Tender is the Flesh(49)

“You’re right. Say they arrest two or three of them, we’ll still have problems with the others. But how many heads do we need to kill them all?”

“Not all of them, we’ll kill enough for the rest to leave.”

“Right.”

“These people exist outside the law. It’s unlikely they even have IDs. We could be talking years for the investigation, and in the interim, they’ll overturn more trucks because now they know how to do it.”

“Tomorrow I’ll have armed staff on duty for the trucks’ arrival.”

“That too. Though I don’t think they’ll risk it.”

“You didn’t see the wild look on their faces.”

“I did. But they’ll be tired and fed. Though I do agree it’s a good idea to have armed staff now.”

“Good. I trust this is going to work.”

He doesn’t say anything, just shakes Krieg’s hand and says he’s going home. Krieg says okay, that he should absolutely go home, and apologizes for having called him at a time like this.

As he drives away from the plant, he sees the destroyed truck again, the blue lights of the police cars approaching, the blood on the pavement.

He wants to pity the Scavengers and be sorry about Luisito’s fate, but he doesn’t feel a thing.





19




He gets home and goes straight to Jasmine’s room. He hasn’t looked at his phone once to see if she’s okay. It’s the first time since he installed the cameras that he’s forgotten to check on her.

When he opens the door, he sees that Jasmine is lying down and looks to be in pain. She’s touching her belly and her nightgown is stained. He runs up to her and sees that the mattress is soaked with a brownish-green fluid. “No!” he yells.

He knows, because of all he’s read, that if the amniotic fluid is green or brown, there’s a problem with the baby. He doesn’t know what to do other than pick Jasmine up and take her to his bed so she’s more comfortable. Then he grabs his phone and calls Cecilia.

“I need you to come over now.”

“Marcos?”

“Get in your mum’s car and drive here.”

“But Marcos, what’s going on?”

“Just come over now, Cecilia. I need you here now.”

“But I don’t understand. You sound different, I don’t recognize you.”

“I can’t explain over the phone, just know that I need you to come now.”

“Okay, I’m on my way.”

He knows she’ll be a while. Her mother’s house isn’t in the city, but it’s not close either.

When he hangs up, he runs to the kitchen, grabs some dish towels and wets them. He puts the cold cloth to Jasmine’s forehead. Then he tries to give her an ultrasound, but he doesn’t detect a problem. He touches her belly and says, “Everything’s gonna be just fine, little one, just fine, your birth’s gonna go well, everything’s gonna be just fine.” He gives Jasmine some water. Over and over he says these words, he can’t stop, though he knows his child might die. He can’t bring himself to get up and take care of the things that need to be done for labour, like boil water. Instead, he doesn’t move and clings to Jasmine, who’s becoming paler by the minute.

He looks at the print hanging above his bed, at the Chagall his mother loved so much. It’s then that he prays, in a way. He asks his mother for help, wherever she is.

That’s when he hears a car engine and runs outside. He hugs Cecilia. She steps back and looks at him with surprise. He puts his hand on her arm, but before he takes her inside, he says, “I need you to have an open mind. I need you to set aside whatever you might feel and be the professional nurse I know.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Marcos.”

“Come and I’ll show you. Please help me.”

When they enter the room, Cecilia sees a woman lying on the bed, pregnant. Cecilia looks at him with sadness in her eyes, and a bit of surprise, and confusion. But then she moves closer and sees the mark on the woman’s forehead.

“Why is there a female in my bed? Why didn’t you call a specialist?”

“The baby is mine.”

She looks at him with disgust. Then she takes a few steps back, crouches down and puts her head between her hands, as though her blood pressure has dropped.

“Are you crazy? Do you want to end up in the Municipal Slaughterhouse? How could you have been with a female? You’re sick.”

He goes to her, slowly lifts her to her feet and hugs her. Then he says, “The amniotic fluid is green, Cecilia, the baby’s going to die.”

As though his words were magical, she begins to move and tells him to start boiling water, to bring clean towels, alcohol, more pillows. He runs through the house looking for these things while she examines Jasmine and tries to calm her down.

The labour lasts several hours. Jasmine pushes instinctively, but Cecilia can’t make herself understood. He tries to help, but feels Jasmine’s fear and it paralyses him. All he can do is say, “It’s gonna be fine, everything’s gonna be just fine,” until Cecilia shouts that she can see a foot. He panics. Cecilia tells him to leave, she says he’s making both her and Jasmine nervous, and that the birth could be complicated. She tells him to wait outside.