By Keith Keller

William was preparing for an art show and was totally absorbed in his painting. He had been telling himself each day that tomorrow he would deliver a monthly bag of books to his friend Jason, who was serving his second of seven years in the Guanajuato Federal Penitentiary. William was three weeks late and feeling guilty as hell, but not guilty enough to interrupt work on a final bar scene for his exhibition which opened in less than a month. William's friends Tanya and Dimitri happened to be headed to Guanajuato to check out the Cervantino Festival, and when William explained that Jason had been sitting in jail with nothing to read for weeks thanks to William's procrastination, Tanya offered to help deliver the books. Tanya being Tanya, was very excited about seeing the inside of a Mexican prison. She and Dimitri left around nine that morning for Guanajuato.

* * * *

William had just scraped the bartender's head off the canvas for the third time when Dimitri strode into William's studio speaking rapid Russian.

"What happened?" William asked.

"She is in prison," said Dimitri, regaining his English.

"Tanya?"

"Tanya."

William fetched Dimitri a glass of water, trying to imagine how this could have happened. William sat Dimitri down on his rickety sofa and told Dimitri to start from the beginning. "It was just as you said; first they searched the bag of books and packages, and then brought it to Jason. After that we took our turn at the small window in the large wooden gate. We spoke with Jason for several minutes, and as you said he would, he invited us into the large courtyard where most of the prisoners lived. We were each taken to a separate location to be searched
and then I was escorted to the prison courtyard where Jason was waiting. We talked for a while about the prison. Jason was excited to have his books and looked through them as we spoke. We were just wondering why it was taking so long for Tanya to appear when a prisoner came and spoke to Jason." Dimitri had been speaking in a calm, objective manner, as though he were describing a scene to a film crew, paying attention to each detail. Then he stopped speaking. He had been sitting with his elbows on his knees, leaning forward, as though contemplating the paint stains on Williams's studio floor. Now he lifted his head and looked at William sitting on a stool opposite him and repeated what the prisoner said.

"Hey man, your friend's been busted. They found eight joints on her." Then Dimitri added a question. "How could she be that stupid?" This was not the last time this question would be asked.

* * * *

William dialed Robert and Tanya's New York City upper west side apartment from a Guanajuato payphone, still wondering how he was going to break the news to Robert about his wife's arrest.

A voice on the other end of the line said hello.

"Robert?"

"Yes?"

"This is William, from San Miguel."

"Oh, yes William, nice to hear from you."

"Tanya came to visit.from Mexico City .she's here, you know, with Dimitri. On a break from Mexico City , from the movie deal."

Silence.this was not going well. He decided just to forge ahead.

* * * *

"She's in jail, for drug trafficking."

More silence, then: "Leave her there." Robert hung up.

Obviously Robert and Tanya were going through some domestic difficulties. William called Robert back. He answered on the first ring.

"Alright, I'll be right down."

"No," William told him, "I might need some money, I know I will, you stay there".

William filled Robert in on what had happened so far. He had a lawyer. His name was Alberto Ruíz. He had come highly recommended. In addition to his reputation as a top-notch defense lawyer he was also from a very wealthy and influential Guanajuato family. That couldn't hurt. At least that was what William thought at the time. As it turned out, the truth was quite different.

William told Robert he had a meeting with Licenciado Ruíz in a half hour. He decided not to mention Dimitri was with him, standing off to one side and staring up at the Teatro Juarez. William would know more after the meeting but wanted to be sure funds were available on short notice. William and Robert discussed the details for transferring money and then it was time for William's appointment with the Licenciado. William promised to contact Robert right after his meeting with the lawyer.

* * * *

"I thought you said you spoke Spanish?" Dimitri asked William.

"I did, I do, present tense any way," replied William, "but I'm having trouble understanding his accent," referring to the Licenciado's unique enunciation.

"The Licenciado does not have an accent, he has a speech impediment," said the skinny secretary who had ushered them into Licenciado Ruíz' office. She was leaning in the open office doorway listening in on the conference. The Licenciado did not seem bothered by this and William and Dimitri had not noticed.

"No ed berdad, eta gringo wabla mat mal que yo."

"What did he say?" asked William, twisting around in his seat to face the secretary.

