|
|
|
The twelve young women who boarded in Cuba were given sleeping arrangement instructions by Gorgonio and Nestor. The three guest staterooms were small. They would need to double up or take turns sleeping. With the exception of his cabin, the bridge, and the engine room, they were free to roam the boat but were to stay away from the sides. Reymundo briefed the girls on where the life jackets were stowed. He didn’t tell them if the boat sank, life jackets would only delay the inevitable. It was unlikely anyone would be found alive if it did sink, with or without a floatation device. It was going to be a long boat ride; they needed to try to make the best of it.
Reymundo also explained how to work a marine head, otherwise known as a toilet – or baño in their language. Freshwater was limited. They were not allowed to shower, but hand and face washing was allowed.
Slim and attractive, the girls looked similar. They arrived at the boat with little more than the clothes they were wearing: T-shirts, shorts, and sandals. Their instructions had been to come with no baggage since there was no room on the boat for luggage. The girls would be supplied with everything they needed. A purse or small bag with personal hygiene items was acceptable. Money wasn’t needed since Cuban money was worthless where they were going. None of the girls would be carrying a passport because they did not own one.
With the rules explained, the girls sacked out. Despite most being strangers, they didn’t have a problem squeezing into the limited berths in the staterooms. The alternative was to share the double-long sofa in the main salon with Gorgonio.
Reymundo was tempted to allow several girls to sleep in the queen-sized bed in the owner’s cabin, but his concern was the girls had traveled a great distance, had not bathed recently, and quite possibly, had lice. His stateroom was his home. He didn’t want to share it. After the first night, the girls could stagger their sleeping times.
The morning sky had begun to brighten in the east when Nestor climbed up to the flybridge. “Good morning, Skipper.”
“Mornin’. You’re up early.”
“Yeah, Gorgonio’s on the far end of the long sofa, but he snores like a herd of buffalo.”
“You can try the High Sofa on the main bridge. It’s not the greatest, but it’d be better than sleeping with Gorgonio.”
“Thank you, sir. It wasn’t too bad. I wanted to keep an eye on him anyways. I didn’t like the way he was looking at the girls. If we’d let him, or Rafael would let him, I know he’d rape every one of those girls between here and Galveston.”
“Seriously? The man doesn’t get enough in Miami? Don’t you all have several working for you?”
“We do. Thirteen since those two run off. Rafael makes him pay like everyone else. He tells Gorgonio no freebies. On slow nights in the clubs, Gorgonio will do one of them. Usually, one of the newer ones. They’d be too scared to tell Rafael. Gorgonio threatens them too, but he ain’t normal. I bet he’d do at least two a night – every night – if Rafael would let them. He’s always horny. He was worse last night.”
Nestor was only in his late forties, but it had been a hard forty-plus years. A few short stints in jail for petty crimes, recreational drug use, and living on and off the streets had all taken a toll on him. His weathered face made him look much older than his years.
Reymundo was beginning to like Nestor, even if he had pointed a gun at him the first time they met. “Nestor, you don’t seem the type. Why do you work for Rafael?”
“Like I told you. The money’s good. I can afford a roof over my head. I’m saving my money too. Got me a bank account. I decided when I get back, I’m looking for a new job. I didn’t finish high school, have no trade, but I’ll find a job. An honest job too. Maybe like at Home Depot or even at a restaurant washing dishes. As long as I can pay rent, that’s good enough. I may even see if one of the illegals wants to marry me. She’d stick around long enough to get papers. That’d be okay by me.”
“Sounds like you have a plan.”
“Yeah, but I’ve had plans before. Never worked out for some reason or another.”
“I hope they do this time, Nestor. You seem like a decent guy.”
“Thanks, Skipper. Oh, you know that first morning we met?”
“I do.”
“I’m sorry about pullin’ a gun on you. It’s my job, you know.”
“Would you have shot me?”
“You’re a big dude. I know you could break me in half. If you came at me, yeah, I’d have probably shot. I don’t know for sure. Ain’t never shot nobody before.”
“You have the gun with you? I mean on the boat?”
“I do. It’s hidden in the suitcase with the clothes for the girls.”
“Does Gorgonio have a gun?”
“I think so. Not sure where it is though.”
“That’s good to know. I sure hope he doesn’t pull it out and start waving it around.”
“I wouldn’t worry much about it. He’d sure like to bed any one of them girls, but I don’t think he’d shoot any of them. I hope he doesn’t start saying he’s going to kill one like he did last time. I feel bad about that one girl, disappearing off the boat. I shoulda done something.”
“You can’t do anything about that now. Like you said, let’s hope Gorgonio doesn’t start any crap with these girls.”
“I don’t think he will, at least not until we’re heading back. Rafael told Gorgonio he could have two of them, remember? He’s going to want them as soon as the others are gone. Man, we don’t need them freaking out and jumping off the boat.”
“No, we don’t. Tell me, Nestor, how do you feel about what we’re doing and what Rafael is doing?”
