The Loverboy (18 page)

dinner the day before but at she had been hungry enough to eat
about half of it this time to the dismay of her cell mate. After
having given up and giving her what had been left of breakfast
her cell mate had warmed up a little but there was no
communication possible as neither spoke the other‟s language,
but at least the tension was a lot less.
She still hadn‟t completely grasped what was going on but
had figured out by now that things were bad and was trying to
prepare for the worst. Drug trafficking charges were more severe
here in Mexico, however she hadn‟t known about the drugs and it
hadn‟t been hers. Surely they couldn‟t hold it against her that
she had been ignorant. Also she was innocent and they had to
prove she was guilty.
When the faded old clock on the wall outside the cell
showed ten two guards came and motioned her to turn around. When
she did they put the handcuffs back on through the bars before
they let her out of the cell. She nodded at her cell mate who
gave her a genuine smile as if to say “good luck”. The guards
led her outside where the same van that had transported her from
the airport to the police station was waiting. She shuddered
seeing it as her body was still hurting from yesterdays ride.
The ride was fairly smooth to her surprise and the driver was
considerate to his passengers. She still felt unstable but did
not feel like she was going to fall off the bench at any minute
nor did she get slammed into the divider when the van slowed
down.
About an hour later the van stopped and the driver got out.
She could hear the ocean again and found it very calming.
Fifteen minutes later the driver came back and opened the back.
She was let out and saw she was in the harbor of La Paz. Before
her was a large ferry and she was taken aboard on a small ramp
that was different from where the passengers got on. The ramp
was more for personnel and supplies she figured. From there they
led her into a room in the belly of the ferry without windows or
anything. The room had a small cell that had four beds in it but
she was the only occupant. The officers instructed her to enter
and locked the door behind her. An officer from the ferry signed
some paperwork and the police officers left. She had no idea how
long this was going to take but settled down on one of the bunks
and was left to her thoughts.
Every hour someone stopped in to check on her but did not
speak to her. She was starting to feel very alien as there was
nobody to talk to and she could not wait to get to where ever
they were taking her. Then she would finally get someone from
the consulate to visit her and explain what was going on. They
would be able to contact Jake for her and he would set the
record straight and help get her out of there. Everything was
delayed again but surely it was just a delay and nothing more.
It couldn‟t be, not after everything she had been through, she
couldn‟t just lose everything she had worked for. Every
disgusting act would not be for nothing. She would have her new
life. She felt the motion of the boat and just stayed on her
bunk.
An hour into the trip someone brought lunch which was very
nice compared to what she had been fed in the La Paz police
station. Several more hours passed but with no notion of time
and no window she had no idea how much. Dinner was brought as
she was getting hungry again and she ate it all. More time
passed and she started to wonder if this was ever going to end.
She finally dozed off and was awoken a few hours later this time
by another set of police officers. The police officers
handcuffed her again so took her out on the small ramp. She
passed a wall clock and it read twelve o‟clock. She had been on
the boat for about thirteen hours. It was dark out but it was
mild and not cold.
She was transported with another van again and arrived at
the Mazatlan police station where she was put back into a cell
only to be woken up several hours later. She was served
breakfast again and longed for the food she had received on the
ferry but ate anyway. Then she was led outside again where there
was a bus waiting for her. The bus had Santa Martha Acatitla
printed on the side and Kim figured it was the prison she was
being transported to. There were five other prisoners on the bus
and they were all seated as far apart as possible. The police
officers and prison guards did some paperwork and ten minutes
later the bus left.
The trip was long and the seats were better than they had
been in the vans but handcuffs were not removed. They stopped
for lunch and dinner at which times they were able to have
bathroom breaks. The bus also stopped at five police stations
along the way and more prisoners entered the bus. By the time
they reached Santa Martha Acatitla there were twelve of them. It
had gotten close to midnight again and they were led one by one
into the prison where they were processed and given dull blue
uniforms while their normal clothes were taken away and they
were taken into a cell block.
The prison was older and heavily secured. There were tall
walls and towers with armed guards. She felt really
claustrophobic walking into it despite the huge size of the
complex. When led into the cell block everything was quiet and
she was led into a cell. Her new cell mate woke up for a second
and then fell asleep again. She settled in on the top bunk and
planned to go to sleep which she didn‟t think would be hard
after the long trip but soon after she settled in she heard a
loud screaming. To her surprise the screaming seemed to be one
of an infant. Then she heard a mother‟s soothing attempts to
quiet the child. She was shocked, “there are children in here?”
she thought. The rest of the prison seemed oddly unbothered by
the noise and her cell mate certainly didn‟t wake up from it.
This seemed to be a not uncommon thing. She lay down and tried
to go to sleep.
The crying lasted about forty five minutes and after that
all was quiet again. The next morning they were awoken at six am
and Kim was dead tired as she looked around. In the light she
noticed that her cell mate was blond to her surprise.
“You aren‟t Mexican?” she asked.
The woman who was in her late thirties introduced herself
as Rose Desmond from Austin, Texas. Rose was friendly and seemed
eerily comfortable in these dreadful surroundings. Rose was
welcoming and took Kim along into the mess hall where breakfast
was served. The food wasn‟t great but it was better than she had
had in the past at the police stations and while eating Rose
explained how things worked in the prison. She pointed out who
to stay away from and who was good to hang out with. She
introduced her to Maria who was her lover. Rose was not gay she
explained but after fifteen years her she had taken on a lover
to drive away the loneliness.
Sex between inmates was not allowed but it went on and as
long as it didn‟t cause problems the guards overlooked it. The
mess hall also had a number of little kids running around. Kim
was very surprised about this and was informed that kids born in
prison were allowed to stay with their mothers until they were
six years old. The prison was old and harsh but if you followed
the rules it was a lot better than many of the other prisons.
