Free Muerte Con Carne by Shane McKenzie Page A

hmm.”
    “What happens if you get caught and the first thing they do is take the necklace? Wouldn’t the whole thing be pointless then?”
    “What do you mean pointless?”
    Her tone had deepened, and Felix threw his hands up to shoulder level. “I only mean that the whole point of this is to document what happens, right? Catch some footage? If they take the camera, what have we got?”
    “I won’t let them take it.” She hit the button and sat on the edge of the bed, fondling the gold chain of the necklace.
    “Okay, but let’s say they take it anyway. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to have some kind of identification on us? Just in case? We would only show it to them if they confiscate the camera, that way we can leave, try again later.”
    She pursed her lips, ran her fingers through her hair, tossed it back to reveal her face. An obvious forced smile barely pulled at the corners of her mouth, and she reached over, patted Felix on the leg. “Let’s talk about the plan, all right?”
    Felix sighed, nodded.
    “I’ve been doing a lot of research, looking at some maps. I found a good spot close to here that looks perfect. I say we head out there today, just check it out while the sun is still up. Get a feel for the area.”
    “Okay…yeah.” This is insane…this is fucking crazy.
    “Then tonight, we head out on foot. Could be a long walk, couple of hours maybe, but not too bad.”
    “And once we’re out there, then what?”
    “I was just about to say, Felix. We just walk along the border, keep our eyes and ears open. We’re hoping for two things. First, if we see La Migra, we run, make it look like we’re running from the border, right?”
    “What about the cartel? Have you thought about them at all?”
    “Don’t get paranoid on me, man. Cartel? You’ve been watching too much TV.”
    “Yeah, it’s called the news. It’s a very real danger, Marta. I just think we need to keep an eye out for anything, don’t you?”
    She sort of chuckled, stared up at the ceiling. “Okay. You see any of the big bad cartel, and we’ll run and hide. Okay? Because they’ll have a big neon fucking sign on their chests that says cartel on it.”
    “Don’t get childish. We’re putting ourselves in danger, and all I’m saying is we should be careful. For anything.”
    She crossed her arms, looked like she was chewing the side of her cheek.
    “Okay then, what else are we hoping for?” Felix said.
    “Illegals. Actual illegals crossing over. We can talk to them, interview them.”
    “I don’t know shit for Spanish.”
    “Then you just fucking stand there while I do the talking, all right? And if anyone asks you any questions, you just nod or shake your head. Play dumb. It won’t be that hard.” She stood, paced the room.
    Felix clenched his teeth as he watched her, didn’t say a word. He could see her taking deep breaths, her lips sticking out as she exhaled. Then she faced him.
    “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be an asshole. I really don’t, Felix. My stress level is about through the roof right now. I…I just want…” Tears trickled from her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. She grabbed her bag from the floor, rifled through it. “These are my parents,” she said as she took a seat beside Felix, set the framed photograph in his lap. “I didn’t plan on bringing that, but at the last second, I don’t know…I went back and grabbed it.”
    Felix smiled. “You look like your father.”
    Marta slapped him on the arm. “Thanks, dick.”
    “Not in a bad way. You have your mother’s smile for sure, but I don’t know…you’ve got your father’s intensity. That face,” Felix said pointing to the Mexican man’s austere expression, “is the face you give me most of the time.”
    Marta chuckled, gently took the photograph back. “It’s weird. I don’t remember them really, just flashes of images in my head that I don’t even know are real or not. But I miss them. It hurts how bad