Smiling couples and families were strolling around the Jardín de la Union; Guanajuato’s beautifully gardened main square. Live music filled the air. It was the weekend of the Cervantino, an internationally recognized performing arts festival. Everyone was having a good time except William. Finally he shoved his phone card into its slot and dialed the New York number, dreading every minute of it.

* * *

William had met Robert and Tanya at the opening of his show in Vallarta. Tanya bought three small erotic drawings explaining they were the perfect gift for a good friend of theirs. Robert agreed that the drawings were just the right thing.

The next evening Robert, Tanya, and William went to dinner together. Tanya dominated the conversation and pretty much ordered for everyone. She had worked for CNN and won an EMMY for a documentary on white slavery in Bulgaria. Now she ran a film distribution company. Robert was a painter, somewhat older than Tanya. He made intelligent comments regarding William’s work and asked about life as a painter in San Miguel de Allende where William had lived for the last ten years. William found Tanya interesting but had the feeling she would rearrange your furniture or your life without being asked.

After their dinner they strolled along the Malencon, on one side the sea, on the other, a string of bars, restaurants, and shops selling cheap souvenirs. William and Robert talked art and swapped stories while Tanya walked a little ahead of them. William admired the way the thin material of Tanya’s beige dress hugged her bottom, her high heels helping to exaggerate the movement of her hips. He liked what the breeze was doing to her short blonde hair. William sensed that Robert was aware of the effect that Tania had on him and was not bothered by it.

Soon it was time to say goodbye. Robert and Tanya had an early morning flight back to New York. Robert shook Williams’s hand. Tanya hugged him, her soft breasts pressing into William’s chest while Robert looked on with a bemused expression. They promised to visit William one day in San Miguel.

* * *

William was hard at work painting in his small second floor studio in San Miguel on Mesones, now part of the Banco Caja Libertad. Hearing what he thought was someone calling his name he went out onto the balcony and peered down into the courtyard. There, shading her eyes with one hand and looking up at him was Tanya. He had not seen or heard from her or Robert since they met last February and now it was October. He had thought of them on occasion, the beige dress in particular had stuck in his mind, and he had enjoyed Roberts’ stories about his days in Morocco and Paris. William waved for her to come up the stairs. A tall slender man in an expensive suit and round horn rimmed glasses trailed along behind her. He had a bad limp. William empathized; William had a limp too. It made walking around San Miguel a bitch. Gringo traps were everywhere. If you did fall in a hole, forget that lawsuit thing. Mexicans do not believe in lawsuits, they believe in watching where you walk. He would have to warn this guy to watch his step.

Tanya gave William a big hug and did the breast thing again. She introduced her friend as Dimitri. Dimitri shook William’s hand and in a deep voice with a Russian accent told him how much he enjoyed the three drawings Tanya had given him. Tanya told William she and Dimitri were negotiating a distribution deal in Mexico City for Dimitri’s film “Human” about God’s eternal jealousy of his son’s experience of space and time on earth.

William said it sounded interesting, then regretted it. That was exactly what people said about his paintings when they did not like them or simply did not know what to say; interesting. Tanya explained to William that they had only three days before they had to be back in Mexico City. On the plane down, someone had mentioned how incredible the Cervantino Festival was so they had gone to their hotel, dumped their bags, had a quick breakfast, and now they were off to Guanajuato. Could William meet them for breakfast tomorrow morning at the Sierra Nevada at ten? She was able to say all of this in one sentence without taking a breath. Dimitri stood staring into space, obviously just along for the ride. Tanya finally took a breath, then asked William; “Is there anything in Guanajuato you need?” William hesitated, and then said no, there was nothing he needed. Tanya picked up on the hesitation.

“Really, I don’t mind. What is it?”
“This is not the kind of thing you ask someone to do for you.”

Now it must be understood that this was a woman who had once enthusiastically shot footage in a morgue after a natural disaster that even Geraldo had deemed too tasteless to air. Besides, it was not the first time a man had said to her; “This is not the kind of thing you ask someone to do for you.” She might not have done it, but she definitely wanted to know what it was.

“Come on, tell me!” she exclaimed.
“Well,” William began, “I have this friend in jail.”
“Great,” responded Tanya.
Dimitri, who was still staring into space in a vaguely bored Russian kind of way, turned and looked at her, eyebrows raised.

“I don’t mean it’s great he’s in jail…I mean… never mind, go ahead William.”

“His name is Jason,” William continued, “I bring him a bag of books and other things he needs every month. I’m about three weeks late, have a show to get ready for and I keep putting it off, the books, not the show. He’s probably going crazy without any thing to read.”

“Done deal, we’ll do it.” Tanya exclaimed enthusiastically. “Where’s the bag?”

William pointed to a large brightly colored plastic shopping bag with a picture of Frida Khalo on it. The bag was stuffed with books and a few packages wrapped in tissue paper. Dimitri stopped looking bored. By his expression William had the feeling he might know something about jails.

“OK,” William said, “I really appreciate this and so will Jason. Now listen carefully: When you first go in the jail they will search the bag in front of you. Then they will take it to Jason. It is an old jail and you will speak to Jason through a small window in a large wooden gate. Jason will invite you in for a tour of the prison. It is just a big courtyard with everyone in there, some just sleeping on the floor, most with tents or sheets of plastic stretched over ropes. Prisoners who can afford it rent a room. Today is Tuesday. Tuesdays and Thursdays are conjugal visit days. The place will be full of wives and kids, perfectly safe.

“This is wonderful,” chimed in Tanya.
“Now listen, this is important,” William told her.

Dimitri was listening intently now.

“When you go into the prison proper there is a thorough and somewhat personal search—,” pointing to Tanya, “—by a female guard. Be absolutely sure you do not have even an aspirin with you or nothing that resembles a drug of any kind. If they find one aspirin you will be stuck there in that room until they determine what it is, and that could take a while.”

William gave them instructions on how to find the prison, which was only a few blocks from the Teatro Juarez where many of the Cervantino’s performances took place.

“OK, we are ready,” said Tanya, “Dimitri get the books.”
“Wait, you must not take that bag,” said Dimitri, pointing to Tanya’s large shoulder bag. “You have no idea what is in there. It is like a black hole. Take only your small purse with your identification and money.”

Obviously Dimitri could take charge when he felt the need and obviously he felt the need when it came to the subject of prisons. William wondered what his life in Russia had been like before he came to the US. Tanya did not argue and did as Dimitri said.

Tanya kissed William on the cheek and smiled as if she had been given a wonderful gift. Dimitri gave William a quick handshake and a little bow, and then said, “We will bring him the books.”

William watched as they went down the stairs, thru the courtyard and out the door. William had made this trip many times for Jason without even the thought of a mishap. Still, he felt uneasy.

To be continued...