N.N. had dug himself neck deep. \u201cWhy haven\u2019t I hit wood yet?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily\u2019s request. They asked she be buried under at least nine feet of earth,\u201d Pedrito said, gazing down from the edge of the rectangular hole. He was holding a kerosene lantern. \u201cYou better hurry. It smells like rain.\u201d<\/p>\n
N.N. was searching for Soledad Rivera\u2019s corpse, which was entombed in the upper-class section of Santa Cruz de Manga Cemetery. She belonged in the columbarium, with the bourgeois, but her parents had mortgaged their house to secure her a spot beneath the elitist lawn. \u201cA telenovela actress of her stature needs better neighbors,\u201d her mother had said to Pedrito, the eighty-year-old security guard who always tipped N.N. off about new arrivals.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sure I\u2019ll find treasures?\u201d N.N. asked as he shoveled dirt out of the grave.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave I ever let you down?\u201d<\/p>\n
N.N. chuckled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat? You still holding Tomb 454 against me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd 312, and 76\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got treasures out of those!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrinkets, Pedrito, I got trinkets.\u201d N.N. stood upright, panting, and leaned the shovel\u2019s shaft against his hip.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour daughter would\u2019ve loved them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s not my daughter.\u201d N.N. wiped sweat off his forehead.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has your eyes, your two different-colored eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has a papa\u0301<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s you, not her stepdad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShut up.\u201d N.N. snorted. \u201cShut your puta<\/em> mouth!\u201d N.N. seized the shovel and thrust it into the earth.<\/p>\n Clonk<\/em>!<\/p>\n N.N. stared up at Pedrito. Pedrito grinned, his gold tooth sparkling. N.N. dropped to all fours and brushed away the dirt. A withered wreath appeared on top of a curved oak lid.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me say a prayer,\u201d Pedrito said.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting soft tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t help it. Her role in Nunca Te Olvidare\u0301<\/em> captured my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Distant thunder rumbled. N.N. smirked, pointing at the sky.<\/p>\n \u201cAt least let me bring her fresh flowers.\u201d Pedrito set the kerosene lantern down and strode out of sight.<\/p>\n A raindrop landed on N.N.\u2019s cheek. He stood, grabbed the shovel, and cleared off the casket. A lightning flash reflected off the wooden surface. He jabbed the blade into the earth, stamped on the footrest, and left the tool wobbling. Wind howled above. He squatted and opened the curved lid\u2014the reek of rotten meat rushed out. As he covered his nose with his T-shirt, he examined the body\u2019s swollen hands. The skin was blistered, a nail had fallen off, and the right pinkie wore a sapphire ring with a platinum setting. He pulled a Ziploc and his folding knife from his jeans pocket. The kerosene lantern went out. He sawed off the finger and dropped it into the bag. A thunderclap startled him. He plucked off Soledad\u2019s diamond studs while glancing at her fixed grimace, which her mother had described as \u201ca peaceful smile\u201d on the news. When he was unclasping her pearl necklace, something struck him in the back of the head. A chrysanthemum bouquet landed beside him.<\/p>\n N.N. cursed, turned, and looked up. Two policemen flanked Pedrito. The older cop waved at N.N., grinning. The younger one trembled as he pointed a baton at N.N. A steady drizzle fell.<\/p>\n An hour later, N.N. sat by himself in the rear of a police van, arms behind him and wrists handcuffed. A spray-paint bottle rolled back and forth across the steel floor, which smelled of urine. The older cop scolded the younger one for choosing a dirt road the thunderstorm had transformed into a mire.<\/p>\n \u201cPedro sold me out?\u201d N.N. asked.<\/p>\n The downpour drumming against the roof grew louder.<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d N.N. kicked the wire mesh separating him from the policemen. \u201cAnswer, The older cop glowered at N.N. A scar ran down his face like a red river. \u201cYou don\u2019t ask questions here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n The older cop banged the wire mesh with his elbow. \u201cIf you keep it up, I\u2019ll shove a baton up your culo<\/em>.\u201d He turned to the front and gasped. \u201cStop the van! Pendejo<\/em>, stop\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n The shock of a halt hurled N.N. to the floor while the older cop bumped his head against the windshield. N.N. caught a whiff of burned rubber. The younger cop kept stepping on the gas, but the vehicle remained immobile. N.N. heard tires spinning in the mud. The older cop yelled at the younger one to take his foot off the pedal, and the latter obeyed.<\/p>\n N.N. sat up, gripping the wire mesh for support. \u201cYou need help pushing the van?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI need you to shut your puta mouth,\u201d the older cop said. He unhooked the police radio\u2019s speaker mic and pulled it close to his chin. \u201cVan 31317 to Control. Cambio.