street by the back of Rodrigo’s car.
