Chapter 13 - The famous concert - mduno
"Damn it! I just lost a bet."
"I want the cabin available for the month of November so I can enjoy the November festivities in Cartagena. And I'll extend my vacation to enjoy the Barranquilla Carnival."
"I have a lot of accumulated time off, so I'll be all along the coast. Think about what you'll do during those months. You have a lot of business in that area."
"I'll be with you, Rata, fornicating all the time with hundreds of women."
"Boss, that's what I'll be doing, but you..."
I looked away for a second. With everything we've been through, we can speak without words. Cebolla came over with two glasses of liquor and a juice for himself since he was the designated driver.
"Roland..." He called me by my name, which meant he was about to say something important. "I lost count after the two-hundredth woman I slept with."
"If you add the times you did it with two women at once, you should have doubled my number. I lost count of that years ago." Where is he going with this? "You've been with hundreds, if not thousands of women, and none of them achieved what she did just by talking."
"Don't talk nonsense!"
He raised his hands, his jaw tense. I looked at her again as she sang passionately. Should I go down? Better stay here. It wasn't good to show importance. Are you listening, Roland?
The singer bid farewell, and all the women screamed in excitement, crying over the guy who sang very well, but not enough to warrant a concert. I was really screwed.
"The VIPs exit from another side, right?"
"Yes, Boss, I have two men watching her."
"I saw Rasca Culo and Negro." I knew the others were around, probably lurking in strategic places. "Follow her until you see her get into a taxi."
Rata frowned seriously, then glanced at me sideways and would soon ask. What would I tell him? I had no damn idea. I felt like a complete idiot, hoping he wouldn't ask anything.
It took us over half an hour to get out. If Cebolla was handling my movements, Cereza must be with the others. I didn't want her to see me. I heard Simón giving instructions to Negro.
"Rata!"
After a few long minutes, I heard the radio he was carrying as we headed to the parking lot.
"Answer, damn it, Rata!"
"Show some respect, idiot! You're talking to me, moron."
I smiled at hearing my favorite vocabulary again. So many years working together and training the young ones.
"The girl went down the dark street, the one known for drug dealers. We can't turn back in the car; it's packed with people because of the concert."
He stopped; there was no need to talk. Simón didn't reach the car. There was a motorcycle nearby; he yanked the cables and started it.
"Get on, Boss. That block is dangerous at night. Cebolla, follow us!"
He didn't need to tell me twice. It was the main street where drugs were sold, disguised as residential homes. It was always full of thugs. Didn't that woman know where she was going?
"She probably wanted to take a shortcut," he answered my unspoken question.
"Step on it, Rata, speed up! I don't feel good about this."
The streets were indeed packed with people. I saw Cebolla's car making its way through, and Cereza honking at the pedestrian congestion. We needed to cross the avenue. Why did she take a shortcut through there? It was too dangerous!
My second in command drove onto the sidewalk, taking the bike ramp on the pedestrian bridge, honking for people to move aside. I took Rata's radio and told everyone to meet us where we were. It was easy for Cebolla to track me.
People were yelling at us, but I didn't care. We left the crowd behind, the dark street dimly lit by sparse streetlights. It was a long wall on one side and houses on the other.
"Help!"
My blood froze. Simón sped up the motorcycle. I saw three men on a woman. Cebolla managed to get through the crowd, according to the radio. I pulled my gun from the back of my pants and, without waiting for the motorcycle to stop, jumped off and shot the man who had Verónica's legs spread.
Simón got off, the motorcycle crashing to the ground with a loud noise, the screech of metal on asphalt. That would wake up the residents, who didn't come out to avoid trouble with the two drug-dealing houses. He kicked one of the guys and shot the other.
"Kill that dog."
I ordered, hearing another shot. They were all dead. I found her naked, lying in a sea of tears and nerves. My heart raced as I knelt to lift her, her eyes flooded with tears. Her bloodied hand caressed my face.
"My angel..."
She collapsed before I could hold her. Simón took off his coat and offered it to me. She was... They almost raped her... Or did they?
"Boss, here."
I put away the gun and covered her with the coat. Cebolla's car arrived, followed by the other men from my security detail.
"Rata... Verónica is bleeding between her legs." I carried her and got into the truck. "Get in!" I shouted.
"Negro, take care of it, man!" He instructed the men before getting into the car. "Drive, Cebolla!"
