Tapón del Darién

The little guy in a blue, red, and maroon shirt - the FC Barcelona colors - whisked past Andres outreached arms. That little fireball was simply too fast and too low to the ground to be caught. Pausing at the stairs, the smiling six-year-old taunted Andres: "¡Atrápame!" before disappearing upstairs with his tiny little fist clutching a bright red Montmorency cherry. Andres couldn't chase Gabriel because a customer was at their fruit stand. Benevolently, Andres had to smile like he was a happy father. Yet in the corner of his eyes, he could see Enssell eyeing the basket of cherries as well, yet still too daunted to copy the mad heist of his older brother.

"You are wrong! Bananas don't have to be yellow to be good. I'll show you how to evaluate the maturity of a banana. See the black end of the banana? If you still see a lot of flower here, it's less mature. Compare these two bananas! See how that one has more corners in the shape and that one is smoother. That's two days of ripening difference."

"I have four baskets of bananas. See the dark yellow ones with the little black spots. Those are the sweetest ones for eating right now. But if you take them home, they'll be black and bruised. If you want to take them home, take them from this basket. They are not as yellow, but if you put them into a paper bag, they'll be perfect in the evening. If you want to eat them in three days, take these slightly green ones."

Andres kept explaining to the customer how to select fruit and evaluate fruit. The skeptical customer's face slowly let go of the tension. However, it became clear that the customer only wanted free samples. A pot-bellied middle-aged man, who seemed to enjoy haggling for its own sport, used up Andres's time. Yet, Andres's faith in his fruit being the most meticulously sourced was unshakeable. If people only understood how to truly evaluate fruit, they'd surely become lifetime customers.

"No, no, you never store peaches in the fridge. If they are only once in a fridge at any point of the transport, it destroys their texture. They no longer taste smooth and juicy."

The customer walked away not buying anything. Andres immediately took the free time to evaluate the mango display. Some of them were getting too soft and needed to be cut into samples before they spoiled to hand out to passersby. His hands had hardened skin from carrying the crates, but his fingers had the tactile sensitivity of a surgeon to feel the give of a fruit while barely touching it to avoid bruising it. Daniela came into the shop, pulling Gabriel and Enssell by their wrists. The hand of the pulled wrist was colorfully blotched in red from a cherry that more exploded in their hand than ever made it into their mouth. The two were giggling because they enjoyed their mother's emotional reaction and worry about how they'd ruin their new clothes with unwashable stains.

Andres knew what he was expected to do. He pulled the green water hose out and aimed the nozzle at the children hands that Daniela presented to him. The kids were so excited to splay their fingers wide. Any attention made them so happy. Any activity was a game to them.

"Did you buy lychee again?" asked Daniela. "Did you spend all of yesterday's profit on lychees?"

"We have to offer something different. We are the only stand in the street that offers lychee! If they all sell, we'll have so much money!" defended Andres.

"We are the only stand because nobody buys them. They are too fancy!" objected Daniela.

"I just want a better life for us. I want you to be able to enjoy life," justified Andres with exhaustion in his voice from too many arguments.

When she heard him say, that he wanted her to enjoy life. She knew what it really meant. Being thirty years old, she wasn't as young and pretty anymore as she was before the kids. She was still in good shape. However, every day, she was working long hours to do chores, to deliver fruit, and to do the bookkeeping. She knew that she wanted him to be like the frivolous young girls who were partying all the time and dressing in scandalous clothes. She could see his eyes following them down the street as the passed in front of the stand. He'd always drop whatever he was doing to watch - so obviously - while they'd giggle and let shoulder straps slap and dresses float in the wind. She knew what he desired, but she had to hold the family together. The kids had to do their homework.

When it was time to close up the shop at dusk and put the children to bed, Andres enjoyed throwing one over each shoulder and carrying them upstairs. He loved being the strong man for them. He loved their giggles and admiration. He'd lie down in bed with them - one in each arm - and tell them heroic bedtime stories. In one story, a rebel from the country challenged the dictator in the capital. In a glorious street fight - both sides chasing each other, hiding, and springing ambushes, the hero finally challenged the dictator. And the people rejoiced at the triumph. All hardships were gone and people danced in the streets.