\u201d He waited for a response, but there was only static. \u201cVan 31317 to Control. This is Officer Rojas. We need a 10- 51. We\u2019re in Villa Rosita, alongside Matute Canal. Heading to Ternera Jail. Cambio.\u201d More static. \u201cVan 31317 to Control. Anybody home? Cambio<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The younger cop grabbed out his cell phone but claimed he didn\u2019t have a signal. Officer Rojas grunted and returned the speaker mic to its hook. The younger cop suggested they pray to end the rain. Officer Rojas chuckled, withdrew a cinch sack from under his seat, and opened it. He pulled an olive raincoat from the bag and donned it. As he stepped out of the vehicle, he instructed the younger cop to stay put until he came back with a tow truck.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat if the Matute continues to rise?\u201d N.N. asked as he once again sat on the hard- plastic bench affixed to the van\u2019s side.<\/p>\n The younger cop opened his eyes wide.<\/p>\n \u201cKid, if you let prisoners get into your head,\u201d Officer Rojas said, \u201cyou\u2019ll last less than a month.\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. scoffed. \u201cIt\u2019s happened before. The canal has flooded.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan I trust you with the van while I\u2019m gone?\u201d<\/p>\n The younger cop nodded. Officer Rojas closed the door and vanished in the downpour.<\/p>\n \u201cNovember, 1987. You weren\u2019t born yet, kid, but the water reached the rooftops in Villa Rosita.\u201d<\/p>\n The younger cop leaned his head against his fist and took a deep breath.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst, torrents of rain filled the streets. Then the terraces, the living rooms, the kitchens….\u201d N.N. stared at the younger cop. \u201cBut when the toilets overflowed\u2014boom!\u201d N.N. said, kicking the spray-paint bottle into the rear door.<\/p>\n The younger cop gasped, jumping in his seat. N.N. guffawed. The younger cop switched the stereo on and turned the volume up. N.N. distinguished fragments of Caracol Radio\u2019s breaking-news bumper in a transmission punctuated with crackles and hisses.<\/p>\n Half an hour later, N.N. was startled by a thunderclap, which was followed by women screaming. He squinted through the windshield and saw a bus being carried downstream in roiling floodwaters\u2014toward the van! It was a block away. The younger cop was napping, his peaked cap covering his face.<\/p>\n \u201cKid, hey!\u201d N.N. shouted, kicking the wire mesh. \u201cGet us out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n The younger cop gave N.N. the finger. N.N. stood hunched over, sprinted to the rear door, and charged it with his shoulder. When he stepped back for another blow, he slipped on the spray-paint bottle. All N.N. would remember next was a crash, shattered glass, splashed blood, the steel floor, and his daughter\u2019s brown-blue eyes.<\/p>\n When N.N. woke up, he was lying on a mud mound beside a decapitated girl\u2019s body. The rain was still heavy, and his head ached. He sat up and scanned the surroundings. A month\u2019s worth of rain had fallen in a few hours. The streets were oozy torrents carrying clothes, roof tiles, refrigerators, cars, and corpses as if they were driftwood. Trees had even been ripped from their roots. He turned to Matute Canal. It had overflowed its banks.<\/p>\n N.N. searched for the police van and spotted its rear half. It was upside down and had smashed into an acacia. The front was nowhere in sight. He grinned. Free! And surrounded by treasures<\/em>, he thought. He tried to raise a fist to the sky, but the handcuffs stopped him, hurting his wrists.<\/p>\n N.N. slid down the mound, sank into thigh-deep floodwaters, and slogged toward the police van. He trudged around the vehicle\u2019s remains, which were half-submerged, and turned his back to a piece of jagged metal jutting from the exhaust pipe. While he rubbed the handcuffs\u2019 chains against the sharp edges, he stared at a woman paddling a canoe at a distance. She shouted, \u201cAnybody alive?\u201d over and over again. When she spotted a silhouette waving its arms from a balcony, she increased her pace, passing by Don Jose\u0301\u2019s Carpentry Shop\u2014as advertised on the worn sign. N.N. glanced over his shoulder and down at the links\u2014only minor scratches. He sighed.<\/p>\n N.N. dodged a buoyant corpse and headed toward the carpentry shop. The building was a hovel, and a rock avalanche had crushed its west side. N.N. entered through a window, turning sideways and clutching the frame. The place smelled of moist sawdust. On N.N.\u2019s left, stones had piled into a heap, where a pillow corner stuck out from a cleft. In front of N.N., a screwdriver, a plastic level, a tape measure, and a wood chisel floated around a wooden workbench in blood-tinged water. He sensed two more tools under his boot and guessed they were a hammer and a drill.<\/p>\n \u201cA bolt cutter is hanging over there,\u201d a girl\u2019s voice said.<\/p>\n N.N. peered at the stone heap but saw no one.<\/p>\n A child\u2019s hand emerged from a crevice above the pillow corner and pointed to a spot out of N.N.\u2019s sight. \u201cOn your right.\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. glanced at the bolt cutter and walked backwards until he felt the handle grips against \u201cNow bring it to me,\u201d the girl said, pushing her other arm through the rift.