Plaster City (A Jimmy Veeder Fiasco) (29 page)

“Come on,” Bobby yelled from the van, shaking me out of my stupor.

Holding my bleeding shoulder, I scrambled to the van and jumped inside. Bobby, Rudy, the two girls, and Buck Buck yelled over one another. Buck Buck slammed the door shut.

Bobby screamed, “Make like cowshit and hit the fucking trail!”

Snout was way ahead of him, flooring it and heading away from the gate. Shots pinged off the back. The girls screamed, thankfully drowning out my surprisingly high-pitched yelp.

“Reinforced,” Snout said.

He drove straight toward the panicked men running for their lives. Snout steered around them as best he could, but he clipped a few. Some men climbed onto the factory catwalks to get away. A few Los Hermanos men tore off their jackets, fleeing with the others. Many of the Mexican men chose to remain motionless on the ground, hands over their heads. Like they’d been to this party before. It was a war zone.

“We need to find another exit,” I said.

“I’m on it,” Snout said.

Tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth in concentration, Snout drove along the northern perimeter, parallel to the highway. A high chain-link fence topped with barbed wire lined the edge. A few men tried to climb the fence to escape, getting tangled in the wire. I dared to take a look out the back window of the van. More SUVs, gunfire emanating from every opening the vehicles provided. Los Hermanos fell. A few men fired back, but were soon facedown.

“Hold on,” Snout yelled.

The van drove onto a hill of gypsum, tires spinning in the white powder, digging itself in, but kicking up a thick cloud of white behind us.

“You’re going to get stuck,” I yelled.

He tore hard right off the hill, the van sliding sideways. When he finally got some traction, he turned the wheel hard again and rammed into the fence, smashing the windshield, but breaking through. For a second, the van skidded and tipped onto two wheels, but Snout got control before we rolled. Just before. We bounced back onto four tires and, dragging a piece of the fence that scraped like nails on a chalkboard, we headed west toward Coyote Wells and Rudy’s farm. Nobody followed.

“Everyone okay?”

Mumbles and nods, too much adrenaline and amazement to create cohesive thoughts.

“Fuckers were killing fuckers back there,” LaShanda said.

“You’re okay now,” I said. “It’s over.”

She slid across the floor of the van and put her arms around my waist, squeezing me. I put an arm around her and held her tight. Her body shuddered as she cried against me. I held her for the length of the ride.

Bobby put his arm around the other girl. She looked up at him and smiled. “Thanks.”

NINETEEN

Julie sat bound and gagged in Rudy’s living room, surrounded by the people who loved her. Becky and Russell had held down the fort there while we terrorized Plaster City. Julie bored her angry teenage eyes into Bobby, who sat beside Rudy on his couch. They dabbed at their bloody faces with kitchen towels. We had dressed our more serious wounds. Luckily, Goyo’s shot had only grazed me. I stood by the door, feeling like the odd man out, not part of the family. Buck Buck, Snout, Gabe, and the girls waited outside.

“What happens now?” I asked.

“Got to start talking at some point,” Bobby said. “You ready for this, Beck?”

Becky nodded.

I walked to Julie and untied the shirt-gag from her mouth. Julie stretched her jaw, opening it wide and chewing on the air.

“I hate you all,” Julie said. “You ruined everything.”

“You’re not going to get anywhere in life blaming other people,” Bobby said. “We’re going to start with some apologies. To your mother. To me. To everyone in this room, who went out of their way to save your ass.”

“Where is my money?”

“I’m not hearing no ‘I’m sorrys.’ ”

“And you ain’t going to. Mom never wanted me. You don’t count. I don’t need any of you. I want to go back. When Los Hos finds out—”

“There’s no more Los Hos. There’s no back to go back to,” Bobby said.

“What are you talking about?”

“If your ungrateful self would shut up, he’ll tell you,” Rudy said.

“Who the fuck are you?” Julie said. “I don’t know you.”

He rose out of reflex, but sat back down. I could see the wheels turning. If he told her not to swear, she would do it more. Children know a thing or two about torture and how to use one’s annoyances as a weapon. You couldn’t win.

“I’m your grandfather. Now shut your mouth and let the grown-ups talk.”

Julie’s face registered surprise, but she didn’t say anything.

Bobby got down on his haunches in front of her. “Los Hermanos made an enemy of Tomás Morales.”

She nodded her head, her confidence gone at the mention of Tomás’s name. “I know who he is.”

