Lamia (9 page)

During the conversation with Lamia, I often considered that she was trying to shock me both by the words she used as well as the graphic detail.  Perhaps this was part of the power game, which certainly worked as I was completely in awe of her.
 
I told her what had become of Maria’s parents; if she cared, her face never showed it. 
I continu
ed to listen to her tale, ever expectant
of
hear
ing
of the
transition of Maria into
Lamia.

“Lina also walked past casting sad eyes over Maria’s plight; the only friendly face that she saw.
  Finally, the meeting ended.  Mateo gripped Maria by her hair and pulled her to her feet.  He told her she was making the
p
lace look untidy, at which he pushed her across the room, causing her to collide with a sofa and end up sprawled across it, shorts still around her ankles.  The men filed past without even a glance in her direction; she did not matter!
  She scurried back to her room
past
the
sniggering
mountain men and
she
lay crying face down on her bed.

Maria
hardly heard the door opening; neither would she have cared if she had.  The first thing that registered was a soothing hand on her back and Lina’s voice saying that Mateo had gone out with the other men
and that
everything would be all right.  Maria relaxed a little at the thought of not having to see Mateo any more that day.  She felt Lina pull off her shorts; then came the soothing balm.
  Eventually the two girls fell asleep at one of the rare times when they could afford to relax.

Maria awoke first, propping herself up on one elbow.  Lina was lying on her back, her top slightly open exposing half of her left breast.  She was young and beautiful and Maria couldn’t resist tugging gently to expose the nipple as well.  It was like a little button on a small but perfectly formed
tanned
mound.  Lina
woke up and saw Maria gazing at her, but she made no protest.  When Maria gently kissed her nipple, Lina pulled open the other side of her top, exposing both breasts.  With all the violence in her life, this was Maria’s chance of a little gentleness and affection.
 
They were alone together and answerable to no one. 
The parts that had been so brutalised
could now be
soothed by lips and tongue.  For once neither girl needed lubrication as they kissed and pleasured each other in every way they could.”

Now I was convinced that Lamia was out to shock me and I told her so.

“Lamia,” I said.  “You won’t shock me by telling me about the things that Maria did.  She was in a dreadful position and if she could find a bit of tenderness and affection, then I think she
deserved it!”

Lamia sighed, taking another swig of her water.  She stared at me intently, making me a little uneasy.

“What do you want with me?” she asked.

“I just want to know what happened to my friend,” I answered truthfully.

“And for this you’ve released me from my bonds, fed and wat
ered me and dressed my wound.  Now i
n return, the Lamia will teach you about power.  We have
only
tonight so pay close attention.  I told you that Maria was weak; eventually you’ll recognise this.  Then I’ll teach you
real
power; the power that is inside everyone.  Once you learn how to recognise
this
power, you can achieve anything.”

At this point I did not know what to think.  Lamia was to be executed in a few hours, yet she spoke as if she were giving a lesson to a class of seven-year-olds.
  Perhaps this was her way of keeping her mind off what was going to happen to her.

“Lamia, however powerful you think Maria could have been, the fact remains that she was a prisoner and outnumbered.  The only ally she had was a girl weaker than she was.”

“You still look at power as being physical.  When two state leaders come together to negotiate a truce, do you think it matters which one of them is physically stronger?  The power struggle is like two people sitting
on a sea-saw
.  Each one in turn will push off the floor
to be higher and more powerful
than the other.  Eventually they get tired and they push together at the same time.  The outcome of that push will find the new equilibrium and the decision is made more in favour of the higher one.  The trick is not to fight the battle well and tire yourself out at the beginning, but to recognise the point at which you will both push together.  Power is
never relinquished and can never be taken,
even at the end; it is merely loaned.”

I heard what she was saying but still I could not see what Maria could have done, or when and how Lamia could have taken over.  Did she hatch some kind of escape plan?  I simply nodded and asked what Maria did next.  It was the only way I would get at the answers I sought.

CHAPTER 7

“
Mateo was away
for one or two nights at a time over the following couple of weeks and the girls usually slept together when he was away. 
When he was at home, he used them as he pleased.  They both knew that they were safe
because
the men were so frightened of Mateo finding out.  Then came the time when Mateo had to go away for ten days on business.  The first time Maria noticed there was something wrong was when she got up, flushed the toilet and it didn’t refill.  She went to find out why and found that
she
had been locked
in
.  She banged on the door for ages, but nobody came.  Then she noticed the shutters on her window were locked.
  She searched for any fruit that she might have left in her room, but there was none.  All she could do was to wait in the semi-darkness until somebody came.

It was mid-afternoon by the time the door was unlocked and Pablo, Cesar and Leandro walked in.  Leandro was carrying a tray on which stood a jug of water and a mouth-watering feast of bread, meats and fruit.  Maria rushed towards the tray but was headed off by Pablo.  He took her by the arm and led her into the bathroom, where he made it clear that she would have to kneel down and satisfy him before she got anything at all.  Maria refused, saying that he’d better not touch her or she would tell Mateo.  Pablo simply laughed
, saying that it was not he that would touch her; rather the other way round.  He had a point.  Maria could hardly tell Mateo that she had been sucking Pablo’s cock while he had been away!  Pablo knew that he couldn’t actually do anything to Maria, but if she was willing.....  Maria still refused and the men left.

