On Saturdays, I write fiction. This is the fourth episode about Celeste. She is a 90-year-old woman in a retirement center. I visit her weekly and I’ve learned a little about her interesting life. She first got connected to a different environment through a poster in second grade that was Pearl the carnival clown and Opal; in third grade it was Ruby and in fourth grade it was Jasmine.
*****
Celeste starts.
Also in fourth grade, I helped Jasmine with a secret project that lasted several weeks.
I had learned to time my restroom breaks to when no other girls would be in the bathroom. I also always saw Jasmine when I went into the bathroom, and she would always greet me with a hug, but rarely took me through the glass.
It was late in October, just a week before Halloween when I went to the restroom and Jasmine was there to greet me.
Jasmine said to me, “Hurry up, use the toilet, but we have a project today”.
I did as I was asked and soon was climbing through the mirror with Jasmine.
We stopped in that area just beyond the mirror. She gave me directions.
“We’re going on kind of a secret mission. We can’t be seen and will be invisible to others, but we can act. A family depends on us.” She gave me a black outfit - even though she sprayed some kind of invisibility potion over both of us. Grabbing my hand she pulled me out of my world and into hers.
We landed in a wooded area among mountains and it was nighttime and with a new moon.
“This is Nicaragua”. She said, “The family we are watching is in that house over there”. She pointed to a shack of a house.
That didn’t mean much to me. Yes, I had geography class and remembered that Nicaragua was near Mexico but that was about it.
But, we weren’t quite alone. As we watched a gang of men - maybe in their 30s or 40s - surrounded the house and the head person, like the leader of the gang, went to the door. He kicked the door in instead of knocking. The family was around a table eating a late dinner after a long day of picking coffee beans. They jumped when the door came crashing inward.
The gang carried guns and the leader pointed his gun at the father of the family. Somehow, the invisibility potion also let me understand Spanish.
“We are taking your daughter”, said the gang leader.
“NO”, screamed the father. The leader knocked the man unconscious with the butt of his rifle.
(“Follow me”, said Jasmine.)
The thugs grabbed the daughter and shot the eldest boy in the foot to keep him from following the gang. The last child was a boy aged three and he wasn’t going to be a problem. The mother would have her hands full with her unconscious husband and a teenage boy with a bullet hole in his foot.
*****
(Jasmine had a rope and had picked up a short board. “They can’t see us but they can see us. When they get outside yell rape, fire, bomb, whatever as loud as you can. You can mimic me”)
As the thugs dragged the girl out of the shack, the leader grabbed the back of the girl’s shirt in a grip so the girl couldn’t run away.
Jasmine yelled, “Hey losers - we’re watching you”. Ralph, the leader, turned a full circle looking for where the voice was coming from - but didn’t see anybody. After three seconds, I yelled, “Losers, losers, losers”. I was on the other side of the front door. That should have confused them more - and it did.
Jasmine yelled, “Over here, losers”. Ralph, still holding the girl, asked Marco to take the girl. As the boss, he had to be the leader.
I was watching the exchange and as Ralph got close to Jasmine - who was moving as she yelled - I yelled “Hey losers you’re going the wrong way. I’m over here.”
Ralph stopped dead in his tracks. “Speaking to his crew of the four remaining others, “I think there are two of the bitches. Juan and Julio, go to the left, and Alex and Carlos, go to the right.”
That could have been a good plan, but the four thugs were facing him - so his left was their right. Did he mean to go to “my” left and go to “my” right?
Ralph quickly corrected himself - Juan and Julio to MY left; and Alex and Carlos, to MY right.
It still took the gang a second to figure that out. But, by that time, neither Jasmine nor I were yelling. I could see Jasmine sneaking in behind Marco who was holding the girl. She had picked up an old two-by-four board that was lying next to the house and walloped Macro across the face - it was enough to knock him out, and he might have a concussion, but that was partially what he deserved being part of this gang.
(“Run,” whispered Jasmine to the girl)
I had seen Jasmine whack the man, so I moved farther from her and yelled, “LOSERS”. It was about halfway between the two groups and closer to Ralph.
In a low call, I said “Psst Ralph. I’m right in front of you.
