Murder With A Splash Of Rum: A Puerto Rican Thriller Read online

  “Fernando. How are you tonight?”

  “Looking to meet up with someone”, smiled Ricardo. He had learned that the direct approach was the most efficient way to achieve his goal. He could gauge his prey’s reaction and decide immediately whether there was mutual interest and availability. He could deduce almost to the minute how long it would take to remove his potential partner from the bar into location more conducive to intimate relations.

  Fernando smiled widely and laughed. “Well, you should have no problem, handsome!” Fernando had seen this approach many times before, although usually from the older generations of gay men. The art of cruising and picking up men is as much a dance as a game. There are different dances for different environments, moods, and men. Each dance has specific steps and an order to it. The more experienced a gay man, the easier it is for him to take the lead and guide the lesser experienced partner into position.

  As Ricardo started to respond, Phillip emerged from crowd and took his place in Fernando’s embrace, backing himself into Fernando in a maneuver that clearly indicated Ricardo’s presence was no longer needed or desired.

  Fernando, always a diplomat, placed his hand on Ricardo’s shoulder and introduced him to Phillip.

  “This is my friend, Phillip. Where are you from Ricardo?”

  Ricardo recognized immediately that he had no chance with Fernando, and began to calculate his options for a quick and graceful way to extricate himself from the conversation. He was in a hurry and had no time for small talk. “Out west, near Manati, you two make a nice couple”.

  “Thank you, but Phillip is the one with all the looks.” Fernando tossled Phillips hair and continued. “You live in Manati? My boss has his other warehouse there, I was just there last month”. Fernando was happy to engage in small talk with Ricardo. It was through those conversations that he had made so many friends.

  Ricardo paused and subconsciously made an assessment of Fernando’s statement. “A warehouse, I might know him. Manati is a small town. What’s it called?”

  When Fernando informed Ricardo that the business was Ferreteria Taino and the owner was Luis Cordova, Ricardo lost all interest in his sexual escapade. Sr. Cordova was one of the wealthiest and most respected men in Manati, and had always voted NPP, the opposition party to Senator Rios’ PDP party. Recently Cordova had had a major falling out with the NPP. Like most businessmen, Cordova played both sides of the field, regardless of his personal political preferences. Political fortunes ebbed and flowed as the governor’s office switched between the NPP and PDP every four years. To survive, businessmen had to know when to use the carrot, and when to use the stick. Senator Rios was facing an NPP challenger who might actually unseat him, and Ricardo had been trying to court Cordova for weeks seeking his endorsement and financial support for the Senator.

  “I know Sr. Codova well. My family has an estate near Manati”. Ricardo was now only too eager to open up about his personal credentials. This was no longer a conversation about a quick blow job. It was a political opportunity that might never present itself again.

  For the next hour, Fernando and Ricardo chatted, sharing stories about acquaintances and discussing Fernando’s work. When Ricardo revealed that he was the aide to Senator Rios, Fernando was duly impressed. His life was already on the upswing, and now he was standing in the presence of a real life political player. He drew upon every trick he knew to ingratiate himself with Ricardo.

  Phillip by this time had grown tired of the conversation, which had been mostly in Spanish. He excused himself to go to the restroom again. As Phillip had left, Ricardo slipped Fernando a slip of paper. “My telephone number”.

  Fernando knew this was a great networking opportunity. He signaled to Danny to give him a pen and paper, and Fernando wrote down his work number for Ricardo. He had no untoward intentions regarding Ricardo, so felt no guilty conscience about scribbling his own work number down and handing it to Ricardo.

  “Work number, I will be glad to introduce you to Luis. This is my number at work, call me any time.”

  “Let me show you something, a trick I learned from an americano years ago”, replied Ricardo. He took Fernando’s number and folded the slip of paper in two. He then placed it deep inside the small inner pocket of his larger right blue jean pocket. “You never lose anything if you put it in this pocket”, he grinned.