She always watched him because his face glowed the most when he was in the depth of inventing another fable molded around himself as the big hero. He was a good man. A very good man! None of the other boys in her high school class were better than him. He was strong, smart, and good-hearted. They had built their own business from the ground up. With everything he did, he always tried to make things better. He had a handsome chest that she loved resting her head on. He never drank or spent days being lazy. Her mother had told her: "There is no better man than him in Venezuela! You must hold onto him with everything you have." But she also knew that he was a man and a man has lust - even if he hides it from her. Lust is the dark and fiery force that truly drives a man.

He always fully leveraged their money to invest in as much and as expensive produce as possible every morning when he went to the wholesaler to buy produce. He was trying to grow the business as fast and hard as possible. Any misstep would cause them to default. There was no leeway for risk. There was no extra for something a little fun. Her man was very driven to make a better life for her and their kids. But she had needed a little money. She had cooked the books. She had let him believe that they had a few bolivars less than they did.

With that, she had bought lingerie - very slutty lingerie. The lace bra pushed the breasts up but left the nipples exposed. The hosiery - belt, straps, and panties all intricately intertwined with straps and loops - was exposed at the crotch to leave her sex defenseless and exposed for wanton transgressions. When the kids were doing their homework, she had snuck into the bathroom to steal one of his razor blades. She filled a bucket with water and soap. Then she shaved her armpits, her upper lip, her forearms, and finally her pussy. She was so smooth all over that she felt naked and slutty.

The kids screamed for her: "What is four times four?" She told them to wait. She hurried and cleaned herself up to hide again in her functional clothing, the jeans and the t-shirt that was practical for doing laundry.

Knowing what she was going to do that night, she found an excuse to stand in the fruit stand. She watched him. He still had that easy smile that he sported in high school when they had met many years ago. She rewound some of their lovemaking and how familiar every part of his body had been when they devoured each other every day. There was that one time at the beach at night, hidden behind a concrete barrier in the moonlight with the sound of the waves crashing in the background. He looked neutered - like he still was that stallion of a lover, but when chikita walked passed the store, his eyes darted for her and immediately dropped to the floor because he knew that Daniela was watching him. The young woman wore an open blouse - no button clipped in, only the ends tied together at the bottom under her boobs. Her skirt was so high and fluttery that it kept exposing the bottom of her buttcheeks. It was a game of being able to get a clear glimpse for a second but never enough to burn the image to mind. So her skirt hem playing kept the eyes hungry to get a real bite after the tease. Today, Daniela didn't feel threatened by the young bimbo. She had a plan that would equal.

Everything was going well that evening, like most of the past years, they were hard-working and steadily improved their standing in life. But the occasional, distant gunfire had been closer today. Every day things change a little. They hadn't thought much of it. Yet today, Andres had cried out for her: "Bring a bucket of cold water!" There was desperation and panic in his voice. Something had happened. She trusted that he'd ask for the right thing. So she filled up a bucket and came running downstairs.

The fruit stand was full of fighting-age males. They had black bandanas pulled down from their faces. They had a green cloth wrapped around their left arm as the insignia of their affiliation. Their faces were flush red from running. Their eyes were popped open wide from some kind of action. Andres was waving like wild to them.

"Free water with any purchase no matter how small! The best fruit in this street!" Andres cried out to them, trying to get their attention.

Andres had been quick of mind with the free water promotion, he had pulled the onrush of protestors to his stand. The other stand owners weren't as fast to react. The protestors had been sweating a lot and were thirsty. With eager cups, empty plastic bottles, and bare hands, they rushed Daniela holding the bucket of water.

"Do you know what you are doing?" whispered Daniela to Andres. "These are anti-government militias! What if the government finds out?"

