It was an itinerant road block, the kind that travelers in Mexico encounter throughout the country. There is no standard for them. They take many forms, and are put up by different government agencies, not all of them focused on security. The roadblock Ervey and Lilo ran into that day was of the lightest version, also ubiquitous everywhere in Mexico. It consisted of a simple molotov cocktail made out of a 750 ml beer bottle placed in the middle of each lane on the road. Fifty meters behind it stood a sentinel showing off a long massive rifle. As traffic cowed in his presence, he pointed with his weapon to the shoulder of the road, where a team of equally well-armed men awaited. They were backed up by a pair of Lobos with dark tinted-glass and heavy-duty bumpers, one pointed in each direction. Anybody trying to race through the roadblock was guaranteed a violent response.
"You think so?" Ervey said angrily and shifted the Kodiak through a rapid succession of lower gears to slow it down to a crawl.
The Kodiak moved off the road onto the unpaved bar ditch, raising a thick cloud of dust. The crew waiting to accost it stood back until the dust cleared. A few seconds later two rifle-totting men in pointed cowboy boots, black jeans and dark sunglasses approached them, one headed to Ervey's side of the truck and the other to Lilo's side.
"Hmmm," hummed Lilo.
"What? What?" whispered Ervey, his jaw tight with desperation.
"I can hardly believe it. " said Lilo in a loud, cajoling voice, his head sticking out through the window and bearing a wide grin, "bad weeds don't die."
The pair of sentries halted and took a long look at Lilo, who now also raised his hands and showed them men his open palms. They looked at each other and leveled their rifles in the direction of the Kodiak.
"Qué pasa, cousin, that now that somebody's thrown you a bone you don't recognize anybody."
The man closest to Lilo got closer to the truck. He then stood below his window and studied Lilo a few seconds, rifle at the ready.
"Cousin, how long has it been?" he finally said, but not reciprocating a smile.
His companion, who had frozen in step when Lilo first spoke, looked over at him and raised an open hand to his partner to ask what was going on.
"Está bien. I know this one," the first sentinel said.
"You're looking old, cousin. How must I look?" said Lilo.
"Well, you're looking a lot older because you are," said the man, now lowering his rifle and extending a hand to Lilo.
"And your family, your father and , Pilo?" said Lilo.
"They're all fine. My father's alone now in Mulato. Pilo, and all my brothers are now on the other side. One's in Kansas, another in Oklahoma, and the youngest one's in Odessa," he answered, now shaking Lilo's hand.
The man then took a few steps back to make eye contact with his companion. He then motioned with his hand for him to proceed to inspect the back of the truck.
"So what do we do now? Get off?" Lilo asked.
"No, está bien. My partner's just going to take a quick look in the back," he answered.
A few seconds later they heard from the man in the back.
"A pile of bundles," the man inspecting the back of the truck said, "ask them what's in the sacks."
"Door lock kits," said Lilo, "for one of the hardware stores in Ojinaga.
"Door locks!" said the man outside Lilo's window to the man in the back.
"And a big metal safe?" was the answer, "what's in it?"
Lilo turned to Ervey.
"Nothing. It's new and going to be sold by the same store getting the door kits," said Ervey.
"Nothing inside because it's going to be for sale at the store!" said Lilo's acquaintance.
"Está bien. They can go," said the man in the back.
"Adelante," said the man next to Lilo, "pardon the inconvenience, but we have to do this."
"Nothing to pardon. Please give my regards to you're relatives. That next time they're in Chihuahua, they have a humble home they can count on," said Lilo.
Ervey stepped on the gas pedal and the Kodiak was off.
When the truck had gotten back on the pavement and they were well clear of the road bock, he blew out a long breath.
"Damn. What was that?" he asked Lilo, "you're relative."
"No. Just the brother of a guy I grew up with in Ojinaga after his family moved there from El Mulato," said Lilo, "they were good people, but this one was always in trouble."
"So he's now a policeman?" asked Ervey.
"No. He's still making trouble," said Lilo, "that's how it is."
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