Chapter 10- Muscle
The weekend would be a headache and form a blur in his vision by the time Sunday rolled around.
This evening, the first of the guests should begin arriving, along with Andres, the second son of Eduardo Delgado.
No one knew exactly what Andres did to make money or how he managed to have so much of it, yet no one questioned it.
In his world of designer clothing, expensive jewelry, and fancy cars, the man had somehow finished his Master's degree in Logistics, which Eduardo Delgado found to be immeasurably valuable in collaborating with pharmaceutical companies to ship fresh product to the drug manufacturers.
It was the other portion of logistics for the family products in coffee and coca that was not for the pharmacy gods that Andres also oversaw.
He had a network of unseen hands, faces, and hired guns that took care of every nook and cranny of Colombia.
Although Micah never foresaw Andres wanting to live on the farm, he knew he didn't want to live in Argentina even though the cattle portion of the family business belonged to him.
He often stated he hated the smell of cow shit more than he despised the smell of roasting coffee beans, and each product was the lifeblood of both families.
In Bolivia, a primarily agriculture-based country with the biggest source of revenue coming from natural gas and mining and minerals, Rodrigo Escalante, the Bolivian Cochabamba, ruled the country with an iron fist. The relationship between the Delgados and the Escalantes was tenuous since Hugo’s refusal to marry Rodrigo's eldest daughter.
Andres was set to marry his second oldest granddaughter, a lovely young woman who created beautiful woven textiles with a foot loom, which sold internationally to select customers.
As far as anyone knew, since the betrothal, Andres and Roxana Escalante had gotten on well.
This weekend, the marriage proposal would be official, the ring would get placed, and a wedding date would be set for the couple to start their lives.
It was uncertain if the couple would live in Sucre or La Paz since Sucre was closer to Argentina, and La Paz was a center of culture.
The wing of the home at Las Tierras had been fully furnished, and Andres’ guests would all stay there.
The wing would also be a home away from home for Andres and Roxana when they were at Las Tierras.
The other expected guests were Guillermo Gutierrez, the Venezuelan Lancehead, and his daughter Lolita, the young woman intended for Micah.
His son didn't want to spend time with her, those big feet, or her missing pinky toenails.
Therefore, to calm himself before the groups of people arrived, he went for a swim.
Today he wore trunks instead of his speedo in case anyone arrived early.
Isabella also decided she wanted to swim and was accompanied to the poolside by Mara and Catarina. She sat on the side of the pool watching her brother swim laps, and when he finally surfaced, he swam over to her.
“Good morning, Isabella; are you joining me for a swim?” Micah asked.
“No, but I have a question,” she said softly.
“Listening,” he said, pushing his hair off his face to allow the water to trickle down his back.
“Roxana's little brother is coming,” Isabella said. “He's a bully and picks on me. He pulls my hair and tries to pull up my dress. I don't like him.”
“I didn't hear a question in that.”
“Can you beat him up, so he doesn't fuck with me?” Isabella asked.
“Language, Isabella!” Mara called out. Micah tried not to react to his eight-year-old sister's perfect syntax of curse words to convey her feelings and emotions.
“Why can't you defend yourself?”
“Well, I asked Angel to get me some of his dart frog venom, but he said no,” Isabella offered, her face scrunched up.
“The dart frog venom would kill the child and create a war, Isabella, between our families,” Micah explained.
“Well, can Andres marry somebody else? I don't want to have to spend Christmas with that little butt swipe,” Isabella said. “If he pulls my hair one more time or tries to pull up my dress, I may get him with one of Papa's Fer de Lance knives. I don't like him.”
Micah pulled himself from the water and sat beside her on the side of the pool. “Would you like me to show you some things you can do when he tries to pull your hair?”
She grinned from ear to ear. “I guess, since no one will help me kill him.”
Micah offered a soft smile at the corner of his lips. He turned to face his sister, pretending to grab her pigtail, and Isabella pulled away. He reached for the other one, and she swatted at his hand.
