The Evening News (64 page)

Socorro filled a tin cup with water and passed it to Nicholas
who drank greedily; as he did, the shaking of his body subsided. Then he said in a weak voice, "I'm hungry
.”

"There is no food here
,”
Baudelio told him
.”
You will have to wait
.”

Jessica protested, "There must be something he can have
.”

Cutface did not answer, but the order he had given about water had made
his status clear and Jessica said accusingly, "You're a doctor
!”

"That is no concern of yours
.”

"And he's American
,”
Angus added
.”
Listen to his voice
.”

The water seemed
to have revived Angus who turned toward Baudelio
.”
That's right isn't it
,
you disgusting bastard? Don't you ever feel ashamed
?
”

Baudelio merely turned away and climbed into the other boat
.”
Please, I'm hungry
,”
Nicky repeated. He turned to Jessica
.”
Mom, I'm
scared
.”

Jessica, holding him again, admitted, "Darling, so am F'
Socorro, who heard all the exchanges, appeared to hesitate. Then reaching
into her shoulder bag, she produced a large bar of Cadbury's chocolate
.
Without speaking, she tore open the package, broke off a half-dozen
squares and offered two to each prisoner. Angus was last and shook his
head
.”
Give mine to the boy.,'
Socorro clucked her annoyance, then impulsively tossed the entire
chocolate bar into the boat. It fell at Jessica's feet. At the same time
Socorro moved away, boarding the second boat
.
Some of the armed men who had been in the truck and on the wooded trail
now climbed into the same boat as the prisoners and both boats started
to move. Jessica noticed that other men who had been in charge of the
boats were also armed. Even the two helmsmen, each seated forward of the
twin outboard motors, had rifles across their knees and looked ready to
use them. The chances of getting away, even if there were somewhere to
go, seemed nonexistent.

As both boats headed upriver against the current, Socorro fumed at
herself for what she had done. She hoped no one else
had seen, because giving the prisoners that good chocolate, unobtainable in Peru, was a sign of weakness, of foolish pity-a contemptible sentiment in a revolutionary
.
The problem was, she had moments of vacillation within herself, a psychic
tug-of-war
.
Less than a week ago, Socorro had reminded herself of the need to guard
against banal emotions. That was the evening following the kidnap while
the Sloane woman, the boy and the old man were unconscious in the second
floor medical room of the Hackensack house. At that time Socorro was
doing her best to hate the captives-rico bourgeois scum, she had labeled
them mentally, and still did. But the hatred had to be forced on that
other occasion and even now, she thought to her discredit, the same
seemed true
.
Earlier today, in the airstrip hut when the Sloane woman asked a question
after Miguel ordered silence, Socorro deliberately hit her hard, sending
the woman reeling. At the time, believing Miguel was watching, Socorro
had simply tried to be supportive. Yet moments later she felt ashamed at
what she had done. Ashamed! She should not feel that way
.
Socorro told herself, She must be resolute in putting behind her, once
and for all, memories of those things she had likedcorrection: deluded
herself into liking-during her three years in the United States. She had
to hate, hate-
hate America. And these prisoners too
.
Soon afterward, while the river and its dense green uninhabited shores
slipped by, she dozed. Then, some three hours after departure, both boats
slowed, their bows turning from the main river into a smaller stream, the
banks on either side closing in and rising steeply as the boats
progressed. They were nearing Nueva Esperanza, Socorro presumed, and
there, she assured herself, she would strengthen and revive her radical
fervor.

