La Guardia

Chapter 1: Extraño

I was pretty sure I was about to be murdered.
Go camping; maybe it'll clear your mind.
I don't know why I listen to Valentina. Clearing my mind was the last thing I wanted to do. However, I knew exactly where I was going, given the chance to take a break.
Our spot.
       The spot where Julián and I frequented. Where we had our first date, where he proposed to me, where we spent our first night together.
I gasped to silent halt when I heard rustling leaves nearby. I kept my eyes locked on the direction in which the noise was coming from as I reached down to lower the volume on my speaker. I picked up the spatula that I was using to cook my food and leaned into my left foot, then stepped into my right. I picked up my left foot again and then screamed when I saw a lost hiker appear from around a tree.
"Hi," he said sheepishly, slowly approaching me with his hands gripping the straps of his backpack. "Im sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I was just a little lost. Do you know the way to the entrance on Canyon Creek?"
"Oh! Yeah," I said, composing myself after the scare. "You just head north right here and follow the signs on the right. It'll take you back to Willow Path. It'll make a few curves but just stay on it and it'll get you to where you need to go in about half a mile."
        The man stared at me the whole time with a non-intimidating grin. There was a minute of silence as I stared back at him, confused. "Did that make sense? If you want I can walk you—"
"No, no it's just—I'm Ben," he said as he extend his hand. I reached out and shook his hand. "Uhh Mariana," I replied, reaching out to lightly grasp his hand. "Thank you," he said, slowly releasing his hand. "... for the directions. I guess I better get going. Don't wanna get caught after dark."
He gently slid his hands into his back pockets grazed the ground with his foot, his eyes locked on me.
"Well...?" I asked with eyebrows raised, gripping the spatula in my hand a little tighter. I wished I had the hot pan in my hand instead.
I guessed my fear was obvious, because almost immediately he relaxed his shoulders and hands and began backing away. "I'm sorry," he said. "You were just... I thought... I'd better go." He swung his hands forward and turned towards the direction in which I sent him.
"Wait," I stopped him. "You thought what?"
He turned back towards me and smiled. "I don't know, you just had a different response than what I've grown accustomed to."
"Oh really?" I scoffed, crossing my arms and sitting into my right leg. "And how exactly should one act when some creep comes out of the woods unexpectedly 'asking for directions'?" He found my air-quoting amusing, continuing to glow with his... rather attractive smile, if I'm honest. But I couldn't let him know that.
"I really am lost," he said in defense. "Well I was, until you told me where to go. So now I will. You have a nice—"
He was interrupted by a beeping sound. I reached into the pocket of my jacket and took out my phone. "Ah my food is done," I said, silencing the alarm.
"What did you make?" Ben asked as he approached the fire from the other end. "Oh it's not much," I responded, carefully removing the cast iron pan from the fire and setting it on the picnic table. "Just some salmon with some rice and vegetables."
        "Nothing much?" Ben exclaimed. "Are you kidding? That sounds amazing! It smells great too." He came a little closer, still far from me but just close enough to take a peek at the pan as I removed the lid. It was as if he'd just seen a chest full of shimmering gold treasures.
        "I don't suppose you'd want some, would you?" I asked. He gazed up at me, stunned. "May I?" I couldn't help but laugh. "I suppose I could spare you some," I answered.
Ben set his backpack down by the table and approached the food. "Man, it feels like forever since I've had a meal," He said as I set out the camping dishes and utensils. "I've spent the past eight hours on protein bars and sports drinks."
"Oh," I said, remembering that he could still be a murderer, maybe a homeless one. His scent wasn't too much of a deterrent for man who had spent all day outdoors, and he looked well-off, but I couldn't rule out anything just yet. I tried not to be too paranoid, so I just kept the conversation light.
"So how did you get lost?" I asked.
"I was here with my friend, Sam. Thank you," Ben said, accepting the plate I offered him. I passed him the spatula and he loaded his plate. He continued, "He was ready to go but I wanted to hang back for a while so he left. He's better with directions than I am, and I didn't take that into consideration until I realized that I didn't know how to get back to my car."
Ben sat down and shoved a spoonful of rice in his mouth and sat down at the table across from me. I drew the pan closer to me so that I could serve myself (and have it near—just in case). I watched as Ben struggled to pick up the last few grains of rice on his plate. I smiled and began eating.
"Is this yours?" Ben mumbled as he gestured towards the camper. "Mhmm," I nodded. "It was my parents' and they gave it to me last month. Said I wanted it more than they did."
"Honeymoon gift?"
        I laughed. "Hardly! What made you think that?" He wiggled his bare left ring finger. I looked down at my hand, forgetting that I still had my wedding ring on. "Oh! No no, it was a birthday gift."
        "The ring?"
        "The camper!"
         Ben grinned and got up. "Where should I set this?" He waved his plate lightly.
"You can just leave it here," I replied. He scooted it to the side. 
"What brought you out to the woods?" He asked.
"I'm just taking a break from work," I said. "How about you?"
He stood up and stretched. "Same," he said. "I've just been extremely busy working on a few projects so I thought I'd take some time for myself, focus on my mental health for a bit." He began picking at the bark on the tree behind him. "Hiking is my go-to. I've loved it since I was a kid. I grew up in Colombia and my dad would take me up to the mountains on Saturday mornings to give me a break from my three younger siblings; I was the oldest so I helped my parents out a lot. Hiking was the one thing I did without responsibilities, without expectations, without fear..."
He turned around as I was yawning and rubbing my face. "Sorry I'm probably boring you," he laughed as he tossed a piece of bark into the fire. "Not at all," I replied, propping my head up with my fists. "So you're from Colombia?"
"Sí. Bogotá."