Andres's face hit red hard and fast. He was burningly aware of the consequences his action could mean. "But look!" he protested, pointing at the fruit stand across the street. Their neighbor was fighting with protestors. Unmarked and more unruly protestors had followed the core group with the yellow arm sign. The mob took fruit left and right with shopkeepers demanding payment in vain. Some of the stores tried to close the door and quickly hide as much produce as they could inside. The mob was hungry. Andres - based on how people were dressed - had managed to attract their leadership, which gave them a protective aura from the mob - the hungry people with torn clothes and rabid-looking eyes.

Even though she had had only sixty seconds to adjust to the situation, she knew that the civil conflict had arrived in their neighborhood. The relative peace was gone. Drastic and violent action lingered in every moment. She handed the water bucket to one of the people. There was a big, brown-skinned man with meaty cheeks who seemed to be in the center of all the discussions among the men. He seemed like the leader. He had almost kindness in his eyes. She felt an instant reassurance emanating from him. She felt a loyalty to him without any logical reason. She caught herself admiring him and realized that he had enigmatic charisma. She had to be careful not to get sucked in. Quietly, she packed a box of mangos to carry upstairs without anyone noticing - lest they get upset at her trying to protect the merchandise from them.

As she put down the mango crate, she heard tires of trucks roaring into their street. She heard glass breaking outside in many places. When she looked out of the window, heat hit her face. Fire flames flared up all over the street. She leaned forward to see the stand downstairs. The men with the yellow arm marking were running off at full speed. Their street turned dark with the black smoke from the Molotov cocktails hiding the sun.

Six men jumped out of a camouflage-colored truck in front of their store. They went right for the fruit stand. "We've seen the bastard go in there!" they yelled. They were wearing body armor and black plastic face masks. They were dressed in proper uniforms with rifles, guns, and grenades. Andres tried to plead with them. He tried to stop them because he knew how corrupt the police was. And his Daniela was a very pretty human. She had such innocence, such perfectly round boobs, and such dark and mysterious eyes. They would very likely rape her. He got a hard punch on his cheekbone for his efforts. The man in their combat boots stormed forward in a tight formation. One of them attended to him sitting on the floor and tied his wrists with plastic cuffs.

Sitting on the floor with the armed goon in front of him, he could hear the paramilitary soldiers throw over his shelves and toss his mattress. They were loud. They were yelling commands. There was no sound from Daniela or the kids. He feared the worst about why they couldn't speak. He thought of using his legs to trip the soldier like he had seen in the movies, but the soldier looked physically well-trained. Those muscles on the soldier's arm alone were so much stronger than his own, which had some strength but were also worn thin by hours of labor every day. The house across the street had fire flames bursting out of a second-floor window. This paramilitary group had no restraint. Daniela was alone with five of them upstairs. The minutes ticked by painfully. He was trying to listen for her voice and cries - but nothing.

The men came back downstairs. One of them had Gabriel's plane toy in his hand. Another was biting into a juicy mango. A third had a pair of panties from Daniela in his hand. He was sniffing them and laughing. The soldier in front of him turned to leave. They left him handcuffed on the floor. He quickly went for the kitchen to free himself with a knife. It was tricky. He cut himself. When he was free, he ran upstairs. His wife and children were gone. There was only a mess of their belongings spilled on the floor. He heard the trucks drive on and leave their street.

He ran back out into the street to see which way the trucks were headed. He started running after them when he heard a voice yelling his name: "Andres!!!" It came from high up. He turned around. He saw his wife waving down at him from the rooftop. She had apparently climbed out of the window to hide on the roof with the kids. He was relieved that they were okay.

The kids had taken it well. Gabriel had realized the seriousness of the situation and had followed Daniela's directions quickly. Enssell had copied everything that Gabriel had done. Kids aren't always helpless and scared. They realize the nature of the situation and what they must do. Daniela had thought quickly on her feet. It was Andres who was the most traumatized by the situation. He had thought the five soldiers were taking turns raping Daniela. The images that his mind had conjured up while he was waiting handcuffed on the floor were so vivid. They wouldn't leave him alone. Burly arms restraining her slender wrists. Her pussy was exposed from torn clothes, and masked men obsessed with shoving their meet in there while they oggled her breasts and got kicks out of her modesty and helpless struggle. They'd let her struggle for sport.

