ESTRELLA MOGUEL
1273 Words
"When am I going to get my money back, young lady?”
The rogue-looking man broad shouldered, with a thick mustache and the rugged, sun-darkened skin of a hardened Mexican hustler gripped the young lady's cloth chest tightly.
Her mother lay on the floor, looking half-beaten already.
"I promise to pay you back. Please... just give us a little more time," She pleaded, her voice trembling.
"I need certainty!" the man demanded angrily.
He stepped forward and hit her face, the action made her roll and hit her face against the ground
Twenty-four-year-old Estrella Moguel, a beauty to behold, had brown eyes, long back hair, and soft caramel skin. The five-foot-tall lady weighed nothing less than fifty kilograms, she had seductive legs and an hourglass shape which was still obvious even though she appeared malnourished. There was no denying that she was the most beautiful attention-grabbing female in the village.
"On second thought... Estr..aella" he struggled to pronounce her name correctly, "Why don't you just marry Chief Antonio? He's had his eyes on you for a while."
He leaned in, his breath heavy with alcohol.
"Next time I come here and you haven't paid me, I'll sell you for double what you owe."
He dropped her abruptly, spat and he turned and walked out, his gang of intimidating men following closely behind.
She immediately turned to her mother, tears welling in her eyes.
"Mama, I warned you not to take money from that man. Now your business didn't work out, and what are we going to do? How are we supposed to pay him back?"
Her mother, still weak, replied softly, "What was I supposed to do, Estrella? Let you starve?"
The sadness in her heart reflected in her eyes, she wept bitterly then with a heavy heart she got up and tried to fix the damage caused by the angry men as they forced their way into the house. A fragmented wood sliced her middle finger, out of frustration she tossed everything to the side and sat hopelessly on the floor hiding her teary face in her palms.
The day was gradually coming to an end as the sunset over the depleted roofs of nearby houses. Estrella suddenly picked herself up and wiped her tears, the hope of better days gradually building up again in her heart.
********************
She found Castro at his usual spot, under the bent jacaranda tree near the market square.
All his focus was on the broken radio, trying his best to make it work, a similar situation with the rest of the villagers. He switched the position of his cigarette that had gone off a while a which he was oblivious to.
"Castro..." her voice cracked. "I need help."
He raised his eyes in amusement. Estrella was not the type to ask for help, no matter the situation, she was one of the few people who knew how to thrive.
"Castro my mother is in danger," she started, her throat dry and her eyes glued to the ground as if she was trying not to cry. "They're coming to harm us. We owe 130 pesos...”
His heart hardened, the last thing he ever wanted to see was her tears, he removed his cap immediately and unfolded the inner side of it, who would have known that his small cap had many compartments, it revealed some folded bills.
It was his nature, to save for the rainy day. And that belief had always come in handy just like today, and not just saving for himself but for those around especially for the girl around his heart.
"I'll handle it. "He cut through and avoided her gaze, not wanting to expose himself, the love and warmth in his eyes that he had for her was obvious, he had tried to hide it for years and today was definitely not one of those days to let the cat out. "Don't worry. I've got you." He tried so hard to sound reassuring.
Surprise mixed with gratitude she opened her mouth to say something but he had already turned away, his eyes drifting back to the radio. A familiar motion a comforting distraction from the tension between them. He didn't want to thank you he wanted her safe.
The following day, Castro was at the junkyard, the air filled with smoke, bad breath, and dirty work done by the loan sharks, which was exactly why he decided to go by himself, he didn’t want Estrella to face the unruliness. He submitted the 130 pesos with a gentle voice expecting a sneer. But something didn’t sit well with him. The boss of the group Mauro would not even look at him or the money.
"Not enough," he said, folding his arms.
Castro frowned. "It's all of it. That's what she owes."
"Not anymore," Mauro smirked. "Chief Antonio made us a better offer. Much better."
Castro felt his heart sink. "What kind of offer?"
The men exchanged a glance. One of them chuckled darkly.
"He wants the girl," Mauro said. "He says he'll pay handsomely if we deliver her. And we always honor a paying customer."
"You sick bastards," Castro snapped. “Don’t you have sisters?”
He was about to say something else when two Hefty men sprang up to his face. His instincts screamed for a sprint but it was too late. Before he could process the whole situation, he had landed on the ground, and beat him severely a proof of their occupation, when they were certain that he had passed out they fixed him into a trampoline and abandoned it in the river, they were certain no one would find him even after many days.
That night, Estrella waited near the tree, clutching the little locket Castro had given her once when she was sick. But he never came.
The next morning, they came for her.
Three men in dark coats. No explanations. No negotiations. The people watching didn’t bother them as they carried out their job. Estrella was helpless the men forcefully took her away. Her mother was struck several times as she tried to drag her daughter with the unknown men. She wailed on the floor as she watched them take Estrella, whose eye was also filled with painful tears.
Powerless. Estrella was thrown into the back of a truck like cargo, the door slamming shut behind her cries
Chief Antonio never got to enjoy his prize.
Three nights later, he was found dead in his villa. No wounds, no signs of struggle just gone. The servants said he went to bed alone and never woke up. Some whispered poison. Others said it was a curse.
Either way, his grip on the town died with him.
The men who had taken Estrella suddenly had no buyer. And with no buyer, she was a liability. An unwanted memory of a dirty deal.
They let her go.
No words. No money. Just left her on the roadside outside the city, bruised but breathing.
She walked all the way home.
When she reached the jacaranda tree, the radio lay still its metal steel rusting away like Castro's dreams, it reminded her of the way Castro would always try to fix broken things, broken people of the world.. She sat beside it, a wave of grief washed over her, she wondered what might have happened to him but somewhere in her mind she knew the loan sharks were involved in his disappearance. And for the first time in days, she wept not just for herself, but for Castro.
The boy who loved her in silence, and died trying to protect her.
- Writer
