Renaldo (27 page)

“The twenty-second is almost two weeks away, Estes. By that time he

probably will have forgotten who we are. The whole thing seems like a waste

of time to me. I bet you that the meeting will be either delayed or canceled by

his German friend.”

“Don’t be such a pessimist, Renaldo. What have you got to lose by staying

in town a few extra days? You told me that you planned to stay the entire

summer in Pergamino, anyway. The man kept his promise about arranging a

meeting, so let’s give him the benefit of the doubt until the twenty-second, at

least. Come on, the man hasn’t lied to us yet, has he?”

123

JAMES McCREATH

“No, I guess you are right. But I don’t put much faith in anything

beneficial ever coming out of this. You are a dreamer, Estes, if you think that

there will.”

“I’ve never been hurt by dreaming, my boy. That is what got me into

professional football in the first place. Dreams of being a big league keeper.

Without dreams, you might as well go to that estancia of yours and breed cows

for the rest of your life. Doesn’t that sound exciting? Anyway, I must go. I will

call you in the next few days. Work on your arrangements and try to stay in

town for the twenty-second. Oh, by the way, that was a very brave, and I might

say foolish thing, you did in Cordoba, Saturday. Tell me, why didn’t you just

leave The Fat Man and save your own hide in the alley back there?”

“I don’t really know. It all happened so quickly. I guess I wanted to be just

like you, Estes. A leader of men and an opportunistic dreamer,” he laughed into

the receiver as the last phrase passed his lips. “Good-bye. Estes, stay in touch.”

Lonnie had already left Casa San Marco by the time Estes Santos called

Renaldo. There had continued to be no answer at Celeste’s flat all day Sunday

and up until midnight, when Lonnie had torn the telephone from its socket and

hurled it against the wall. He had slept fitfully, rehearsing over and over what

he was going to say to her when he finally made contact. He had decided that

he must confront her in person to get the answers to the questions that were

driving him to distraction. He was shocked when she opened her door, still half

asleep, attired in one of his dress shirts.

“Lonnie, what a surprise! I wasn’t expecting you this morning. Why didn’t

you call? I could have made some breakfast for . . .”

“Where on earth have you been Celeste? I have been worried sick about

you since you canceled our date on Saturday. Where are your brothers? Are they

here with you now, or did they really come to town at all?”

Lonnie pushed past her into the flat, half expecting to find a naked lover

lying on the bed. He stormed around the small rooms looking for any sign that

indicated another man had been there over the last forty-eight hours. Other

than Celeste’s rumpled bed, there was nothing askew.

“Get out, you bastard! You don’t own me! No man has the right to

interrogate me in my home. Get out!” The force of her words and the hatred in

her voice stopped Lonnie in his tracks.

“Celeste, I’m sorry. It . . . it’s just that you have been acting so strangely

the past week or so, I just want to know what is going on in your life.”

“Why? What’s it to you? Just because I fuck you a few times doesn’t mean

that I have any feelings for you. It’s just sex. I have nothing in common with

you, anyway. You are the embodiment of everything that I have always hated.

You’ve never had to work a day in your life. You’ve never been hungry or had

to deal with real poverty and misery. You and your fancy family just drive out

124

RENALDO

to your country estate if the inner city becomes too noisy, or humid, or God

knows what else for your bourgeois blood. I despise you and everyone like you.

Now get out of my sight!”

Lonnie didn’t move. He was aghast at her verbal assault and stood staring

at her in disbelief. She stood by the open door, contempt burning in her eyes.

Finally, he muttered his plaintive reply,

“Please, Celeste, don’t do this to me . . . to us. I know that I am hotheaded

sometimes, but you have no idea what you’ve done to me. I am a changed

person. You opened my eyes to things I have never seen before or was too blind

to see. The political injustice that has been going on in this country for decades,

benefiting the likes of my own family. I have changed, Celeste, and I want to do

something about our social and political injustice. I just don’t know how to go

about it. I don’t know what to do on my own. Please don’t cast me aside like I

am the wrapper off some candy bar! Let me prove to you that I can help make a

difference! I will do anything, anything you tell me. I am lost without you. My

life has no meaning without you. All the money, the luxuries that my family

has accumulated over the years, they mean nothing to me. They got my father

nowhere except an early grave. I can make a difference. You will see, if only you

give me one chance to prove myself.”

Lonnie was sobbing uncontrollably by the time he finished the last

sentence. The girl from Tucumán knew that she had him in the palm of her

hand. Her plan had worked to perfection.

“Stop your sniveling! You say you are a man that is ready to make a

difference, yet you stand here before me crying like a baby. I don’t think you

are man enough to be a part of what I must do. Get out.”

“Celeste, if you make me go, life will be empty for me. Tell me what to do.

I love you so much, I will do anything. Don’t waste my life without benefiting

from my help, because if you make me leave now, I have nothing to live for.

I know . . . I know that I will do something, something violent and stupid! I

would be out of my mind over losing you. Let me help you do whatever it is you

must do. Let me meet your brothers. Let them decide about me. You can trust

me! Put me to work, because my life is in your hands!”

Celeste kept her eyes locked on his and slowly closed the door behind her.

This would be easier than she had anticipated. The tutor crossed the room to

where Lonnie stood, took his hand, and led him into the bedroom. She made

him sit on a small wooden chair that she pulled from beneath her makeup

table. It was barely sturdy enough to hold his massive frame.