“A half hour ago, after we took you out of Plaster City,” Bobby said, “Morales had an army go in there and wipe out Los Hos. We saw the beginning, but the end—I’m sure—was more complete. You can read about it in the paper tomorrow. Your biker friends, Chucho—” He turned to me. “Bro, we didn’t let them out of that container. That’s messed up.” He turned back to Julie. “Los Hermanos, they’re either dead gone, disappeared, or heading for the hills. What I’m saying is there’s nothing left. Only place to go is home.”

“That was my home.”

“That’s not true, Jules,” Becky said. “Why would you say that?”

“All you do is yell at me. You don’t treat me like a person. Like an adult.”

“Because you’re not,” Becky said, her volume rising. “You’re sixteen years old. You’ll be grown up most of your life, but if you try to act like it too quick, that life will be a mess. I had you young. I know.”

“Are you saying I messed up your life?”

“For Christ’s sake,” Bobby said. “That’s not what she’s saying.”

“I’m more grown up than you two. Not some waitress. Some drunk. I was running things. We were making money. They listened to me. I showed them how to make money and they listened. They treated me like a woman.”

“By making you fight?” Bobby said.

“Nobody made me fight. I would do it every day, but my face would get fucked up.”

Rudy flinched at the profanity but only shook his head. Becky flexed her jaw and tears rolled down her face. I couldn’t tell if it was anger or sadness. Her clenched fists sat in her lap, knuckles white. She tried to say something, but stopped herself. Russell put an arm around her.

“Reality check, daughter o’ mine,” Bobby said. “You shot me. You shot your fucking father with a gun. You know how fucked up that is?”

“Seriously, dude. I’ve watched TV. I know what a father is. You ain’t it. You’re a guy that fucked my mom. Why am I talking to you?”

“Okay, fair enough. Fuck the father angle,” Bobby said. “But here’s who I am. I’m the guy that will press charges against you for shooting me. I’ll send your sassy, snarky ass to juvie or worse, and then get shit-faced drunk afterward. Maybe shed a tear in my beer. I got ten girls outside that’ll—what’s the word, Jimmy?”

“Corroborate.”

“What he said. And I got a chance to take a look at your most recent journal. It’s impressively detailed when it comes to your crimes. That means I can nail your ass to the wall for running Los Hermanos’ operations. You’re in deep shit, Julie. That’s why you’re talking to me. Because I’m so pissed off at you right now, I’m willing to fuck your life up before you get a chance to fuck it up yourself.”

“Whatever.”

Bobby turned to Rudy. “Where’s your phone? I’m calling the cops.”

Rudy pointed to the kitchen.

“Mom.” Julie’s voice got an octave higher, each syllable stretched out. “You’re not going to let him, are you? I’m really sorry.”

Bobby laughed loudly and for quite some time. When he caught his breath, he said, “At first, I thought this was like
The Searchers
. I thought the Comanche had brainwashed you. But I’m starting to see that you’re the Comanche. You’re diabolical.”

Julie ignored him. “Russell, I’ve learned my lesson. You believe me, don’t you?”

Russell shook his head. “I don’t.”

“We’re going to make a deal,” Bobby said, “or I’m going to call a deputy friend of mine. You got a decision to make. You ready to bargain?”

Gabe poked his head into the room. “I don’t want to interrupt your family time or whatever, but shit’s going down outside.”

Bobby turned, but I waved him off. I wasn’t adding anything to the conversation anyway. “I got it,” I said and followed Gabe outside.

From Gabe’s nonchalance, I was expecting a tussle between the girls or something equally banal. I wasn’t expecting nine heavily armed Mexicans standing in front of three black SUVs. They blocked the dirt drive that led to the road. Facing them along the edge of Rudy’s deck sat the ten girls. Some of them looked scared, but most looked more resigned to their fate. In the no-man’s-land between, Buck Buck and Snout stood with shotguns pointed at the ground. They looked heroic.

Snout turned to me, smiling. “Hey, Jimmy.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“They said they’re taking the girls. Buck Buck told them they weren’t. That’s about where we’re at.”

“Don’t shoot no one. Let me get Tomás on the horn.”

He answered on the first ring.

“Those girls are mine,” Tomás said in lieu of a greeting. “They’re part of the package.”

“That wasn’t part of our deal.”

“True, but taking them with you wasn’t either.”

“They’re people, not property.”

“You still don’t understand. It used to be cute, now it’s irritating.”

“They’re nobody’s property. They’re teenage girls. Messed up, damaged girls. You’re not taking them without a fight.”

“If not them, I’ll find others.”

“And if those girls were in front of me, I’d stop you from abducting them too.”

“What do I get in return?”