“Instead of hitting my hand, thump my ear, like this,” he said and thumped her ear.
“Oww,” she said, holding her ear.
He reached for her pigtail, and her small hand reached his ear and thumped it. He held his ear, said, “Ouch,” and reached for her pigtail again. Isabella thumped his ear. He tried once more, and she thumped his ear again.
“Good, now stand up,” he said, facing her. He stood at nearly six feet, lean, with a muscular frame. Around her waist, she wore a towel, which he tried to yank off.
“Hey!” she said aloud, stepping back.
“Don't step back, step forward, and kick my toe,” Micah said, “gently, since I'm not wearing shoes. Let's do it again.”
He reached for the towel as she stepped toward him and kicked his toe.
“Beuno, now keep in mind you will have on dress shoes. Your eyes must be sharp and always know where he is in the room. The moment you see him approaching, prepare yourself, and get in a good position to either kick his toes or thump that ear.”
“I should go tell his Mama!”
“If he hasn't learned that picking on girls is a bad thing, then his mother obviously hasn’t taught him about his wicked behavior,” Micah said. “Is there anything else I can assist you with today, Isabella?”
She blushed as she looked at him. “You never hug or kiss me. Do you love Catarina more than me? I mean you have tea with her and ride and stuff, but not with me.”
“I love you as much as I love her,” he said. “You ride in the afternoon. I ride in the morning with Papa. You don't like tea and have never invited me to spend time with you as she does. Perhaps it is I who should be asking if you love me, since I am never invited to share time with you.”
Her little face scrunched as she asked, “Share time with me doing what?”
“Catarina enjoys afternoon tea,” he said. “She invites me to join her to discuss what is happening in her life. Is there something you like to do that I can share with you to know what is happening in your life?”
“I'm eight,” she said, looking at him like he was stupid. “You want to watercolor or paint some shit with me?”
“Language, Isabella,” he said. “I am not fond of watercolor painting, but if it is something you wish me to learn so I may spend time with you, I shall. Are there other things you like to do?”
“I like to catch and kill the bugs in the garden,” she said.
“I can spend time with you in my lab and show you the oils I am using for the garden to keep control of the bugs, but we do not want to kill them,” he said. “The bugs are used to feed the chickens. What we grow to eat, we must take care of, including the bugs which serve a purpose in our lives.”
“You're so smart. How do you know all that stuff?”
“I learned from Papa and my brothers, and I am sharing it with you,” he said.
She gave him the side-eye. Unlike Catarina, who had inherited Ryanne’s dainty features, Isabella looked more like the girl version of their father. She even walked like him, strutting as if she owned the room.
“And the hug and kiss thing?” She asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
“Kids have the cooties,” he said, laughing as he dropped to one knee. She walked into his embrace, and he gave her a peck on the cheek.
“Mommy is teaching me to play piano,” Isabella said. “Can you play piano, Micah?”
“I know how but don't like it,” he said. “The sound of keys is not friendly to my ears.”
“Okay, but you play your drums, and that is louder, and I've heard you play the guitar.”
“Rhythm has a different sound than the plunk of the ivories,” he said. “Subtle, but noticeable.”
“Okay,” she said, waiting for something he wasn't sure of, but he also waited. “Micah, I love you.”
“And I love you,” he said softly as Alita approached. He knew she was coming even before she arrived. It was as if his nervous system could feel her approaching. He looked up to acknowledge her.
“Andres is arriving, Boss,” she told him, watching his body language. He bid good afternoon to his sisters making his way to the kitchen. This would be the first stop for Andres who would come looking for a sweet treat.
Micah had a strained relationship with Andres.
If there was a sibling that always got the other in trouble, it was Andres.
He didn't treat Micah differently; he simply treated him as a little brother, whereas Yunior treated Micah as an equal.
At times, Alita didn't think Micah cared for Andres but respected the hustle of the man who arrived in his flashy sports car, reeking of cologne and dressed like an ad for Vogue Hommes.
