Todd Pitts - The Serpent Passage

They climbed further up the rocks, a safe distance away from the unfriendly inhabitants of the cenote. William plopped down, still annoyed about losing all his gear. He removed his mask and glowered at it. “My mom doesn’t want me to dive anymore. She’s probably right… just gets me into trouble.” He tossed the mask over his shoulder into a nearby bush, thinking that he might give up scuba diving altogether.

Betty sat beside him with an odd stare. “Why did you have a rental tank if you weren’t supposed to be diving?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

William regarded Betty with a sneaky smile. “Yeah, about that… there’s not much else to do around here. I didn’t want to follow that particular rule.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. I’d still be down in that bonefilled crap hole!” Betty said.

William laughed at her remark and shook his head in disbelief. He picked up a small rock beside him and flung it into the cenote. While watching the ripples expand, he contemplated the impact of his choices in life, relieved that at least this decision seemed right. “No one’s ever gonna believe this story, Betty. I mean no one.”

“Yeah, and topped off by those God damn gators, no less,” she said.

“You mean crocodiles?” he asked with a wink, and they were both in hysterics, bending over with tears running down their faces. This went on for the next several minutes until they regained their composure.

After a long silence, Betty looked over at William with a thoughtful smile. “Why did you do it, Will? Why the heck did you come after me?”

He shrugged. “I don’t have a clue. I just felt… compelled to.”

“Well, it was a crazy thing to do,” she said in a scolding tone. “But I thank you, Sir.”

A warm breeze drifted by, causing the leaves in the palm trees above them to flutter, flashing the sunlight around them. It reminded William of the unusual tunnel. “What do you suppose those lights were down there?” he asked.

“Yeah, what was that?” she asked. “I had my eyes shut-thought it was a flashlight dangling by my face.”

“Oh… so I guess you didn’t see the giant snake carvings either?” he asked.

Betty just stared at him, scratching her head.

“This is an odd discovery, Betty… like X-Files odd.”

“Oh yeah, that’s a good show,” she said. William could see that she still didn’t know what he was referring to.

William became serious, realizing something very important. “Oh… my… God!” he said, jumping up.

“What is it?” Betty sprang to an immediate stance and scrambled away from the lake, as if she thought a crocodile had made its way over.

“They’ll think we’re dead,” William blurted. “Your husband already does. We need to hustle back before my mom gets any wind of this. It would devastate her.” He checked his watch. “It’s six-thirty. Hopefully, we can make it back before sundown.” He looked to the sky with a confused expression, squinting from the glare of the sun. “That’s strange.”

“What?”

“The sun,” he said, pointing at it. “It’s in the middle of the sky.”

“Well, of course it is,” she said. “Where did you expect to find it?”

“At this time of day, shouldn’t it be a little further down-closer to the horizon?”

Betty looked at the sky and shrugged. “Don’t know what to say to that, Will.”

They climbed further up the rocks, pushed aside the thick vegetation, and stepped into the shade of the tropical forest. “Look!” William said, pointing to the remnants of a trail overgrown by the jungle. “I bet this path leads back to the Cenote Azul.”

Betty became distracted by a mango tree nearby; its branches were hanging low to the ground from the weight of the ripened fruit. She maneuvered around the rotting mangos on the ground and plucked a couple of plump reddish-green mangos from a branch. “Hungry?” she asked, tossing one to William.

“Thanks,” he said, digging his fingers into the mango, the sweet juice squirting out. He tore it into two pieces and devoured the mango from the inside-out. Betty, on the other hand, ate her mango like an apple-peel and all.

When they finished their snack, William wiped his hands on his shorts and clapped them together in an inspirational manner. “Okay, let’s get going,” he said, and began marching up the trail. Every step accompanied a twinge of pain from his injured feet, but he tuned it out. He had to get back before his mom found out he was missing. William knew his mom would be upset for what he did, but there had to be some merit for rescuing Betty. He figured he might even make the news, and imagined his story going viral on the internet. That would get his girlfriend’s attention back, he thought.

“So where did you say you’re from?” Betty asked.

William slapped the side of his head to ward off a pesky mosquito buzzing in his ear, and then he whacked at one biting his thigh. “Right now, we’re staying at my grandfather’s estate in Calderas, but I grew up mostly in California,” he said.

“So your mom is Mexican?”

“Yep, and half Mayan, too.”

Betty picked up her pace and moved ahead of William, giving him a curious stare. “You don’t look Hispanic,” she said. “You have blonde hair and blue eyes.”

“I know. Everyone says I’m my dad’s little clone,” he said with his voice cracking. “They say the only thing I got from my mom was her blood type.”

“I’ll have to invite you and your folks over for dinner before you go back to the states. How long are you in town?” she asked.

Their walk slowed until they came to a complete stop, looking all around, unable to find the continuation of the trail. They retraced their steps and discovered where a fallen tree had diverted them off course. After climbing over the tree trunk, they rested there for a moment before continuing on.

“I’m not sure when… or if… we’re going back to the states,” William said with a mixture of sadness and frustration. “You see… my dad died last winter.”

Betty put her arm around his shoulder. “Oh, I’m so sorry, William. How did he…”

“A scuba accident,” he said, pulling away from her, blinking hard to keep his emotions locked down. “I can’t have my mom thinking the same of me. We have to get back.” He walked at an even faster pace up the trail.

“I guess we’re neighbors then,” Betty said, changing the focus of the conversation. “We live right here in Bacalar now, but I’m from lots of places.”

As Betty continued to chatter on about her life story, William replied with an occasional, “uh huh,” while focusing his attention on the trail ahead; he was more concerned about the lizards and snakes that darted by. In many places, the thick jungle vegetation obscured their path, and their progress slowed even more when they had to duck under and climb over fallen trees-a process that went on for a couple hours.

William tapped on his watch, wondering why it displayed 9:10; it was still light as day.

“When my folks heard that Burt and I were moving to Mexico, they let me have it-never liked the idea.” Betty bumped into William after he stopped suddenly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Be quiet,” he whispered, standing very still-gazing into the jungle ahead. Amidst the loud buzz of insects was a faint, rhythmic beat. “Do you hear that?”

Betty tilted her head and cupped a hand behind her ear. “Like what?” she asked.

“Like a drum beat,” he said. “Boom… k’boom… k’boom. Don’t you hear it?”

She shook her head. “Your hearing must be better than mine.”

“I think we’re getting close to the restaurant,” he said with a big smile.