“I see you reading the news, Mr. Dennis,” Mario said. “What’s going on in the world today?”
I was sitting at the big picnic table at my favorite tamale stand. While I was eating tacos, and using my tablet to catch up with news on the internet, Mario and Pedro ordered and took a seat next to me.
“Among other things, I see they finally captured Brujo Monsalvo in Mexico.”
“The big drug cartel man in Mexico?” Mario asked.
“Good,” Pedro said. “He is one really bad man. I know that personal.”
“What do mean?” I asked. “Did you actually know him?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s why I’m down here in Belize instead of northern Mexico where I come from. I used to work for the man.”
“You were a drug runner?” Mario asked.
“No. I don’t have that kind of nerve. I was a body double.”
“What you mean?”
“The DEA was always trying to kill Brujo. He hired six people who looked like him to go in public, so he could be safe. I look a lot like him, so I was one of them.”
“You!?” Mario said. “Yeh, you do favor him a lot. Was it a really dangerous job?”
“Not usually. It was a great job. Mostly, I rode around in a truck and waved at people. I always had lots of bodyguards and the pay was unbelievable, but I had to quit and go into hiding.”
“Why?”
“Brujo and his bodyguards got in a gunfight with the DEA. The next day the jefe of the body doubles brought us all in for a meeting. He said, ‘Men, I got bad news and good news. The good news is that Brujo survived the attack by the DEA. The bad news is that he lost an arm.’”
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