Ralph had heard me. He had his gun out and was cautiously walking toward me. But, I’m an eleven-year-old girl, very agile and invisible to others (at least that’s what Jasmine had said).
The ground between Ralph and myself was grassy. I didn’t have a two-by-four, but I had surprise and agility on my side. I did have a fist-sized rock in my right hand (and I am right-handed), and I rushed upon Ralph and smashed the rock in his face, followed by a fistful of sand and dirt from my left hand into his face and eyes. Then I jumped and caught a branch on a coffee tree and pulled myself up. The rock probably broke his nose and broken noses bleed.
Ralph yelled something profane but I was now about eight feet off the ground and quiet. If he hadn’t been screaming, my climb might have made a little noise, but with his screaming, I could have been a freight train making noise over rough tracks.
The girl, Gisella, went back into the house and said that there was a group of cops or law enforcement in the yard fighting Ralph and his thugs. Ralph had assumed a quick getaway with Gisella and he could sell her into prostitution for maybe $1000 - not a bad night. But, with the battle outside she had come in to check on her father and family. Her mother had poured water over her husband’s head and he was slowly coming too. She had bandaged Hector’s foot. Fortunately, the bullet had gone mostly through flesh but did scrape a little of the bones in the foot.
Gisella knew that her father had guns and asked her mother where the guns were. Her mother said the guns were under the floorboards under their bed closest to her father’s side of the bed. Hector hopped with Gisella’s help and pried the floorboards up and got the guns. Hector had used a shotgun a few times and wasn’t very accurate, but in this case, that might be just enough. Gisella had never fired a gun, but she took one so she could act like she knew what she was doing.
In the front yard, Ralph had reached in his pocket and got his phone, and turned on the flashlight app. He yelled to his men to get their phones out so they could turn on their lights too. As his flashlight app went on, he spotted Marco out cold on the ground and the girl was nowhere to be seen. But, with four men left plus himself, they soon flooded the area with light. Too bad, they couldn’t see Jasmine or me. I had to stifle a laugh.
I could see Jasmine coming up behind one of the thugs - maybe Juan. He had gone out into the trees to look for us. All of a sudden, she smacked him with her board, grabbed his phone, and threw it as far as she could.
The blow did not knock him out, but he was stunned to see his phone taken out of his hand and flung away. He was in the dark again. He didn’t want to cry out as Ralph would have thought of him as a baby. And, his head throbbed terribly.
I wasn’t sure what I could do. I was in a coffee tree so I grabbed a fist full of coffee beans and threw them on one of the men nearby. That startled him and immediately he began flashing his phone toward the tree above him. Then he started to shoot!! (I was glad I threw them away from my tree. I might be invisible but that didn’t mean that bullets couldn’t find me.
Ralph yelled, “Carlos, did you see something?”
Carlos, who was shooting, said “Somebody is up this tree and pelted me with coffee beans”.
Ralph and Alex ran over to help Carlos and were shining their lights into the trees. The light did flash over my area, but I was invisible. I wasn’t sure if I would have a shadow or not, but with the thick branches, I was fairly well hidden.
Juan was still without his phone and Julio went to help him. Jasmine was waiting. She quickly grabbed Julio’s phone and threw it as far as she could opposite where she threw Juan’s phone. The light was still coming from the phone but it had gone into a ravine and was illuminating branches that looked like ghosts and spooks to the gang.
Back in the house, Gisella and Hector loaded their guns and went out the back door of the shack. With enough light from the phones, Gisella got behind a tree on one side of the house and Hector on the other side of the house. Gisella closed her eyes and pulled the trigger - BOOM.
The noise of the gun scared her - but also scared the gang. Guns were being shot at them. They dropped to the ground and aimed the guns at the trees where they thought the shot came from.
Hector had shot a gun a few times with a friend. He took aim and shot at Carlos. It wasn’t the best of shots but it did hit him in the leg. He yelled out, “I’ve been shot”.
Things were going badly for the gang. Jasmine walloped Ralph with the two-by-four board, knocking him unconscious.
Somebody called “Ralph, are you okay”. But there was no answer. The scared group, now with Marco and Ralph knocked out, Carlos shot in the leg, Juan, and Julio without phones, and Juan still hurting from being hit. Carlos yelled “Retreat”.
