Before Teco
and Lucha sensed anything, the intruders were inside
the house from the front and back. They were fast. So fast, that Balalaika had
just jumped up from her resting position in front of the children’s beds and
was growling protectively when the door to the bedroom sprung open and two
soldiers entered with carbines aimed at Teco and the
dog.
“No, Bal!” Teco screamed as the dog was about to lunge. She had been
resting in the rocking chair beside the sleeping children’s cribs, and sprang
up with the dog to stand between them and the soldiers protectively. She
grabbed the dog’s choke collar and repeated, “No!” The dog growled. The
children stirred, but remained in their deep sleep.
“What do you want?” Teco hissed instinctively, her eyes poised to defend her
children. Rage had replaced the instant of fear, and she was focused, too
focused, in fact, to even hear the maid screaming, doorframes snapping and
glass breaking. “What do you want?” she repeated. No answer.
Two more soldiers joined the
first two and the four spread out, covering all sides. They were silent; their
trained eyes probed for danger areas. A hand signal from one of the men kept
one rifle aimed at Teco and another at the dog. The
other two men moved to the closet, threw the doors open and darted to each
side, one low, one high. With the ends of their rifles they shoved aside
clothing and prodded the walls and ceiling. At another signal, the searching
men moved systematically and probed places where someone might possibly hide.
An incensed Teco
wanted to impulsively strike out at this violation. Were she alone, it would
have been a reflexive move, but she was held back by another drive, that of
mother-protector. If it appeared that the soldiers were going to shoot, she
would unleash Bal
and strike out herself. She would not go passively. At this distance, Bal was her only weapon. For now, all she could do was
position herself so that any shots would strike her
before the babies. Her naked arm moved in front of her as if it held an
invisible shield.
In the deepest part of her mind,
she thought she heard a shrill whistle. Two of the soldiers, the ones who were
searching, seemed to relax, and started to move out of the room. The other two
remained strained and poised. It was two against two now, she thought. Then
another soldier walked into the room--taller, an officer. He said something to
the men; one of the men said something back. The officer moved alongside the
two men holding the short rifles.
To Teco
he said, “If either you or the dog make a move, my men
will kill you both. Then I will kill every living thing in this house.” Teco did not move. “Did you hear what I said? It makes no
difference to me.” The voice was authoritative and at the same time calm.
“Everything will die.”
Teco
started blinking. Everything. Her babies. They
had no plans to kill them. At least not yet. She
nodded.
One of the men motioned to the
officer and pointed with two fingers to his own eyes while looking at her. The
officer said to the soldier, “Interesante. No, never in a woman before.”
Then, with an arrogant smile, he said to her, “You have impressed my men with
your motherly defense. I, however, am not impressed. I do have a passion for
German shepherds, though, especially obedient and fierce ones. If I did not,
the creature would already be dead.”
He then changed his face and his
tone. In a menacing voice he said, “Listen to me carefully. We are going to
search every inch of this house. If you resist, you and everyone in this house
will be killed immediately. If we find anything that incriminates you in
treason, you will be taken and everyone in this house will be killed. You will
be tortured until you tell me everything, then you will be killed.”
He paused to let his threatening
remarks register. Then he continued, “So, what I am about to say to you now is
the only chance you will have to save your children. We are only bargaining for
their lives, you understand, not yours. I will ask this question once and only
once. Are you ready? Where are the guns hidden? Tell me now and I will spare
them.”
Teco
was thinking, and she kept blinking to get the blur out of her eyes. It was
like a bad dream. Was she dreaming? No. She did not think it would help, but
she found a shaky voice to say, “I do not know who you are but my husband is Doctór Ricardo--.”
But the officer quickly held up
his hand and spat out, “I know who your husband is! He is a traitor who has
abandoned his family! And when I find him I will take great pleasure in killing
him. So do not waste my time with that; I do not care. Answer my question. This
is your only chance. Where are the guns?”
He is not a traitor, she thought, and he has not abandoned his family. You will not kill him. She stopped blinking and defiantly stared
back at the officer. Then she vehemently exclaimed, “There are no guns in this
house!” He stared back at her for what seemed a minute, a year. No bullets came.
Then he said, “We shall see. You
are either very brave or very stupid.” To the two men he said, “Watch them. If
they move, kill them.”