I had last seen Hector Cordoba at the funeral of his son, Luis, with whom I had served prior to his death. Hector was a small-time mobster in Miami at the time, but he was on the verge of becoming the city's most powerful crime lord. Nervously repositioning myself, I said, "He-Hey Hector; it’s been a...”
Before I could finish my sentence, I was silenced by a punch to the jaw. Between the pain and tears, I saw one of the guys from the beach standing to my left. “He’s Mr. Cordoba to you, pendejo.”
"Calm down, Enrique; Michael and I are old friends," Hector said, raising his hand to silence the man. "How's the family, Michael?" Hector asked, leaning forward in his chair. Grace, your sister, must be in her twenties by now."
"She just turned 23; last I heard, she was engaged to her girlfriend." Scoffing, I continued, “Not that I’ll be going to the wedding or anything; my family basically disowned me after my discharge.”
"Far too light a punishment for the suffering you inflicted on my family." But," Hector continued, sitting back in his chair, "I brought you here so you could start making amends for Luis' death."
I was about to defend myself when the office door opened and a teenage girl entered the room. Lucia wasn't even a teenager when I last saw her; now she was a lovely young woman. "Hi Lucia; it's been a while," I said as I looked at her.
Lucia’s face turned red with anger as she ran over and socked me in the jaw. “Hijo de puta! Who gave you the right to pollute the air with your presence?”
Only one thing stopped me from lashing out at Lucia: the understanding that Hector’s men would shoot me in a heartbeat. Rubbing my jaw as I restrained myself, I said, “Believe me; it wasn’t my idea.” Pointing at Hector, I continued, “Your father’s goons dragged me off a beach in broad daylight.”
Lucia turned to her father, “Is that true, papi?”
Hector nodded, “The time has come for me to fulfill a promise to your brother.” taking a deep breath, he continued, “But first; I think it’s time you learned the truth about your brother’s death.”
“I already know the truth, papi.” Pointing a finger at me, Lucia said, “This hijo de puta killed Luis.”
Fuck, I knew this day would come.
I interjected before Hector had a chance to, “That’s not entirely true, Lucia.” Taking a deep breath, I said, “It’s true that my actions led to the death of your brother; but there’s more to the story.”
“Okay.” Crossing her arms in anger, Lucia said, “Why don’t you enlighten me.”
“Our unit was deployed to a forward operating base, or FOB, in a small village about 20 miles outside of Kandahar. We got orders to raid a suspected terrorist hideout.” Taking a breath, I said, “The day of the raid came; and I wasn’t there: because I was too busy screwing around with a local official’s daughter. The unit was ambushed; so, I don’t know if my presence would have changed things, but I think about Luis and the others every day. After that I was sent back stateside to avoid a diplomatic incident; and was quickly discharged.”
Lucia looked as though she was going to strike me for a moment; but she clenched her fists and took a few deep breaths. Turning to her father, she said, “Okay; so why is he here?”
Staring at both of us, Hector said, “My daughter will need protection when she goes off to university next week.”
“Father, I will not allow this man anywhere near me!” Lucia vehemently protested.
I raised a finger in objection, “She has a point, sir; I’m pushing 30. People will definitely notice me following her around.”
A weird smile appeared on Hector’s face, “Relax, my friend; I’ve already taken care of that.”
Enrique and Manuel were on me in an instant; Manuel restraining me while Enrique injected a syringe into my neck. The last thing I remembered before fading into unconsciousness was Lucia saying, “Papi! What are you doing?”
***************************
The first thing I noticed as I regained consciousness was that my entire body felt...well, wrong. It seemed heavier in places where it shouldn’t; and I had a suspicious feeling that something was missing. Even my voice, when I let out a groan of discomfort, sounded different.
What the hell was in that syringe?
I opened my eyes and discovered that I was lying on a bed somewhere; a glance to my left told me it was a bedroom. The strange weight become more pronounced as I sat up; but my mind was too foggy to think about it.
Climbing out of bed, I stumbled towards a nearby mirror to see what was going on. Even in my drug-induced haze, I knew something was wrong when I saw a girl’s reflection staring back at me through the mirror. She looked about Lucia’s age; attractive but not overly so, with brown hair and green eyes. She appeared to be wearing a hospital gown.
My mind was just beginning to clear up; just as my hands ventured up towards my chest. I started to suspect something was wrong when the reflection mimicked my moves. I started to panic a little when my hands grabbed ahold of two firm but modest sized breasts. What the hell? These are real! How the hell did they get here?
One hand ventured down towards the hem of the hospital gown. When I lifted it, I was stunned to nothing but a void between my legs where my junk had previously been.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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