1The Confession Of Ernesto
By: Agent of Doom
My name is Ernesto and before I tell you anything else I want to let you know that I am not gay, even though my name sounds it, I am in fact not gay. This is my seventh full year in prison and I'm here to tell you of my confounding story. The story that everyone wants to hear. The story that everyone believes is true.
It was a Monday the day of the week everyone hates. I was leaving El Paso for a reason at the time I would have preferred not to discuss. It was around 3:23 in the morning and I was on my way to the airport in El Paso preparing for my flight to Switzerland. I made my mind up that I had to get out of Texas and go some place where I would be safe and unexpected. My plan was to change my name and get a new job. At the time I was going to the airport, there was a spectacular storm going on. I was over joyed that I was not driving and had in fact called a taxi. I recall, the clouds rolled in fast but seemed to linger before the rain came. The clouds were a dark and dangerous gray with touches of light gray around the outside. ( Or at least it looked that way. The clouds covered most of the sky so it was hard to tell for sure.) About after a minute the skies opened up. The rain come down in buckets. With the windshield wipers going full blast, it was still impossible to see out of the front of the car. The wind was whipping like you wouldn't believe. A tree branch had fallen onto the road a head of us. The car in front of us slammed on its brakes. The man got out of his car and began to move the branch. Mind you it was quite big and just moments before the man got out of his car, the lightning had started. Not only did it light up the entire sky but the 'zig zag' stood out. You could see it hitting the ground and shortly after you would feel the thunder shake the entire car. That man is crazy moving that branch in weather like this. I thought. Even though he could not hear me I screamed at him from inside the taxi
" I don't find this at all amusing ! You could be killed!"
Not that it mattered to me if he died or not. I had played God only a short while ago.
When we got to the airport I got out of the taxi payed the lady and then went inside to check my luggage. Fortunately for me the storm was settling down. What a storm it had been. Not only a storm of nature but a storm that was so destructive it reminded me of events from the previous day. The storm had delayed air-transportation and I was soon sitting in the airport waiting to board the plane. It seemed like eternity waiting for the plane to start boarding. I was in constant fear every time a security officer walked by.
About an hour after arriving, I was called to board the plane, being in seat 12F I was one of the last to board. Most of my luggage was checked except for a wad of cash, some snacks, my wallet and a pillow which I had stuffed into an Addias backpack I was using as a carry on. I then tried to fit the knapsack under the seat in front of me. Having no success I was forced to throw it into the overhead compartment.
" Excuse me, would you mind moving so that I could put my bag over head?" I asked the girl sitting next to me.
" No problem." she replied
She was a pretty latina. She had dark brownish colored skin, long straight black hair that was straight. She had brown eyes that were accented by long eyelashes. I'd say she was about five-five and she wore faded jeans and a tight brown shirt that swooped down into a low cut V. Her boots were black and had a cowboy style to them. She was quite the pretty young thing that everyman on the airplane was looking at. After I put my backpack in the overhead compartment, I returned to my seat next to the window. As the remaining people were ushered to their seats, the stewardess started their safety procedures. I drifted off when they came to "to unfasten your buckle lift up and pull apart.
We started to taxi down the runway, that's when I woke up. The force of gravity pulled back, throwing everyone back against their seats. This brought me back to eighth grade when we were learning about Newton's Laws of Motion. There was a final jolt and the front wheels of the plane lifted off the ground. As we pitched backwards to gain altitude, a baby started to wail. The air vents were on full blast creating a large hum. My ears started to plug and finally the pressure became too much and they popped. I've never had anything hurt so bad in my life. Of course it didn't help having a double ear infection. When we started to level off at cruising altitude I glanced out my window. The lights from the city seemed to be winking at you. They looked like a thousand stars waiting to be dispersed into the sky at an appropriate time and place.
The storm had passed but the remains still lingered. The clouds were billowy and even larger than they had looked on the ground. It was dark so the clouds were hard to see but when the lightning flashed it lit up the clouds. They were purple, pink, blue and a light colored gray. Every time the lightning flashed a new image appeared. One flash looked like an angry face...line Ezkiel's face! I gasped. The attractive latina next to me looked up from her book.
" Anything wrong?" she asked
All I could do was stare at her a babble. What I think came out was
"Aabah...head...but...no! He was dea... cuz.. I ..."
I turned to stare back out the window, hoping to see that image again. It never came. Oh my gosh! She must think I'm nuts. I thought. I tried to fall back asleep but the image from the clouds haunted me. I kept shifting my position, tossing and turning as much as the restrictive belt would let me. I felt the urge to talk, but to who. I thought, talking will keep my mind of what I have done. Suddenly I had an idea, I would talk to the latina next to me. This could be a problem. I've never been one to speak first but there was something about the girl next to me that compelled me to talk. To tell her about my life, all of it including my latest troubles. But first I started with an introduction.
" My name is Ernesto and as you know I'm sitting next to you in seat 12F.