“Nothing. This isn’t a trade and I’m not asking for a fucking favor, Tommy. I’m telling you that we will fight if your men try to take these girls. That’s what I’m telling you. You can decide to do whatever the fuck you want with that information.”

Tomás said nothing for a few seconds. He sighed. “It’s so much easier in Mexico. I don’t know why I’m so hell-bent on doing business north of the fence. More pain than it’s worth.”

“It’d make things easier for me, too, if you stopped.”

“My abuelito would never talk to me again if something
happened to you. Not that he’s talking to me now,” Tomás said. “Hold on.”

Ten seconds later, one of the armed men answered his phone, listened, and yelled a few words in Spanish to the other men. They stowed their weapons, got in the SUVs, and drove away, kicking up dust and gravel.

Tomás came back on the line. “It’s done.”

“We’re done, Tommy,” I said. “I can’t associate with you anymore.”

“That makes more sense,” Tomás said.

“I’ll always be grateful for your help bringing Juan home.”

“Raise him well. You’re a good man, Jimmy. Even a bad man can see that.”

Tomás hung up. And while it had been necessary to sever that tie, it still felt like I had lost a part of my past. But Tommy had been gone a long time. Only Tomás fucking Morales remained.

Buck Buck and Snout walked to where Gabe and I stood on the deck.

I slapped Snout on the back. “You looked good out there, Snouter. Like a real badass.”

“I’m going to buy a cowboy hat,” he said.

They hopped onto the deck. It collapsed under the combined weight. The girls jumped off the edge, a couple rolling on the ground. They dusted themselves off and laughed as we dug ourselves out of the wreckage. When Rudy came to the front door, he couldn’t have looked more disgusted.

Before I went back inside to see how the treaty negotiations were going, I wanted to have a powwow with the girls. Chola had become their de facto leader, stepping up in the heat of the moment.

“Those narcos were here for us, yeah?” she asked. “What did that cost you?”

“A friend. But the friendship was dead. We just hadn’t buried it yet.”

“You going to turn us over to the cops? Social Services?”

“The responsible me says I should, let them sort it.”

“You don’t seem so responsible to me.”

“If I let all you go on your own, some other bad shit is going to happen. I know you ain’t lost kittens, probably more worldlier than me, but I’m thinking I shouldn’t be letting you wander stray.”

“You make that call, put us back in the system, they drop me back in foster care.” Chola nodded at the other girls. “They send them back to their fucked-up houses, fighting off weird uncles, pervy fosters, or maybe their own dads. Parents who don’t give a shit. We’re not on vacation. We took off for a reason.”

“If I let you on your own, where do you go? What happens? If all the choices are shit, what do I do with you?”

“They can stay here.”

Both Chola and I turned to see Rudy climbing down from the stack of timber that was once his deck. “I can use help around the place. Fix this deck, for starters. Can’t do much more than feed them, keep them alive, maybe find a few girls work in town. Clean out the old Airstreams out back, call in some favors. I got the room. Looks like they’ve been helping each other, even if they been fighting. That’s more of a family than real family. Why break them up?”

“You ain’t thought this through. Big responsibility,” I said. “And you weren’t exactly father of the year.”

“You ain’t the decider. They are,” Rudy said. “Yeah, I was a bad father. My boy hates me. And’s got every right to. The things I remember doing were bad, but the things I don’t remember, they’re the ones that hurt most. I still learn about bad I did when I was drinking. I can’t fix the past, but I can do something right now.”

“There’re ten girls here. Can you handle that?”

“I can try.”

Buck Buck and Snout stepped forward. Buck Buck said, “We can’t take any of them in, but we can find work for a few of them. Decent pay. Irrigating’s been getting in the way of our training.”

I didn’t ask.

Rudy said, “I ain’t saying they live here forever. Most of ’em won’t want to at all. Just give them time to figure things out. If it don’t work, you can come up with something else then.”

“Why would I trust some old dude out in Bumfuck I don’t know? You could be a freak,” Chola said.

Rudy walked to his truck, took something out, and walked back. He handed Chola his truck gun. “I get out of line. Shoot me.”

The girl looked at the gun. “Okay.”

“I only got one rule,” Rudy said. “No swearing.”

“Shit,” Chola said. “It’d be easier if you just wore earplugs.”

Becky climbed down the remains of the deck as I was about to go back inside.

“Do you have a cigarette?” she asked.

I handed her one and lit it. “How you doing?”

“Needed a break. Julie makes me so angry. I’m glad she’s safe, but I can’t help it. I’m wondering if someplace else is better for her. Not jail, but there’s got to be places. I honestly don’t know who that is in there and what I’m going to do with her when I got her back home.”