“You mean us smuggling these girls in, or what’s going to happen to them?”
“Do you know what’s going to happen to them?”
“Not for sure, but I got a good idea. I think they take them and lock them up. Make them work for them. Turnin’ tricks. The girls are scared, no place to go, so they’ll end up doing it.”
“Any idea what the girls thought would happen to them? They’re being taken to a strange country where they don’t know anyone, have no place to live, no job, no money. What were they expecting?”
“I think the guys in Cuba get paid to find the girls. Some are already prostitutes. They promise them a place to live, work, and lots of money. Funny, they make them pay their own money to get here. They think it’s going to be great. I don’t know how it turns out for them. I never hear any more after we drop them off.”
“How many trips have you made?”
“I don’t know, this is maybe my tenth. We’d make about a trip a month. Sometimes it might be two months between trips. First, they got to have enough girls. Then, the weather has to be good. Another month, we’ll be in the heart of hurricane season. Don’t want to be out here when a storm blows up.”
“So why me? Why’d Rafael need me to make a delivery?”
“What happened was, on the last trip across, the engines died on the boat. We were almost to Cuba. It was a big Hatteras. Not as nice as your boat. The skipper liked his rum and didn’t do much maintenance. Anyway, both engines died and we were drifting. He saw a boat coming at us fast on the radar and said he wasn’t going to a Cuban prison. So we lowered the tender while he went below and opened the seacocks. We all got in the tender and hauled ass north. We landed at Big Pine Key. Man, we was on fumes too.”
“He scuttled his boat?”
“Yep. Said it was insured. He’d get a new one. He wasn’t sure, but he bet the engines were toast anyway. We went a long way in the skiff. It was pretty calm that night. Had it been rough, I don’t know if we’d made it.”
“I’m surprised you made another trip.”
“It’s my job. Not sure I had much choice.”
“What about the girls Rafael has? Are they all from Cuba too?”
“No. Well, a couple might be. And we’re going to take some back to him. Most of his are girls he’s picked up around Miami. They were maybe working the streets or working for a pimp who beat them.”
“Like Rafael treats his girls so well. I saw what he did to that one little girl.”
“Normally, he does. Like he won’t let Gorgonio have his way with them. The house they live in ain’t bad. They all lived in worse. What’s bad is they ain’t got no future. About all they do is have sex and take drugs. They have sex for the drugs, and the drugs help them have the sex. Maybe not at first. They’ll have sex, but after several times a night with guys like Gorgonio, they end up takin’ the drugs. It don’t take long. Their bodies go to hell, their teeth rot, skin sags. They look like shit. Nobody’s going to pay to bang that. Rafael tosses them out. They probably don’t last too long. It’s sad.”
“What about the money they make? They get to keep any of it?”
“Not much. The club owner gets a cut. Rafael takes a cut. He charges the girls for drugs too. Some might have a little cash saved, but not much. If they did, they’d use it for drugs on a slow night.”
“You’re saying it’s a dead-end for the girls. Once they start, that’s it.”
“Pretty much. Two of them did get out. Left with those guys from your boat, as far as I know. We ain’t seen or heard of them since they left.”
“Good for them. Even though it got me in this mess, I hope they’re doing okay.”
“Me too. I don’t like what happens to them girls. Most are young when Rafael gets them. It’s a damn shame.”
“Tell me, you think they’d be better off working on a boat like those other girls did for me? They’d make decent money, maybe more than stripping, I don’t know.”
“You mean, like a whore cruise?”
“I think we’d find a better name, but yeah, you get the idea. Those guys paid good money for a night on the boat with those girls. The girls were tipped well. Do you think Rafael would want to go into business? He could supply some of his better girls, and I’d give him a cut. I know they’d still be having sex, but maybe with classier men. Maybe they wouldn’t need the drugs. If we could get them off the drugs, perhaps they could turn their lives around. We wouldn’t tell Rafael. We’d just tell him I want to start doing cruises with hookers and need girls. I’d be willing to pay him this time.”
“If Rafael thinks he can make some coin, he’ll do it. But these girls start takin’ off, he ain’t going to like it.”
“Let me worry about that. Think he’d be in?”
“Like I said, if there’s money in it for him, sure.”
“Could you call him when we get cell service? Tell him what I’m thinking. I’d like to maybe bring a couple of extra girls back for the new business.”
“Yeah, I can ask him. I don’t know if we can short the guys in Houston. They’re expecting ten girls.”
“Tell them two backed out right before they boarded. Only eight got on. Not much they can do about it. We’ll hide the girls below.”
“Don’t know why it wouldn’t work. I’ll call Rafael and see what he says as soon as I get service.”
“Let’s hope he goes for it. You ready to take the watch until Gorgonio wakes up?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thanks, I need some sleep.”
“Skipper?”
“Yes, Nestor”
“This new cruise business. You be needing a crew?”
“I’m sure I would. You interested?”
“Yes sir, thanks.”