Memories of a Life That Never Happened

Chapter 66 - Tripping

The sounds of the forest could be intimidating to some, but not to Mica. She was used to the chirp of colorful birds, the rustling of wild rabbits and boars running for cover. Sometimes, she knew, the signature noise of locusts could be deafening. Above all, Mica learned to recognize the rattle of certain snakes as a subtle warning.  

The cry she heard, on the other hand, was human and alien to the forest. Also, it sent a clear message that something was up.  

Mica clutched the tiny sling purse against her thigh to keep it from bumping at her as she moved. She kept an ear out for the second scream, but it never came. Could her imagination be toying with her?  

Given that the scream had come from the direction where she was heading, her ancestor's village, she moved fast but cautiously.  

She scrambled upon a pile of rocks that emerged behind two of the huts and crouching atop a flat stone she chose as her observation post. Mica knew that place as the palm of her hand. She had been there countless times as a kid. She glanced around and determined she was well out of sight. No one trying to spot her would be able to see her unless she stood up.  

Mica distinguished five people standing at the clearing. From where she was, Mica could tell that four of them were males and the other one must have been the female who had screamed. She opened her purse and took out her camera. As much of an amateur as she was, Mica had had enough time playing around with it and knew the focus could give her a closer look. 

And what she saw next, Mica would never forget.  

A frightened-looking Virginie was clinging to Nick's arm. A few feet away, the others were gathered in a circle. The way they addressed one another was borderline-bellicose. Mica almost dropped the camera when she recognized Leo and the two boys who had shot Alan.  

Nick and Virginie sat on a tree stump half-covered in moss. He seemed to be trying to divert her attention from the group. There was no sign of Jean-Pierre.  

Leo kept smiling, his back turned to Nick and the girl. From time to time, he turned and glanced at his friend. Right when he dug some cash out of his front pocket, Mica pressed the shutter button. Her fourth picture was a register of the exact moment when Macumba took the cash from Leo. The fifth followed shortly after, as Leo took a transparent plastic bag in return. Mica zoomed in as much as possible. The camera snapped again. This time, capturing what looked like pills inside the bag.  

The perfidious trio approached Nick and Virginie. Mica's camera clicked frantically henceforth. Leo handed Nick two pills. A discussion followed. It seemed as though Leo was coercing Nick into something.  

The three standing boys opened their hands and showed them to Nick. In each of their palms, there was a single white pill.  

Macumba held out the plastic bag, nudged it toward Nick as if making a toast. Hesitantly, Nick reached into the bag. For a moment, he kept staring at Leo, his face deadpan.  

Next, Nick took Virginie's hand. Smiling at her, he placed a pill on her palm. Without breaking eye contact, Nick stuck out his tongue and put a pill over it, then he tilted his head up and swallowed.  

Virginie seemed confused. Nick's hand lifted hers toward her mouth, prompting her to mimic him. She faltered at first, but Nick nodded, encouraging her. His piercing stare ultimately had Virginie submitting.  

It was all so atrocious that Mica registered everything without even thinking. 

Nick hooked an arm around Virginie, held her closer to him. Although it looked very sweet, Mica suspected Nick's intentions. It was probably an artifice to keep her from doing something stupid, such as running away. 

Nick caressed the side of her arm, as one would do to an injured child. Revulsion flooded her as Mica realized what she had just witnessed.  

For what felt to be an eternity, not much happened. They just stood there until, from the main hut, a man came out.  

Fat cascaded in layers from his neck down to his bare chest and beyond. Mica added another photo to her remarkable collection. His chest was bare and the image of a sumo wrestler came to her mind as the man waddled difficultly toward the group. 

He seemed drunk, Mica judged, if not worse. While he walked, the strap on one of the cheap flip-flops he wore broke. In spite of the mild stumble that sent the broken object off flying, he kept moving.  

When the kids noticed his presence, the group fell silent. The man ran his thumbs through the inside of his short's elastic waistband, adjusting it lower on his waist.  

To Mica's disgust, his very hairy butt crack was now in full sight.  

Macumba was the only kid who replied whatever the man asked.  

A couple minutes later, the man lifted a hand to tilt Virginie's chin up while scratching his balls with the other.  

Overcome by fury, Mica stood up. Peering again through her camera, she focused on Virginie, whose eyelids were worryingly heavy. Virginie hardly made any gesture to repel the man's touch. Mica was sure whatever that pill was, it had impaired her senses. 

Mica forced herself to lie flat on the rock again. Heartbeats drumming in her ears as blood boiled in her veins. Never had she been in a situation like this. Never had she found herself struggling to make a life and death decision. Was it best to leave Virginie to her luck and fetch the police? Or should her try to help the girl before something worse happened?  

"How?" Mica muttered to herself aloud. "How can I help?" 

She was all alone against three, possibly five men. Plus, if Virginie were high, she would not be able to run even if she wanted to. There was always the slight but real possibility that she had agreed to all this.  

Mica's hand closed into a fist and she punched the rock beneath her. The blow was hard enough to bruise her knuckles. She was angry with those boys but mostly with herself. Why the hell did she have to be so powerless? 

When she looked through the lenses again, Virginie was on the floor and Macumba was lifting her skirt.  

Nick protested timidly, touching Macumba's forearm. That only caused the others to laugh.  

Mica's eyes widened in terror. Something worse than being drugged was about to happen to Virginie, something she definitely had not agreed to. Mica wished someone were there to help. Even Abel, if he materialized there right then, would be greeted with open arms.  

Mica asked herself where Jean-Pierre was and if he knew of his sister's whereabouts. What would he do if he knew what Nick was doing to his sister? Finally, Mica thought of Escobar and Jacira. They too had no idea what she had gotten herself into. If Escobar suspected she was crossing paths with these boys, she would be grounded for life. Never mind explaining the encounter was unintentional. 

As Mica took a deep breath, truth sunk in. There was no one else. This Catch-22, she would have to solve on her own.