"He said he is sorry you are having trouble understanding him."

The Licenciado stood up and walked to the office door and closed it in his secretary's face, then returned to his desk.

"Entonkes, donde hectadamos."

* * * *

William eventually got the hang of the Licenciado's Spanish, at least as well as he understood anyone's Spanish. At his first meeting with the Licenciado the news had not been good. Eight joints were found in the secret pocket of Tanya's change purse.

Her stated defense was that she forgot they were there. Dimitri muttered "stupid" at this point, the only English word he seemed to remember since Tanya's arrest. She was charged with possession of marijuana and attempt to traffic drugs on federal property. The drug trafficking charge alone carried a minimum sentence of eleven years. Because of the Ruíz family's extensive influence throughout both the state and capital of Guanajuato , Mexico City had sent a special prosecutor to ensure said influence would not affect the outcome of the trial.

* * * *

The US had been giving Mexico a hard time about the increasing level of drugs passing over the border into the United States and Mexico 's infrequent success at prosecuting drug traffickers. The US found it so much easier to blame the other side of the border for US drug problems then accept their own failures. Now Mexico had a "respectable" American woman charged with serious drug offenses and they were not going to let her walk.

The only positive note, sort of, was the possession law in Mexico as explained by Licenciado Ruíz. Apparently when caught with a small enough amount of marijuana, eight joints being within that category, you are given the opportunity to

demonstrate that you are a marijuana addict. You do this by smoking the number of joints in your possession at the time of your arrest in front of a doctor. Then you take a test similar to a US drunk driving test. If Tanya could touch her fingertips together, stand on one foot, and walk a straight line after smoking eight joints she would be declared an addict and receive one year's probation. This of course would not help with the trafficking charge. The Licenciado also mentioned that in some cases a sum of one thousand dollars to the doctor would guarantee Tanya be declared a marijuana addict. William would have to call Robert and get that money sent, just in case.

* * * *

"One thousand dollars, today?" exclaimed William, "It's Sunday." It was eleven in the morning and William had until three in the afternoon to deliver one thousand dollars to Guanajuato and no idea where it would come from. William started by calling everyone who had ever bought a painting from him. One client sent her gardener with four hundred dollars. With the fifty dollars each Dimitri and William could come up with they were half way there. Crossing Calle Canal on the way to the Mexes Sports Bar William ran into his friend Armando who slowed his jeep to say hello. Armando gave William another one hundred dollars. William got in front of the TV screen at Mexes so everyone would be looking at him when he started talking. Fortunately it was not Super Bowl Sunday and the audience gave him a chance to explain his problem. Although you could hear the word 'stupid' echoing around the room, the Mexes crowd started digging in their pockets, handing William money, who handed it to Dimitri, who counted it. When they had the four hundred dollars needed they stopped taking money. Marcus, the owner of Mexes, lent them a waiter and a car as neither Dimitri nor William could drive. On the road to Guanajuato they averaged one hundred and fifteen miles per hour. It was the second time William had questioned his chances for survival on this highway. The first had been on a previous visit to Jason, with Rosanski and friend Monica in tow.

"Do you think they are torturing her?" Dimitri asked William from the back seat as they passed several cars.

"Did you read 'Lines and Shadows'?" William asked him.

"Shit," Dimitri said, putting a lot of emphasis on the t. "They are shooting Pepsi Cola up her nose."

Because of the Cervantino, the waiter could not get them into the historic part of the town where William was to bring the money. They got out of the car and started walking, asking directions as they went, William limping on his right foot and Dimitri on his left. Three different people gave them three different sets of directions. The fourth person's directions however matched the second's and in Mexico that is a go. It was three minutes to three and still they were three blocks from their destination. They started to run. They looked like two men in a three-legged race without a bag. Mexicans watching them limping in rapid tandem seemed entertained. A bell started to ring the Sunday mid afternoon three o'clock mass and was quickly joined by others, their bronze tones echoing off the facades of ancient buildings, a chaotic colonial clamoring for haste, William and Dimitri limped faster. Finally they reached their address where a young man was waiting in the doorway. He took the money from William, counted it rapidly, shoved it back into its bag, shook William and Dimitri's hands and left.

To be continued...