The Dog Fighter (22 page)

I hear he is going to begin dripping metal over the teeth and then sharpening the metal. Vargas said taking a sip of his drink to conceal his smile. Several of the businessmen at the rectangular table smiled also. They enjoyed this between the two dog fighters.

I will kill you. Ramón said. But the fugitive only laughed more.

Then Rodríguez went to say something more but Ramón and Vargas both were silent.

You fool. One of the businessmen said when the two dog fighters were not at the table. What do you know of fighting dogs?

I would be the best. Rodríguez answered. At this the businessman only laughed.

Ramón and Vargas always played games with each other in this way. Games that made Rodríguez the fool. The young businessman needed the company of the two dog fighters. And they did not mind so much when Rodríguez bought them drinks and introduced them to new mistresses.

Watching all of this take place in the cantina beneath the church I realized that Vargas was very jealous of the women who loved Ramón. And that Ramón enjoyed the attention he stole from the strength of the fugitive. They worked well together. Businessmen other than Rodríguez bought them many drinks. Everyone wanted to be sitting at the rectangular tables with them. All the most beautiful mistresses were there. Their eyes always on Ramón.

The golden boy. Vargas called him.

But there was something sad about Ramón also. A mysterious quiet. The death of the man from Monterrey I thought maybe made him like this. The sharpened teeth maybe. After some time Vargas clapped him on the back and said.

Chingón. What is bothering you?

The mistresses wondered the same.

Nothing. Ramón said. Shaking his head slightly.

Seguro? Vargas asked.

Ramóns eyes staring far off at the wet glass rings on the table. I was thinking of my mother. He said simply.

Me too. Vargas laughed.

No. I was. Ramón said. Ignoring the fugitives insult. Those at the table noticed the serious tone of Ramóns voice and were quiet then to listen. When I was a boy my father spent much of his time drinking. Ramóns voice light as if he were going to make a joke of something that was not funny and by doing this try to convince us all that what was bothering him was great indeed but not so great as the troubles we all knew and therefore could understand well ourselves. In fact I never remember my father working. I only remember him working at hitting my mother.

Several businessmen smiled to themselves at this. The mistresses concentrating on the dog fighter.

My mother. Ramón continued. She was a very beautiful woman. My father beat her with his fists or if he was feeling lazy his words. Whore. He called her and spit in her face. But she did nothing. She did not cry. I get my strength from my mother. Your words cut me like glass. She said when my father finished. Like glass. He would mock her.

Ramón then looked at those who listened in the eyes to measure their response before deciding to continue.

Sometimes. He said pouring rum into his glass. I think my father got bored with hitting her so often. And so he got a job. But soon he was bored with this job and went back to hitting her. Ramón shrugged and there was a polite laugh. When my father was bored with hitting her one day he decided to hit me. You are old enough now. He said to me. But he had never hit me before. My mother had never let him. But this one day he came home drunk and she was gone and he said. You are not my son. You are the son of this whore. And then he beat me until he was tired.

Ramón massaged the back of his neck until one of the mistresses began to do it for him. Vargas shifted in his chair but silently to not disrupt the telling.

My mother loved me very much. But when she saw the bruises on my face she did not yell at my father. She did not say anything that would only get her beaten. Instead the next morning she took a small glass bottle outside and wrapped it in a towel. I heard her breaking it over a rock into fine shards while my father snored. I went to see why there was this sound. Go back to sleep. She said to me. But I stood barefoot in the kitchen while she patted out tortillas. Humming to herself softly. Beans boiling on the stove for my father to take to work that day. I sat at the table alone for some time until my father came for this food to take with him to work. He kissed me on the forehead where I sat at the table. His hand on my head. His breath warm from sleep. I am sorry. He said to me. I looked up and his face was tired. Hungover. But I said nothing and my mother she kissed him at the door. When he was gone I checked the towel in the kitchen and it was empty of the glass.

All of the mistresses were wiping their eyes. Ramón sat back and finished his drink looking at no one. When the last of the mistresses excused herself to fix her mascara Vargas waited a moment before clapping softly. And then the businessmen at the table were laughing and trading money from the bets.

Well done. The fugitive laughed.

When you said your words cut like glass. Rodríguez laughed. Counting the money he had won. I think that is what did it.

You do not think that part was too much? Ramón asked.

No. No. The others reassured him.

I was worried. He smiled.

Well done cabrón. Vargas raised his glass. I did not think it would work this time.

Ramóns eyes were alive. Watery from the smoke in the room and glassy from the drinking. They were fragile. Beautiful eyes. I knew that night that Ramón did not have long to live in Canción.

I began visiting the cantina beneath the abandoned church almost every night with the other dog fighters and businessmen. Rodríguez was with us always begging to teach him how to fight and Elías was often there to laugh at him with us. But there was much that was serious also. There was much talk about the attacks. The plane explosion. The businessmen were very worried about the construction of the hotel. Cantana had more men placed there to guard it. A week after the plane was destroyed in the bay two young men were laid out dead on a canvas in the middle of the plaza mayor as a warning. I did not recognize them from the salon. But still word spread that these were the men responsible for the bombing. And this was to be the fate others would find if the attacks continued.

But what disappointed and frustrated me most was that because of the attacks Cantana did not come as often to the cantina.

He is afraid. Rodríguez said.

Smart. Vargas corrected the young businessman.