<\/p>\n While trying to glimpse her face, N.N. stood on his tiptoes and unhooked the tool from a nail. She gave him a thumbs up. He approached the stone heap, turned, and waited till she grasped the handles.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are you helping me?\u201d N.N. asked. \u201cBecause I have a final exam.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStay still. What day is it today?\u201d<\/p>\n The handcuff chain snapped.<\/p>\n \u201cGracias<\/em>!\u201d N.N. said, extending his arms. \u201cIt\u2019s early Friday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCaramba<\/em>! I\u2019ll flunk math!\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. took the bolt cutter from her and cut through the left cuff. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d \u201cSen\u0303orita Aftermath, according to my teacher. I always arrive late to her class.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd according to you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSoledad Rivera.\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. chuckled. \u201cSo, you want to be a telenovela actress when you grow up?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. But first I need a B+ in math, or else the principal won\u2019t let me star in the school play.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure your teacher will cancel her class for today,\u201d N.N. said, cutting the other cuff. \u201cYou\u2019re so wrong. She never calls in sick.\u201d<\/p>\n When N.N. freed himself from the second bracelet, he tossed the bolt cutter into the water and hauled the workbench toward the stone heap. \u201cAnd what\u2019s your name?\u201d Soledad asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNoe\u0301 Navarro, alias N.N.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s \u2018alias\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA nickname the police give you.\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. climbed the workbench and examined the stone heap, his fists on his hips. He noticed the rocks had crushed a section of the zinc roof and broken a hole through. Rain fell into the opening.<\/p>\n \u201cTalk to me,\u201d he said. \u201cI need to focus on where you are.\u201d \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBatman.\u201d<\/p>\n She giggled.<\/p>\n \u201cI aim to be rich.\u201d N.N. grabbed a rock from the top of the pile and dropped it into the water.<\/p>\n \u201cMe too! If I become half the star Sen\u0303orita Soledad was, I would have enough money to move with my papa\u0301 to a tall building in Castillogrande.\u201d<\/p>\n When N.N. removed the thirtieth stone, he uncovered a series of zinc roof tiles bent downward. He detached one and threw it aside, revealing Soledad\u2019s face. N.N. thought she was around nine years old\u2014five years older than his daughter. Soledad was black and her short Afro was pulled back with an aquamarine headband. A bed sheet depicting starfish floated around her. As she looked up, N.N. noticed her big eyes were both the same color. She wore a string necklace, from which hung a mermaid trinket.<\/p>\n Soledad grabbed N.N. by the chin. \u201cBrown, blue! The best Batman gaze ever!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s get you out.\u201d He wrapped his arms around her torso and drew her toward him, but he stopped when she moaned.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n Soledad said her legs were trapped beneath bricks. N.N. asked if she remembered how she had ended up like that. After watching a rerun of Nunca Te Olvidare\u0301<\/em>, she replied, her papa\u0301 had tucked her into bed and they had prayed for Dios\u2019s light to shine upon her math exam. Later in the night, she added, her papa\u0301 had shaken her awake and a brown torrent had knocked in the front door. The next thing she recalled was N.N. entering through the carpentry shop\u2019s window.<\/p>\n N.N. tugged on the starfish sheet and hurled it to the workbench. The floodwaters were up to Soledad\u2019s waist. It seemed as if she were trapped inside a small rock volcano. N.N. noticed enough space for him to get in, so he did. Soledad said water had been rising since he removed the zinc roof tile. He submerged himself and peered at the girl\u2019s legs, but he was blind in the murky liquid. As he surfaced, he touched the things wrapped around her knees\u2014bricks, a tree branch, maybe a doorknob, something resembling a doll\u2019s head, and another human\u2019s skin.<\/p>\n \u201cYou feel someone near?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnder my feet,\u201d she said, nodding. \u201cThat\u2019s my aunt\u2014I think. I hope that\u2019s not my papa\u0301.\u201d She squinted down and drew a deep breath. Then she picked up some muddy water and took it to her mouth.<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d N.N. said, shaking her forearm. \u201cIf you\u2019re thirsty, just say so.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m thirsty.\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. raised his arms to the sky, palms joined and pointing up. When his hands overflowed with rainwater, he let Soledad drink from them and told her to imitate him. While Soledad followed his example, he shoved several stones down the heap\u2019s side facing the workbench until the opening was big enough for him to swing his legs around it. The water was now up to Soledad\u2019s chest, and he asked if her papa\u0301 had a bucket somewhere. She shook her head but said the gardener across the street had one; she would borrow it to wear as a helmet when she practiced for the school play. As N.N. climbed out of the rock volcano, he assured Soledad he would be back.