“Boss, I'm heading home to spend some time with my folks.I should arrive at Perona de la Mar on Friday by lunch,” she reminded him, waiting for his agreement.
“Keep your phone on and close by in case I don't make it to Friday,” he said.
She moved closer to him, Andres watching the interaction.Alita began, “144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597...”
Micah completed the sequence, “2584, 4181.”
“When it gets tight in your chest, pick up where you left off.I will keep my phone close by; any threats, you call and I am there,” Alita said, raising her hand for a fist bump.
Micah nodded as he, and Andres took the one SUV and Alita the town car.In the back seat, Andres asked, “What kind of nerd foreplay was that?”
“Fibonacci sequence.”
“I know what it was, but why?Does it keep you calm or something?”
“The calculations focus the anxiety in my nervous system,” he said.
“Hmm, learn something new every day,” Andres said, looking out the window.
****
ELEON FERNADEZ WASa cattle baron.His father and father before him were cattle barons.His membership to the cartel as an inked member came to pass when he approached Enrique Delgado with a proposal to join his third-born son to Elon’s only daughter, connecting the families.Growing up in the lap of luxury and being wed to a man who grew coffee and coca on a farm in the middle of nowhere was not her style of living.Micah Delgado thought of this often, wondering what type of woman coming from a big-city life would be okay living at Las Tierras.It is where he planned to live and raise his family if he or when he decided to create more little people.
His grandfather was waiting for them when they arrived, greeting both of his grandsons with big hugs, but it was Micah he wanted to speak with in private.Micah respected his grandfather but didn’t actually like the man.There were moments when the old man came across as a genial person, then other times, he was ruthless and calculating.It was the calculating part that registered deeply with Micah's nervous system, but he had two guns and a couple of knives, and he was prepared to draw them all, start firing, and wait to see if the returning fire would end his life.
“Micah, would you care to join me for a ride this afternoon?”Eleon asked.
“No,” he said.“I just spent seven hours in a sardine can to get here.State what is on your mind,Abuelo.”
“Direct, I like,” Eleon said, pointing towards his office, but Micah stood his ground.He did not move from where he was standing.“Okay, fine.We have three potential matches for you this weekend.I am hopeful that of the three you shall select one.”
Micah turned to face his grandfather and looked him directly in the eyes when he spoke.“I am confident I shall choose none, but out of respect for you and the cartel, I am here.”
“What do you mean, you will choose none!I am your Czar!”Eleon said, raising his voice.
“No, you are my grandfather,” Micah corrected.“Eduardo Delgado is my Czar.My home is in Colombia, not here.Again, I am here out of respect, but I am not marrying anyone to secure your country or your borders.”
His grandfather puffed up his chest, ready to start the blustering that didn’t intimidate Micah in the least.Eleon added bass to his voice when he asked, “You refuse me?”
“Yes,” Micah stated, looking deeper into his grandfather's eyes.“You have the heir and the spare.Now, since I have shown to have value, you suddenly want me as well, leaving my father with no sons but Angel to secure the borders of Colombia?My home is in Colombia.My loyalty is to my Czar, not you.”
“Did your father put you up to this to challenge me?”Eleon asked.
“Abuelo, for some reason, you andAbuelaseem to think me being on the spectrum is a hindrance, especially given she has made of point of stating she is leaving nothing for me and Angel since we are defective,” Micah said.“I shall take my defective ass home and live in peace in my country, watching my father grow old surrounded by my children.”
Eleon was not backing down, but attempting to poke the sores he thought he knew were soft spots on his grandson.“So, you are trying to be like your father, eh?”
“I am nothing like my father,” Micah said.“Eduardo Delgado, contrary to rumors and speculation, is a fair man, sometimes giving grace where none should be spared.I, on the other hand, am a mutherfucker that nurses a grudge until the tit is dry and spitting dust.”
“Language, Micah!”
“Abuelo, the child you watched run and play, who sat in the corner when his senses were overloaded, is not the man I have grown into,” Micah said.“Pray and believe that I am the fucking Bushmaster, the third son of Eduardo Delgado, and a bad son of your bitch, by my own right.I have my own money and don't need yours, and I will not bend or break to your demands.You can parade as many women as you want in front of me and lie to as many Czars as you can to sell your cattle.I don't care.I will come back to those same men and sell them my antivenins and organic pesticides and take their money.I am my own man, and I will marry whom I please.”
Anya Fernandez heard his voice and walked into the foyer.“Micah, I thought I heard you.Where is Angel?”
“He stayed homeAbuela.”
“Home?Why?”Anya asked.