The men‟s wings were a totally different story but they
were completely segregated. Rose also told her that they liked
to put foreign prisoners with other foreign prisoners to help
them get settled. She also pointed out a woman by the name of
Marcella Nunez. Marcella, Rose explained was the daughter of
Fernando Nunez who is a major cartel drug lord and had dangerous
connections. It was best not to mess with her. Marcella liked
the place and everyone else she would not risk getting
transferred to a worse location but if you crossed her she would
have someone else take care of the problem. Kim took note and
agreed to stay out of her way.
“What are you in here for? If you don‟t mind me asking” Kim
asked Rose.
“Like most foreigners for drug trafficking” Rose said
without looking up.
Kim swallowed.
“When do you get out?” Kim asked fearing the answer. “My
parole is coming up in three years. It was denied last year but
my sentence is done in another five years” Rose said, “What are
you in here for?”
Kim swallowed and said “I was arrested with two pounds of
cocaine at the airport four days ago, but I didn‟t have anything
to do with it and am waiting for the consulate to get me out of
here.”
Rose snickered a little and added “Don‟t hold your breath,
they are very strict and the consulate will help but won‟t risk
pissing off any officials over a dumb American that tried to
smuggle drugs. They will help you get a lawyer. See if someone
at home can get you some money for an actual lawyer instead of a
public lawyer as they are way too busy to do much for you”.
“I have a bunch saved up and my fiancé will get me a decent
lawyer” Kim reassured Rose but was more trying to reassure
herself.
“Good” Rose responded somewhat disinterested, “You‟ll need
it.”
After breakfast Rose showed her around and then left for
her shift in the kitchen. Kim wandered around a bit. Things felt
weird as she didn‟t understand anyone but she was glad she had
been able to talk to Rose. She stopped at the library and found
a few old books in English that didn‟t seem very interesting.
In the afternoon she was summoned to the visitor center
where she was told she had a visitor. The visitor was a man in
his late forties with a receding hairline and a clean expensive
suit. He explained that he was from the American Consulate and
it was a custom to visit US citizens that were incarcerated in a
foreign country. She explained how she ended up in there and how
she was innocent. He listened but didn‟t seem too interested and
when she was done he told her they could not assist in the legal
representation. He would contact anyone in the United States for
her. She gave him Jake‟s information and asked him to contact
him and let him know what was going on.
“Any family you want me to contact?” he asked.
She thought for a few seconds but decided she did not want
to have her mom worry about her and she knew her mom would want
to help which she could not afford.
Then she said “No, nobody.”
He protested and told her it was in her best interest to
contact her family as she needed all the help she could get but
she forbade him which he accepted. Finally he offered to get her
a lawyer until she could afford a better one. He handed her a
pamphlet which he advised her to read and they parted ways. He
promised he would check up with her soon.
Chapter 21:
When she got back to her cell she read the pamphlet and it
had several tips on it.
1)
Learn the language. Being in a foreign prison can be
really isolating if you don’t know the language.
2) Get a job. Many prisons offer jobs that pay two or three
dollars a day but it’s keeping busy that is the important part.
3) Adjust to your environment. You are the minority and
will need to be the one to adjust.
She put down the pamphlet and just zoned out. She still
couldn‟t grasp it all and preferred on to think about it. Rose
picked her up for dinner and they went to the mess hall. After
dinner she went back to her cell for an early night. It was
still loud and sleeping wasn‟t going to happen so she read for a
while. The next morning she was informed that she was going to
court for a preliminary hearing. She was chained to another
prisoner and in two‟s they were led onto a similar bus that took
her to the prison.
It was about an hour and a half ride and when they got to
the court house everybody was put into cells in the basement and
they were collected one by one for a meeting with their lawyer
or for the hearing. It was afternoon when she was collected. A
guard led her into a closed room and left the room to stand
guard outside. Five minutes later a young Mexican man entered.
He seemed about twenty six and was wearing a tan suit with a
blue tie. He carried a black bag and seemed to be juggling a
pile of files that looked two seconds away from exploding over
the whole room. But he managed to keep files from turning into a
paper blizzard and put them on the table. Then he kept looking
through them until he found a thin file with her name on it. He
put the file in front of him and opened it. He quickly leafed
through the content and then sat down and looked at her.
“So, Miss Brown” he said, “My name is Nicandro Vargas, I am
your court appointed lawyer.
You are welcome to hire a different lawyer if you wish and
if you have the funds but I will handle your case until then.”
She nodded and asked “What is going to happen with me?” in
a shaking voice dreading the answer.
“Well, today is the first hearing. Kind of what they call
discovery in the United States. We will also request bail” He
said.
Kim‟s eyes lit up, she could be getting out of here she
thought.
Nicandro saw the expression of hope and quickly added
“However in drug related crimes involving foreigners they
generally do not allow bail. Most likely we will just get a date
set for when the trial starts. This could take a long time,
probably about a year.”
She shuddered and asked “That long? When can I get out of
here?”
He paused and selected his words carefully “They are very
strict on Americans that smuggle narcotics here and the case
against you is very strong. I am not thinking it would be any
time soon.”
She started to feel her eyes well up and fought to hold
back the tears.
“But I‟m innocent” she said, “I didn‟t do anything. Don‟t
they have to prove that I am responsible?”
“Actually they don‟t” he said, “Mexican law works different
than US law. There is no innocent till proven guilty here. You
have to prove you are innocent. So if you can prove that the
drugs were not yours we have a chance, however the only way I
can see that happening is someone stepping forward to claim
responsibility for putting the drugs on you without you knowing.
Also you signed a confession.”
He pulled a copy of the statement she had sign out and put