“Please I really need to see him.” I kept telling the lady. I didn’t know if she spoke English. I kept screaming at her as she walked away and I was faced to see the back of her head as she disappeared. I was left behind clutching the bars that kept me from reaching him. The next thing I knew I was in total darkness and I heard him calling my name. “Fio, please help me!” he said “Oh God! give me the strength to bend the bars open so I can free him.” I kept saying to no one in particular. “He is innocent.” I yelled. The darkness was overwhelming me. A bright light shown and I felt someone grab my hands. I looked down to see and was aghast to see skeletal hands clutching mine. I began to scream and pull at them but they wouldn’t let me go. The next thing I knew I woke up trashing around with the covers wrapped around me. My dreams had returned…
It was the beginning of the weekend; I was feeling livid. I wanted to escape the weeks monotonous. It had been two months already that my friends and I hadn’t escape the weeks stress. With the crossover of the border war between the Zetas and Sinaloa the downtown area was strictly prohibited, and everything was shut down and that included one of the hottest and exciting bars called The Border. It was our hangout. The girls and I enjoyed it immensely; the DJ knew how to play music to dance too. I hadn’t thought about the place until Melba walked into my room. “Downtown area is O P E N.” emphasized on each letter. The downtown was being reopened for public. I knew there were people already around the downtown area but it was mostly military officials and reporters. Funny that our city had made the news internationally, we had before but not quite like this. It was now full blown that Laredo was not a place for tourists. With the cartel wanted not only to posses the border but it had also crossed over to our city. The downtown area had seen the effects of what a war would be like. I really didn’t feel like going but I hadn’t gotten any sex in about five months. Melba took me out of my revere by asking the final question. “Are we going out, tonight?” looking at me with those brown big eyes. I thought about it and kept her waiting as I looked around my students not wanting them to cheat on their exam. “Pedro, keep your eyes on your own paper.” shouting at him. Pedro looked at me and hid his head behind the blue divider I gave my students when they were taking a test. “So...” looking at me with want in her eyes. I looked at her. I knew I wanted to go out it had been one of those weeks where stress was getting to me. Sighing. “I guess.” shrugging my shoulders. “Ah, common Fio” we haven’t gone out like what two months since they closed off that damn border.” “Shh…” I scolded her looking around the students to see if they had not heard the bad word coming out of Melba’s mouth. I turned my eyes at her. “You know I can really use some fun time, so…. pausing in between “Yes were going out.” Her smile widened, turned and began to leave, but before she got out the door I said to her. “Don’t forget to invite Zulema.” She turned and looked at me with that goddamn face I knew so well. I had known that Zulema and Melba really didn’t get along that well, but when they had alcohol in their system they became best friends, it was when they were sober that they didn’t much like each other. I knew she didn’t want her to come, but hey she was our friend. I really didn’t care whether she liked it or not because if she wanted me to go out with her she had to bite that one. “Okay, I’ll let her know on my way to my class.” As she walked away. I looked around the room again and looked at the clock. The minutes on the hands were traveling very slowly.