Read Online Thirteen Senses by Víctor Villaseñor - Free Book Online Page B

his mother continued singing.
    And Salvador continued dreaming as he slept, and all these Ancient Powers came to him in the Great Open River of Papito Dios.
    In the morning, just as the dawn of the new day was coming forth, Salvador awoke with such strength and clarity of mind that he leaped out of bed, bursting with energy!
    He was ready!
    He was full to the brim!
    It was already done, finished, and completed here inside of his being!
    The Heartbeat of his Ancestry was beat, beat, beating, pounding inside of him. He was now in that Holy State of Being Aprevenido !
    Salvador washed, dressed, and drove whistling up to Tustin to see Archie Freeman, who was a deputy sheriff in both Orange and San Diego Counties.
    Immediately, Salvador told the huge lawman that he’d give him a free barrel of whiskey, if he’d just come down to Carlsbad this afternoon and say hi to him.
    â€œAnd I’ll be waiting for you east of town,” said Salvador, “you know, over in that old barn by the Kelly Ranch.”
    â€œJust come and say hi?” said Archie, grinning. “Hell, just what kind of a fool do you figure me for, Salvador?”
    â€œA smart one,” said Salvador, not flinching.
    He and Archie had done a lot of business together over the last few years. And lately, Archie had been getting sweet on Lupe’s sister Carlota, so—who knew?—they might end up being brothers-in-law yet.
    â€œLook, Archie,” continued Salvador, “you’re the law, so truthfully, it’s best that I don’t tell you what I’m doing. You just come by and say ‘hi, how’s everything going,’ and then leave immediately, and I’ll handle everything, and this way you’re not involved in any way.”
    Archie reached up to his long, dark, California Indian face with his huge, thick right hand and scratched himself, then began pulling at his right ear, the chewing-over-information ear, then he scratched the left side of his face. “Just come by and say, ‘hi, how’s everything going,’ and leave immediately, eh?”
    â€œThat’s right,” said Salvador. “But you got to tell no one that you’ve even seen me, because I’m still on my honeymoon, okay? And you do this, and I’ll deliver you a free, ten-gallon barrel tomorrow.”
    â€œOf real whiskey?”
    â€œOf my best!”
    â€œYou mean, that 12-year-old stuff?”
    â€œYou got it!”
    â€œOkay,” said Archie, licking his chops, “you’ve got yourself a deal, but I’ll tell you, I smell a mighty big rat here somewhere.”
    â€œFrom me? Oh, no, Archie, I’m a married man now.”
    On this one, Archie burst out laughing. “Married, my ass! You still look like the same son-of-a-bitch cabrón I met the first day I saw you! So tell me,” added Archie, “all business aside, why aren’t you on, well, your honeymoon?”
    If anybody else had asked, Salvador would’ve gone into a rage, because he wasn’t going to allow any pair of hanging balls to tease him about his love for Lupe. But Archie was almost like family; or maybe even better than familia.
    â€œArchie,” Salvador now said, “Lupe’s mother came out and told me after the wedding that Lupe wasn’t feeling well, so could I please wait for a few days before she joined me for our honeymoon. But like I told you, no one must know, not one person, okay?”
    â€œYou got it,” said Archie.
    â€œThen we got a deal?” asked Salvador, wanting to make sure, because the law was a very big part of his plan—for this whole thing to work. “I’ll see you late this afternoon, just before sunset in that shack by those horse corrals just this side of the Kelly Ranch on the old El Camino?”
    Archie nodded, and they shook hands. And now that Salvador had accomplished this deal with Archie, he quickly drove over to Corona, bought himself a