Alexander Death(25)
“There's only a little tiny bit in the leaf. Kisa likes it, too, don't you?” Alexander held the bright little bag out to her. Kisa smiled and took a big handful of the leaves.
“Whoa, leave some for the rest of the class,” Alexander said. He dropped the bag on the table in front of Jenny. Jenny hesitated, then took just a couple more. They really were helping with her pain. She felt energized, too, suddenly in a mood for adventure.
“So,” Jenny said, “My first day here, and you were really going to just send me off shopping somewhere?”
“I don't want to, but I have to meet with some people. I've been away for a while, searching for you. Now I have to catch up.”
“Are they running low on zombies?” Jenny asked.
“Very funny.”
“I thought it was a serious question. What are you really going to do?”
“Pick up money from a few people and pay it to a few other people.”
“Sounds pretty easy.”
“It does sound that way,” Alexander said.
“When do I get to see the zombie farm?”
“Zombie farm?”
“You said you use them for agriculture.” Jenny made an exaggerated show of looking around the back yard. “I don't see any zombies working around here. So where are they?”
“Up in the Sierra Madre,” he said. “In the jungle.”
“Cool. Let's go there.” Jenny stood up, feeling a little dazzled. “I'm done eating. My appetite's just, zip, totally gone. Come on, let's do another crazy Jeep ride. That was fun.”
“I wish we could, but I have more boring things to do.”
“Fine. When's the party starting? Soon?”
“Later.” Alexander stood up. “You could go shopping if you want something to do.”
“You're right, I could.” Jenny snagged the roll of money from the table and stuffed it in her pocket. “Okay, have fun working. I'm going down to the beach. You want to go to the beach, Kisa?” Jenny pointed at the girl, who nodded.
“Whatever you want to do,” Alexander said.
“I know,” Jenny said. She grabbed the bag of coca leaves from the table. “And we're taking these with us. Kisa, how do we get to the beach?” Jenny pointed over the edge of the cliff.
“Beach?” Kisa smiled. She motioned for Jenny to follow.
“We're going to the beach,” Jenny said, stuffing a few more leaves in her mouth as she walked. “See you at my party.”
Kisa led her into the old adobe barn, where the Jeep and a couple of banged-up old trucks were parked.
“We're driving?” Jenny asked.
Kisa opened a doorway at the back of the garage, into a small, dark room.
“Um, this is the way to the beach?” Jenny asked.
Kisa nodded.
Jenny stepped into the doorway. Kisa raised a large trapdoor in the floor of the room, revealing a rocky hole beneath the floor. Jenny peered down into the opening. It was a sloping cave chimney, with steep steps carved into the rock. A spot of sunlight glowed far below.
“Hey, nice shortcut,” Jenny said.
Kisa took a kerosene lamp from a hook on the wall and ignited it. She started down the steps, holding the lamp high. Jenny followed her down.
The cavern took them most of the way down, and then they stepped out of a small nook in the rocky cliff. There were more steps here, but they were harder to find among the thick weeds, and sometimes at strange angles to each other, as if someone had wanted them to blend with the cliff side.
Kisa removed her sandals before stepping onto the sand, so Jenny stopped and took hers off, too. The gray volcanic sand was soft under her feet.
They walked out to the edge of the ocean, letting the clear water flow around their ankles. Jenny gaped out at the endless blue ahead of her. She'd never seen so much emptiness.
“What ocean is this?” Jenny asked Kisa. “The Atlantic? Pacific?”
Kisa gave her an amused smile. “Pacific.”
“Okay.” That gave Jenny a slightly better idea of where she was. Somewhere in the southwest of Mexico. She opened the woven bag and took out a few more leaves. “And this is what they do? Alexander, and his boss, Papa Calzone or whatever? They grow cocaine. And they use zombies to do the work.”
Kisa took the leaves from Jenny's hand, placed them in her mouth, and smiled. “Thank you.”
“Oh...I guess you missed my point.” The leaves inside Jenny's mouth were turning dry and bitter, so she spat them out.
Kisa pointed to Jenny's gloved hand. “Why no touching?”
“Oh...that's hard to explain,” Jenny said. Thinking fast, she removed one of her gloves. Then she pressed her fingertip to the inside of her forearm. She concentrated on sending the pox to that spot in her arm, until a diseased blister opened. Then she removed her fingertip and showed Kisa the damage. The girl's eyebrows raised and her mouth dropped.