<\/p>\n N.N. exited the carpentry shop through the window and peered at the gardener\u2019s house. A muddy torrent tore at an oak, which was about to fall onto a Dodge truck. He spotted garden tools on the cargo bed and sloshed through to the other end, his torso inclined in the opposite direction of the current. After looking to each side, he climbed into the back of the pickup and rummaged through it. A branch creaked above. He noticed a pail\u2019s handle behind a hose, grabbed it, and jumped off the vehicle as the tree collapsed.<\/p>\n Minutes later, N.N. placed a zinc roof tile over the rock volcano\u2019s mouth. Soledad smiled at him through the U-shaped hole he had opened on the side.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich character are you in the school play?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mermaid from Nunca Te Olvidare\u0301<\/em>.\u201d She grabbed her pendant and showed it to him. \u201cBut I have to learn how to multiply or else my teacher will give the leading role to ugly Cordelia.\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. held up the pail. \u201cThis carries three liters. If I drew water from where you are twelve times, how many liters have I gotten out?\u201d<\/p>\n She shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to care\u2014if you want to follow Soledad Rivera\u2019s footsteps.\u201d He dunked the bucket into the rock volcano.<\/p>\n \u201cTry it. Figure out how many liters I\u2019ll dump behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n After N.N. pulled out the twelfth pail of water, Soledad said, \u201cThirty-six.\u201d He smiled. \u201cNow you know what three times twelve is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt can\u2019t be that easy.\u201d<\/p>\n He chuckled. \u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWill you come to my school play?\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s a bad idea.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can come with your wife.\u201d \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have a wife. Right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA girlfriend?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA Batmobile?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot yet. So, no.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have any friends?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot anymore,\u201d he said, frowning. \u201cYou always say no?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have children?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmmm….\u201d A grave robber can\u2019t be a papa\u0301<\/em>, he thought.<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat sounded like a yes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWrong.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I\u2019m not. What are their names?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou must have mud in your ears.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet me check.\u201d She wriggled her index finger in her earhole. \u201cI\u2019m still hearing a loud yes.”<\/p>\n N.N. grabbed her hand, staring at it. Her fingers were turning white, as if something was bleaching them.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at me,\u201d N.N. said.<\/p>\n Soledad obliged. Her face was swollen and her eyes were red. He hurried to extract more water from the rock volcano.<\/p>\n \u201cYou hear that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStop it already, Sole\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n A flood wave burst into the carpentry shop, cascading from the roof and spurting through the open window. It pushed N.N. to the ground. The water swirled him, shook him, and pulled him under. When he surfaced, gasping for air, the brown torrent hauled him underwater again. He remained conscious, but he closed his eyes.<\/p>\n When he freed himself from the current, N.N. found himself atop a mound of corpses, his stomach pressed against a young girl\u2019s dead face. She was younger than Soledad and his daughter. Sunlight warmed his skin while he vomited putrid water. A vulture landed beside him but leaped into the air when he shooed it away. He clutched his ears. A ringing sound had disoriented him\u2014until he heard a cry for help. Soledad was calling for Batman. He stood and headed toward her voice, but a sting in his leg stopped him short. A wood chisel had pierced his left thigh, and blood and mud dripped from the wound. He gazed up and realized the flood wave had destroyed and swept away most of the carpentry shop. But the rock volcano was still standing. He slid down the corpse mound, sank into chest-deep water, and limped his way to Soledad.<\/p>\n When she looked out the side hole and saw N.N. approaching, she said she didn\u2019t know how to swim. She was shaking and weeping. The water was up to her neck. He swore things were better, pointing at the sky. The downpour had turned into a drizzle. But she only calmed down when he reached over and patted her head. She grabbed his hand and pressed it against her cheek.<\/p>\n \u201cI need to find help.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t leave me again,\u201d she said, sniffling.