Corner of the Dead

Chapter 9

[ 108 ] C H A P T E R 9 N O , I ’ D R AT H E R N O T, I say. Why is that? It’s just a place. The doctor tries to get me to look her in the eye. The rhododendron bushes. The missing. I’m always seeing what’s missing. Lucana . . . I’m looking at the trees. Wondering why the leaves have to die each winter. I say, marca, then machetes. What? I don’t have to answer. In Luca . . . , she says, I’m sorry I didn’t catch the name of the place. There wasn’t anything left, I say quickly. She looks at me. It was after. I’m impatient. We came after. I don’t think anyone was able to get inside before it was all gone. I never heard an accounting made by an outsider, you know, an investigator or some trained professional who might have carefully reconstructed what happened. All I heard was what the villagers said or what Sendero said and that sounded like bragging. We got there and really, I don’t remember much. In fact, there was nothing to see. [ 109 ] What do you mean, nothing? They were hit from both sides. The rebels came first. Then the military. Then nothing. ...