The paramilitaries had left a graffiti sign above the store entrance. The sign was ominous. Were they marked as traitors? Did they leave it to ostracize them? Did they leave it to make it easy to come back? Was it simply vandalism?

The building across the street had burned on the inside leaving the stone shell of the building. Two stands down, the door was broken and the shelves were ripped out of the wall. Oranges were spilled on the street and stomped on. A few cars had burned out. The civil conflict had arrived at their doorsteps.

The days that followed brought random surprise raids by the paramilitary. They would stop their truck in the middle of the night to storm upstairs and find the family cowering behind their beds. They'd check if the "bastard" was using them as a safe house and then leave. As the paramilitary became familiar with them. There was a red-haired guy who developed a liking for Daniela. This once, he made her take off her t-shirt. With her body shaking, she'd lift the t-shirt overhead according to the order to reveal her blue satin bra underneath it and let him watch at leisure until the leader stopped it by calling, "Break's over!" What are you going to do when men with fully automatic weapons order you in harsh words? It was only a matter of time before the red-haired guy would lose even more restraint.

Andres couldn't take it anymore. With vivid images, he pictured himself the whole day raising a red-haired child - having to love but hating whom it represented with all his heart. And he pictured his dear Daniela having dual loyalties if she were dicked down and impregnated by the red-haired soldier. Brooding, he didn't speak at dinner. Not even the kids dared to play a trick on him like they usually do when he's in a bad mood. Because then he'd play the monster and chase them. This time was different. Daniela was anxious at the start of dinner. When she had finished the potatoes, her anxiety had turned into certainty. She could feel in her bones what was coming. She could feel that there wouldn't be a choice. So she stopped being anxious and started mentally preparing for what she had to do next. The kids had no clue. They had never experienced one of their parents like that. And then when everyone had picked up the last crumb of their chocolate chip cookie from the plate, he said it: "El Norte."

For a few days, she had wondered about how and when he would bring it up. When their first neighbor had left for the long track, she knew that Andres would ask himself if he should go as well. Andres has always been ambitious. He had gone for her because she was the number one on the swimming team. Somehow he had gotten it into him that a swimmer's body was his preference. While she was walking around with a gold medal around her neck in school, plenty of guys were charming her with compliments. But there was only one Andres who showed up every morning at her parent's house with a different flower in his hand to offer to her and walk her to school. It wasn't the bravado that won her over, but all the time spent talking on their school commute had brought them closer together. Having learned his secrets and habits from conversation, she was naturally curious and her curiosity led her to one day wanting to see it and then more. That was when they were eighteen years old. He was still the same person. He never settled for something passable.

The kids took it quietly. They had become much quieter since the nightly raids. The experience of unrestraint and absolute power was new to them. Everything had seemed like play before. Yet watching their parents quietly obey commands promptly and completely and the way they tried to hide their inner struggle to those commands had taught them obedience in a way no loving parent could have done. Their play had changed as well. Gabriel had started giving Enssell commands like "Clean my plate!" As innocently as Gabriel was copying what he saw, he also displayed the same cruelty without recognizing it. Seeing the darkness affect the kids had made it clear to Daniela that they had to leave.

She had visited her mother daily to spend as much time with her as possible before leaving. She had liquidated all their long-term obligations. She had notarized a deed that would transfer the shop to her brother as soon as Andres would sign it. She had made a packing list of what she and the kids would need for the trip. She had also laminated a map through the jungle, which she had printed out. She, she, and she again had done everything quietly to prepare. When the seed of the idea had started growing in his mind, she had already known where it would end up. This sweet man was so familiar to her like the back of her hand.