"Yes, sir!" he responded.
"To the hospital, Boss?" I didn't know what to do, I just didn't want to stop holding her.
"To the house." They both looked at me through the rearview mirror, no one has ever gone to the house. "You heard him, Cebolla!"
This was my fault! Who knows what they did to her to make her bleed like that, plus she had a head injury. I took out my phone.
"Doctor Mendoza?"
"Yes. What's going on, Don Roland?"
"If I don't see you at my house entrance in thirty minutes, consider yourself dead."
Simón stayed calm, Cebolla drove at full speed, braking only when necessary. Tomorrow I'll have countless tickets. I held her tightly. Girl, you’re a fool and what a mess I’ve made.
Miguel took less time than it took us to reach the house on the outskirts. The entrance doors were open, I don't remember hearing them speak.
The doctor's car was parked at the entrance. I got out with Verónica in my arms. Inés was waiting for us, I ran up the stairs two at a time and entered my room. The doctor rushed in, still in his pajamas under his jacket.
"What happened to her? Or... what did they do to her?" The doctor started pulling out his instruments.
"They were raping her." He frowned when he looked into my eyes. "She fainted after I got those bastards off her."
"Don Roland, calm down, step outside, I'll call you when I'm done examining her."
"Doctor, do whatever it takes."
I let him do his job, left the room, and my housekeeper, the only woman who has set foot in the house, was talking to my friend. She was a fifty-year-old woman, the closest thing we had to a mother. She had lived with us since our group formed with Rata and the guys twenty years ago.
"Sir, your shirt..."
"My shirt doesn't matter, old lady." I crossed my arms, Rata kept staring at me.
"Where's Cebolla?"
"I left him in charge of cleaning up the bodies."
He looked at me again, the same way he had since Verónica appeared in my life. What happened to her was my fault! I looked at the white shirt, the bloodstain covered more than half of it. Why was she bleeding like that? What did they do to her? The doctor came out and handed a paper to Simón. I nodded, he ran out to the street, I heard the car engine and twenty minutes later he returned with what had been requested. Inés brought in the medications, she stayed inside, great!
"What’s going on?"
"I don’t know, Boss. I bought antibiotics, the tetanus vaccine, and other medicines I don’t know what they’re for." Guilt was eating me alive.
"Simón..."
"It’s not your fault." He approached, put his hand on my shoulder.
"I neglected her!"
Simón was about to argue but fell silent when he heard the door open. Inés came out with a much stranger expression than Rata's. Her dark brown eyes shone with joy on her tanned face. What the hell was going on with them? The doctor came out.
"How did you find her?" he sighed.
"Don Roland, thank God her condition remains intact, she wasn’t affected."
Her condition? Could she be pregnant? Well... she did throw up the day I met her.
"What do you mean by her condition?" I asked.
"She’s still the same."
He repeated, smiling. My friend and I exchanged glances, then focused on the doctor. I was puzzled.
"I don’t understand, doctor."
"She’s still a virgin."
My eyes widened, Simón let out a long, loud whistle. Virgin? But... that's outdated! It doesn't exist these days, girls offer themselves for money at thirteen and Verónica was twenty, about to turn twenty-one.
"Doctor."
"I already spoke with her, she’s in great shock from what happened and has two cuts on each leg, I stitched them up, they’re somewhat deep. I gave her the tetanus shot, I don’t know what cut her or the state of the sharp object. Now she’s sedated, she won’t wake up for a few hours."
"Virgin?"
Inés's eyes shone strangely again, I still had my mouth open.
"And very pretty."
He commented while going down the stairs with a strange smile. What had gotten into him?
"Yes," the doctor confirmed. "She’s naked, we wrapped her in blankets, but it’s best to put some clothes on her."
"We’ll do that, doctor. If that’s all..." I looked at my friend.
"Here’s the schedule for the antibiotics and the pills she needs to take." He handed them to me. "It’s important she follows the medication strictly for the first three days."
"Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it." I shook the doctor's hand. "Rata will pay you."
The doctor went down the stairs behind Simón towards the office on the ground floor. I checked the medication times, my old lady came up with some sheets.
"Take the medicines, set your watch five minutes before to give her the first dose." I synchronized my alarm one minute before. "On time," I warned her. She smiled when I looked at her. "Do I have paint on my face?"
"No, it’s just that my prayers seem to be answered."