At last, the man released his grip on Ulises and stepped away from him, howling in pain, blood streaming down his face. Frantically, he tried to wipe the blood away from his eyes, his mouth, but it gushed down freely. In a panic, he stumbled on unsteady legs, not knowing where to go.
Before he could regain his wits, Ulises snatched the rock from Inés’s hands and took two resolute strides until he was standing in front of Cándido, then hit him in the face with it. Two, three, four times.
Each blow was delivered with a brutal force that drew moans from the victim. There was a loud, awful crunch and Cándido let out one last cry of pain, then lay still, his face in the dirt. Ulises dropped the rock. They both stared at the man sprawled on the ground.
“My God. We really did it,” Ulises whispered.
Ulises walked back and forth. He repeated the same thing. “We really did it.”
Overcome with fear or anxiousness, he crouched by the vehicle and vomited. His hands were stained red.
She rubbed her arms and watched him. She also felt sick, but she pressed a hand against her mouth, swallowing back the bile that accumulated in her throat.
“You need to put him in the car,” she said, loud and firm.
He snapped back to attention and looked at her. She returned the look.
“Help me. Grab him by the feet.”
She didn’t want to, hesitated, but now it was his turn to speak firmly. “Come on.”
She grabbed his legs and together they maneuvered Cándido into the car. It was harder to tip the car down the ravine than she’d imagined, butUlises put it in gear and after some heaving and much cursing it rolled down the ravine with a mighty crash.
Then it stopped suddenly. It had tumbled a good six or eight meters, then wedged itself atop a narrow ledge, two wheels spinning in the air. They stared at the car in horror. It was not stuck in the bottomless pit they’d hoped for.
“Shit,” Ulises said.
It started to rain. She grabbed him by the arm and tugged. “We need to go. It’s forty minutes back to town.”
“Maybe the rain will wash it down the ravine,” he said hopefully.
“Maybe,” she said, but the rain would also slow down their progress. It was one thing to walk the roads in the daytime, and another at night, with all that water coming down the mountain.
Yet they began the brisk walk back to Puerco Ahogado. They were ready to leap for cover if the lights of a car suddenly illuminated the road, but only the rain kept them company, and by the time they arrived in town most of the drunkards were snoring and the streets were lonesome.
When they reached the gates of the house, exhaustion had set in. Their clothes were soiled with mud, they were both dripping wet, shivering, and she told him to hide the filthy garments; she would wash them in the morning.
Still shivering, she slipped into her bed.
She dreamed of death, but it was not Cándido’s death, it was her mother splayed at the bottom of the stairs. Then she woke up, the morning light came through the curtains, and she realized in astonishment that she was a murderess. They’d done it. They had really done it, just as Ulises had said.
20
News of Cándido’s death spreadlike wildfire throughout Puerco Ahogado on Monday. A couple of farmers who were heading up the mountain that morning saw the wreck and rushed back into town to inform the authorities.
Sarita Novo promptly urged Perla to accompany her to Lulú’s house; they must offer her comfort and help prepare some sort of service for the departed, for there was no doubt, based on the sight of the car, that Cándido had perished inside.
“That car was cursed,” Sarita said. “Recently that bull smashed it, and then this happened. Maybe it was a sign from God, warning him to be careful at the wheel. And to make things worse, Beto says he doesn’t think they can pull the car up until it stops raining, tomorrow or the day after that. Even then it mightbe impossible. Lulú is hysterical, saying mountain lions are going to eat Cándido’s corpse. But with this rain the tow truck would sink into the mud. We need to calm her down and start thinking what food we’ll serve for the wake.”
“Yes, of course,” Perla agreed. “And the drinks; someone needs to consider the drinks.”
Off they went to Lulú’s house; there was no choice, Ulises must accompany his wife. They found Lulú in the living room, bawling her eyes out, surrounded by a circle of women, who at times patted her hand or said a soothing word. The sight disturbed him, and Ulises discreetly moved to the dining room, where most of the men had assembled and were smoking, hiding from the grief of Lulú.
Beto and Bartolo and Dr. Carrel were there, along with many of the other members of the good families in town, all of them engaging in the ritual commiseration the occasion demanded. Ulises nodded blankly until the conversation turned to the accident.
“I can’t imagine what he would have been doing there at that time of night,” Dr. Carrel said.
“After a weekend of heavy drinking we often make silly mistakes,” Father Anselmo replied. “Who knows if he simply wanted to feel the night air in his face?”