43. Everybody Look at the Pile in the Center

A long silence followed the announcement from the loudspeaker. The men in the corral looked at each other. A low, soft murmur arose among them as they tried first to get confirmation from their neighbors as to what has just been announced then to collectively grasp their plight.

“That we’re all wrong?”

“Sí. And to prepare the people.”

“Wrong with vehicle papers?”

“That must be it because that’s all they asked about.”

“Everybody was wrong? That can’t be.”

“There must be a wave of vehicle thefts, and they're here to attack it.”

“No, these aren’t police.”

“They’re not the army either. They’re narcos.”

“Then why do they have me here? I’m not involved with any of that.”

“And what’s this about preparing the people? Prepare them for what? What people?”

“He must have meant his people-- the guards.”

Ervey said nothing, but his head turned busily in every direction that somebody whispered something. Occasionally he looked over at his companion. Lilo kept quiet and still but grinned nervously. His eyes panned the corral rapidly, turning back every now and then to make eye contact with the other mulateños. Ervey followed Lilo’s line of sight and caught a slight nod of acknowledgement from each of the two men. Ervey returned the gesture. 

“What do think is going to happen now?” Ervey whispered to Lilo.

“Shhhhht?” responded Lilo, “stay in contact with the other two.”

Seconds later the mulateño closest to the gate winced and indicated with his lips that something was happening behind the gate.”

“Whatever it is that’s going to happen, here it comes. Pay careful attention and just follow along and be helpful to us.”

Ervey turned to look at the gate. A rustling noise mixed in with metal clangs arose from behind it. A lot of movement of men could be seen through its wood slats. Then it swung back slightly and a stream of armed men rushed into the corral. As they were running in, half of the men went to ramp and formed a long line in front of it and ordered the captives lingering nearby to step away. As this line was forming, another group of armed men formed a perpendicular line on the opposite side of the corral from Lilo and Ervey. The heavy-set mulateño was slow to move away, prompting one of the guards to jab a rifle tip hard into this back. The offended man flopped forward and stumbled a few steps but in the end kept his balance and gamely look back as his tormentor, who ignored him and stepped back in line with his comrades. Both lines were soon completed and the men stood in silence, rifles leveled at their captives. The gate shut again.

Ervey looked over at Lilo, who was locked in a stare with the mulateño by the gate. 

Ervey studied the men in the L-shaped lines. Most of them were short, dark-skinned men in dark clothes. Some wore denims. They all wore snap-button western shirts, few of them tucked in. There was even less uniformity among the rifles they carried. While the prevalent model was an AK47 with a goat horn-shaped ammunition clip, there were few exact matches. Some were nickel-plated. Others were shinny black. And still others were simply dark brown from rust. There stocks were also different. The assortment ran from metal to rubber to wood and every possible combination. Some were short stocks, other long, and still others only the size of a pistol handle. Their state of repair also varied. Some of the rifles were in top shape, but others were so badly abused that their possessors ' must have had doubts over whether the weapon was dangerous at only the front end. 

“There’s more coming from the gate. Get ready, güey,” Lilo whispered to Ervey.

“Atención! Atención!” a man’s voice announced over the loudspeaker, "Everybody...."

A long pause followed. Then the gate swung wide open again, and a pack of men ran in carrying armfuls of odd objects. Each man dropped what he was carrying at the center of the corral and then walked back through the gate. Seconds later the center of the corral stood abandoned except for a pile of odds and ends. There were shovels, pieces of rusted metal stakes and fence posts, large wrenches, carpenter hammers, hatches, axes, and branding irons, among many other things.


The two lines of armed men trembled in anticipation of impending action. The penned men looked at each other in puzzlement and disbelief. Their whispers rose to full-throated complaints and questions.


Lilo looked at the rifles. Then he looked over the two Mulateños across the corral and made a slight chopping motion with each hand. 


"Damn their mothers that bore them. Güey, make sure to get an ax or anything with a sharp edge," Lilo told Ervey while locked in a stare-down with his countrymen, "don't forget we are four."


"What?" asked Ervey, "what's going to happen?"


"Just get ready," Lilo said, "Get..."


"Everybody look at the center," the man on the loudspeaker erupted, "we've provided weapons for almost everybody. You'll use them to defend yourselves against each other. Instead of punishing all of you alike, we're going to let you do it on your own and select for yourselves the ones who will go free."


Ervey looked over at Lilo and then at each of the two other Mulateños.


"Lilo...," Ervey started to say but was interrupted by Lilo.


"No, güey! Get ready to rush out to the pile. Remember what I told you!" he said sternly, still in visual contact with the other Mulateños.