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll only be for a short while.\u201d<\/p>\n She squeezed his fingers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need help.\u201d He glanced at his wound.<\/p>\n \u201cI forgot how to multiply.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re both losing our strength.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll let go if you promise to come to my school play.\u201d<\/p>\n He sighed. \u201cLook, girl, I\u2019m just a grave robber. Your principal will kick me out the moment I set foot\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n She embraced his arm.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n When Soledad released him, N.N. gazed around. Villa Rosita had transformed into a war zone of crumpled houses, stinking garbage, and human limbs. He waded back to the corpse mound, gripping his thigh. Vultures circled in the sky above the bodies. He grabbed a navy-blue purse whose strap had choked a teenager to death and unzipped it. After rummaging through, he pulled out a cell phone with a broken screen. He pressed the power button, but smoke swirled out. Soledad must understand if I leave<\/em>, he thought, the other girl did<\/em>.<\/p>\n As the sun rose and the water receded to waist level, N.N. continued searching for a working phone in the pockets and bags of different bodies. Until a ringtone went off nearby\u2014<\/p>\n Fito Pa\u0301ez\u2019s \u201cLlueve Sobre Mojado.\u201d He smiled, stared at the spot where the cheery music came from, and shoved two corpses aside. A cell blinked in a schoolgirl\u2019s grayish hand. As he reached for it, someone clenched him by the hair and wrenched him underwater, facedown.<\/p>\n N.N. pushed his head back, but somebody thrust it the opposite way. He kicked and punched, hitting no one. Just as he was about to suffocate, he was pulled out. N.N. gaped at a familiar face marred by a red scar.<\/p>\n \u201cHave some puto heart,\u201d Officer Rojas said.<\/p>\n Officer Rojas dragged N.N. to the gardener\u2019s Dodge truck, lifted him, and hurled him into the cargo bed. N.N. smashed his back against the fallen tree. A mower handle tumbled to his head. Officer Rojas climbed inside and handcuffed N.N. to a branch.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, wait! You don\u2019t under\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Officer Rojas kicked N.N. in the stomach two times. Five, seven, eleven times. N.N. mouthed \u201cSoledad,\u201d and Officer Rojas punched him in the cheek.<\/p>\n \u201cAny survivors?\u201d a staticky voice asked. \u201cCambio.\u201d<\/p>\n Officer Rojas grabbed a portable radio from his chest harness and pressed the push-to- talk button. \u201cOnly vultures in Buendi\u0301a Street. Cambio.\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. took a deep breath and shouted, \u201cSoledad!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou asking for more?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTen\u2013four,\u201d the staticky voice said. \u201cI\u2019m sending the search party to Remedios Square\u2014or to what\u2019s left of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSoledad!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll break your ribs,\u201d Officer Rojas said. \u201cSoledad!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBatman!\u201d<\/p>\n Officer Rojas turned at Soledad\u2019s cry. N.N. continued calling out her stage name while she replied by yelling his. Officer Rojas jumped down from the truck, sloshed through the muddy waters, jumped over the debris of the carpentry shop\u2019s front, and peered at the rock volcano\u2019s side. He said something into the portable radio while staring at N.N.<\/p>\n Ten minutes later, when the drizzle had ended, a group of six rescuers from the Red Cross and the Colombian Civil Defense arrived in an inflatable boat. A doctor extracted the wood chisel from N.N.\u2019s leg, disinfected the wound, and sewed it shut with three stitches. The other rescuers destroyed a big portion of the rock volcano with drills and sledgehammers, but Soledad was still surrounded by stones from the chest down. N.N. could only see the back of her short Afro and the orange lifejacket she now wore.<\/p>\n Officer Rojas and the rescuers left Soledad and gathered in a circle.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy did they stop?\u201d N.N. asked.<\/p>\n The doctor finished bandaging N.N.\u2019s thigh. \u201cLet me find out.\u201d<\/p>\n As the doctor went to rejoin the group, Officer Rojas headed toward N.N.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n Officer Rojas climbed into the cargo bed. \u201cWe\u2019re waiting for a pump.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat for?\u201d<\/p>\n He unlocked the handcuffs. \u201cThe rescuers say they could injure her legs if they continue drilling.\u201d He wrapped his arm around N.N. and helped him to stand. \u201cThey\u2019re blind in that murky water.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s figure something else out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is something else\u2014talk to her. She needs Batman now, not us.\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. took a step toward Soledad, but Officer Rojas put a hand on N.N.\u2019s chest.<\/p>\n \u201cJust be aware she\u2019s not making much sense.\u201d<\/p>\n As N.N. squatted in front of Soledad, he said, \u201cLet\u2019s review the multiplication lesson. Soon you\u2019ll be on your way to your math exam.