Even though the bus halted soon after it pulled into the Santiago, Chile terminal, Felipe’s thoughts continued to race.
Boy. Wasn’t I a jackass? he thought, removing his case from the aluminum luggage rack above the passenger seat and proceeding toward the front exit. What was I thinking? I loved Chad. And the poor kid, I swear, he nearly worshiped me despite the horrible way I kept treating him. … So, what am the Hell am I doing here in Santiago, all alone? I must be an idiot.
“But weren’t you afraid the authorities would soon locate you if Chad was with you?” an internal voice questioned. “After all, he was talking about using his credit card, and heaven knows that if he did, the Man would be on your trail in a heartbeat. Right?”
Felipe nodded. “Yeah. I guess.”
A nearby bus passenger suddenly stopped. “You guess?” a male passenger said, turning in Felipe’s direction as his medium blue pupils opened wider than normal. “What are you talking about, kid? Not to mention, who are you? Do I know you?”
Felipe instinctively returned his gaze and his cheeks turned bright red. “I’m sorry, Sir,” he squeaked. “I was ... a-h-h ... sort of talking to myself.”
“Oh?” The blond thirty-something guy appeared to be slightly irritated. “Perhaps you ought to drop by a psychiatrist’s office. They may be able to help. Okay?”
“Okay,” Felipe said, lowering his head. “Sorry.”
“Mmmph,” the voice inside Felipe’s head remarked as the guy continued down the terminal dragging his wheeled suitcase. “Americans are always so rude. I swear, someone should pack their cases and send them all back to where they came from.”
“Say what?” Felipe blurted, while quickly turning to see if anyone nearby might have heard him. Let’s just stop this nonsense and get back to the problem at hand. Okay?
“Okay. If you say so. So, what’s the problem besides your standing in the middle of one of the busiest terminals in all of Chile, and you ain’t got anyone here to reduce your stress level ... if you know what I mean?”
Felipe frowned. Yes, I know what you mean. But sex isn’t the cure for everything. Plus, if I really wanted that type of relief, there is a way to take care of it even if you don’t have a partner. Remember?
The voice paused before it replied. “Yeah. I recall,” it said with a slight chuckle. “But you’re not exactly thirteen anymore and I’m not exactly sure how efficient Rosy Palm and her four daughters might be. ... It’s been quite a while since you needed their services.”
Felipe shook his head as his cheeks burned crimson. Do you mind, Man? I mean, good lord. You shouldn’t talk about such things in public.
The voice laughed. “Aren’t you forgetting something, my psycho-friend? You’re the only one who can hear me.”
“Hmm. That’s right,” Felipe said, taking a slow three hundred and sixty-degree view around him. Still. Let’s change the subject.
“Okay,” the voice said before pausing for a second. “So, what are you going to do about Chad?”
Felipe entered the main bus station and after seeing how large it was, proceeded to search for his uncle.
The older gentleman was nowhere to be found.
“I don’t know,” he said, eventually answering the voice’s question. “But, at the moment, it seems we got a larger problem.”
“We do?”
Yeah. We do. ... Haven’t you noticed someone’s missing?
There was no response for at least a second.
“Yeah. I guess we do,” the voice finally said. “Where’s the old fart that’s supposed to meet us here? Did he change his mind or something?”
Felipe shook his head, no, and scanned the interior of the bus station again. Damn. I don’t see him anywhere. Let’s cruise toward the parking lot. Maybe he’s running late.
“He should have called if he was running behind,” the voice replied as they headed toward the station’s tinted glass front doors which were located about a hundred feet away. “Don’t you think?”
It would have been nice, Felipe was about to say when he felt a vibration in his left front pocket. His cell phone was ringing.
“Hello, Chad,” he said, bring it up to his ear after hearing Google announce the caller. “What’s up, Man? I was just thinking about you.”
“Hi Felipe, you stupid son of a bitch,” Chad replied. “Why in the Hell didn’t you tell me what you had done?”
Felipe automatically moved his phone a few inches away since Chad was shouting.
“Something I have done?” he repeated. “What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything. You know that, Bro.”
“No I don’t, you moron,” Chad said, lowering his volume a few notches. “Would you like to take a guess where I just came home from?
Felipe paused. “I have no idea. The beach? One of your parent’s jewelry stores?”
Chad chuckled. “I wish. Try the police station. Mom got a call asking me to go down there so I could answer a few questions. Thank goodness, most of what they asked, I couldn’t answer. And, of the ones I could, they said the info wasn’t particularly useful.”
Beads of sweat started to develop on Felipe’s forehead. “So they know about my cousin?” he softly mumbled.
“Yep,” Chad said, nodding. “Have you met up with your uncle yet?”
“No,” Felipe said, gazing through the bus station in hopes he might have missed him. “It looks like he might be running late.”
“I seriously doubt it, my friend,” Chad said, with a small laugh. “Most likely, he’s going to be a no-show.”
Felipe immediately turned dull white. “You’re not going to tell me ....”
Chad stayed quiet for a moment and let Chad sweat.
“That’s right, lover boy. I’d expect he got a call at least an hour ago, if not longer, regarding you and what you have done. You’re on your own, my friend, and, two to one, the cops there in Santiago have you on their scope as we speak.”
“You mean you squealed on me, you Bastard?”
“Yes and no you dumb bitch,” Chad calmly replied. “I did tell them enough to keep my ass from getting locked up, but not everything. Now if you’ll keep your trap shut and quit being an asshole, let me tell you what to do so I can possibly save your tail. And, by-the-way, you are going to owe me big time ... for the rest of your life. You understand?”
Felipe gulped. “Yeah. I understand. You’ve got me, Bro.”