  Phillip returned a few minutes later, growing listless as he pressed his back against Fernando. Ricardo and Fernando were deeply engrossed in a Spanish conversation. Phillip strolled over to the bar and started to talk to Danny, who promptly turned his back on Phillip and told his barback Alex to mind the bar. Alex smiled at Phillip and extended his hand as Danny scowled and walked towards the bar entrance for a break in the fresh air.

  “I’m Alex”, the barback cheerfully announced.

  When Danny returned, Phillip and Alex were still talking. Danny dismissed Alex, and Philip waved goodbye to his new bartender friend and rejoined Fernando and Ricardo.

  Ricardo treated everyone to a new round of drinks. Ricardo wanted this meeting with Luis. A few cocktails was a bargain price for the introduction.

  Ricardo and Fernando were having a grand time chatting. Suddenly, a hulking figure appeared behind Ricardo.

  It was Esteban Arroyo.

  “Hi Fernando!” he exclaimed. “I was outside and saw you in here, thought I would say ‘hello’!” He extended his hand to Fernando.

  Fernando shook his hand and introduced himself to Ricardo. The two exchanged pleasantries. Ricardo’s eyes began to drift towards the muscle bound bearded guy. Just as the sexual energy was reaching a crescendo, Phillip returned to the small group.

  It was obvious that Phillip was less than pleased at this chance meeting. First there was Ricardo. Now there was Esteban vying for Fernado’s attention. Phillip downed his rum drink and listened to the banter with increasing restlessness.

  Esteban sensed the change in mood.

  “Well, it was nice to meet you.” He shook Ricardo’s hand, and ignored Phillip, leaving the two to stare at each other in an awkward silence.

  Fernando decided to lighten the mood. “Let me take a photo!” he exclaimed. He nudged Phillip closer to Ricardo and raised his cell phone to take a Snapchat photo. He placed puppy ears on Phillip’s head and a wreath of flowers on Ricardo’s, then showed them the picture. Ricardo laughed hysterically. Phillip scowled and returned to the bar. Fernando handed Ricardo his phone, and Ricardo returned the joke with a Snapchat picture of Fernando in drag. The two howled with laughter. Alex joined in and soon Fernando was taking Snapchat photos of all of Lila’s customers. The drag photos proved to be the most popular.

  Eventually the night came to an end. The Snapchat photo craze had subsided, and Ricardo bade them both goodbye. Fernando turned to Phillip with a smile. Phillip returned the gaze with a frozen stare. Fernando had seen that look from Phillip before. He excused himself and left to go to the bathroom as the bartender shouted ‘last call’.

  Across the street, a figure had been watching the exchange for over an hour from its seated position under the darkened cover of a tree.

  After Fernando left for the bathroom, Ricardo sauntered towards the exist out onto the street, stumbling slightly as he stepped down from the bar entrance. Phillip left too. Phillip turned down Canals Street and strode purposefully away, leaving Lila’s behind.

  When Fernando arrived from the bathroom and searched around for Ricardo and Phillip, Danny looked up at the forlorn figure. “They’ve gone. It’s a quarter two in the morning, kid. Time to get to sleep.”

  Fernando shrugged, and drunkenly staggered out of the remaining open entrance.

  Across the street Esteban Arroyo watched him exit from his spot under the tree.

  Inside the bar, Danny had begun stacking chairs and moving tables aside for the night’s sweeping. Fernando’s exit wasn’t noticed by anyone else…except by Danny the bartender. Good bartenders know everything that goes on their bar. Dann
y wasn’t just a good bartender, he was one of the best.

  Danny made a mental note, and went back moving the tables and chairs to ready for cleaning. As he walked towards the iron gate to pull it down for the night, he saw Esteban Arroyo across the street staring in the same direction Fernando had taken towards his parked car.

  “This guy is obsessed,” he thought to himself.

  ‹18›

  Fernando tossed the pink Frisbee he was holding across his parents’ back yard. A black and white blur sped past him and leapt into the air and grabbed the Frisbee in midflight. The stray dog that Fernando had found in Santurce had quickly won over the hearts of his parents and the extended family. Even the neighbors in the small cluster of houses just north of Calle Principal in Rio Grande had become accustomed to the playful antics of the black and white mutt.