There was much talk of the attacks among the businessmen in the cantinas. They discussed the hotel and future of Canción. Of the money that was to be made and the best ways to lure tourists. They laughed at the people of Canción. Of how they would have to be trained to serve like the Americans expected. Taught to fold bedsheets and wait for propinas. When the businessmen spoke of Cantana though it was with strained respect. With jealousy in their tone. One very drunk businessman questioned the others wondering if they would ever receive the money they had given Cantana for the construction. The other businessmen hushed this man not wanting him to speak in this way around Ramón. But Ramón was always distracted by the eyes of one of their mistresses. One businessman silenced this drunk by mentioning to him the story of the man in the market with no eyes. The mistresses begged for the story until the quiet of the businessmen made them stop. The drunk blushed with embarrassment. Vargas laughed at all of them.

To the day when roads reach to the end of Baja. One businessman raised his glass.

To the money. Another cried.

To roads that lead to the wallet of Cantana. The drunk slurred. He finished his drink and stood unsteadily. Struggled to put on his jacket.

Be grateful hombre. Someone said to him. You will have your taste too.

Who are you to tell me what? The drunk argued. His chair clattered against the floor. La madre de El Tapado. He slurred grabbing himself. Many in the cantina staring at him now. I am not scared of some story. When he looked at the dancers on the floor he lost focus of his eyes and collapsed. With a mistress sitting on his lap Ramón threw his head back with laughter. The other businessmen joined him. They left the drunk where he lay.

In the conversation of the businessmen I listened for word of the American investors but there was nothing. But more I listened for talk of her whenever they spoke of Cantana. Desperately I listened for a name that would suit her beauty. The thought of these men sharing rooms with her made me angry and jealous. I knew that they sat at tables with her drinking wine and maybe even had admired her dancing. Knew her voice.

Through them. I convinced myself. Through them you will hear her sing.

Rodríguez introduced us to many different mistresses. Ramón was a favorite among them all. The women laughed with his stories. They yielded to his charm. Ramón was not as violent as the fugitive or myself even. Vargas was respectful of most of the businessmen. He knew when to turn his advances toward their women into a laugh. They feared him the most of us all. It was a game the fugitive played with them.

Late at night in the cantina I listened to the stories the businessmen told of the many great fights in the past. Fights between the dog fighters and the dogs and between the dog fighters themselves. The businessmen understood very well that dog fighters were not always finished fighting and the best thing to watch after the fighting of dogs was the dog fighters fighting each other. I drank with them all but never enough to be very drunk. Vargas often joked about fighting me but I only smiled at him quietly. The businessmen loved this. Ramón only shook his head and threatened to have Rodríguez fight Vargas. At this the businessmen laughed. In the voices of the businessmen trying to get Ramón and Vargas and me to beat one another I heard my grandfathers whisper. But now it did not have power over me.

One night a skinny businessman with pockmarks in his face leaned toward me and said.

There are always women to be impressed. You should destroy your handsome friend there in front of them. Win them from him.

I looked this man up and down. Some of the other businessmen heard him say this and waited for my reaction. Everyone knew me to be quiet.

Or. I said calmly. I could destroy you and save them from your breath.

The businessmen broke into laughter. One draped an arm over my shoulder. The weight of his rings on my back made me uncomfortable. He held his drink up before me and the others who heard me did the same. I was angry that I had not seen her after spending so much time with these men and I did not enjoy their company so I took the cup before me and emptied it to their applause. Ramón laughed. Vargas grinned.

But Ramón was not respectful of certain businessmen. He took advantage of his friendship with Cantana often. Late one night when he was very drunk Ramón left the cantina beneath the abandoned church with a favorite mistress of one of these businessmen. The businessman struggled with a small knife wanting to stab Ramón but Vargas and I held his arms easily stopping him.

We watched as Ramón climbed the stairs. Helping the mistress while also kissing her neck and looking back at the angry man. The shadows of Ramón and this woman flickered like flames upon the rock wall.

You will only fight the dogs of Mendoza! The businessman called after him.

Because I am the best! Ramón turned back and yelled.

The cantina beneath the church was quiet for a moment. Then the laugh of the mistress in the dark hallway leaving broke the businessman even more.

I left the cantina not long after this. Just before the sun lightened the dark of the blue sea. The air I walked into was cool. The man at the gate said.

Buenos días.

I looked to the sky. Disappointed.

It was more difficult than I thought encountering Cantana. I began to worry that the old men would not believe me. I went regularly to Guillermo at the salon to report what I learned. But this was nothing.

There is talk of an airstrip to be able to fly in the tourists on airplanes. I said.

Yes. The veteran answered. We know.

And there is more construction to be done to the electrical station.

Yes. Guillermo ran his hands through his gray hair. We know this also.

When the poet was at the salon I said nothing to him. I never went to see him at his stall in the market anymore. The lessons I practiced in English were ones that I had done many times before. But even then I did not want to practice much because it only reminded me of the old poet and the friendship I thought I had had with him.

At the salon the young thieves leaned against the walls or sat on the edges of the billiard tables looking suspicious of me. We no longer offered our hands or jokes to one another. They were loyal to the old men and they suspected that I was not. That I was in a position where if I did not do what the old men ordered me to do then they were to kill me. This was a respect we gave each other. But many of the young thieves were not able to look me in the eyes.

One day I sat with Guillermo and the poet for a short time in the back of the salon. I was drinking late into the night before at the cantina but still had nothing new to tell them.

Cantana never comes to the cantinas and we never go to him. I said. Ramón and Vargas say nothing about him.