giant walls around his house? And guards? What, exactly, is your industry?”
“Business is different in our part of the world.”
“Sure it is. I’ll bet you’re not selling candy bars. Or diapers. Or car parts.”
El Varón laughed. “No. I sell an excellent product, for a fair market value.”
Ellen was tired of his dissembling. “Is your product a white powder, by chance?”
He raised his eyebrows. “You mean like the white powders you can buy in your
farmacia
? Yes. A white powder. Just like your aspirin. Or the pills you pay the drug company a hundred dollars a bottle for to make your life more easy. Different medicines for different
problemas
.”
Now Ellen laughed. “We don’t call it medicine where I come from.”
“No?” El Varón’s smile tightened. “You call it
drogas
? Well, let me explain something to you, Ellen. My people have been using our medicines since before your people arrived in their boats with their crosses and their smallpox. We honor the spirits of the plants that give us their
medicinas.
And then the white men took our medicines, bled them of their spirits, turned them into powders, and sold them to your people. And then you started killing each other because of your greed for them.”
She had rankled him, and it felt good.
“And what does your government do? It blames us.” The muscles in his jaws clenched. “I am helping my people. Giving them jobs. Putting food in the mouths of their children. Building schools for them. And providing your people with something they desire.”
“And they’re killing each other for it. You said it yourself. So your…
product
…is also leaving dead bodies all over my country. And look at this place. With walls and guards and guns. You live in a jail.”
He was silent. William had flopped on top of the raft and was floating on his back, his eyes closed.
“My life is not easy,” El Varón said after a long silence. “But neither are the lives of your
policia.
Or your president and your congressmen. They live behind fences. They are surrounded by men with guns.”
“But they’re not shooting each other in the streets.”
He laughed. “No, they let others do all the dirty work while they take all the money. And do you know where all the guns come from? Your country makes them and sells them to my people.”
Ellen couldn’t argue.
“It is no matter to you how I make my living, Ellen. If it was not for me, there would be twenty other men to take my place. I have worked very hard, and given up very much, to be where I am. It should not matter to you how I conduct my business. It only matters that I am keeping you safe.”
“Why?” she said, loud enough that William lifted his head to look at her. “You keep avoiding my question. You still haven’t told me why you’re keeping us away from her. What good does it do you?”
“I have no love for that woman.” He looked away. “She wanted you and William as much as she wanted your boyfriend—who many people from your country are looking for, as you know. But a woman and a young boy? What use could she have for you? So when I found you—when my employees found you—I felt I had no choice. Had my men seen your boyfriend, he would be here with us, too. That was a stupid mistake.”
“But what’s in it for you?”
El Varón’s teeth appeared again between his lips. “I have yet to know,” he said quietly. “But she wants you, so I will keep you from her. If she wants you so badly, there must be something about you that is
muy importante.
” His eyes were shadowy holes beneath the dark lenses. “If a rich man wants to pay a million dollars for an ugly, ordinary piece of furniture, do you not start to wonder if that furniture might be worth a million dollars?” He laughed. “I do not worry about what makes something valuable. Value is value to the bank, not in what I think.
Comprende?
”
“No. I don’t. And we’re not pieces of furniture. We’re just a mother
“Business is different in our part of the world.”
“Sure it is. I’ll bet you’re not selling candy bars. Or diapers. Or car parts.”
El Varón laughed. “No. I sell an excellent product, for a fair market value.”
Ellen was tired of his dissembling. “Is your product a white powder, by chance?”
He raised his eyebrows. “You mean like the white powders you can buy in your
farmacia
? Yes. A white powder. Just like your aspirin. Or the pills you pay the drug company a hundred dollars a bottle for to make your life more easy. Different medicines for different
problemas
.”
Now Ellen laughed. “We don’t call it medicine where I come from.”
“No?” El Varón’s smile tightened. “You call it
drogas
? Well, let me explain something to you, Ellen. My people have been using our medicines since before your people arrived in their boats with their crosses and their smallpox. We honor the spirits of the plants that give us their
medicinas.
And then the white men took our medicines, bled them of their spirits, turned them into powders, and sold them to your people. And then you started killing each other because of your greed for them.”
She had rankled him, and it felt good.
“And what does your government do? It blames us.” The muscles in his jaws clenched. “I am helping my people. Giving them jobs. Putting food in the mouths of their children. Building schools for them. And providing your people with something they desire.”
“And they’re killing each other for it. You said it yourself. So your…
product
…is also leaving dead bodies all over my country. And look at this place. With walls and guards and guns. You live in a jail.”
He was silent. William had flopped on top of the raft and was floating on his back, his eyes closed.
“My life is not easy,” El Varón said after a long silence. “But neither are the lives of your
policia.
Or your president and your congressmen. They live behind fences. They are surrounded by men with guns.”
“But they’re not shooting each other in the streets.”
He laughed. “No, they let others do all the dirty work while they take all the money. And do you know where all the guns come from? Your country makes them and sells them to my people.”
Ellen couldn’t argue.
“It is no matter to you how I make my living, Ellen. If it was not for me, there would be twenty other men to take my place. I have worked very hard, and given up very much, to be where I am. It should not matter to you how I conduct my business. It only matters that I am keeping you safe.”
“Why?” she said, loud enough that William lifted his head to look at her. “You keep avoiding my question. You still haven’t told me why you’re keeping us away from her. What good does it do you?”
“I have no love for that woman.” He looked away. “She wanted you and William as much as she wanted your boyfriend—who many people from your country are looking for, as you know. But a woman and a young boy? What use could she have for you? So when I found you—when my employees found you—I felt I had no choice. Had my men seen your boyfriend, he would be here with us, too. That was a stupid mistake.”
“But what’s in it for you?”
El Varón’s teeth appeared again between his lips. “I have yet to know,” he said quietly. “But she wants you, so I will keep you from her. If she wants you so badly, there must be something about you that is
muy importante.
” His eyes were shadowy holes beneath the dark lenses. “If a rich man wants to pay a million dollars for an ugly, ordinary piece of furniture, do you not start to wonder if that furniture might be worth a million dollars?” He laughed. “I do not worry about what makes something valuable. Value is value to the bank, not in what I think.
Comprende?
”
“No. I don’t. And we’re not pieces of furniture. We’re just a mother
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