AllFreeNovel
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The van hit a bump, causing me to groan when I landed on the hard floor where the widows and I were hunkered down. “How in the holy hell did we think this was a good idea?”
Marge moaned in pain and rubbed her rear end. “We’re almost there. After this, just one last jaunt across the Rio Grande, and we’re home free. You’ll be back to Tom, me to Roxie, Doris to Axel, and Alice to ...”
“A bar. A nice, clean, comfortable bar that isn’t the back of this stinking cesspool of an old van. How in the hell did I pay this guy ten thousand dollars for our passage, and he doesn’t even have a cushion on the floor for us?”
Marge stiffened up. “I’m gonna pay you back for that. This was my mess, and I’ll fix it. It may take a few years, but I’m good for the dough.”
With an eye roll, Alice scoffed. “I don’t care about the money, Marge. It’s nothing to me. Icareabout getting home. Just promise to get me home, no matter how much damn money it costs me.”
Marge dropped her head in a sharp nod. “I promise. I’m getting you home. I’m getting us all home.”
We hit another bump, all of us catching air and coming back down on the floor with groans.
“What in the hell is going on up there?” Alice complained. “Is he driving us over every pothole in Mexico?”
“Well, we’re not exactly on a road,” Marge said. “These vans cut across the desert to the secret coyote crossing spots on the river.”
“And we’re not in any danger, right?” Doris asked.
“They do this for a living. We’ll be home free soon.”
“I sure hope so. I’m scared, and it smells like urine back here.” Doris scrunched her nose.
I swallowed down a gag. “Please don’t remind me of what we’re likely sitting in.”
The van slid to a stop, and a few moments later, the back door swung open. Javier, our coyote, waved for us to get out.
“This way,” he whispered in English, and we were grateful he spoke it since we had needed to communicate a lot with him all day while he shuttled us around.
“Oh, thank God. Let me out of here.” Alice leaped up and hopped out.
The rest of us followed, all inhaling a deep breath of air that didn’t wreak of the remnants of the bodily fluids we’d likely been sitting in.
“This way, this way,” he whispered, waving at us to follow him.
He crouched down, and we did the same, following him toward the tall bushes ahead.
“Oh, man. Crouching is not easy at my age.” Marge pressed her hands against her lower back as she tried to squat lower.
“After that van ride, I’m gonna be completely crippled for my wedding. I can already feel my back going out. You’re gonna need to carry me down the aisle while I convulse with back spasms.”
“You know, it’s funny. I haven’t danced in a week, and it’s the first time in a year my entire body isn’t aching. If that isn’t a sign I should retire from showbiz, I don’t know what is.”
Marge chuckled. “Yeah. If your job hurts you worse than riding in that van, it’s time to say buh-bye.”
“Shhhhh!” Javier waved at us to keep it down, so we shut our mouths and crept along behind him.
Finally, we arrived at the bushes, and he waved for us to come inside.
One by one, we knelt beside him, staying low and peering out over the moonlit river separating us from our homeland.
Separating me from Tom.
“Now we wait,” Javier whispered.
“What are we waiting for?” Marge whispered back.
He pointed across the river to the west, and I saw the flickering of flashlights skimming across the water.
