Black Widow's Wardrobe by Lucha Corpi

Author:Lucha Corpi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arte Público Press
Published: 1999-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

NINETEEN

The Jade-eyed God

Carmelo led me and a reluctant, teary-eyed Bernardina through the kitchen to the basement, which was filled with old furniture. Below a small window, there were also a washer and dryer.

Holding onto Bernardina with one hand, he said, “She was getting ready to leave with this. It was hidden behind that dresser.” He picked up a dark green knapsack and handed it to me.

I set it down on the washer and unzipped it. I reached in and took out some small zip-lock plastic bags with crushed, dry leaves in them: marijuana. Some larger bags were full of mushrooms. A few others were filled with small chunks of some kind of cactus.

On the bottom there was a small package, wrapped in banana leaves and tied with a string. I unwrapped it and found a piece of jewelry about the size of an open palm. It was a profiled head and face, made of turquoise. A slanted jade eye stared from beneath an arched, silver-inlaid brow and elaborate plumed headdress. I didn’t know much about pre-Columbian art, but it looked genuine.

“Where did you get this?” I asked Bernardina.

She started to cry again.

“You’re already in a lot of trouble. We could turn this bag over to the police. You’d go to jail. Please, tell us where you got all these,” Carmelo told her.

“I already know that Rosa went to jail because she was smuggling drugs over the border,” I said. “She probably wants you to keep them here in case the police search her house.”

She began to tremble and shake her head.

Carmelo put his arm around her shoulder. “Dinos de qué tienes miedo,” he said in a reassuring tone. Tell us what you are so afraid of.

Switching to Spanish, Bernardina explained that she didn’t have a green card. Rosa had promised to help her get one, but had threatened to report her to immigration if Bernardina didn’t do as she was told.

Bernardina began to sob again. “I can’t go back to Mexico. I only have an uncle who lives in Coyoacán but he can’t protect me from … I was a maid to a rich family in Mexico City. My patrón raped me and I …” She broke down and fell to her knees, sobbing.

“It’s okay. We won’t call the Migra on you. But what does Rosa want from you … other than your keeping these drugs for her?”

“Rosa wants some things Licia has—things that Licia took from her when they were in prison.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“What things?”

“Some papers and photos. Rosa told me to find those papers. I was looking for them upstairs,” she said, looking at Carmelo.

Rosa had told me only half the truth about her dispute with Licia—who had indeed taken those documents. I mentally moved Rosa to the top of the suspect list again.

“How did you know where to look?” I asked.

“I didn’t know. But I had looked everywhere else.”

“Did Rosa tell you why she wants those papers and photos?”

“She just said that a man is going to pay a lot of money for them.

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