It was three days later when Maria, almost delirious with thirst, finally succumbed.  As soon as the door opened she grabbed Pablo by the arm and led him to the bathroom.  All the laughing and the jeering didn’t affect her.  All that mattered was a long cool drink.  She fell to her knees
, fumbling at the buttons as she hurriedly tugged at his trousers.    There was no time for thought; she slid the end between her lips and started pumping for all she was worth.  It was over with very quickly and Maria jumped to her feet and rushed towards the t
ray, only to be stopped in her tracks by Cesar who demanded the same treatment.  Maria had no choice and when she was finished, inevitably Leandro also wanted his turn.  Maria was exhausted as well as being dehydrated and she slowly got to her feet just as the door closed.  There on the tray on the floor was a mango and a single glass of water.
  She knew that she would be equally thirsty on the following day.  This went on for the next few days and Maria had no choice but to put up with it. 
Pablo never missed an opportunity to tell her that it was just practice for when
she moved down to the mountain-
men
’s quarters. 
One day she managed to negotiate for the water to be turned on so that the toilet could be flushed.  They allowed her to flush it and then for the cistern to refill, but they made sure to put chemicals in it so that it couldn’t be drunk.  Then one morning, the door opened and Lina slipped in looking very nervous.  She had heard what was going on and had brought a ewer of water and some bread and fruit.  Maria was very grateful but Lina was too nervous to stay and so she slipped out again, promising
to supply more provisions when she could.  Lina was taking a great risk for her and Maria promised herself that she would do her best to repay her.

Maria refused all further offers to pleasure the men.  Lina kept her supplied with water and food, but thought it too risky to look for the
stopcock
that supplied the toilet
;
hence the room became very smelly.

It was
on
the morning of the d
ay that Mateo was due to return
that
Lina came to Maria’s room with some fruit.  She said it was safe as the men were having a meeting with some
other
men who had just arrived.  Maria thought it strange that a meeting should have been conducted withou
t Mateo being present so, sending Lina back to her room, she crept towards the doorway of the living room and peered around the corner.  Indeed a meetin
g was taking place and Maria immediately recognised one of the men as being from a rival guardianes clan.  She had witnessed the work of Luis Almero while she was working as a guide.  He had
tied up an old couple in their shack and set fire to it, leaving the rest of their family to hear their screams, just because they owed him an amount of money that wouldn’t keep him in cigars for a week.  He was a particularly nasty character in an horrific business.  She assumed that the other four were his bodyguards.

As Maria crouched in the doorway, she heard a plan unfold that would get rid of Mateo and leave Pablo in charge.  Almero planned to take over Mateo’s territory, but he would need some local knowledge.  With Mateo out of the way he would negotiate deals with the drug barons and
Pablo could run things locally.”

“Why couldn’t Pablo simply cut a deal on his own?” I asked.

“Pablo didn’t have the contacts to deal with the drug barons, but running the house and the local business was the next best thing.  This was bad news for Maria and Lina.  With Pablo in charge he could do whatever he wanted, although it would only be temporary.  He didn’t have the intelligence to know that nobody was going to leave a mountain-man in charge.  Once local knowledge had been gained, Almero would have got rid of Pablo and substituted one of his men.  Of course none of this helped Maria.

She listened carefully as the plan unfolded.
  When Mateo returned, a bomb (which Almero had supplied) would be placed under his car.  Then he would get an urgent phone call which would see him and his bodyguards get back into the car.  The bomb would then be remotely detonated and in the ensuing mayhem, the gates would be opened and Almero and his men
(who would be camped nearby)
would drive in and take over.
  It made little difference to the mountain men, who was in charge; except of course for the three at the table.
  Pablo would have been the leader and presumably Cesar and Leandro were to be his seconds in command.
”

Maria’s situation was now grave.  If Almero took over, Pablo and the rest of the mountain men would have their fun and Maria would not live for very long.  If Mateo remained in charge, he would quickly become bored with her and the mountain men would get her anyway.  As I saw it, her only salvation would be to escape, perhaps in the mayhem after the bomb had exploded.

“So how did she escape?” I asked.

“Maria slipped out of the front door and hid in the garden, as close as she could to the gate.  She planned to slip out when the gate was opened for Almero’s vehicle to exit.  It was a slim chance but one that she had to take.  The gate eventually opened and Maria ran through; straight into the arms of one of the guards.  He dragged her back to where Pablo was standing beside Almero’s vehicle.  She peered into the car and the sight of his face brought back memories of the first time she had seen it. 
Even then she was fascinated by the Celtic-like design tattooed on his right cheek.  His left ear was partially missing and the scars on his left cheek told of the dangerous life that he led.  ‘This girl recognises me,’ he said.  ‘Get rid of her.’