The half-dressed woman wanted her visitor to be uncomfortable and on

edge. She climbed onto her double bed and sat cross-legged, staring at him for

several minutes without saying a word. Finally, she spoke.

125

JAMES McCREATH

“That chair is not comfortable for you, Lonnie, is it? You would like it

much better if you could join me here on the bed, wouldn’t you? You had better

get used to being uncomfortable if we let you join us. Your present life is like

this bed: soft, warm, and inviting. Your new life will be like that chair, hard

and unyielding. Are you strong enough to endure the hardships that will surely

accompany your new life? Do you think you can take it without running back

to Mama at the first sign of trouble? Once we let you in, the only way out is in

a casket! Does that scare you, my petit bourgeoisie?”

He didn’t even feel the chair beneath him. He was so exhilarated with the

thought that he would finally be able to make a difference, to do something

useful with his life, to be with her!

“No, I am not scared. The only thing that scares me is losing you, Celeste.

I have fought many demons in my life, but none like the ones I would have to

cope with if I could not prove worthy of your love. I am ready to follow you

anywhere!”

“Forget about your past brawling and macho bullshit. That was schoolboy

stuff compared to what I will ask of you. Have you ever fired a handgun or

rifle? Do you know anything about explosives? How about killing a man with

a knife so that he doesn’t make a sound? These are the kind of things that you

must learn, the kind of things that I will ask of you, if you stay. You had better

get it through that cement head of yours right now that I am not joking about

any of this.”

Celeste rose from the bed and went to her dresser. From the top drawer

she took two objects, and when she turned to face him, tossed a spherical object

into his lap. Lonnie caught it just inches away from his groin. He looked down

at his hand in amazement, but didn’t flinch. He was holding a military issue

hand grenade. When he looked up at her, she was pointing a cocked pistol

directly at his head. A broad smile appeared on her pretty face.

“So, cowboy, do you still want to play my game? It is a deadly game, be

certain of that. This is your last chance to say adios, or you will be in for the

rest of your life. Now, what will it be, stay and play, or run and hide behind the

high, safe walls of your family’s mansion?”

“I’ll play your game, Señorita. I am not afraid to die. All I am afraid of is

losing you. Teach me. Teach me to use these things and I will do your bidding.

Just like in your tutorials, you will see that I am a fast learner.”

Lonnie could feel his own weapon growing hard under the coarse denim

of his blue jeans. Celeste looked incredibly sexy standing there in his dress-

shirt, the revolver in her hand. She must have felt the sexual tension as well,

for she straddled his legs and sat down on his lap. She pressed the barrel of the

pistol to his temple, then thrust her bare love nest rhythmically against his

swollen, straining member.

126

RENALDO

“Don’t fuck with me, Lonnie, or I’ll make sure that you will be both

coming and going at the same time. You understand me, you big stud?”

He said nothing, simply placed his mouth on hers and kissed her

passionately. Rising from the chair, he carried her the few steps to the bed, her

legs wrapped around his waist, the pistol still held to his temple. He had never

been so sexually charged in his life. It was only during her orgasm as he feasted

on her sweet delights that she finally dropped the deadly object, moaning and

writhing in ecstasy. Lonnie then used his own concealed ‘canon’ on her, with

similar results.

He was in charge now, and for once, it would be him that controlled the

tempo and flow of their union. He was insatiable, taking her several different

ways before exploding all over her breasts, face, and hair. It was nearly two

hours since she had tossed the grenade in his lap.

Their moans and sighs intermingled as they lay in each other’s arms.

Lonnie could not see the sly grin on Celeste’s face as she rested with her head on

his shoulder.
This will be fun
, she thought.
Training a new martyr for the cause, and

getting fucked like that at the same time. This is a bonus that I hadn’t counted on.

Two days later, Lonnie was hastily summoned to Celeste’s flat. She had

made certain that her infatuated lover would return immediately to the scene

of their most recent union by using her sexiest voice, saying that she had been

horny ever since their last tryst. She had informed him that she was consumed

by an uncontrollable need to be taken roughly again, to be dominated and

pleasured into submission.

Lonnie didn’t need an engraved invitation. His mother had been tormenting

him about his summer plans all throughout their noon day meal together. She

was insistent that he take some extra business courses at the university while

doing volunteer work at No Se Preocupe on weekends. The trust fund that

Lydia had set up for him paid out a healthy monthly allowance, and Florencia

was well aware that her eldest son did not need to supplement his income by

taking some meaningless job just to occupy his time. He had told her that he

would go by the registrar’s office that afternoon to find out whatever he could

about summer courses. That is where Florencia assumed he was going when he

left Casa San Marco in a big hurry shortly after luncheon had concluded.

Lonnie’s erotic anticipation waned as soon as he entered Celeste’s flat. She

was fully clothed, and the icy tone of her voice told him that there would be no

carnal games played today.

“Sit down on the couch, Lonnie. I have someone here that wants to meet

you.” Her voice and manner were completely detached and businesslike. “First,

however, I must blindfold you for security purposes.

I hope you don’t mind, but if things go well, the blindfold will not be

needed again.”

12

JAMES McCREATH

She moved behind him, taking a black silk scarf from the side table.

Lonnie was both excited and terrified. He hoped that she hadn’t noticed the

sweat on his brow as she tightened the scarf around his head. He sat in total

darkness now, unable to see a thing.

The student was aware of movement behind him, and what sounded like

two or more people entering the living room. He was tempted to tear the

blindfold from his eyes and confront these mystery people eye to eye, man to

man. But he had told Celeste that he was man enough to play her game, so he