She replied in a snotty voice,
" My name is Aleta. It's nice to meet you."
The conversation continued and I asked her what line of work she was in. She told me that she worked in many different places but she was currently on her way to Switzerland to model some clothes. The conversation began to slow on the account of me being exhausted. I drifted off once again but each time before I'd fall asleep I'd see Ezkiel's face. The same image I'd seen in the clouds. I sat up suddenly with out realizing it is said
" I can't take it any more the image keeps coming back."
" Why don't you tell me about it." Aleta said " I'm a shrink I can help."
" But I thought you said earlier that you were a model?"
" Ah, Yes as one of my many professions."
It appeared she was trying to convince herself more than me.
" Lets start off slow, " She said. "What line of work are you in?"
This being a simple question I decided to tell her,
" I'm into serious banking."
"Wow, really? Now what is the difference between banking and Serious Banking?"
I proceeded to explain to her...
"Serious Banking is a bit different than banking because there is not just one main banker but two bankers who are at the top of the business. Its sort of like an king and a queen instead of a president. There is also another major difference between banking and Serious Banking. With Serious banking we are more strict on pay back dates for debt, college loans and mortgages."
She countered the explanation with,
" How are you more strict? What do you do if they don't pay back the money in the amount of time or on the date scheduled?"
Now this was the question I was both trying to avoid and also bring up. Aleta seeing that I was uneasy with the question, changed the subject. We eventually started chatting more about our lives and our childhoods but, I don't want to bore you with the small talk because the conversation lasted about half an hour. As the conversation began to drag Aleta questioned,
" May I ask why you chose to fly Pan US?"
" I didn't choose to fly Pan US, I was rather in a hurry to leave El Paso. This was the quickest flight out and I had to take it."
At this point I felt the urge to confide in Aleta. Sighing I said,
" The reason I left El Paso in such a hurry was because of my job. My partner Connor and I had some business to take care of. One of our clients Ezkiel had taken out a large mortgage about twenty some years ago. At the time he could pay it back with interest. But soon he slipped into debt. After losing his wife he resorted to drinking. After sometime had passed his bar tabs began to grow. He lost his job to drinking and the money he had left went to paying off his bar tabs. He use to work at Harvey's Restaurant, that was all I knew about him. No family that I knew of, although sometimes he was sweet on this older lady. If you ask me there was somethin' goin' on between the two. Connor doesn't like it when someone doesn't pay their payment. Our motto was 'Warn them first then take care of business' So that is what we did, and when he didn't send in his next payment that is when Connor got mad."
"What did Connor do?." she asked with anticipation.
" Hang on I'm gettin' there!"
I took a breath before I continued.
" Connor decided that we should handle Ezkiel personally. By personally he meant me. Since I was somewhat new to the business, Connor decided to have me learn what happened to the people who didn't pay us back first hand. A few times I tried to get Ezkiel out of the fix. You know let him off before it was too late. I liked Ezkiel, he was always friendly to me. He'd even give me discounts when I'd order in bulk at the restaurant. But in the end it came down to me having to do my job I can recall the encouraging words Connor gave to me that day before I left work. He said " Don't worry about tomorrow it will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today " I asked him where he heard something like that. His reply was " Oh, I found it in this really old book in my house. The book's title was Bible, no idea who write it. I was going to burn all the old book in my house and that one fell off the shelf onto the floor. It opened up to that page. I kind of figured they are some words of encouragement before you go and take care of your assignment.""
At this point I could think of nothing else to say with out sounding to eager to tell my story. I was trying to think of a way to bring the rest of the story up casually but nothing was striking me. A few rows behind me I heard a child exclaim,
" Look Mamma, look at the big fast train in the movie. Mamma, Why are the cars sitting still? Is it because they like to watch the train?"
" No honey, they are waiting for the train to go by so they can cross the tracks."
This sparked another memory of the previous day and before I knew it I blurted out,
" I never liked train crossings. Before then I was fine driving across them. For example this one particular time on the way to my 'job', I had to cross the train tracks. I was coming from work, getting my final instructions from Connor when just yesterday, as I was about to cross the tracks the car cut out on me. I tried so hard to get it started, nothing. There was even a full tank of gas. The car shook suddenly from the wind of a much bigger object passing by perpendicular to my car. I looked up, an express train was whizzing by, and the signals had never come down, the lights weren't even flashing. After the train had completely gone by I noticed the car was running again. At that point I thought someone is watching over me. It creped m e out"
"Wow how could you go on with your job if you had this feeling. I would never have been able to do that. You must be really devoted to you job. Most people I know would have to get something out of their job or not get something out of it in order to be that devoted."
" To be truly honest, I'm one of those people. If I didn't complete my job it would be both of our lives that would be lost. I know what you are thinking why not go to the police? The thing is if I did go to the police about our business not only would I risk my freedom but also my life. There are people all around to make sure that nothing happens to the business."
"Ah, I see. So what happened? From the way you talk about it you are not to pleased with what you did and you also seemed terrified."
