Mike hands me a stout. The cold beer bottle litely stings my hands and begins to perspire immediately as the warm Mexican summer air hits it. The first time at the secluded, little known, resort has impressed me. I don’t have any other experience to compare it to. It’s my first time at a resort. Some time ago, I decided to limit spending money on things and start spending on experiences and memories. After all, you don’t take things with you when you die. If there happens to be an afterlife, I’ll have my memories.
“Dad…dad…dad!” Ezekial exclaims louder and louder until I snap out of my thoughts.
“Sorry. What is it son?” I reply. I look at Ezekial and see him pointing. I follow his finger out into the distance and through the gradually dimming light, I see what he is pointing at. With the dying light of the sunset, I see a parasailor on the horizon of the ocean gliding behind an expensive looking power boat.
“I want to try that tomorrow Dad,” Ezekiel bursts out with excitement.
“Whoa there my boy. Not sure you meet the height requirements for that ride yet, “ I say to Ezekial. Ezekiel is my youngest child. He’s eleven, but still hasn’t hit his next growth spurt. I doubt he could get on many rides at Disneyland yet. If only his maturity and large spirit were matched by his size. He’d be able to get on any ride if that were the case.
Mike and I both looked at Ezekial. I can tell by Mike’s expression that he feels the disappointment that is etched on Ezekial’s face. Mike too is lacking in stature. Before I can say something to make my son feel better Mike says, “let’s all go and explore the local area tonight.”
“Hell yeah, “ Ezekiel exclaims and quickly covers his mouth when he realizes what he let slip out. Mike and I both start laughing from what Ezekial just said. “Don’t tell Mom what I said," Ezekiall says.
“Hmmm…,” I pretend to think, resting my head on my fist. I let the anxiety build in Ezekial as I draw out the moment. “I think we can keep that between us guys, but you’re going to owe me one,” I say.
“Anything! Name your price Dad,” Elias says.
After a short moment Mike interrupts the silence and says, while slipping on his sandals, “well come on. Let’s get shaking.”
I look back outside as the sun disappears. Only a slight glare remains, “it’s getting dark. Let’s postpone going out until the sun is back out tomorrow.”
“Come on Dad,” Ezekiel says, “I’ve been inside all day.”
“Nothing good happens at night, in the dark,” I reply. “We’re in Mexico. The cartels in Mexico. There’s news almost every day about tourists going missing or getting killed.”
“Paranoid much, “ Mike states.
“Listening to my instincts has kept me alive so far,” I say. Slowly despair begins to grow inside me. A fear I’ve never felt before rears its ugly head. I’ve been scared before, but it didn’t compare. This was real fear. The fear a person must feel when they know they are going to die.
I interrupt Ezekial as he’s putting his shoes and jacket on, “nope, nope, nope…you are not going anywhere young man.”
“But Dad,” Ezekiel says.
“No buts. Go brush your teeth, get your PJs on, and I’ll be in to tuck you in.” I see the disappointment in my son’s face, but he listens and heads to the bathroom. As Ezekial closes the bathroom door, the hotel room door opens.
“Welcome back,” Mike says to our wives.
“”Let me help you two beauties with that,” I say as I grab a grocery bag out of my wife’s arms,” Did you find everything you were looking for?”
“Most of it and what I couldn’t find there was a product close enough to what I wanted. They don’t sell American made products in this village market,” Bitty explains.
“There was one thing we couldn’t find,” Mike’s wife adds. “Alcohol. It was nowhere to be found.”
“Did you ask?” Mike asks.
“Didn’t even cross our minds to ask,” Mike’s wife pausest. “Yes, we asked. The shop owner, who was gorgeous by the way, said there’s no place in the village that sells alcohol, but the next village over does.”
“We’re just dropping off what we got here and heading back out,” Bitty says. “Where's the rental car keys?”
“Oh no you’re not going back out. It’s too dangerous,” I say to Bitty.
“That’s right. Because we are," Mike adds. “We’ll go get whatever you need us to get. The alcohol. Primarily, the alcohol,” Mike chuckles.
An empty darkness grows inside me as I contemplate leaving the safety of the resort to run an errand in the darkness of the Mexican countryside. I have never feared much, but this I fear. I close my eyes and images come. They come and go quickly, but seem to last an eternity. I see Mike to my left behind the steering wheel of the rental and myself in the passenger seat. I’m slowly coming down from my anxiety as we listen to music and joke around. Suddenly, through the misty darkness, I see two men cross the street. Pearing closely, I think I see rifles in their hands. Panic strikes me immediately. I scream at Mike, “go left, go left…damn it go left!”
