Traffic

Celaya, west Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico State. Jack was tired of listening to the same things each time he met his uncles; every time was the same chat about his future and how the best to do was marry a woman from a noble and rich family so he could have something to live for. His obligation of bringing offspring to his family. What about his own opinion?  He sighed, feeling the usual frustration. When he found himself in this situation, he used to go to the barn, got on his horse and rode to a little river that lay some miles from the mansion. On the bank stood an oak where he liked to relax especially when he felt that his life was going to hell, which he felt very often that week. If he couldn't find a way to tell his uncles that he would get married whenever he was ready for, he would end up loathing them.  Sometimes he felt that they wanted him to get married and didn't care about what he wanted, as if their insistence had other intentions, as if they wanted to get rid of him. He shook his head discarding such a ridiculous idea. They loved him a lot; they took care of him since his parents died in a car accident eighteen years ago. They became his legal guardians and his only family.  He loved them too, there was no doubt, but he had to admit that in moments like that he didn't want to be near them. He was so fed up with their insistence to get him a wife, that he though seriously about finding a girl and introduce her as his fiancée and hope that they leave him alone. And it wouldn't be a problem; women admired him. His face was beautiful, he was tall, blond-haired, with eyes of a green and gray color, an inheritance from his family; his body was to kill for and he was remarkably intelligent. Besides, he had more money than he needed. Moreover, he was not in the age for being helped find a woman; he was 28, for God's sake! He was a mature and responsible adult. Too mature —he remembered what his uncle Alejandro told him once: that girls like young men and that at his age it would be hard to find a woman that wanted him for more than his money.  He sighed again. That comment hurt his pride, but he let it go. He stretched on the grass and looked at the sky; that place always helped him regain his good humor. He remembered the years when his father gave him his horse, the days when they used to ride together and they raced to that same tree. He missed that time strongly, but he couldn't have it back.  He smiled nostalgically, got on his feet and went for his horse that was drinking water. He wouldn't accomplish anything by getting depressed. He got on his horse and rode back home. He enjoyed speed, and his horse was the fastest of the barn; the cold wind whipped his face and made him forget all his worries. This was a life that he didn't want to lose. If he ever decided to get married, it would be to a woman who enjoyed the same things he did.  He left Black, his horse, in the barn; he removed the saddle, brushed its mane, and fed it some hay and oats. He closed the door and walked home. In the garden he saw his uncles, the twins Alejandro and Thomas Bailey, who were so similar in appearance that it was almost impossible to know who was who, though he found it easy. Not much people knew it, but those two were very different.  "Jack, you finally show up" his uncle said from afar. "You know we don't like you disappearing like that."  He looked at Uncle Alejandro; he was blonde, tall, and very handsome. He was around 40, though he didn't look like; his eyes were green and gray, like his, and above his smile laid a thick blonde beard. His eyes were kind; he was almost like a father to him.  "I just went for a ride with Black" he explained when he was in front of them. "I just needed to think."  "Think?" He heard his other uncle say with a trace of mockery, "I hope you were thinking about the woman you want for a wife."  Jack looked at his other uncle; despite of sharing the same features with Alejandro, his were different: his eyes were cold and intimidating; he never approached him smiling, nor treated him kindly. To be honest, he never was comfortable when talking to Thomas.  "What this insensitive man tries to say, Jack" he looked at his brother with a wince, "Is that we want you to be happy. If we are so insistent it is because we care for your future."  "I am happy! I like my life" he made it clear.  "Just stop acting like an immature child and get a wife!" Thomas was losing this patience; he smoked his cigar with a deep frown.  "You are not a child anymore, Jack" Alejandro put a hand on his shoulder. "Have you thought about what you want to do with your life?"  "You're right; I'm not a child anymore" he admitted. "And I'm very grateful to you for taking care of me all these years, but this is my life and getting married is a decision I will make, not you."  He smiled at them and walked to the house. Alejandro sighed, looked at his brother who was smashing his cigar on the ground. He looked quite angry.  "Stop, you brat!" Thomas roared; he was really upset.  Jack didn't listen; he just raised his hand in goodbye and entered through the back door.  "I'm fed up with him..." he whispered while his hand combed his hair back.  "You can't force anyone to get married" he said trying to convince him.  "Bullshit! Of course you can!" He looked at him as if he was the biggest moron on Earth. "And he left us no other option."  Alejandro's lips tightened. He didn't want to use that method, but Jack wasn't making it any easier.  "All right, do it," he passed a hand on his chin, "But we both will choose her. I don't trust your taste."  "Good," he pulled out his cell phone, "That is the only way we can keep the money."  "I know..." Alejandro said in a sigh. He was hoping that everything would be OK.