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPa-pa\u0301….\u201d Her eyes, even the whites, had turned dark brown.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not Papa\u0301. I\u2019m Batman.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m cold.\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. jumped into the rock volcano\u2019s remains and hugged her. She shivered and gasped for breath. He grabbed the mermaid pendant hanging from her string necklace and asked her to tell him more about her character in the school play. She mumbled a series of incoherent words. Officer Rojas and the rescuers gathered around them. The doctor joined her palms and prayed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t just let her die,\u201d a blonde rescuer muttered.<\/p>\n \u201cShut up. We\u2019re waiting for a pump,\u201d Officer Rojas said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could amputate her from the knees down,\u201d the blonde rescuer whispered.<\/p>\n \u201cWith what surgical equipment?\u201d the doctor asked.<\/p>\n N.N. covered Soledad\u2019s ears while the rescuers continued arguing. She smiled on his shoulder. When she stopped breathing, he shut her eyes and embraced her tighter.<\/p>\n Half an hour later, three blocks away, a helicopter landed on a soccer field, which had survived the flood because it was on a terrace. Two rescuers pulled a pump from the cabin and carried it toward the rock volcano\u2019s remains. Officer Rojas extended his arm, which N.N. grabbed and held onto as he got out. A rescuer tugged the pump\u2019s ignition cord while another immersed its suctioning tube into the murky liquid. Bit by bit, the water level descended to show Soledad\u2019s legs, trapped from the knees down by debris and her papa\u0301\u2019s corpse.<\/p>\n When the night fell, N.N. was sitting in a police Humvee\u2019s passenger seat. He was wrapped in a space blanket. The doctor used a penlight to examine his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cIs there a family member or a friend I could call to speak about your situation?\u201d the doctor asked.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat situation?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour medical condition.\u201d She put a stethoscope to his chest. \u201cBreathe.\u201d<\/p>\n He inhaled, exhaled, and said, \u201cI\u2019m fine. And no, I\u2019m all by myself. Tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay. You\u2019re in shock. You haven\u2019t grasped\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m fine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you haven\u2019t externalized any emotion about Soledad\u2019s passing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s not\u2014she wasn\u2019t my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have muscle tension, a racing heartbeat, a clenched hand….\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAgain, I\u2019m fine. Ask Officer Rojas. I\u2019m used to dealing with cadavers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s true,\u201d Officer Rojas said as he sat behind the wheel.<\/p>\n The doctor helped N.N. to buckle up and closed the passenger door. Officer Rojas turned \u201cYour records show an old and a new address. Which one is home?\u201d Officer Rojas asked. \u201cWhere should I take you?\u201d<\/p>\n N.N. opened his fist. The mermaid pendant rested on his palm. Soledad N.N. had dug himself neck deep. \u201cWhy haven\u2019t I hit wood yet?\u201d \u201cFamily\u2019s request. They asked she be buried under at least nine feet of earth,\u201d Pedrito said, gazing down from the edge of the rectangular hole. He was holding a kerosene lantern. \u201cYou better hurry. It smells like rain.\u201d N.N. was searching for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8422,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":37,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/236magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/236magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/236magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/236magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8422"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/236magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/236magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1211,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/236magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1157\/revisions\/1211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/236magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\ncabrones<\/em>! Pedro sold me out?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nhis fingertips.<\/p>\n
\non the Humvee. N.N. half-smiled at the doctor while Officer Rojas drove away from Villa Rosita. As N.N. raised his window, he stared at the blonde rescuer zipping the body bag containing Soledad\u2019s corpse.<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\nJ.P. Bustamante was born and raised in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. He earned his MFA in Fiction at Boston University. His writing has received honors from both Glimmer Train<\/em> and the Cartagena Film Festival. During the first semester of 2018, the Nobel Museum in Stockholm invited him as a guest researcher. He hates talking about himself in the third person, but he will do it when asked. Currently, I\u2019m\u2014he is working on his debut novel, Kalamary<\/em>.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"