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As I got into the taxi I thought once more about the young man stringing beads, the man with no name, and I told the taxi to take me to the Plaza de la Veracruz. I would give Matsiwa some extra money for a taxi for the young man just in case he managed to find his way to the plaza. Matsiwa was there withTutuwari and his wives.They were diligently trying to finish their things for the day before it got too dark to work anymore.There were no lights to speak of in the refectory hall.Matsiwa looked up from his work and said,“They’re going to the coast and Jesús wants his tape recorder. He went to your apartment, but you were not there. He was really simmering mad when he got down here. I told him that you were looking for him but that didn’t seem to cool him down much. I didn’t tell him that you had gone with Neyaucame and my son to see his people. How could you spend all afternoon with those apostles of his? I thought you were just going down there to find out if Jesús was there.Jesús doesn’t like anyone hanging around with his people. I hope he doesn’t get crazy on you.” “Well,” I hedged,“we just shared tortillas down there with them.” “And,” in a low voice I told him,“there is one of them who I think wants to leave. I gave him my address and told him how to get up to the Casa Huichol.That is what I came here to talk to you about,I don’t know if the boy has cab fare to get up there. I would like to give you some money in case he shows up here.”| 185 xxx A Brother’s Tale “I’m not taking that,” he said sharply.“Those are his people. He will come after them like he did in Guadalajara. He will come after you too, if you help them. You had best be very careful and get him that tape recorder fast. He is not going to leave without it. Just hope he leaves soon, or he is going to get crazy again.Then you really will have to be careful.” “You were going to tell me about Guadalajara,” I said.“How about telling me on the way to my apartment to pick up the tape recorder.” I figured this would be as good a time as any to hear what happened to Jesús in Guadalajara. Given Matsiwa’s warning I wanted to know what happened in Guadalajara. I also wanted him along in case Jesús was there waiting for me.This whole situation was becoming too ominous for my taste. I didn’t understand why he would refuse to help the young man with no name. Once I got the tape recorder to him I would be rid of Jesús, I thought;or rather,I hoped,at that point.I had had enough of this crazy character and his demands. If it took a tape recorder to get rid of him then that was what I would invest to absolve myself of Mad Jesus. I planned to leave for Puebla the next day. Before we even got out of the refectory Matsiwa began hurriedly telling me about Guadalajara: “When Jesús arrived we did not know what had happened in San Isidro. I wasn’t really sure about what happened until the other night at your apartment. All we heard was that Pedro had disappeared. Some of the people said that my brother had ‘taken care’ of him, but I never believed them. José’s death is a different matter. José was a witch and whatever Jesús did to him, he deserved,” Matsiwa observed with cold determination. “The old man was a wretched witch,” he added spitting the words out with disdain. “The two children I never knew about,but the one that is still alive, the crooked one, still says it was José’s witchcraft that killed his sister and made his mother hang herself.And that is the truth. Even if what my brother says is true it was still José who must have placed the evil arrows,” Matsiwa told me as we walked through the courtyard of the monastery. XXX | A Brother’s Tale 186 | [18.116.63.236] Project MUSE (2024-04-25...

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