The Lord of Opium(19)
“Saint Francis once rescued a basket of doves from a market,” she had said.
“I don’t blame him. They taste good with oregano,” Matt had replied, goading her.
“Be quiet, Brother Wolf. I’m trying to civilize you. He gathered them in his arms and said, ‘My innocent sisters, why did you let yourselves be caught? I will make you nests so that you may raise your young in safety.’ The doves obeyed him and never flew away unless they were given permission.”
Matt had looked at María’s black hair hanging in a bell about her beautiful face and knew that he loved her utterly and forever.
“Opium is a lifesaver, if used properly,” said Esperanza, breaking into Matt’s thoughts. “We don’t want to eradicate it, just to keep it under control. But there’s something else about your country. Do you remember what Aztlán looked like?”
Matt did. His first vision was of a seething mass of factories and skyscrapers. The sky was smudgy as though someone had been burning rubber tires. Worse than that was the booming, clanking, thundering din that filled the air. His first day in Aztlán had been horrible, but he soon got used to it.
“I wondered how anyone could live in such a place,” he said.
“The border area is the worst, but the rest of the country is a mess too,” said Esperanza. “The United States isn’t any better. Wild animals there can only survive in zoos. The flowers that once covered the countryside have vanished. People huddle in houses, afraid to go anywhere because of crime, and children have forgotten what it’s like to play outside.”
Matt was surprised. So the United States wasn’t a paradise full of Hollywood mansions after all.
“In fact, the whole world is an ecological disaster,” said the woman. “The rich can escape to their little enclaves with gardens and high walls, but even they can’t escape the air. It has become what religious people call God’s Ashtray.”
“God’s Ashtray,” repeated Matt, liking the term. It reminded him of a giant bowl in which rested a single, giant cigarette butt.
“Opium is the only place in the world with an undamaged ecosystem,” said Esperanza. “The UN has declared it a natural refuge. We hope to use its plants and animals to heal other lands.”
“Wait! You’re telling me that El Patrón is going to save the planet? He’s the patron saint of endangered species?” Matt’s whoop of laughter made Esperanza wince.
“This project is too big for you, Matt. You need advisers. You need UN peacekeepers to maintain order.”
“Oh, no! We’re going to do things my way. I want the border free to bring in food, and I don’t want any of your peacekeepers maintaining order like they did in Cocaine. Later on we can discuss exporting the ecosystem. Right now my first concern is to reverse the eejit operation.”
“No one can do that,” said Esperanza.
“I intend to try,” Matt said. “I want you to find me some expert brain surgeons.”
“That’s going to take time,” she protested.
“Do what you can. And I want María and the boys I knew in the plankton factory to visit me.”
“Not possible,” said Esperanza. “Think! You have Glass Eye Dabengwa leaning on your eastern border. He’s not stupid. He’s going over and over your lockdown system, trying to find a way to break it open. Do you really want your friends in his path if he invades?”
Matt was deeply disappointed, but he knew she was right. “We’ll talk about it later,” he conceded. “Right now I want you to find me doctors. I’m going to open the border for brief periods, but be warned—”
Esperanza rubbed her forehead vigorously, and her lips were compressed into a thin line.
“—if your peacekeepers try to get in, I swear that I will fry every gopher, bighorn sheep, and bunny rabbit from here to the Salton Sea. Do you understand?”
From Esperanza’s furious expression, he knew she did.
“Fine. I’ll call you in a few days to see what progress has been made. How do I turn this thing off, Cienfuegos?” But the jefe didn’t need to do anything. Esperanza had already broken the connection.
9
THE GUITAR FACTORY
You should have seen him, Celia!” exclaimed Cienfuegos over lunch. They were in the kitchen, feasting on her excellent chiles rellenos. “It was like having the old man back again.”
“I don’t like the idea of having the old man back again,” said Celia, casting a troubled look at Matt.
The boy ate silently, trying to ignore the conversation. He wasn’t sure what had happened, and he was certain he didn’t like it. Two times a voice had whispered in his ear and made him do things. It was good, of course, to stand up to Esperanza. But where had that courage come from?