C Holliday - Her animal act

"Daddy… Mommy! What is it! What's happening? They told me you were in an acci…"

Pico was in the seat beside Paula, jerking her head back by her long blonde hair, clapping his hand over her mouth even as the door slammed shut. "Shut up, little one. Not another peep out of you!"

Frantic, Paula tried in vain to claw and elbow and kick.

"No, Paula! Don't," Ruth begged. "He'll kill you if you don't do as he says!"

"Listen to your mother, little one, and no harm will come to you."

Her eyes wide, extremely frightened, Paula nodded. The grip eased on her hair. She sighed into the tobacco-scented hand covering her mouth and nose.

"What are you going to do with her?" Ruth asked fearfully.

"Her fate is the same as yours, rubia. I haven't decided about your husband yet."

"Let them go," Ruth begged, looking pleadingly into the back seat.

Carlos got in and started the car. Jose got in the back seat on the other side of Elliott, pushing him over, crowding Paula tightly between her unconscious father and Pico's hard body. The back door thumped shut. Carlos backed the car around, then drove cautiously from the parking lot.

"Please, please let my daughter and husband go," Ruth cried, watching the motel fade into the distance behind the accelerating car. "You've got me. I'll do anything you say… anything! Only for God's sake let my husband and child alone!"

"Faustina," Pico said calmly. "Silence la rubia."

Delighted with her assignment, Faustina stiffened her open hand and gave Ruth a sharp judo chop at the base of her skull.

Ruth's head jerked. Her eyes snapped shut. She slumped limply against Faustina.

"Perhaps we'd better give this one the same treatment," Pico said, pushing Paula forward, bending her so Faustina could chop the back of her neck too.

But as Faustina's hand lifted for the blow, Jose jumped forward and grabbed her arm. He looked over Paula's back at Pico, his eyes pleading.

"All right," Pico said. "But you'll have to hold her and keep her quiet. One more word out of her and she gets the same treatment rubia got."

Jose nodded, picking Paula up and lifting her, putting her in his lap with her legs across her father's lap.

Paula screamed and kicked. Then her teeth rattled as Jose shook her violently. Stark fear showing in her eyes, her mouth hanging open in shock, Paula cringed in his lap and glanced up at his face. He was smiling, putting his finger to his lips, then to hers, then wagging it no. She felt the warmth of his body, saw an even greater warmth in his eyes. Sobbing bitterly, she buried her face in his chest and clung to him.

The car raced on toward the airport, Carlos driving and puffing nervously at his cigarette.

Paula sobbed, her chest heaving, her body jerking as she gasped for breath. Jose's big hands were patting and stroking her, trying to reassure her. Slowly, very slowly, she realized she and her parents were in no immediately danger. She had no idea what lay in store for them. But that was in the future; and at fourteen, the future is never as important as the present. At the present she was being held and comforted. Little by little her sobs diminished until she was sniffling and rubbing her tear-streaked face against Jose's muscular chest. His cheek rubbed back and forth over the top of her head, his hands constantly patting and stroking her back.

Finally, heaving a double sigh, Paula relaxed completely. "What's wrong with my father?"

"Drugged," Pico said. "He'll be all right."

"My mother… what was she talking about? What are you going to do with us?"

Pico glared angrily at her. "I am very weary of explanations, little one. Ask your mother when she wakes up. Now shut your mouth!"

Afraid to disobey Pico, but not nearly as frightened as she had been, Paula shut her eyes as well as her mouth. She put her cheek against Jose's comforting chest. His strong arms cradled her to him and he began to rock her like a child. It produced a pleasant sensation, a calmness, which she enjoyed in spite of her mind going like a computer. Kidnapped, she thought, we're being kidnapped!

She knew she should be horrified. But she wasn't. She was thrilled. A shudder swept over her, followed by a sense of exhilaration. She was in danger for the first time in her life, and it was ever so exciting to her young mind. They'd be taken to some hideout, she supposed, some really terrible and run-down shack.

I wonder if they'll tie us up? No, that's too corny! Beans and tortillas – that's probably all they'll give us to eat while we wait for ransom to be arranged. I wonder how long it'll take? A day… a week? Two days would be ideal, three at the most – after that things would get awfully boring.

Unless they raped us! Oh cripes! I wonder if they'll rape me and mother? Mother would just die if they did! No, I'm being silly. They've got a woman with them, the mean bitch! I wonder how it feels to be raped? It gives me the shivers to think about it. If I am raped, I hope Jose is the one. He's so big and black! Ohhh… wouldn't that be something? He'd never do it though. I don't have to worry about that. He's much too kind and gentle. I like him… even if he is a Negro.

The car turned into a private airport and pulled to a stop in front of the only hangar. Pico's plane, a small cargo job, old but in good repair, was tethered just a few feet away from the car, sitting in the open, gassed up and ready to go.

"Are we still going to stop in Acapulco?" Faustina asked as they climbed from the car.

Paula's head snapped up. "We're going to Acapulco?"

"We have to," Pico told Faustina, ignoring Paula.

"Acapulco! Oh, how groovy!"

Pico said something in Spanish, and Jose picked Paula up.

"Put me down. I can walk. Carry poor Daddy. I imagine you had to drug him because he put up such a fight, huh?"

Pico spoke again. Jose put Paula down and went to the car for Elliott. Carlos carried Ruth, still unconscious, to the plane. They boarded it and Pico started the engines. Carlos unhooked the plane. Pico taxied out to the runway, waited until the engines were warm enough, then took off for Acapulco.

There were no seats in the back of the plane, just some sleeping bags and emergency food supplies. Only the cabin, where Pico and Faustina sat, was heated. Once the plane reached cruising altitude Paula found herself shivering. She got a sweater from her bag and put it on, then mastered sign language enough to coax Jose into helping her get blankets from two of the sleeping bags to cover her parents.

Elliott was still unconscious from the drug, but Ruth was awake. They were both bound and gagged, Faustina having come back from the cabin long enough to accomplish the task. Paul sat cross-legged on one of the sleeping bags, looking at her mother's frightened face. She'd tried to talk to her for a while but had finally given up when she realized Ruth could only mumble through her gag in answer to the questions she asked.

An expression of adoration on his coarse-featured face, Jose sat beside Paula. His eyes never left her for a minute. Finally he took her hand, smiling into her face as he locked his fingers through hers and scooted so close their hips touched.

Reluctant to rebuff him, Paula let Jose hold her hand. It was almost nice when he squeezed it affectionately and brought it to his lips. She wondered why her mother's eyes looked so wide and fearful at such an innocent action. Because Jose was such a big ugly Negro, she supposed. But Paula wasn't at all afraid to Jose. He did look awfully menacing, but in his case she felt looks were deceiving. Jose had protected and comforted her when she needed it, and she liked him a great deal for it. She'd never been prejudiced against Negroes like some of the kids her age. Her father had taught her to judge people as individuals – by their actions rather than their race or looks.