The brothers met in the kitchen as Micah came through the back door while Andres was searching the cookie jar for treats.
They spoke, and Andres eyed his young brother's tattoo, noticing the difference in the placement of the eyes.
On his tattoo and Yunior's, the eyes of the vipers were over their nipples, but not on his.
“Hey, why are the eyes of the Bushmaster not over your man titties?” Andres asked.
“Didn't want the nipple infections you and Yunior got from the ink, so I asked for an enlargement of the head and widening of the mouth to increase the range of the viper,” Micah said.
“Is that some sort of metaphor for your life?”
“Perhaps,” he said. “My course is not pre-determined, and I'm figuring out my path. How have you been?”
“You know me, just a brown man getting it in,” Andres said as Alita came through the back door. She took the wet towel from Micah and took it to the laundry room. Alita acknowledged Andres, speaking and making herself scarce. “You tapping that yet?”
“What means this tapping?” Micah asked, squinting.
“You and your guard...you knocking the socks off that at night?” Andres asked, shocked at how fast his brother moved and was in his face.
“Her job is to guard my life, help regulate my nervous system, and keep me from looking like a freak in social situations,” Micah said. “None of that stops me from fucking up a brown man who steps out of line with her, are we clear?”
“Whoa. Whoa!” Andres said, stepping back. “You seem wound a little tight. Do you need to spend a few days with me at my place in Medellin?”
“Hell no,” Micah said. “I don't want to sit on your furniture, let alone take part in any of that communal cuca laying on it.”
“It's not communal; it's friendly cuca,” Andres said, laughing. “Let me know if you need a chance to do something strange.”
“Strange is this conversation.”
“Seriously though. Papa said you found a place in Bogotá that is pricey. You're taking that piece of shit Jeep to the big city, I mean, will it make it?”
“It will make it, but the Jeep is for here,” Micah said. “We are going to need a lot, furniture, housewares, a vehicle, perhaps two if we have different schedules or if I need to be on campus when she does not, or vice versa.”
“She's going to Uni as well?”
“Si, she got a partial scholarship in Digital Storytelling,” Micah replied.
“What the fuck is she going to do with that?”
“It would be great if she can create a video series on the organic processes used here in Las Tierras or even the grains Abuelo uses to feed the beef he sells to many of the markets in South America,” Micah said. “I am interested to see her eyes on the world as she views it.”
Andres frowned at him. “Aw shit, you're in love with her, aren't you? The apartment, staying close to home is more for her than you...”
“Her home is Argentina,” Micah replied. “If I were doing anything for her, wouldn't I be closer to her home?”
“Not with those parents of hers,” Andres said. “You do know her father thought I was employing her to be your live in lover, that's why I thought you'd moved towards making her more and popping that cherry.”
Micah stared at Andres. The vast difference in Eduardo Delgado’s four sons extended past their looks. Andres was cut from a different cloth.
“Hermano, do you remember the story of the girl from Kansas with the little doggy and weird friends heading to Oz?” Micah said as Andres leaned in to see where his brother was going.
Andres nodded yes. “If the four of us were headed to see the Wizard, would you be the one to ask for a brain or a heart?”
“Funny, smart ass,” Andres said, laughing a little. “I'm going to tell Papa you're being mean to me, and I am asking a valid question.”
“Are you also going to tell Papa I was the one to pull your tail too?
No, you're asking an inappropriate question as well as questioning my integrity as a man,” Micah countered.
“Her virginity is a gift for her husband. I am not her husband, and it does not belong to me to take. She does not belong to me, and I have no right to assume her body does either.”
“You want her bad, don't you?”
“What I want is this conversation to end,” Micah said. “I am wet. I must change and prepare to meet your intended’s guests as well as Guillermo Gutierrez and Lolita.”
“Have you decided on her as your intended?”
“I have decided nothing other than to take a swim and maybe take her for a sunset horseback ride,” Micah said. “Excuse me.”