“Our ladies are waiting,” Mike says, handing me my sandals and jacket.
“I don’t think this is a good idea. How about we go out tomorrow morning and we can party the whole day?” I cringe as I say this knowing that everyone is ready to relax and let their hair down. I survey the room to see what the reaction is to my objection. I am met by two different reactions; Mike’s evil eye, which is telling me that if he doesn’t get any alcohol tonight he’s not getting any, and the lady's puppy dog eyes.
Against my better judgment, I give in. “Fine.” I slip on my sandals, Jacket, and remember that I told Ezekial that I was going to tuck him into bed. “Give me a second Mike,” as I head towards Ezekial’s room.
The door is cracked open and I peer in. I see Ezekial sitting in his bed, flashlight on, and a book spread open on his lap. “Whatcha reading?”
“One of my, 'I Survived,' books. This one’s about surviving a shark attack!” He says.
“You’ll have to tell me all about it in the morning.” I lean down and give Ezekial a kiss on the forehead. “Love you my boy.”
Ezekiel says, “I love you too Dad,” as he wipes at his forehead. “Can you leave the door open a crack tonight?”
“Will do.” I smile at Ezekial and leave the room. Jokingly, I close the door all the way. In my head I count…one thousand one…one thousand two…one thousand three…I suddenly jerk the door open and scream, “BOO!” Ezekiel and I both burst out laughing.
“Nice try Dad,” Ezekiel says sarcastically. “I’m too old to be scared by that anymore.”
I smile, remembering Ezekial as a younger boy and all the joy he has brought to my life. Again, a sudden darkness envelops me. I see images of Ezekial alone, in despair, and crying as he clutches to the jacket I have on now. There’s something different about the jacket. I try to look closer…Is that blood?
From the front room Mike yells, “Let’s get moving before the boogeymen come out.”
I walk down the short hallway and see Mike grinning from ear to ear. “Whatever,” I say. “I’m ready, and for the record,” I make eye contact with everyone, “I’m going, but in protest. If anything goes wrong, it’s your guys’ fault. Not mine.”
“Stop being dramatic. Nothing’s going to happen. When we were researching this vacation, this resort had no travel warnings. We're safe,” Mike says.
I unlock the door and, with that, Mike jumps up from the couch. I open the door and the cool night breeze hits me sending shivers down my spine. With the door propped open, Mike scoots past me, but before he begins to descend the stairs he turns around and puts a hand on my shoulder.
“All joking aside, we’ll head to the next town, get the ladies what they want, and we’ll be back before you know it.” After his comment Mike cracks a huge grin, “then we’ll get what we want.” Mike winks, turns around, and shuffles down the stairs.
“Give me a break.” I mull the idea about what Bitty might be willing to do for me tonight. I too smile and shove the dread I’ve been feeling deep down. I resolve to ignore my worries and press on with the game plan.
Mike unlocks the rental and opens the driver side door. Instantly, the image of him driving us during my previous bout of terror re-imurges. I freeze and apparently all the blood drained from my face because Mike notices something is wrong.
“You look like you are about to puke,” Mike says as he steps back out of the little hatch-back. “Take some deep breaths.”
I follow his instructions and take a few deep breaths. Four counts in and four counts out. Four counts in and four counts out. I feel the oxygen delivered to my brain as my balance returns to me.
“I think I should drive. If I let you drive, I’m bound to get motion sick,” I say as my composure returns. I haven’t been motion sick since I was a kid going cross country sitting in the back of my mom’s station wagon. Mike doesn’t know this, but if I can get behind the steering wheel then whatever has me spooked can not happen.
I can see that Mike is thinking it over. He reserved the rental and has never ever let anyone else drive. “I didn’t list you as one of the drivers when I signed for the car Tony.”
“Hey man, either I drive or I’ll vomit all over your rental. I understand If you want to spend the rest of the night cleaning up chunks of chips and salsa.” That did the trick. Mike tosses the keys to me and proceeds to the passenger seat.
I squeeze into the driver seat and fumble around with my hand as I try to find the controls to scoot the seat back. “Do you have to be so short,” I jokingly say.
Before backing out of the parking spot, I unlock my cell phone, and open google maps. The search for the nearest liquor store is easy. Only one store populates, and true to the local ship owner’s word, it’s in the next town which is only a twenty minute drive. I turn the headlights on and get us on the road.
