Trojillo . . . Again

1/'04

We've been here like only eight er ten days. Besides us there's only one other occupied space on the rancho, that's Roberto's camp on Malicon beach. He'd taken off for a several-day venture to somewhere else. So, essentially, we were by ourselves. It's martini time, us around a fire. There was no wind so the whole surrounding area lay pretty quiet.

Our dog Puppy, who isn't any more," perked her large scooped ears ("Scoops" we call her as nickname) and gives a muted, "woof," off towards where rancho road crosses into the place. Then she drops this level of alertness like its not more than false alarm. But then shortly she comes back to that condition, this time giving a full-fledged bark, or rather several. We hear it too then. Sounds of a vehicle start bouncing off rock walls and making ways into our space. "Roberto?" both Marcia and I speculate...but then as this disturbance closes we think we detect, perhaps, a different carro. After all, people do find their way in here to camp.

Marcia, thinking that this contraption might be actually coming up our camp's drive, walks out front to investigate, and now the dogs are significantly sounding an intrusion alarm. Then she hollers for me to leave glow of coals. "It's red," she hollers. "David. I think it might be Saul's."

Sure enough, when I get out where I can see fairly well, it's red, and it's a getting-beat-up Jeep Cherokee, and as it gets yet closer I lose all doubt as to who's vehicle it is...and this truly puzzles me, 'cause at the gate there's a combination lock holding chain tightly stretched between two metal fence posts. And my next thoughts are concerns as to just who holds this combination? Saul sure as hell not being one we'd want with that information.

This carro works its way right up to our yard gate, me advancing in that direction, me thinking that I'd soon find myself in unwanted conversation with this big gorilla of a beast. But then I'm surprised further by the quick-get-away maneuver that its driver throws his machine into...and there they go, me actually waving to them, and them, meekly, wavin' back at me.

The guy on the passenger side I definitely recognized as Trojillo's younger brother, someone who's always been taunting me from the background whenever his brother and I have had face-to-face confrontations. The driver had hunched way down in his seat but still that big, fuzz-covered dome of Saul's was unmistakable. Puzzlement I fell into as I walked back to warming fire, from which Marcia, Puppy and I followed the sound pattern of a hasty retreat.

"Damn?" I questioned. "What the hell was that all about?"

Marcia was, perhaps still is, convinced that he'd made this uninvited entry solely to say to me, "Hey! Don David, in yer face! Now what are you going to do about it? Ha. Ha."

I wasn't sure.... Because we had not seen each other since our return, because we'd just been holed up back in this hidden spot since arriving, I thought there was a chance that he'd assumed we'd not gotten here yet. Their retreat upon seeing our presence here sure as hell didn't give me that "in yer face" impression. To me they'd looked sheepish, like, "Oh, shit! They're here!"

Anyway, if this had been a stupid attempt to try and intimidate us, me in particular, or anger us, well, it did neither, but rather left us two chuckling. However, we did resolve to checking that gate the next A.M., when I'd build it into my morning exercises. I wanted to check on just who had that lock's combination, too.

Well next morning I do get up and get through my stretches and then I'm outta here on a brisk walk. I love walking here and these trails that we take are really good conditioning both for lungs and foot/eye coordination. In no time I'm approaching gate and first sighting pretty much tells the story. The chain is on the ground, the left side post, the drivers side upon entry, is flattened to the ground.

Both of those brothers are big, fat men. The steel post had not been strong enough to stop determined drunks, which, Saul and his brother, when they're in the area, they most surely are.

"Stupid," I say to self as I quickly observe the evidence and continue on towards San Cosme, to Alejo's place. The tide was out but for the vigorous effort required I took the high-tide, over-low mountain, historic El Carrizalito trail. I was pleased to see that Saul was no longer trying to hinder pedestrians or animal travel on this. Hey! Hey! A small victory from battles we'd waged the previous year.

In good shape I arrive at Alejo's place and spread the news as to what we had witnessed. Alejo questioned if I was sure. "Without a doubt," I responded. There's been no other vehicle either in nor out of the rancho, and it was Saul's, fresh tracks that were plainly evident. Chayo being gone I asked Maria to please fetch me a camera I'd given him especially for documenting such things. It didn't have batteries but Guadalupe eventually scrounged up some.

Their suggestion was to call the law. Julio stated that his cousin was a state judicial policeman, the same one who'd shown last week-of-Easter when they'd had ranch entry problems. Leaving that in their hands I returned by the low-tide-pass route, specifically to check out Saul's red carro, which I'd seen, parked there in his compound, from high up on that trail. Sure enough, same carro, couldn't easily mistake it for another. Sure enough, I see two hulking forms watching me go by, and they appear to be just up from long drunk.

I get back to camp and fill Marcia in. She wants to know if I'm going to right that fence post but I decline that direction, preferring to wait and see if any law does indeed show up. I'm working away in my shell-working palapa when dogs go off that mid-afternoon, me essentially having forgotten above situation.

It's a small white pickup and its got like five er six visible passengers, this all pulling up through our open gate, Alejo at the wheel. It's not his but the Delagada's driver doesn't know beans about the hazards of the rancho road, so Alejo'd had to handle this.

The smiling face of the Delagada is staring out third-person passenger-side windshield. Hey. Hey! Local law has arrived. The Delagada gets out and I greet her warmly. She's such a sweet personage and she'd been so much help to us the past season. Alejo and Julio set into telling me that the judicial police couldn't spare vehicle nor manpower but they'd called the Delagada and asked her to make a report. And this, after seeing things with her own eyes, she set into doing, her having just a little bit of problem spelling out the words.

While she's doing this Julio and Alejo and her driver, Alejo's nephew from Agua Verde, set into talking out the details. Si Si, they're all in agreement that the evidence spoke for itself. I told the Delagada that I'd taken photos.

Julio was particularly fired up at this chance to throw a good punch. All the time that we'd been gone Saul had repeatedly trashed fence and entered rancho, but never with witnesses. The Delagada finished the labored penmanship and all hands signed on as witnesses.

In three days time, in Loreto and with Sr. Yee, our attorney, a damanda against Saul was duly initiated.

Email: david@dondavidonbaja.com