  His mother had protested at first when she saw Fernando nursing the dog. It had taken quite a bit of nursing. In addition to feeding the dog, Fernando was forced to un-mat the dog’s filthy hair and treat the dogs open wounds with an ointment he had been given by his friend Carlos Xavier. Carlos adopted any cat or dog that ended up straying into the neighborhood. Every animal was given food and a bowl of water daily. Carlos had been lovingly treating strays for over thirty years and had developed a remedy for any malady that might beset a household pet. He treated household pets and strays alike, never asking for money. He was always compensated with ten or twenty dollars by neighbors who knew where to bring their family pet when money was tight and a proper veterinarian was out of reach. Many folks in the area even preferred Carlos’ treatment to high-priced veterinarians and considered him to be their own personal pet doctor. Carlos had been making daily visits to Titi’s home for the last two weeks to check on the new foundling. Titi delighted in cooking a home-cooked meal for Carlos, whom she had known since grade school.

  As the dog healed and his black fur became glossier and the dirty brownish tinge of his paws and snout bleached to a glistening bright white, Titi became more tolerant of the pet. When Fernando saw her giving the dog Sunday meal leftovers, he knew the pet had been accepted into the home and was in no danger of being thrown back out onto the street. Even Fernando’s normally stoic father had taken to giving the new dog an occasional pat on the head. One morning Fernando found the dog lying comfortably at the father’s feet as the two listened to the radio.

  Today Fernando had decided to take the pet to Pato Beach in Condado. Each Sunday the beach at the end of Vendig Street in Condado filled with gay and lesbian beach-goers who drank, sang, danced, and swam until sunset. He would rent a beach chair from and umbrella and allow the new dog, now named “Coco”, to run around and swim. The beach-goers loved playful animals. Fernando was excited to show off his new pet. Gone were the days when ‘Coco’ would look up longingly into Fernando’s eyes, wondering if today would be his last day to have a home and food. Coco’s eyes had filled out just like the bare spots in his fur – bright, clear, and sparkling with good health.

  Fernando had spoken with Phillip only once since their last time at Lila’s. The two hadn’t gotten together because Fernando worked during the day. The only call Phillip had answered lasted only a couple of minutes. Phillip had informed him that he was meeting with family friends that evening in an effort to regain his father’s good graces. His voice had been cold and hard.

  The day promised to be glorious. The cloudless dry December air was perfect for spending time on the beach with a bit of swimming if the water was warm enough. Mostly only tourists from the north on winter vacation swam in the cooler waves of the Caribbean during tourist season. But on days when the currents held back the tepid waters, even Puerto Ricans found the silky tropical currents warm enough for swimming.

  Fernando blew off morning mass with his mother, telling her a little white lie and saying he had already been to mass the night before. He had grown increasingly disenchanted with the Catholic church, and although he hated lying to his mother he felt justified. For him the church represented repression, self-loathing, and shame. He refused to be ashamed of who he was, especially in light of so many hypocrites like Father Pedro, an alcoholic local priest with a penchant for pre-pubescent boys. Every kid in neighborhood knew where to go (and what they had to do) for a few bucks or a bottle of rum.

  After a few more tosses of the frisbee he spent the rest of the morning brushing out Coco and grooming himself. By noon he had the car packed with all of the beach essentials. He whistled for Coco. Coco hopped into the car as if he’d ridden in an automobile all his life. Before the two headed into San Juan, Fernando needed to stop by Ely’s to drop off his mother’s alcapurrias. He had missed the delivery yesterday due to work, and usually delivered them on Friday. He was two days late.

  Titi had been preoccupied and forgot to call Lydia about the delay. Lydia had called her in the morning to gently remind her she was running low on stock. Although there are 60 kiosks lining the beach in Luquillo, the only kiosk Titi would sell to was Lydia’s. Titi and Lydia were cousins, and had gone to high school together. Their families had always been close.

  A half hour later Fernando pulled up to Ely’s Place. Lydia rushed out to meet him.

  “Just in time Fernando, I ran out last night!” she exclaimed.

  Fernando had never been so late with a delivery before. Two co-workers had called out sick, forcing him to work double shifts Friday and Saturday.