Other than the need for a few re-routes from the GPS, due to roads under construction, we made it to our destination. The village was small. Probably a population of no more than five thousand residents. All the buildings are run down, but have the hints of being in the works of modernization. Some buildings began to be repainted and the new paint was colorful and vibrant.
The liquor store, on the other hand, has seen better days. Like out of an eighties movie, where all windows had bars on the windows, this establishment would have fit right in. The door creaked as we entered and a bell chimed when it was struck by the door. All eight occupants peared at us inquisitively.
“I think they can tell that we are not from around here,” Mike whispers.
Both Mike and I stop in our tracks, not sure how to act with all the attention we are receiving. I can tell that the local residents did not get much tourist traffic. Not as much as an, “hola,” was given to us. However, we got scowls aplenty.
As I look from person to person, still trying to figure out what I should do, I saw something, or someone, dart in the periphery of my vision. Is that an AK in that guy's hand? I couldn’t tell because when I pivoted my head to look, the man was gone.
“Let’s just grab the first thing we see in the aisle and go,” I say.
Mike says nothing and I can tell that he did not disagree. He must have seen where the alcohol was because he grabs me by the elbow and leads me directly to the spirits aisle. I grab what looks to me to be the most expensive bottle of whiskey. Pulling my elbow out of Mike’s death grip, I make a beeline for the cashier.
Foolishly, I say, “hablo english?”
The cashier does not reply, but pointed to the price tag on the bottle and holds out his hand with his palm up. He is a man in his mid fifties. He has facial hair growth that appears to have been growing for a week. Both his hair and beard are distinguished with gray and dark brown hair. Heavier on the salt than the pepper. He isoverweight, with a substantial beer belly. You couldn’t have cast a better actor to play the role of a liquor store clerk who clearly dislikes tourists.
“Mike, pay the man,” I say while giving the cashier the most thoughtful smile I could muster.
Mike pats himself down looking for his wallet. “Ooops, I left in the car. I’ll be right back.”
Before he gets out of the door, Mike turns around, marches back to me and says, “can I have the keys?” Without hesitation, I hand them over.
I would have thought that he is in the military with that sharp about face he made before ducking out to find his wallet. The seconds he is away seems like an eternity as I can feel everyone’s eyes on me.
For a moment I look down at my feet not wanting to make eye contact. However, when I hear the bell chime when Mike came back, I look up and swore the cashier was mouthing instructions to someone. I turn around to see who he is signaling. Nobody, I saw nobody. Never-the-less, I am beyond paranoid.
As Mike approaches the counter the cashier places his hand back out. Mike slips some money into the man’s hand and says, “keep the change.” With that said, we both bolt for the door.
I push on the door when I should have pulled, causing both Mike and I to slam into the door.
“It’s pull not push Tony!”
Both of us head for the driver side of the car. I forgot that I handed the keys over to Mike. Quickly, I realize my mistake and rush to the passenger door. Before I get into the car, Mike has it started and in reverse. No sooner did I lift my trail foot off the ground than Mike slammed his foot to the floor.
Something’s wrong. Something is seriously wrong, I think over and over in my head. I look to my left and I see Mike! The exact memory I had from my nightmare. I specifically made him let me drive so this didn’t happen.
“No, no, no, no, no….,” I repeat over and over.
Mike shoots a concerned look at me. “Dude you look horrible. It’s ok we’re in the care safe and sound. In no time we’ll…”
Before Mike is able to finish his sentence a small Toyota truck dashes in front of us and blocks the road. Both of us immediately shout, “oh s@#$!” There’s no ally for us to make a left or right turn into.
“Reverse! Back up!” I scream.
Mike is panicking and it shows. His whole body is shaking as he fumbles, putting our small automatic car into reverse. Finally, we start moving backwards. Twenty five yards to go. Twenty yards to go. Fifteen yards to go, but before we reach the end of the block a second SUV blocks our escape.
I look back and forth between the two vehicles blocking us. I know what is going to happen to us. I saw it in my nightmare. Hopelessness sets in. We are going to die. I watch one man step out of the truck and two men get out of the SUV. The man to our front stops in front of our car and aims his AK at Mike through the windshield. The two men from the SUV walk slowly towards the back of the car. I can barely make out that one is carrying a rifle and the other a hand gun.
The guy with the rifle stops and takes up a position at the back of our car. The second man from the SUV continues forward on my side of the car. With the barrel of the pistol, he taps on the window.
I feel all the blood in my face leave and I suddenly become light headed. Fear takes over. My entire body is shaking. I look up at the man standing just outside of my door. Making eye contact, I press the button to roll down the window. The gun goes to my head.
DARKNESS