Transitions by Mike Hormek - HTML preview

Chapter 6

Sisters Maria and Ana kept a low profile while Sister Ruth recovered. It was a week before the hospital discharged Sister Ruth. Seems bruised ribs and a broken nose were among the injuries. With the assistance of the Counsel general's office, the District Attorney dropped all charges. Witnesses were scarce, and the drugs were marginal in their 28-gram weight. However, The Mexican Government revoked the Sister's visa, and The Cousel General asked them to leave for their safety. Mexico would not see the last or at least not hear the last of Sister Ruth. The Church assigned Maria and Ana to a safer environment. Sister Ruth took a much-needed vacation in her hometown of Texas. She was healing well and anxious to resume work.

She and Bob were drinking tea on the back porch one evening.

"We need to get those poor girls out of that hellhole."

"You can't be serious", Bob said.

"Do I look like I am kidding?"

"After what you were through?"

"I am alive to do God's work."

"You are foolish; the Archbishop will never approve, and just how do you intend to pull it off?"

"I had the plan all worked out before I was beat up. The two girls, Camila and Lucia, were on board, and Rosa was on the fence but coming around."

The driver, Jose, agreed on the price and is ready on a day's notice.

"The girls will meet him at a secret location late at night, where he will pick them up before. He has a drop-off location at the border that only he knows about."

"I don't want any part of it," Bob said.

"If you don't help me, I will get someone else."

"I'm sure you will."

Soon, Sister Ruth would get her new assignment, so time was at a premium. Bob reluctantly decided to help, so both put the plan in place. Sister Ruth electronically paid the driver half his money and the other half after delivery. The driver, Jose, could contact Camila, Lucia, and Rosa. The girls and Jose agreed on the details, and the girls were on board.

As fate would have it, the third girl Rosa said something suspicious to her pimp, and being the pimp was a member of the Cartel, it did not fare well for her. It took little to beat the information out of her regarding the delivery date and place. The Cartel could not risk approaching the group at the pickup point, but the delivery point on the border was a piece of cake.

The night, he quickly approached when Jose met the girls at the rendezvous point.

"Where is the third girl, Rosa?" he asked Camila.

"She decided not to come."

"Okay, let's go."

The truck's bed filled with hay had sideboards, so only the hay was visible, and the girls were lying flat in the center of the bed. It was a rickety old truck with a smoking exhaust and poor tires, but it managed to make the trip, which took two hours. It was pre-determined that Bob, Sister Ruth, and a

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friend, Jack, would make the pickup after each side signaled with headlights, which could be seen from both sides as the U.S. side was on a hill above the fence. The delivery point was 100 yards from a corner of a wall constructed by the previous presidential U.S. administration. Jose told the girls to move to their right while squatting low behind bushes along the fence until they reached the end, where an opening existed between the wall and some rocks.

As the driver's truck trundles towards the looming Mexican border fence, the tension between the girls and Bob and Sister Ruth on the other side is palpable, like an electric charge ready to erupt.

The young girls lay inside the bed in silence, their hearts pounding with fear and emotion, their future unknown.

When they reach the fence, the night cloaks the landscape in a shroud of darkness, with only the faint glow of distant stars visible until headlights in the distance break the darkness. The driver flashes his lights to alert Bob and Sister Ruth of his approach and stops the truck as the lights from behind come closer.

Jose jumped out of the truck, opened the end gate, and yelled, "Run to the fence, then to the right, until you see an opening near some rocks; go through. There will be someone on the other side to get you."

Bob and Sister Ruth saw the approaching lights."Oh, shit, do you think it's the Federalists?"

"I don't know." Ruth said, "but they need to run fast."

The girls ran, every sound magnified by the rustle of the wind on the bushes, sending shivers down their spines. They knew the risks they were taking, but desperation had driven them to this point, where the promise of a better life on the other side outweighed the dangers that lurked in the shadows.

As they approach the opening, a sense of urgency grips them. The driver, a weary soul who has likely made this journey many times before, steels himself for what lies ahead. Just as they approach the opening, headlights appear, followed by the sharp staccato of gunfire.