  Lydia and Fernando embraced and Fernando patted her head with a smile and a wink. Since childhood he had greeted her this way. According to family lore, Lydia had owned a dog when Fernando was an infant She had tried to teach him how to pat the dog’s head by patting her own. Mistaking her instructions, he had patted her head instead, which caused her to laugh loudly. Fernando mistook this for approval and had started to pat her head each time she visited, resulting in guffaws and laughter from his family. He had soon learned that patting Lydia’s head made everyone happy. He had never stopped patting her head, and they had formed a special bond with their own special greeting. They also shared a secret. Lydia was lesbian, and she was one of the very few people in whom he had confided.

  The two chatted as Fernando pulled out the cooler containing Titi’s prized alcapurrias. Once the cooler had been emptied, Lydia stuffed some ice over Fernando’s Medalla in the spot vacated by the alcapurrias.

  Lydia couldn’t chastise Fernando for being two days late. She knew about the demands of his job, and losing a few alcapurria sales was nothing when it comes to family. Fernando apologized profusely, claiming that inventory at work had kept him until late Friday night and all day Saturday. He usually delivered Fridays, but due to his new job he had more often than not waited until his day off and delivered them early Saturday morning.

  “I’ll never be late again, I promise” he quietly informed her. “I will have Maria do inventory in the future if it holds over until Saturday. So sorry.”

  “Beach, eh?” grinned Lydia, nodding at Fernando’s beach gear in the car trunk. She loved Fernando like her own son.

  “Yes, Condado today”, replied Fernando, smiling because only Lydia would know which beach in Condado he would be visiting. Playa Pato is San Juan’s biggest open secret. Spending time on a Condado beach is a something of a status symbol for most Puerto Ricans. Condado has always represented sophistication and wealth to Puerto Rico. Many islanders flock to the area on weekends simply to drive around and admire a little bit of America inside of Puerto Rico. For gay Puerto Ricans, Pato Beach in Condado was where closeted individuals could go and be part of the gay beach scene under the pretense of admiring the beach’s well-off residents and tourists.

  As Fernando loaded the cooler back into his car, Lydia assisted and then rested her back against the passenger’s door. Coco’s head appeared through the open window and started licking Lydia’s hands and fingers, smelling food from her kitchen.

  “Who is this fellow?” she laughed, petting Coco’s hand letting the dog freely lick her palms
and wrist.

  “Coco, a stray I found in Santurce,” replied Fernando.

  She patted Coco and gave the dog a sturdy rub under both ears. Coco responded by trying to jump out of the car.

  “Coco, no” shouted Fernando, grabbing the dog by its collar. “He likes your food, too!” laughed Fernando.

  “Well, it is Titi’s food you mean. He is smelling the best food in Puerto Rico. He has good taste!” she complimented.

  Lydia slammed the trunk shut. She grabbed two Medallas from the cooler in the bar and returned, offering one to Fernando.

  “Still not fixed yet?” she asked, pointing to the broken left rear car window.

  “No, saving to do that next,”, replied Fernando. The window was covered in a sheet of clear plastic that was taped securely to the car door. It had been broken during a robbery in his warehouse parking lot on his third day of work. The thieves had managed to steal only pocket change and couple of tools he’d left on the floorboard.

  “Well, this works just as well!” she replied cheerfully, tapping the tight plastic sheet.

  “Yes” he laughed. A broken car window was part of everyday life in Puerto Rico, and Fernando like most his countrymen took petty crime in stride.

  They chatted another fifteen minutes over a beer, and then Coco and Fernando headed out towards San Juan with salsa blaring from the car speakers. Today was going to be a very good day.

  As he drove past the last kiosk, Lydia came running out of her restaurant waving her hands. Fernando didn’t notice her antics, and continued onto the highway towards San Juan

  “I forgot to tell you. Somebody was asking about you!” Lydia shouted to no avail. “Oh well, I’ll remember to tell him about his friend Esteban stopping by next time I see him,” she muttered to herself. Lydia waved at a neighbor who had just opened his gate and strode back into the restaurant to take a second swing at the Ficus leaves.