Free Hard Red Spring by Kelly Kerney

purpose under Ubico’s bland stare. Evie wanted to finish for him, to highlight the points he’d missed. Corn exhausts the soil. Wheat can grow at higher altitudes, and requires less water, so it can be irrigated more easily. It can be stored and shipped much more easily. How could he forget all this?
    â€œBut if the coffee isn’t saved, then everyone suffers. Then . . .” Ubico paused. “Then
there is no one to buy wheat
.” He showed his teeth, pleased at his logic. “We are all working for the same thing down here, Mr. Crowder. We are not enemies.”
    â€œNo, we’re not enemies. So perhaps we could come to a friendly agreement.”
    â€œWe already have that, yes. Our friendly agreement is that you come to Xela and make your money and I allow you to do so.”
    â€œNot if you take my workers! I am an honest man, only asking—”
    â€œAs an honest man, it will be better if you see it this way: The Indians belong to the government and we loan them to you ten months of the year. Two months, we ask for them back. We have big projects, roads and trains, and disasters to fix. Projects that benefit you and your business. That is reasonable.”
    â€œNot for someone trying to run a cochineal business.” Father shook his head. “It’s a time-sensitive harvest that requires skilled labor.”
    Ubico shrugged. “Like coffee. There is nothing I can do. Your workers stay, then everyone will want their workers to stay.”
    â€œJust one? Can I keep my overseer? Just one man? Judas Vico.”
    â€œIs he literate? Literate is exempt from the draft.”
    â€œYes!” Father shot up to his feet. “He speaks four languages! He writes Quiché!”
    Mr. Ubico shook his head. “Quiché is not literate.”
    Father fell back into his seat. “But my family! What will happen to my family? We won’t have food if we can’t harvest this year.” For the first time since walking into the office, Father acknowledged Evie’s presence, pointing at her.
    Ubico glanced at Evie, just as she realized she was not sitting like a ladyat all. Clearly unimpressed by her slumped, kicking posture, he said, “I understand you are worried about your family, but there are more important things for Guatemala.”
    Evie gave up counting. They were way past Father’s prediction now.
    â€œSo I lose my money and my workers.”
    â€œYour workers will still owe you money.”
    Father lost his deferential tone. “But now they’ll owe the coffee planters money, too. They’ll be indebted to them for years. Do you think they’ll come back to repay me?”
    â€œIt is not my job”—Ubico stood up, declaring the meeting over—“to think about you and your problems.
My
business is to get these lazy Indians to work.” He tapped the slats of Magellan’s crate and made his way to the door, walking a little funny due to the gun holstered to his hip. Evie had never seen anything like it before, a gun with a nice suit. She stared at it, unable to match the two things in her mind.
    Father remained seated, twisting uneasily in the pew. “You have to make exceptions. I know with all your meetings, all those people in your lobby, all this money moving in and out, you’ve made exceptions today.”
    Mr. Ubico held the door open, a different one from the one they had come in through. One that led outside. Father took his time leaving, trying to come up with some way to change the man’s mind. He adjusted his suit, dropped his hat, and then fiddled in his pockets for something that wasn’t there. His blue eyes were huge and dry, his chin trembling. Evie watched him closely, realizing she’d never seen him speechless before.
    She desperately wanted to leave now, but she became very conscious of walking away from the money in Magellan’s cage. She knew they had no money and that