Baudelio, watching the boat ahead lead the way along a side valley from
the Huallaga River, knew this journey was almost ended and he was glad
.
His time spent with this project was close to ending too, and very soon
he hoped to be in Lima. That
had been promised him as soon as the captives were delivered here in a healthy state
.
Well, they were healthy, even in this ghastly, humid heat
.
As if the thought of humidity had prompted more of the same, the sky
overhead suddenly darkened to a somber gray and a torrent of rain arrived
in sheets, soaking everything in sight. While a protruding jetty could
be seen ahead, with other boats moored or beached, there were still
several minutes to go before landing and, for captives and captors both
,
there was nothing to do but sit and get wet
.
Baudelio was indiffierent to the rain as he was indifferent nowadays to
most else that came his way-for example, the abuse directed at him by the
old man prisoner and the Sloane woman. He was long past caring about
that, and any humane feelings he once had concerning those he worked on
medically had been extinguished years ago
.
What he really longed for at this moment was a drink
several drinks; in
fact, Baudelio wanted to get drunk as soon as possible. While he had
continued taking the Antabuse tablets which made it impossible to drink
liquor without becoming violently ill-Miguel still insisted on the
alcoholic ex-doctor swallowing one tablet in his presence daily-Baudelio
intended to stop the Antabuse the instant he and Miguel parted company
.
As far as Baudelio was concerned, that could not be too soon
.
Something else Baudelio wanted was his woman in Lima. He knew she was a
slut, had been a prostitute, and was a drunkard like himself, but in the
messy detritus of his shattered life, she was all he had and he missed
her. His own empty loneliness had been the reason for his illicit use
,
a week ago, of one of the cellular phones to call his woman from the
Hackensack house. Since making that call, against Miguel's orders
,
Baudelio had worried a lot, dreading that Miguel would find out. But the
call had apparently gone undiscovered, for which he was relieved
.
Oh, how he needed that drink!
The chocolate, while not a lasting substitute for food, had helped
.
Jessica did not waste mental effort wondering why the sour
faced woman had
so impetuously left a chocolate bar, apart from noting that she was a
person of unpredictable moods. Instead Jessica concealed the chocolate in
a pocket of her dress, keeping it out of sight of the armed men aboard
.
While traveling upriver, Jessica gave most of the chocolate to Nicky, but
ate some herself and insisted that Angus have some too. It was important
,
she pointed out, keeping her voice low, that they all preserve their
strength-which was clearly ebbing after the time in the open truck, then
the exhausting march through the jungle and now their several hours in the
boat
.
As to the length of time the three of them had been unconscious, Jessica
realized there was a clue in Angus's growth of beard. She hadn't noticed
before, but the unshaved gray hairs on his face were surprisingly long
.
When she pointed this out, Angus felt his face and estimated it was four
or five days since his last shave
.
Perhaps that wasn't important now, but Jessica was still absorbing all the
information she could, a reason she tried to stay alert during the river
journey
.
There wasn't much to see, except thickly growing trees and foliage on both
banks, and the river itself winding sinuously, hardly ever in a straight
line. Several times small canoes were visible in the distance, but none
came close
.
Throughout the journey Jessica was plagued by constant itching. Earlier
,
in the hut where she first returned to consciousness seated on the dirt
floor, she had been aware of insects crawling on her. Now she realized they
were fleas, which had stayed with her and were biting persistently. But
short of stripping, there was no way she could remove them. She hoped that
wherever she and the others were being taken, there would be ample water
so she could wash the fleas away
.
Like everyone else, Jessica, Nicky and Angus were soaked in the deluge of
rain shortly before landing at Nueva Esperanza. But as their boat made fast
against a crude wooden jetty,
the rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and at that same moment the spirits of all three sank as they saw the awful, forbidding place ahead
.
Beyond a rough and muddy path from the riverbank was a series of
dilapidated houses, about two dozen in all, some merely shacks built
partly from old packing cases and rusted corrugated iron and supplemented
by bamboo stems. Most of the houses were windowless, though two had what
appeared to be small storefronts. Thatched roofs showed disrepair, and
some had gaping holes. Discarded cans and other garbage littered the
surrounding area. A few scrawny chickens ran loose. Off to one side, a
dead dog was being pecked by buzzards
.
Could there possibly be something better farther on? The dismal answer
appeared when a rough, now muddy road leading out of the hamlet came into
sight. The road climbed a hill and on either side, beyond the few houses
already in view, was nothing but two barricading walls of jungle. At the
top of the hill the road disappeared
.
Later, Jessica and the others would learn that Nueva Esperanza was
basically a fishing village, though Sendero Luminoso used it from time
to time for purposes the organization wanted hidden
.”
- Vdyanse a tierral Mudanse!
Apfirense
!”

Gustavo shouted at the
prisoners, at the same time signaling them to move. Dejected, dreading
whatever was to come, Jessica and the other two obeyed
.
What happened minutes later was even worse than they had feared
.
After being escorted by Gustavo and four more armed men up the muddy
path, they were herded into a shack which stood farthest from the river
.
Inside, it took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the
semidarkness. When they did, Jessica screamed in anguish
.”
Oh, my god, no! You can't shut us in those! Not in cages, like animals!
Please! Please no
!”

What she had seen set against the far wall were three partitioned cells
about eight feet square. Thin but strong bamboo stalks, securely
fastened, were a substitute for bars. Additionally, between each cell, wire screening had been nailed so there could be no physical contact between adjoining occupants or anything passed from one enclosure to another. At the front of each cell was a door fitted with a sliding steel bar and, outside, a heavy padlock
.
Inside each cell was a low wooden bed and a thin, soiled mattress
,
alongside the bed a galvanized pail, presumably intended as a toilet. The
whole place stank
.
While Jessica pleaded and protested, Gustavo seized her. Though she
continued struggling, his hands were like steel. Impelling her forward, he
ordered, "i Pete para adentro
!”

Then in halting Fnglish, "You go in there
.”

"In there
”
was the enclosure farthest from the shack's outer door and, with
a forceful shove, Gustavo pushed Jessica to the inside wall. As she fell
against it, the cell door closed and she heard the padlock's metallic
click. Outside, at the opposite end of the shack, she could hear Angus
fighting and arguing too, but he was subdued, thrown in, and the padlock
fastened. In the cell next to her own, Jessica heard Nicky sobbing
.
Tears of rage, frustration and despair coursed down her cheeks.