The sound of gunfire and shattering glass echoes throughout the peace of the night. Jose falls against the truck door and slides down slowly, peacefully sitting in a pool of blood. Camila, running, hears a grunt as Lucia falls beside her. She cries out in terror.

Aware of the happenings, Sister Ruth runs down the hill toward the opening.

"Wait, wait, don't go down there," Bob yelled.

Just as Camila came through the opening, Sister Ruth grabbed her hand and pulled them down.

"Get up and run along the fence. They can't shoot us there. Where are the other two?"

"Rosa did not come, and Lucia fell alongside me when they started shooting."

"Sister Ruth made sign of the cross and told Camilla, "Oh my God. Run up the hill."

The gunfire subsides as quickly as it began, leaving behind a scene of carnage and confusion.

The truck sits motionless, a twisted wreck on the carnage and confusion; a twisted wreck on the remote trail. The night now belongs to the glow of the truck's headlights shining as a memory of the violence shortly before.

Across the border, two figures emerge from the darkness, one filled with grief; one girl saved, and the other could be dead. The other is bruised and battered, but she is alive, her spirit unbroken by the horrors she has witnessed. Somewhere in the darkness, another girl lies on the Mexican side, her fate unknown.

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"Bob, we need to check on Lucia. She may still be alive."

"You can't be serious. Those guys might still be there."

"I saw their tail lights go."

"Okay, but let's be careful," Bob said."bring your flashlight, but if she is dead, we leave her."

"Okay."

They climbed back through the opening to the Mexican side. It was not far before they came upon Lucia, covered with blood.

"Check her pulse," Bob said.

Sister Ruth checked and said with optimism in her voice, "I feel a weak pulse, but she is bleeding in her stomach area."

"Let's get her to the car and get to a hospital. It's several miles away."

After they put Lucia in the car, they applied pressure to the wound and drove off. Sister Ruth called Father Pedro."Hello, Father. Sorry to disturb you. I don't have much time to explain, but I need you to make an anonymous call, if possible, to the Federalies and report a shooting with injuries north of town on the steel border wall. It is off the old Spanish Trail. It is the driver, Jose. I will explain later."

"Okay, Sister."

Ultimately, the border remains unchanged, a line etched in the sand that separates hope from despair, dreams from nightmares. As the night stretches on, enveloping everything in its inky embrace, the echoes of gunshots fade into the distance, swallowed by the vastness of the desert and the weight of a world that refuses to see the humanity in those who dare cross its borders.

Sister Ruth's noble intentions collide violently with the harsh realities of the world she sought to change. Despite her unwavering faith and courage, the forces of darkness prevailed. The violence that erupted on the border shattered not just lives but also the illusions of safety and salvation.

Word came down from Father Pedro that Rosa, the third girl who was to leave as well, did not make it as a result of her beating.

As Sister Ruth and her brother Bob mourned the loss of one of the girls they sought to rescue and Jose, the driver, they found themselves grappling with the weight of their choices. The journey that began with hope and compassion ended in tragedy, leaving scars that would never heal.

The events on the border served as a stark reality faced by those who dared to challenge the status quo. Sister Ruth's story is a testament to the complexities of faith, love, and sacrifice in a world where goodness and brutality meet.

Though the darkness may seem overwhelming, Sister Ruth's legacy on the streets of San Agustus lives on in the hearts of the street girls she touched. Her unwavering commitment to justice and compassion is a beacon of hope in a world fraught with violence and despair.

Lucia survived her wounds and took a job in the U.S. Like Camil, the Church defrocked Sister Ruth, and The Church reassigned Maria and Ana elsewhere. As Sister Ruth and Bob embraced the survivors of their failed mission, they vowed to continue their fight against injustice by volunteering outside the Church to assist immigrants who were abused and are seeking asylum. Even the slightest glimmer of light can ignite a heart revolution in darkness.

While Bob may not have donned a priest's collar, his presence in the parish was unmistakable.

Father John welcomed Bob with open arms, recognizing his talents and passion and offering him a

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different avenue to channel his devotion. Together, they embarked on a journey to redefine what it meant to serve the Church. In a confessional, Bob said, "I guess I love women more than I love God."

Bob's penance is one act of contrition, three Hail Mary's and three Our Father's.

The End

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AMOS AND ARNOLD

(Forbidden Love)