To the Land of Green

Chapter Seventeen

"What's going on?" I ask her.

"He's not waking up! Lucas is not waking up, Marie!" yells Patricia.

"What?" I ask.

"Where is he? Take me to him," José says.

We rush to their tent, where Lucas has been staying. José reaches for Lucas's wrist to check his pulse and asks Patricia how long he has been like this.

"I left him for a minute and tried waking him up so I can change his clothes, but he won't budge," Patricia says.

Looking at Patricia's state makes me nervous. She's going to hear the worst words. Anyone who knows about poisonous snakes knows how bad a bite is. I knew he wouldn't survive but I just couldn't tell her.

"There's nothing we can do now, Patricia," says José.
"What do you mean? I only left him for a minute," says Patricia. "I am sorry," says José.

Patricia places her head on Lucas's chest and wraps her arms around him. Tears flow from her eyes as she speaks soothing words to him. "I love you. I wish I would've said it sooner but the reason I got married is because I was jealous. I was so jealous, Lu," she says.

I place my hand on her shoulder. "Shh. It's okay. I am here. You can lean on me," I tell her. "He's gone, Marie. He's gone," she says.

"We will go and prepare for his burial," Andres whispers to me. I nod in response. Everyone leaves the room, and it is only Patricia and me alone with Lucas's body.

"I will go and help everyone else okay." I tell her.

"Okay."

Outside I see everyone helping by making a coffin and digging a hole. This is what I love about old traditions. They bring everyone together no matter how much they don't like one another. I miss this. In my world we barely have communities being together helping out one another. You wouldn't see children like here play with other children on the streets. Instead, you see children playing on their electronics like it is the last day of their life.

"Hey, is there anything I can do?" I ask Leticia.

"Here hold this. We have to make sure this is tight enough for bugs not to get in his coffin," she says.

"Okay." **

It's been a few days since Lucas passed away. We finished building his coffin and now it's time to bury him. We all march to the area Diego and his men had dug up. We let Patricia see him one

more time and then slowly lower him in the ground. Children, women, and men throw flowers on his coffin.

I give Patricia a flower. "Farewell, my beloved," she says. After the funeral, we head back to the tents to eat.

"Nando and Manoy should be here by tomorrow," Andres says. "Yeah," José whispers.
"I hope they have some good news to share with us," Fredo says. "I hope so too," José replies.

The next morning, I get up and seek out Leticia.

"Good morning, Señorita Marie," says the little children.

"Good morning." Entering the tent, I greet everyone. "Good morning."

"Good morning!" they all reply.

"So, they are coming back today," I say.

"Yeah, I hope so," says Leticia.

After eating breakfast, I walk to the house and sit down. Everyone is already there including José, Andres, Diego, Fredo, and surprisingly, Patricia.

"Hey," I tell her.

"Hey," she says.
"Are you sure you feel up to being here?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I have to save my sister and move on. Lucas wouldn't like it if I just moped around. I need to work through the pain," she says.

I wish I were as emotionally strong as she is.

"Good morning everyone, today we expect Nando and Manoy's return. Now remember the plan. Whether or not they will return today we will proceed. We need to find that diary and get it back as soon as we can," says Diego.

"Now, let's go back to training," José says. "Let's go," Patricia says.

"Hold on," I say. I approach Andres. "I've been meaning to ask if you could teach me some Kali movements?" I ask him.

"Kali? I thought you're only interested in archery?" he asks.

"Yeah, but I will still need to use my hands when I run out of arrows," I tell him.

"As much as I would like to teach you, Marie, I have to guide our group today," he replies.

"But I am sure José can help you. Right José? You see the greatest Kali master is José. He has been doing it since he was a little kid," he says.

"No, I have things to do," he says.

"No, you don't," says Fredo.

"Look, I wouldn't be asking for anyone's help if I wasn't desperate, but I am. We are about to be in a big war, and I need to improve my martial arts as much as I can," I reply.

"Fine. Meet me outside in two minutes," he says. "Thank you," I reply.
**
"What took you so long?" says José.

"Sorry, I had to talk to Patricia." "Come here and stretch," he says.

"Okay," I reply. José starts teaching me more about Kali and I just realized that this is the first time he doesn't look grumpy or mad. It's very refreshing.

"That's not how you do it, Marie," José says.
"Ugh, why is this so hard. This is even harder than what my father has taught us," I reply.

As José is about to reply, there is a commotion near the entrance. "Get ready," he says. He grabs a gun by his waist, holding it tightly.