Bless Me, Ultima(44)

“Uh-huh,” he nodded.

“You know Jasón’s Indian?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know Ultima?” I asked.

“I know about her cure,” he said. “It was good. Come on now, let’s be on our way. The golden carp will be swimming soon—”

We slipped out of the coolness of the garden into the hot, dusty street. On the east side of the school building was a barren playground with a basketball goal. The gang was playing basketball in the hot sun.

“Does the gang know about the golden carp?” I asked as we approached the group.

“Only Samuel,” Cico said, “only Samuel can be trusted.”

“Why do you trust me?” I asked. He paused and looked at me.

“Because you are a fisherman,” he said. “There are no rules on who we trust, Tony, there is just a feeling. The Indian told Samuel the story; Narciso told me; now we tell you. I have a feeling someone, maybe Ultima, would have told you. We all share—”

“Hey!” Ernie called, “you guys want to play!” They ran towards us.

“Nah,” Cico said. He turned away. He did not face them.

“Hi, Tony,” they greeted me.

“Hey, you guys headed for Blue Lake? Let’s go swimming,” Florence suggested.

“It’s too hot to play,” Horse griped. He was dripping with sweat.

“Hey, Tony, is it true what they say? Is there a bruja at your house?” Ernie asked.

“¡A bruja!” “¡Chingada!” “¡A la veca!”

“No,” I said simply.

“My father said she cursed someone and three days later that person changed into a frog—”

“Hey! Is that the old lady that goes to church with your family!” Bones shrieked.

“Let’s go,” Cico said.

“Knock it off, you guys, are we going to play or not!” Red pleaded. Ernie spun the basketball on his finger. He was standing close to me and grinning as the ball spun.

“Hey, Tony, can you make the ball disappear?” He laughed. The others laughed too.

“Hey, Tony, do some magic!” Horse threw a hold around my neck and locked me into his half-nelson.

“Yeah!” Ernie shouted in my face. I did not know why he hated me.

“Leave him alone, Horse,” Red said.

“Stay out of it, Red,” Ernie shouted, “you’re a Protestant. You don’t know about the brujas!”

“They turn to owls and fly at night,” Abel shouted.

“You have to kill them with a bullet marked with a cross,” Lloyd added. “It’s the law.”

“Do magic,” Horse grunted in my ear. His half-nelson was tight now. My stomach felt sick.

“Voodoo!” Ernie spun the ball in my face.

“Okay!” I cried. It must have scared Horse because he let loose and jumped back. They were all still, watching me.

The heat and what I had heard made me sick. I bent over, wretched and vomited. The yellow froth and juice of the carrots splattered at their feet.

“Jesuschriss!” “¡Chingada!” “¡Puta!” “¡A la madre!”

“Come on,” Cico said. We took advantage of their surprise and ran. We were over the hill, past the last few houses, and at Blue Lake before they recovered from the astonishment I saw in their faces. We stopped to rest and laugh.

“That was great, Tony,” Cico gasped, “that really put Ernie in his place—”

“Yeah,” I nodded. I felt better after vomiting and running. I felt better about taking the carrots, but I did not feel good about what they had said about Ultima.

“Why are they like that?” I asked Cico. We skirted Blue Lake and worked our way through the tall, golden grass to the creek.

“I don’t know,” Cico answered, “except that people, grown-ups and kids, seem to want to hurt each other—and it’s worse when they’re in a group.”

We walked on in silence. I had never been this far before so the land interested me. I knew that the waters of El Rito flowed from springs in the dark hills. I knew that those hills cradled the mysterious Hidden Lakes, but I had never been there. The creek flowed around the town, crossed beneath the bridge to El Puerto, then turned towards the river. There was a small reservoir there, and where the water emptied into the river the watercress grew thick and green. Ultima and I had visited the place in search of roots and herbs.

The water of El Rito was clear and clean. It was not muddy like the water of the river. We followed the footpath along the creek until we came to a thicket of brush and trees. The trail skirted around the bosque.

Cico paused and looked around. He pretended to be removing a splinter from his foot, but he was cautiously scanning the trail and the grass around us. I was sure we were alone; the last people we had seen were the swimmers at the Blue Lake a few miles back. Cico pointed to the path.