* * *
Meanwhile, down in Seaside at Berto's house,
things weren't nearly so loving. A drunken Uncle Alejandro held
his nephew up against the wall by the throat, slapping his face
repeatedly because the boy had yet to find Ian or Carl or Dan.
"I've been paying you good money, and you fucking well better find them!" Alejandro slurred.
Berto's father stood there wringing his hands, but his mother wasn't
intimidated. She brought a cast iron frying pan out of the
kitchen and slammed her brother-in-law across the back of the
head. Alejandro fell to the floor without a sound as Berto slid
down the wall, gasping and holding his throat.
When Alejandro came to, Berto's mother was kneeling beside him with a carving knife at his throat.
"If you touch Berto again, you're dead," she whispered to him. "Get your things and get out of my house."
Alejandro lay silent until he could get up, and then he packed and slunk out of
the house. He knew his sister-in-law well enough to know she
meant what she said.
Berto lay in his bed that night before he went to sleep, seething. Now he was more
determined than ever to find Ian Carson and warn him about his uncle's
plans.
© 2006 Don Hanratty
Thanks to Dan for proofing this chapter.