Desert Passage (19 page)

The drumbeats became steady. The others sitting in their chairs began to stare into the fire, losing their thoughts in the pulse of the drum. Brain, who had been sitting without his
computer for the first time that day, went to his tent and returned with a set of round, wooden containers that made a rattling noise when shook. He sat next to Eric and shook the round objects in syncopation with the drumbeats. The music continued. Eric stood up and began to slowly shuffle his feet. Brain soon followed and within minutes all the others had joined. Eric continued to sing the traditional Hopi chant while they shuffled in a slow, steady dance in a circle, one after the other. With each slow step, they celebrated the day and they thanked the earth for giving them life.

Miguel and Ramón joined in the dance and kept the steady pace with the others, feeling like they had joined a special club. They would never forget these nights in the desert where everything seemed possible.

 
Chapter 38
 

T
he road continued to Santa Fe. Natalie's small engine hummed along the interstate highway with the two boys safely on board. Although Miguel and Ramón had been on their journey for several days, they still had a long way to go. Before they left the campsite, Dr. Shaw had refueled the Vespa and given them bottled water and snacks for the road.

“You boys be careful. You should get to Albuquerque in a few hours if you drive steady,” Dr. Shaw advised.

“Thanks, Greg, I can hardly wait to tell everybody what we saw!” said Miguel.

“You boys just stay on track and maybe some day, we'll see you out here again,” Greg said with a smile.

The young men waived goodbye and Natalie sped away toward the interstate.

Miguel had decided to drive that morning and Ramón was behind him, absorbing the passing landscape. The midmorning sun was bright and warm, illuminating a desert that was alive and endless.

“How much further do you think we have to go?” asked Miguel, turning his head slightly to speak to his cousin.

“The last sign said a hundred miles, I think,” Ramón answered.

They had passed a road sign on the side of the highway but Ramón couldn't remember how long ago it had been or how many miles they had driven since seeing the sign. Both boys had adjusted to the idea of driving on the endless highway for as long as it took to get to Santa Fe. They knew that they would get there eventually.

 
Chapter 39
 

R
odrigo sat at the kitchen table staring out of the window. The road that led up to his sister's house was visible from where he was sitting and since early that morning he hadn't been able to move.

They had reached Santa Fe the day before. And as soon as they arrived at his sister's house, Rodrigo called his mother to check on the boys but no one had answered. After several frantic calls to the police and finally to the town's hospital, he discovered what had happened to his mother. Now the boys were missing.

“I can't eat anything right now!” he shouted, shoving the plate of food away from him. A large cup of coffee was in his hand and he drank from the cup anxiously.

“You haven't eaten anything since we got here. If you eat, maybe your headache will go away,” pleaded Connie. She was worried, too. While her husband had been on the phone all night trying to locate the boys, she had been crying and praying, hoping that they would see them again.

“I should have never left them behind. They didn't even have a phone to call us!” he said, admonishing himself. “What was I thinking?”

“We didn't know Rosa would get sick. How could we know?” responded Connie, stirring the pot of
menudo
on the stove.

“At least I know my mom will be okay,” sighed Rodrigo. He took a drink of the coffee and picked up his cell phone. “Yes, I need the person in charge of missing children. I spoke
to an Officer Martínez a few hours ago and I want an update,” Rodrigo said in a commanding voice.

“Sir, Mr. Martínez is on a call right now. We can transfer you to the officer who coordinates that department,” the voice replied.

“I need answers! My boys are missing. They could be in trouble somewhere!” shouted Rodrigo.

“The officer on duty can help you. Let me transfer the call.”

Rodrigo spoke to the officer who did not give him any news. Overnight the police had checked his mother's house and the surrounding area, looking for Miguel and Ramón. No one remembered seeing them. After the preliminary investigation, the police had suggested that Rodrigo wait in Santa Fe to hear from the boys, who eventually would call.

When Rodrigo heard this suggestion from the police, he went into a rage. He yelled into the phone and told them they were incompetent for not being able to locate two young boys in a small town. He had spent the rest of the night pacing around the house between phone calls to police stations to all the towns between his mother's house and Santa Fe.