Backing off carefully, the remaining ruffians made it to the road and leaving Marco and Ralph behind quickly left.
I climbed down from the tree, adrenaline pumping, I yelled “All clear” so Hector and Gisella wouldn’t shoot,
Jasmine and I took the rope she had brought and tied Ralph and Marco together. She found a rag on the ground and made a gag for their mouths. Then we stood back and listened to the family talking.
The father, who had come to, had a huge knot on the side of his head where Ralph had knocked him out with the butt of his rifle. The mother was holding the youngest boy so tightly, and he was shivering with fright. Giselle and Hector had returned with the guns. Giselle and Hector went out to see the damage.
Ralph and Marco were neatly tied up with their hands behind their backs and rope around the rest of their bodies. They had a gag although they were trying to speak. The others had run off.
Giselle asked Hector, “Did you knock those two out and tie them up?”
Hector answered with astonishment, “No, did you?”
Giselle answered back, “No. In that case, who knocked them out and tied them up?” Giselle had a little shiver thinking about that. There was something good watching over them. Angels?
They went back into the house to report.
*****
Alfonzo, the father, was finally able to stand and talk. We need to take the two that are tied up to town. It probably won’t do any good, I’d prefer to shoot them, but I don’t believe in killing them. The sheriff is corrupt and will let them go in a few days.
Alfonzo, Giselle, and Hector put the two crooks, still tied with ropes and with gags in their mounts, in the back of the family truck and drove the ten miles down the mountains to town. There was a light in the sheriff’s office. They knocked and gave their story to a deputy, and turned over the men to him.
On the way back, Alfonzo started a discussion. “I’ve known this day was coming. The gangs have taken over the area. We can stay and Giselle be taken, and whatever we have wiped out. This particular group will come back for revenge. We need to leave.”
That scared all of them, and maybe mostly Alfonzo as he didn’t want to leave his farm and coffee trees.
*****
As for Jasmine and myself, she grabbed my hand and we left Nicaragua. When we got back to Prairie du Chien and before we popped through the mirror into the bathroom, Jasmine told me.
“This family will be fleeing for their lives in a few days. It will be tough for them. You and I will be needed to help them out again. I’ll come into the classroom and tap you on the shoulder, you will need to ask Mr. Quimby to get to the bathroom, and we’ll go and help this family out. He won’t be able to see me.”
Then, zap, I stepped through the mirror, straightened my hair, and went back to my math worksheet.
*****
The next week was busy for the Perez family as they sold their farm for about 1/10th of its value, rounded up their possessions, packed the truck, and headed north. They had heard that they could get asylum in the United States and that they were hard-working and would survive.
*****
It was about three weeks later, I was doing some math homework (I was very good at math) and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I had forgotten Jasmine’s comment and quickly looked around at who tapped me - but didn’t see anyone.
Jasmine whispered in my ear (“Come to the bathroom”).
I asked Mr. Quimby if I could use the restroom, and he nodded okay. He was helping Jakob with his math homework.
Jasmine said quietly. “There is going to be trouble and we are going to help these people again.”
Two cars pulled into the parking area, blocked the only exit from the parking lot and seven men jumped out. They all looked like brutes and carried shotguns or handguns.
Jasmine handed me a four-foot-long two-by-four board - which seemed to be her favorite weapon. But, she had a bag around her neck and in the bag was fine sawdust. She gave me a similar bag and said “Throw the sawdust into their eyes to blind them.”
The men gathered about the first tent. They had flashlights and one pulled out the tent stakes and then the others grabbed and shook the tent. Immediately there was a lot of noise. The gang had two air horns that they blew to scare the people. Another set of men was working on another tent as the first group moved on to pulling out tent stakes and pulling down the tent.
Soon, all the tents were down and the people were herded into the middle of the area where three of the men had shotguns aimed at the people. The leader and his assistant looked over the people and pulled out the girls on one side - identifying them to be sex slaves. The men that were able-bodied were identified to be farm workers gathering marijuana and other drugs.
