Part 12 (2/2)
Since I saw no sign of an office, I approached the nearest group of domino players. They all smiled and said h.e.l.lo. I returned their greetings in Spanish. ”Would it be too distracting if I asked you men some questions?”
”It would be the most exciting thing to happen here all day,” said an old man in a Milan flattop straw hat. ”I am Filipe, and this is Antonio and Jorge, and this is the other Jorge.”
”I am looking into the Arturo Toledo murder. Anybody here remember that?”
”Are you with the police?”
”No. I am looking into it privately. Do you remember anything about it?”
”Of course,” said the other Jorge. ”That Dona Elena. Ay, what I would do for a few hours alone with her.”
”A few seconds should be enough in your case, old man,” said Filipe.
Even the other Jorge laughed.
Smiling, I said, ”Did any of you know Alejandra Delarosa?”
Felipe said, ”Everybody knows La Alejandra.”
”Really? Why is that?”
”She is La Alejandra.”
”I am sorry, but I do not understand.”
”'La Alejandra,'” he said. ”It means 'defender of the people.'”
”I see. Like Alexander the Great.”
”Except more greater.”
”Do all of you think of her that way?”
Everybody nodded.
”Because she killed Toledo?”
The one called Antonio said, ”May he rest in h.e.l.l.” Then he leaned to one side and pretended to spit on the ground.
The first Jorge laid a domino on the table.
”Do you mind if I watch you play?”
Felipe shrugged expansively. ”If you are so bored that such a thing seems like a good idea, go ahead.”
I pulled a chair over from a nearby table and sat. The men resumed their play. I pretended to be interested while I thought about what they had already said. ”Everyone knows La Alejandra. She is La Alejandra.” They spoke of her as if she were still a member of the community, an esteemed neighbor. I thought that was interesting.
After a few minutes I said, ”Why do you think she only took two hundred thousand dollars?”
They looked at one another with smiles. ”That,” said old Filipe, ”is only what they told the people on the television.”
”You think she took more?”
Everybody nodded. ”Much more,” said Felipe.
”What makes you think that?”
”Look around yourself. Could all of this be purchased for two hundred thousand dollars?”
”Felipe,” said Antonio. ”You talk too much.”
I glanced around the room. With its bare walls, concrete floor, and naked lightbulbs, I thought perhaps it could indeed be purchased for two hundred thousand, especially in that neighborhood. But the old men were clearly proud of their surroundings, so I kept that opinion to myself.
”Are you saying Alejandra bought this place?”
”Perhaps Antonio is right,” replied Felipe. ”I should just play dominoes.”
The old men were clearly proud of the Delarosa woman. They reminded me of a few people I had met who dropped Haley's name whenever possible, even though they barely knew her. I decided maybe I could play on their pride a little.
I said, ”I understand. She is a murderer after all. Some things are too shameful to discuss.”
”Shameful!” said Felipe. All the old men glared at me. ”La Alejandra is forever clothed with honor.”
”Please forgive my ignorance. I misunderstood.”
”Indeed you did. La Alejandra has done great things for her people in exile. She repaired the roof over at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. She supports this place of sanctuary and the food bank and the legal resource center and the South Alvarado Free Clinic. And the most important thing of all, she took vengeance for the disappeared. And you sit there and speak of shame.”
”Truly, I had no idea.”
”Obviously not. Who are you, anyway? If you are La Migra, you have come to the wrong place. Everybody here is an American now.”
”No, no. Nothing like that. I am just a guy who heard about what happened, and I always wondered what became of her.”
”That is something you will never know. No person in the barrio would betray her.”
”So she still lives here?”
”Felipe, you old fool,” seethed Antonio. ”Be silent.”
All of the old men sat still and stared at me. The men at the other table did the same. Clearly I would get no further information there, and although not one of the men was below the age of seventy, from the looks in their eyes, I decided it was wise to go.
18.
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