La Buena Vida 8

[SP] "Take the flame and ride west, child. Beware the winds and waves, for if the flame dies, so do we all."

******

I remembered my mother’s words clearly when she always said this to me when sending me on rather late errands.

"Take the flame and ride west, child. Beware the winds and waves, for if the flame dies, so do we all."

It was not only to tell me about the urgency of the mission I was being forced to embark on but the sacrifices I must make to ensure that it is completed as well as the people who were depending on me to survive if I did not finish the mission. It was a proverb that grew and stayed with me nonetheless; too bad that as soon as it left her lips, it left her heart.

I had something to learn from both my mom and ‘Nina da Silva’ the heartless entity that now possessed her body. As I lay in bed away, I saw how close freedom and revenge were; almost tangible indeed. Silva and everyone who reaped the benefits of this empire built on human suffering would burn.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door being forcefully unlocked. A total of five people entered the room including Carlos, Katrina, and Silva. As they all spread out, Silva took center stage, walking towards me casually.

“I see you had fun yesterday, Mariela.”

I tried as much as possible to keep my facial expression even. “In what context do you mean?”

“You were the one who fainted if I was not dreaming. It’s a bit mind-boggling that you were still able to, ah, service these gentlemen then,” he said, his eyes looking like those of a cat about to pounce on a little mouse.

“I doubt I had a choice there. It was either that or torture and I…”

“You lair!” Carlos spat. I looked at him amusedly. “You didn’t come across as one who would chicken out and deny after a romp. Was I that bad? Are you ashamed because you were bussin’ too quickly or because your boss is here?”

Carlos turned bright red as Katrina sniggered. Silva bit back a smile.

“And then there’s you with your witty jokes. Jokes that almost make us digress from the topic. You’ve been a very bad girl lately, Mariela. Do you know that?”

“Well, yeah. I do pray that you get involved in an accident that will paralyze you for the rest of your life anyway. Does that make me a bad girl?”

“Heh. That’s some cheek on you, Mariela. The confidence that I won’t harm you ahead of my big night, eh? I like that on a woman. A little smart mouth here and there, it’s cute. But why didn’t you pray for the kill?”

“People like you don’t deserve instant deaths. You need to suffer, Silva. You need to pray and wish for a death that will never come, just to escape the suffering.”

“A dark soul you are. Anyway, as I was saying, you’ve been a bad girl. I believe I warned you to desist from all thoughts of escape, right? And yet…”

“What? Did you find a map of this house in my room, or a stack of dynamite to blow out this wall? If you found any of those, kindly give them back so I can plot my escape.”

“That’s a great sense of humor, but I’m not buying it. You all search every nook and cranny of this place, including her goddamn body!”

The men scattered around the room as Katrina approached me quickly, winking to let me know everything was under control. She began to actively run her hands around my body as Silva watched. Her hands ran over the camera, but she kept quiet and continued with what she was doing.

“The room is clean,” Carlos said, breathing hard.

“So is she.”

Silva bit his lips in disappointment. “Alright, we’re going to the bathroom now. Be very meticulous with this search,” he said, looking at me. “I’m in the mood to teach this broad a lesson.”

Katrina winked at me again as I stood in the room, looking at Silva in the eye. I steeled my expression and maintained eye contact until he looked away, clearly uncomfortable. Carlos walked back into the room with an exasperated ‘I told you so’ look.

“Nothing’s in there,” Katrina said, looking tired. Perhaps she was faking for my sake, but she was doing a great job. “Yeah, he’s right,” Carlos said, looking at me with an evident blush.

“I don’t go back to my vomit,” I sneered at him while he scowled.

“Hmm, it looks like you’ve been a good girl, Mariela. A surprise, really – I actually thought you might have had a stronger spirit that would take much more to break. Well, maybe my expectations were too high, you are just a woman anyway. A weak, scared woman – or, in light of the circumstances, you must be even less than that, eh? Yes, yes, you’re just a tool – a revenue-generating machine for me,”

I remained silent. Now that I was so close to achieving my aim, nothing, absolutely nothing could affect me. My skin was thick and my mind was set. It was all going down this very night.

******

I was dressed in the skimpy outfit I had been given for the event. I knew that one way or the other, this was the last time I would be wearing this sh*t. I would either be free or six feet under by this time the next day. Leaving the Taser in the crevice behind the tub, I carried the drugs, all of them sedatives and sleeping pills, and tucked them in the band of my skirt covered pantyhose.

“You ready? It’s a do-or-die situation, you know right?” Katrina said behind me.

“I’m okay.”

As soon as I walked out, I was met by Carlos standing at the doorpost.

“You look…” he started, staring at me hungrily as he grabbed my hand.

“Carlos, it was a one-time thing. Get over it. You don’t want Silva to get you like this, do you?”

He sighed angrily. “You are to grab some food to eat from the storage room up ahead. Remember, the guests will eat from that too, so eat a little. Any overeating on your part will not be tolerated,” he said, walking off into the surveillance room.

Bingo.

I walked into the room to meet the other women eating and making small talk. When they saw me, they all kept quiet.

“All hail the prodigal daughter,” one said, laughing as I walked over to the bowl of punch purposefully.

“Are you going to plot another daring escape again, Madame Houdini, or is it all we’ve seen of your tricks?”

I ignored her.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Another asked as I brought out my polythene pack of drugs and started distributing amongst the available drinks in the bowl and the glass cups.

“Phase One of my escape plan. Interested?” I asked, looking at them.

The smiles on their faces said it all.