Corner of the Dead

Chapter 6

[ 45 ] C H A P T E R 6 B U S E S A N D C A R S are ambushed. Men in camouflage block the roads. There are raids in the mountains, people are rushing to escape although it isn’t clear where. They are not aligned with anyone. They want only to survive. Sendero strengthens its hold. The military tries to bury what it has done. The military or Sendero? Some days we hear it is one, then the other. Enrique brings an egg, apologizes because he only has one. He too hasn’t left the village. We have run out of propane but I don’t tell him because I don’t want him to give us their eucalyptus branches. There isn’t much to eat, no one has been to town, all we have are the potatoes, carrots and onions from the fields. Karl is stronger. I take his hand. It is still bruised. Does it hurt? It feels better, but do you think this finger is broken? See how it doesn’t go straight? How did it happen? There was a raid. He stops and closes his eyes. And? [ 46 ] My hand was trampled. I don’t believe him. But I don’t need to know. Instead I say, are you able to go for a short walk? We make our way to the center of the village. There are voices behind us. It is Enrique’s son, pressing his wife against the outside wall of their mud house, pushing himself into her. Her skirt is off and the fuchsia tie with silver threads lies on the ground at her feet. They must be drunk. Seems to me she’s enjoying it. How do you say intercourse in Quechua? He shakes his head. I don’t think we ever knew. Then he points to the mountain in front of us. You can’t, I say. And aren’t you too weak? Come with me. No. If I leave I will go far from here. We shouldn’t be making decisions now, not from fear. You said you were no longer afraid. Lisette, I’m afraid for you. You don’t trust yourself or anyone , really. You hide in the familiar but there is no familiar. A branch snaps. I think it’s a gun. A child cries. I imagine the worst, that it is some child’s mother being taken away. When it is dark, especially when there are no stars or moon and the candle has burned, I try to wake him from what looks like more than sleep. I check his breathing. If they were going to come back they would have already come. In the dark it is easier to believe what is not true—this is the case for the good and for the bad. • • • [ 47 ] I don’t stop Karl. I stand on the hillside and wave. The lupine is in bloom and it is warm like the Northeast in fall. The mountains are framed by a blue sky. Beyond what I can see are all the nearly frozen streams with perfectly clear water. ...