But, Jasmine and I were ready. One of the men was off by himself checking out the cars. “Pop”, Jasmine knocked him out cold with one blow of her two-by-four board. I wasn’t quite as strong, but I slammed my two-by-four into the hands of one of the gunmen - knocking his gun to the ground. He was yelling at the top of his voice. That was a distraction to get Jasmine to knock out the leader with her board. I threw sawdust into the eyes of two of the men. It made them cough and drop their guns so they could rub their eyes to clear them.
Alfonzo had seen this before when we saved his family on their farm. He yelled to the other fathers, “attack”. That startled one of the thugs who shot wildly and hit one of the men in the knee.
Within a few minutes, the people had taken the weapons from the gang, and tie downs and ropes were used to round them up and tie them up.
One of the other men asked Alfonzo what was happening, and his answer was “Our Guardian Angels are helping us again”.
The families had informally found each other as they all were journeying towards the United States and freedom from some of the gangs where they lived. They tied the men to trees - separated so they couldn’t help cut the tie downs or ropes. Jasmine and I checked the pockets and took anything that could be used away. Two of them were still knocked out. Alfonzo organized the families to take turns watching the gang.
When morning came, the families broke camp, leaving the ruffians tied up, and headed north again.
Jasmine took me back to my school and said “I think there might be one more attack. I’ll get you if that happens.”
*****
The group continued north. Most of the families had taken their life savings to move away from such gangs and attacks. Their cars were packed with their belongings.
Sometimes gangs would attack, sometimes it was police and law enforcement officials (and sometimes honest and sometimes not).
Before they left Nicaragua, Alfonzo had loaded bags of coffee in the back of the truck. They had to work around them to get the rest of their things.
They came to the United States Border Patrol at Eagle Pass Texas. And, Jasmine came to get me out of Mr. Quimby’s classroom.
Jasmine pulled me into the bathroom and into the mirror and we flew to Eagle Pass Texas. “Our family is getting harassed at the border.”
Jasmine put the invisible potion on me again, and we came upon the passport control station on the American side of the border. Alfonzo had been to the United States twice before with his coffee beans. His passport was in order, but the rest of the family did not have valid access to the United States. The border patrol was willing to let Alfonzo into the United States with his coffee beans, but not to all his wife, daughter Giselle, and the two sons.
Jasmine was working on a final solution to grant asylum to the family but it was questionable. The other families had branched off to cross the Rio Grande River as they didn’t have passports.
They stayed in their truck overnight and showed up at the border patrol station first thing in the morning. They were held up there for three hours. Jasmine had a phone with her (I had never seen her with a phone). She made two phone calls. The first was Cindy Sanchez, an immigration attorney on the American side. It seemed like Cindy was an old friend of Jasmine's. Cindy came to the border patrol and soon was using the power of the law to get the Perez family into the United States. The second phone call was to a local pizza restaurant and Jasmine got pizza delivered to the family as they waited. Waiting and arguing on an empty stomach was hard, but getting some food was good.
I watched as the family waited at the border. But, Cindy Sanchez pressed the legal issues and the family was allowed into the United States. I was surprised when Cindy was able to see Jasmine and me. She was very nice to me.
Cindy told me, “Years ago I was in school in Aurora Colorado and Jasmine was my guide and we did many adventures. I went on and got my law degree and have been helping immigrants since then. I’ve helped Jasmine with maybe eight or nine immigration situations since then.
I didn’t do much that day but observed the difficulties of the family, the border patrol, and Cindy and Jasmine helping solve the situation.
By mid-afternoon, the family had been approved for asylum and passed into Texas. Cindy found housing and employment for Alfonzo in a coffee shop. The family soon adjusted to the new country.
Jasmine grabbed my hand and we went back to Cleveland Elementary School in Prairie du Chien Wisconsin.
Just before we entered the mirror, Jasmine spoke to me. “Celeste, we are to love people and to help solve problems. We, the poster women, hope you will be ready to help people in need in the future. She gave me a warm hug and I popped back into the bathroom and back to class.
I saw Jasmine three more times that year and we visited the Perez family in their new location in Del Rio Texas (of course, we were invisible).
*****
Celeste turned to me and said, “Karen, this was really the start of my work. I was called to be an advocate, a helper to the down and out of this world. I couldn’t help all people, but I could help individuals and families one on one.”
*****
Continued next week. What will be next for Celeste?
LOVE WINS!!
Karen White ©
August 20, 2022