" I'll start from the point where I arrived is that alright?" She nodded.
" His house was like one of those modern day log cabins. This job is going to be easier that I thought it would be! When I'm done all I have to do is burn the place down. My plan was to wait until dark before I did my 'job'. That way no one would see me walk up to the house. I'd wait by the stop sign where his house would still be in sight. As I waited by the stop sign at the end of the street, just make sure everyone was asleep, the neighborhood watch car came around. Crap. I thought I'm busted now! During the short talk to the old lady in the car I explained that I was waiting for my parents to come and pick me up. She generously offered me a ride but I refused. My parents give me a ride? Where did that come from? I haven't talked to my parents in four years. Besides my car was parked in the alley by the dumpster. The heat from the day was beginning to drift upwards and I knew that time was drawing closer. The street lights came on and I knew it was time to go. I started to get cold feet and not just literally. I snuck over to he house grabbed the key from under the door mat and walked in."
The fight attendants came along at this point to see if anyone wanted a refreshment or a snack. I ordered a whiskey sour. In one gulp I finished it and asked for a Mountain Dew. After my refreshing drink I continued to tell Aleta my story.
" I found Ezkiel sitting in his chair by the fireplace. I said hello to him. He jumped out of his chair so fast it looked as if he was already standing. You could tell he had been drinking. I addressed him and told him he needed to pay us some money right then or there would be consequences. He told me he had no money and could not give us even a penny. I knew what I had to do. I reached for my back pocket... pulled out my faithful switch knife. Opening the knife before bring it to the front of my body I was prepared to execute the plan. Quickly drawing it to the front of my body I aimed for the heart and threw the knife. I stabbed him once. As I retrieved the knife blood gushed out of the wound. The blood was dark red, it soon mixed with the blue shirt he wore. The circle of blood on his shirt got darker and darker, the blood began to spread across his shirt. I had told him, "You will never again mess with the business of Connor and Ernesto." My first kill, I was both happy and ashamed of what I had done. Still this meant a bonus from Connor and maybe a raise in position. After making sure he was dead I cut an electrical wire and placed it in a puddle of gasoline. I doused the rest of the house with gasoline as fast as I could because I knew the house would burn fast. I soon realized I had to pass the place where I had cut the wire in order to get out of the house. I rushed passed the wire... just as I reached the door I realized there was no smoke or heat! I turned back and realized the wires had not started a fire. I was in luck that I had forgotten to take my lighter out of my pocket earlier that day. I took it out and began to stare at the puddle of gas. I started to panic. My face is burning up, I smell smoke. I thought. I started to gasp for air. Suddenly I heard a voice saying " Stop hyperventilating you haven't even lit the lighter yet to set the place on fire." I think it was my voice that brought me out of the trace but I had no way of being sure. I lit the puddle and tore out of the house. I jumped from shadow to shadow in my black clothes to get back to my car. Before I reached my car I put my empty lighter in the flower patch around the mailbox. I had no more use for it seeing as it was empty.
Getting my car out of the alley was a bit more difficult than I thought. When I got there I was in a panic to begin with. It took me a few moments to place my supplies in the trunk. My dark clothing was replaced with regular everyday clothing. As I closed the trunk, I realized I had some what of a flat tire. Oh no! I thought the house is going to be in a blaze soon. I decided to start my car and drive out of the development to the nearest gas station where I would change my tire.
Passing that modern log cabin you could see an orangish-yellow glow coming from the inside of the cabin . By the look of it, this house was taking longer to burn than I thought. Rather than stopping to investigate why it was taking so long to burn and risk being caught I decide the best thing to do was to get out of the development. I drove about nineteen miles to the nearest gas station and had the service man change my tire for me. From there I decided to get a quick bite to eat. I grabbed a burrito and a bag of chips while the repair man was fixing my flat. I was shortly informed that I'd have to wait for my car to be fixed until the next day. The intern had lost the nuts that would screw the tire back on. I called a cab and we headed for my apartment. We were about five minutes from the gas station when we had to pull over for a fire truck. I knew where it was headed.
We reached my apartment about fifteen minutes later, I payed the cab driver and entered my apartment. As I was about to nod off the idea came into my mind of what the headline would read on tomorrow's paper. "Man of 68 dies of smoke inhalation while house burns down in electrical fire" what a great day it had turned out to be. I fell asleep with this idea running though my head. I woke abruptly to the phone ringing. It was Connor.
"The FBI are at Ezkiel's house, the news is saying that the FBI thinks its to fishy. You had better get out of town for a while. I'll let you know when the coast is clear to return. Do you have your passport?"
"Yes, where am I going?"
" I'm sending you to Switzerland. Call a cab, your ticket is waiting for you at the airport."
I called a cab, and was surprised to get a pick up at 3:23 a.m.. Despite the weather my things were placed into the car and we drove off. It was a ten minute ride despite the awful weather.
TO BE CONTINUED...