Rodrigo's sister and her family had been sleeping in the back bedrooms. Everyone had been up during the night to check on the progress of the police and to comfort Rodrigo who was taking it the hardest. Connie suggested to her husband that he lower his voice so that he wouldn't awaken the rest of the family.

Suddenly the loud ringing of the phone pierced through the kitchen.

“Hello, hello?” Rodrigo answered anxiously.

“
Mijo
, it's me,” said the soft voice.

“Mamá, are you okay?”

“
Sí, claro
, the doctors are just being cautious, they tell me I'll be home soon. Are you okay? Your voice sounds upset.”

“
Ay
, Mamá, I shouldn't tell you this but … ”

Connie rushed to her husband's side and motioned for him to not say anything further to upset his mother.

“She might know something, Connie, I have to … ” he said.

“What happened,
mijo
? Are the boys okay?”

“Mamá, when you went into the hospital, do you remember anything? Did you see the boys?”

“What's happening?” Abuela Rosa insisted.

“Nobody knows where they are. They've been missing for days!” Rodrigo confessed.

“
Mijo
, calm down,” reassured Abuela Rosa. “They are in God's hands.”

“Mamá, I'm so worried, what if something bad happened?” he muttered.

“While I was asleep, I had a vision that Miguel and Ramón were on a long trip.”

“You mean like they were dead?”

“No,
mijo
, on a journey to find themselves.” Abuela Rosa's voice was calm and thoughtful. “Your father has been speaking to me in my dreams and he told me that he was watching over them.”

“Mamá, I want to believe that everything is going to be okay, but anything can happen to young boys alone in the world!”

“I know,
mijo
. You must have faith that they will find their way. God will provide for their safety. Just hold on to that thought.”

Rodrigo heard his mother's words but he hung up the phone not feeling the reassurance that was intended.

“Where could they be?” he mumbled, resting his aching head on his hands.

“God will look after them, no matter where they are. He will protect them,” Connie replied.

“That's not helping,” Rodrigo roared. “It's my fault that they're lost, it's all my fault!”

“
Mi amor
, how could you know what would happen?”

“You don't understand, Connie. You don't know everything.”

A sudden pang shot through Connie's heart when she heard her husband's words. She wiped her hands on a towel and asked, “What did you do?”

“Enrique wasn't supposed to drive to the store the night he died. It's my fault!” Rodrigo confessed as he clutched the coffee cup and his eyes began to fill with tears. “My dad had asked me to go. He needed something to fix the truck or else he couldn't go to work the next day, but I refused, I told Enrique to go.”

“The accident wasn't your fault. That other car was driving on the wrong side of the road,” Connie said, remembering the night of the terrible accident.

Both brothers had been visiting their parents over the weekend with their young families. Miguel and Ramón were both three years old. When the call came from the police informing them of the accident and of Enrique's death, everyone had felt the devastating news. Ramón had been in the car with his father but luckily had not been injured in the accident.

“You don't understand, Connie,” he said again.

“What don't I understand?”

“My brother had been working two jobs.” His voice cracked but he fought back the tears. “He hadn't slept for two days. I knew that he was too tired to drive.” Rodrigo's voice
broke and his emotions poured out the rest. “But I didn't care that he was tired, all I cared about was myself!”

Connie sat at the kitchen table and with one long sigh, let all the breath in her body escape. Her husband had never spoken of the night of the accident and the sudden confession shocked her.

“So you see, if Enrique hadn't been driving that night, he wouldn't have died, and Ramón would still have a father!” Rodrigo took a breath and added, “None of this would have ever happened!

“I swear, Connie, if I'm given a second chance with those boys, I'm going to do things differently. I've been wrong to be so hard. When I think of what my last words were to them … ” His voice broke again and he took a deep breath to stop from crying. “I'll be a better father. I owe the boys that, I owe my brother that.”

Rodrigo sat at the kitchen table in silence, looking out toward the road.

“
Mi amor
, I know in my heart everything will be fine. We should wait like the police told us. The boys will contact us if we wait long enough,” Connie said, trying to comfort her husband.

“Wait for what? Wait for the police to call to tell me they're dead!” He shouted, recovering from his tears. “I'm going back to look for them. They have to be somewhere!”