absence of affection- javier peña

Part 2

"In the case of the State of Florida vs. Juan Diego Díaz, after taking into account all due considerations, bail has been set at two million dollars or a bond of $200,000." the judge said before slamming his gavel. 
Steve and Vanessa had gotten there early on the day of La Quica's trial. Steve's testimony was sure to put that bastard on death row.  The U.S. district attorney said La Quica had met his bail of two million dollars, paid by a wire transfer from, well...take a wild guess. La Quica boarded his plane and was back in Medellín by midnight. From '79 to '84, there were 3.245 murders in Miami. And outside the Tourist Bureau and the cops, no one much cared about that. What got the U.S. government to take notice was the money. Billions of dollars a year all flowing from the U.S. to Columbia. And that...was something America couldn't take. They say when a nuclear holocaust destroys the world, only the cockroaches will survive. Guess they were wrong. During his career, Pablo would kill over a thousand cops, but the officers didn't learn that until later. 

Connie, Steve, and Vanessa were on their way to Columbia and they had no idea what they were in for.
1982

"Alright so who do we got?" Peña asked over the radio "We got Poison..." Murphy said as he examined a body. "Excellent, who else?" Peña asked. "We got Lizard, uh...we got, we got, Big Badmouth." Murphy said. "That motherfucker." Peña replied. "Thank you for the gift, agents." Carillo said to Murphy and Vanessa. "No problem." Murphy said as he walked away. Vanessa nodded at Carillo and followed Murphy. 

Back in 1981 on the plane from Miami
"I can't believe you made me get the aisle seat." Vanessa said to Murphy. "Be happy you got a seat." Murphy replied "We are not going to thrive in Columbia on our one fucking sentence we know in Spanish. That's combined. Between the both of us, we know one sentence in Spanish." Vanessa looked at Murphy and he shrugged his shoulders. 

March 13, 1981, the day they kidnapped Marta Ochoa

The three people arrived at one of the desks to check in. Vanessa handed the receptionist her credentials and then Murphy handed him both his own and his wife’s credentials. The receptionist looked at Vanessa and Steve’s things very intently. “Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. And Mrs. Barlowe.” the man said, “Sí.” Steve replied “Just Miss.” Vanessa spoke. “Does the cat have any papers?” he asked Steve, referring to Connie and Steve’s cat. “Sí.” Connie replied as Vanessa checked her watch. “Please.” the man said as Connie started gathering her papers. “Thank you.” he said before opening one of the papers, raising his eyebrows, and nodding. He sighed before putting the papers down. “Excuse me a second, please.” he spoke before dialing a number on the phone. He began speaking Spanish and neither Steve nor Vanessa understood. “Well, I guess he’s talking about Puff.” Murphy whispered to Connie. “My boss is not having a good day.” the man said in English “I think his wife left him.” he said as he let out a soft chuckle.

Vanessa, Steve, and Connie both just stared at the receptionist. “Yeah, well, he’s a little bit cranky, so…how important is this cat to you?” he asked and Connie leaned forward “Excuse me?” she asked as Murphy looked at Vanessa who was covering her face. “Okay. Come with me, please.” the man said. They all followed the man to an empty room. “So…wait here, please.” he said and Vanessa paused. “You want us to wait in an empty room?” she asked and the man nodded. “And my boss will ask you for this paper later.” he said as he handed Vanessa a paper. “How long is this gonna take?” she crossed her arms. “I don’t know.” the man replied before putting his hand on Vanessa’s back and pushing her into the room, closing and locking the door behind her. They sat in the room and waited. And waited. And waited more.
“Where is this guy? We’ve been waiting for hours now.” Murphy asked, “Maybe he’s at terapia de pareja.” Connie said and Vanessa and Steve raised their eyebrows at her. “The fuck is that?” Vanessa asked, “Couples counseling.” Connie replied before standing up and turning on the tv “What are you doing?” Steve asked her, “Oh, I’m practicing my Spanish.” Connie replied as a woman on tv began speaking in Spanish. Both Vanessa and Steve leaned forward as they saw Pablo Escobar on the TV. “Connie, you know who that is?” Steve asked his wife. “Bet he could get our cat into the country.” she said. “I can’t believe this.” Vanessa spoke. “They don’t even know he’s a fucking drug dealer.” Steve said. They all sat back and continued waiting again. Suddenly, there was a sound of knocking on the glass. “Well, we’ve been waiting for hours. Thanks for coming out.” Steve said as the man’s boss walked in. 

“Uh, my wife and friend are a little exhausted so here is the cat’s vaccination–” Steve began “Your passport.” the man replied “Yours as well.” he looked at Vanessa and she furrowed her brows in confusion at him. “I’m sorry?” Vanessa walked forward. “Your passports, please.” he repeated. Connie handed the man Steve’s passport and then looked at Vanessa who was shaking her head at Connie. “Just do it, please.” Connie spoke and Vanessa sighed before handing the man her passport. He took both Steve and Vanessa’s passports and put them on the screen of the printer. “What do you do at the United States Embassy, Mr. Murphy and Miss. Barlowe?” the man asked. “We are in janitorial services.” Steve spoke. “Janitorial services.” the man repeated what Steve said. “Another one.” he said. “Your embassy must be very clean.” the man said as he took the passports and gave them back to their owners. “Oh, yeah. You bet your ass it is.” Steve said. “Your cat’s cleared.” the man told Steve and Connie.