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Godoy looked at the two dirty, burned men. “You wish to do something for me? You can drive the truck,” Felipe pointed at the stakebed, “Take it into Ojinaga and leave it by the stockyards. That’s where we borrowed it.”
“We’ll be happy to do it, my Colonel.”
“The keys are in it.” The Barbosas started for the truck, but stopped when Godoy said, “Come by my office tomorrow. We may have more business to discuss.”
By the time the brothers nodded, Anda was moving uphill as silent as mist. She reached the women and said, “If we hurry, we won’t have to walk into town.”
Maria’s eyes narrowed, “Who’s going to give us a ride?”
“The Barbosas.”
“Are you forgetting who put us in this place?”
Alicia said, “Couldn’t we go north, cross the Border? Even if the Border Patrol caught us, we would be safe.”
The weight of the cocaine was taxing Anda, especially in her lower back and her legs. The thought of carrying it another sixty or seventy miles over more mountains made her heart thud in her chest. Not unless I have to, she thought. “I heard the Colonel tell his soldiers to hunt us down and kill us. I don’t think we could make it to the river, or even back to town. They are too far and the soldiers too close. The truck will be dangerous, but not so dangerous as having trained men tracking us.”
“You could lose them,” said Alicia.
“I don’t think so. They’re too good, too many.”
Maria said, “How do we get on the truck?”
Anda was relieved Maria didn’t argue, because she heard the truck start up and one of the Barbosas grind the gears as they prepared to leave the camp. “Follow me,” she said.
***
The three women sweated as they crouched behind the large outcrop of granite boulders and thorny brush. The truck’s engine groaned and blatted, growing steadily louder, and the yellow headlight beams played over the brush and rocks as the truck climbed the steep hill.
Anda said, “When it passes and makes the sharp turn, that’s when we go.”
“You’re sure they won’t see us?”
“If we’re careful and quick they won’t. The truck will be going slow from climbing the hill, and when it turns they can’t see behind with either mirror.”
Maria wiped sweat from her face and said, “What if the back window sees into the bed? What then, little thief?” She still hadn’t forgotten the cocaine.
“It’s dark tonight. The moon doesn’t rise for another two hours. I believe the canvas covers everything, but, in case they can see inside, it should be so dark that we can hide against the floor and walls, stay still until we reach the town, then escape.”
“You think, you think! You could get us killed with this idea!”
The truck was close, the engine straining and the entire chassis squeaking and groaning as it topped out in front of them.
“What’s your idea then, Maria?”
Maria was silent. The truck started around the corner. Anda put her hand on her stomach for several seconds, then said, “Stay or come.” She was up and running around the rocks, Alicia right on her heels. Maria waited a half-second, then cursed and followed.
The truck picked up speed and Maria ran as fast as she could. Alicia was inside the bed, and Anda leaned out the back through the canvas flap. Maria was panting, her lungs burning as she reached the back and Anda grasped her hand by the wrist. It was enough to help Maria grab the canvas and pull herself into the truck.
The darkness inside the bed hid them from each other. Anda saw that the canvas tarp draped over the stakebed so that it blocked the rear window. She leaned against the sideboard and closed her eyes while the truck bounced and rocked, moving on the road to Ojinaga. Maria sat in the darkness and watched the area where she occasionally heard Anda’s clothes rustle. When a gust of wind opened the back flap, her eyes glittered in the starlight.
***
Jesse parked the truck at the edge of the stockyard pens, away from other vehicles. He and Johnny got out and walked away muttering to each other about what they would do to Anda if they caught her. Anda leaned out the back of the truck so she was upside down, looking under the truck. She watched the Barbosa’s legs, then their feet recede toward the lights of the town a half-mile distant. When Anda was certain the two men were gone and no one else was around, she climbed down and held the flap open for the other two.
“Back where we started?” said Maria. “But in much more danger, thanks to you,” She said to Anda. “The Barbosas in town, and you know the Colonel and his soldiers will follow, plus the man who wants you, the fat one, Holguin. Only he will be after Alicia and me as well, now that you hurt him.”
“I’ll meet you in the plaza tomorrow at noon,” Anda said as she walked away.