"Ciudad hermosa," I responded with my eyes closed.
"¿Hablas Español?" he asked. I nodded, opening my eyes. "Both of my parents are from Mexico, and I was born there as well, in Veracruz. They moved here to the states when I was very young."
I got up and looked up at the sunset through a clearing in the trees.
"It's getting pretty late," I told him, feeling less endangered by his presence but still aware that I had only met him less than an hour ago. "You should probably get going."
"Right! I was lucky enough to get lost in the daylight." He walked towards the picnic table to get his backpack. As he put it on, he asked, "Do you typically travel alone?"
"No, my husband's working," I said slowly. I had just eased up enough to forget the danger I was in. "He'll be here soon though," I responded quickly. "He was meeting me after work."
"Oh alright," Ben said. "That's good. A solo camping trip could be dangerous, ya know?"
"Uh-huh," I said. My heart started racing again. Just then Ben's phone rang.
"Oh no way," he said as he looked at the screen. "I'm sorry, I gotta take this." He walked back towards the fire. "Pa! ¿Cómo estás?"
I didn't want to eavesdrop, but Ben's voice was the only sound for at least a mile. As he caught up with his dad, though, I wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying as much as I was to his voice. There was something about it that made me feel less threatened, calm even. He spoke in Spanish with his dad, which made Ben feel familiar. When he spoke to me in English, though, he sounded as if Spanish was his second language. His words were clear and his sentences fluid as he spoke with a gentle tone.
I watched him pace the campground slowly as he grinned while he talked, revealing a deep crescent on his right cheek. His light brown hair seemed to glow whenever it caught a ray of light from the setting sun. Occasionally he'd reach up to scratch his patchy beard with hints of gray. His dark brown eyes hid beneath his thick black eyeglasses, but the joy they exuded couldn't be hidden.
I don't know what it was about this man that made me feel the way I did, but from that moment, the walls I had worked so hard to build didn't feel as indestructible as they had before.
"My dad," he said to me, looking at his phone. He had gone to sit down on the picnic bench. "I'm heading down to visit him soon. It's a surprise visit. I haven't talked to him today though, with bad reception. I guess you're in a great spot!" I smiled then asked, "Is he still in Colombia?"
"Yeah, he and most of my family. I only have two sisters here in the states. Viviana and Paloma. They have their lives in Austin and Denver, but I'm still close with them. How about your family?"
"Well," I began, "I have an older brother named Memo and two younger sisters: Susana and Sonia. My brother is up in Fresno but the rest of us are together, running our family's panadería on the outskirts of San Diego."
"You've gotta be kidding me," Ben said. His dark brown eyes had the same glimmer they did when he saw the food earlier. "I love pan dulce!" I wasn't expecting to have an hour long conversation about pan dulce with a stranger, but I guess that's what happens when all of your waking hours are working hours.
"I should leave before Julián gets here," Ben said. "He might not be too thrilled to find a stranger chatting up his wife in a remote area." He picked up his backpack, looped an arm through one strap and brushed off his pants. "Thank you for the food, Mariana," he said, reaching out to shake my hand. I shook his hand and smiled. I had completely forgotten that I told him Julián was on the way!
Once he began walking down the path, I noticed something.
"Wait!" I caught him. He turned around and raised an eyebrow. "That's not the way." I pointed to the left, which was north. Ben, embarrassed, nodded, then laughed. "Right," he said. Then followed my hand's direction. He lifted his hand to signal his departure, then disappeared.
After cleaning up the campground, I entered my trailer and locked the door behind me. I tossed my shoes in a corner and settled into the mattress, drawing the blanket towards my face.
My phone rang. "Mare," Julián said on our video call, smiling as he laid down on his hotel room bed.
"I'm so happy to see you," I told him.
"How are you, mi vida?"
"I'm wonderful now," I said, rolling over and propping my head up on my hand. "You won't believe what happened to me today!" I told him all about my encounter with Ben. He watched as I spoke, his blue eyes full of warmth and amusement. He laughed and said, "It sounds like you made a new friend."
"Hardly," I said rolling my eyes. "I'm never going to see him again. Plus, there's only enough space for one man in my life. You know that."
"Too bad. Maybe he could've been the one to fill the void while I'm gone."
"Julián," I looked at him sternly. "I told you not to talk like that."
"Okay okay," he said in surrender. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to feel like I'm holding you back."
"How was your day?" I asked. "Did you make any new discoveries?"
"Not yet. But I will." He smiled and yawned. "I gotta go, mi vida. I'm very sleepy."
"So soon?" I asked.
"For today, yes. But I will call you tomorrow. I love you, Mare."
"Julián..."
My phone went black. I sat up in my bed. I reached over for the pill jar and drew it close to my face.  As I furrowed my eyebrows, my grip loosened as my eyes began to close. I took a deep breath and smiled as I drifted off to sleep.

When I got home, I tossed my backpack on the floor and sat on the recliner in the main living room. I reached down the side to launch the leg rest, and I let out a loud cleansing yawn. Never mind the big echo that filled the walls of the ground floor. I closed my eyes and smiled, glad there was no one waiting for me, no one to tell me to shower before touching anything, or to leave my shoes at the door, or to put my "junk" in its designated place.
As I reached down to unlace my boots, I noticed my backpack had an open pocket that should not have been open. I removed my boots and socks, then approached my backpack to investigate.
No puede ser.
I took my phone out of my jeans pocket and opened my item tracking app. My wallet... was at campground #9.
I looked at my watch. 10 p.m. wasn't late for most, but I don't think Mariana would be too keen of another unexpected visit from the bush bum; also, I can't imagine her husband would be as easy on me as she was.
I called the visitor center to explain my dilemma. No answer.
Shit.
There was no way around it. I had to go back.