The first two pellets were easy to find and retrieve. They clunked heavily against the metal bottom of the trash can beside the sink as he dropped them from the tweezers. The third one took some time, and the wound bled heavily before the pellet finally relented and clunked into the trash can as well. Rinsing the wounds again with alcohol and saline, he clasped one of the pre-threaded stainless steel suture needles tightly with the tweezers. Methodically, he used the curved needles to stitch up the three holes in his side. Cleaning the area one last time, he bound up his midsection again.
El Barquero turned back into the small motel room and pulled a heavy black plastic trash bag from his rucksack. Returning to the bathroom, he stuffed the bloody towel into the bag along with the spent bandages before throwing the sack into the bedroom. Packing up his medical supplies, he straightened and cleaned up the bathroom. After loading two more rounds into his pistol’s clip, he crashed heavily onto the bed. On his back, naked and holding his pistol in one hand, he immediately fell into an exhausted sleep.
Back in the big white house, Kip sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and picking over a pile of scrambled eggs and bacon from a platter in the middle of the table. Bennett sat beside him, reading the newspaper, while under the table, Max lustily gnawed away at a dried pig ear treat. A small television on the kitchen counter relayed the morning’s latest news.
“Violence continues to plague the Texas border,” the field reporter said into her microphone as she stood on the side of the highway outside of Tornillo, her cameraman panning the desert behind her. “Just today, in the early morning hours, gunfire ripped through the desert here, some forty miles southwest of El Paso. This latest incident involved the death of three Mexican nationals and the wounding of two United States border patrol agents. This follows directly on the heels of two other bodies that were discovered in the desert the day before. All of the dead are suspected of being involved in the smuggling of illegal narcotics.
“What concerns officials and civilians in this area outside of Tornillo the most is that the violence happened on the U.S. side of the border. Prior to these shootings, most of the deadly skirmishes between rival Mexican drug cartels have limited themselves to the south side of the border and within the city of Juarez itself. The question for residents and law enforcement is whether these are isolated incidents or the beginning of a new, bloody drug war on U.S. soil.
“Here with me today is one of those concerned residents. What’s unique is that he’s actually taken steps to become personally involved in protecting his community by forming a local civilian militia. To protect his identity, he goes only by the name of General X-Ray,” the news reporter said as the General, still in his camouflage fatigues and tanker helmet, stepped into the view of the camera. “General, your local militia, STRAC-BOM, I believe is the name…”
“Southwest Texas Revolutionary Armed Confederate Border Operations Militia is the official name of the organization,” the General corrected the reporter as he reached for her microphone.
“Yes, I see,” the field reporter replied as she wrestled her microphone from the General’s grasp. “Now, general, what inspired you to form your own militia?”
“Well,” the General began as he reached again for the microphone, the alert reporter jerking it back from his reach, “like many citizens of our fair community, I’d become increasingly concerned with the lack of competency of local and federal law enforcement in stopping the flow of illegal aliens across our border. It’s a veritable Hispanic Ho Chi Minh Trail out there. Then, one day while I was out rattlesnake hunting, it came to me.”
“The idea to create a civilian militia came to you while rattlesnake hunting?” the reporter inquired.
“No, that came later,” the General replied. “What came to me first was a question, a monumentally important question. What would Sam Houston do?” he said as he held his wrist up to the camera to show a camouflage plastic wristband with the letters WWSHD printed in white. “These, by the way, are available for three dollars and ninety-nine cents plus a modest shipping and handling charge on the STRAC-BOM website. The answer to the question was of course that Sam Houston would raise an army to defeat the enemy. That’s the Texas way.”
“And just how many men have you raised for your militia, general?”
“For purposes of security and strategic advantage, I’d rather not divulge that information. The enemy’s intelligence staff monitors that type of data. Suffice to say, we have multiple Fire Teams of highly trained and heavily armed soldiers all committed to protecting the freedom of our glorious homeland. We operate under the creed of bullets, beans, and the Bible.”
“What activities have you and your men been involved with?”
“Recently, we’ve been involved in several land-based surveillance and interdiction operations. We’re currently evaluating opportunities for water-based missions, as well as contemplating the ability to develop air superiority capabilities.”
“Would your land-based activities have anything to do with the violent events that occurred last night in the desert behind us?” the reporter asked as she carefully guarded her microphone from the General’s grasp.
“Absolutely not,” the General emphatically replied. “What you have out there,” he continued as he pointed back toward the desert with his leather riding crop, “is purely the work of amateurs. If my patriots had been involved, I assure you the body count would have been significantly higher.”
“What would you say to those who feel immigration issues and battling violent drug cartels should be left to the authorities?”
“Left to the authorities?” the General mocked. “They couldn’t hit a longhorn steer in the butt with a handful of gravel. My highly accomplished marksmen are the only properly trained and equipped outfit in this area for these types of bloody engagements.”
“General, some have argued that as a nation originally founded and built by immigrants, the current backlash against Mexican civilians crossing the border simply looking to build a better future for their families is slightly hypocritical. In fact, when Mexico won its independence from Spain, what we know today as Texas was in fact part of Mexico, and the Mexican government openly encouraged immigration from United States citizens, regardless of race, to settle the land freely. Your thoughts?”
“Then they changed their mind few years later and sent Mexican soldiers to stop U.S. citizens from settling. And what did Sam Houston do?” the General asked as he waved his WWSHD wristband in front of the camera again. “He kicked the ever-loving snot out of Santa Anna’s butt at San Jacinto! That’s what he did. They changed the rules, not us. Screw ’em!”
“Thank you for your time, general,” the reporter said as she turned to face the camera.
“And don’t forget your WWSHD wristbands at the STRAC-BOM website!” the General shouted as he tried to push his way back into the picture.