Welcome to My World Said the Spider - As Hot As Tiburcio - Part V

Suppose the town you lived in and loved, became a place where there was a clash of races and ideas? What if your community became a place where the temptation of instant wealth, acquired by lawless practices was more the rule than the exception? What if men of previously good reputations joined hands with criminals? Could this become the story of your town, your country, or the world?

This is the fifth part of a series, about one such town, and what time has denied it and its people. The story you are about to read is a continuation of one of my spider webs. It's rooted in historial facts and a true Déjà vu experience that happened to me in a certain border town in Texas, a few years back. I challenge you to read and discover which paths are real, which ones are dead ends, and which ones you want to follow to a new discovery. See if you want to escape this spider web, or be a willing victim

Arriving at the school auditorium, Don Ignacio was pleased to see that only the Padre and the third grade teacher were early arrivals. The priest was busy laying out a makeshift altar. The teacher motioned for Don Ignacio to come help him up on the stage. The two of them silently set up fifteen folding chairs to the right of the podium.

Meanwhile, down the road, the three women left Casa Ronquillo and headed for La Puerto Del Pais, smiling all-knowing smiles at each other as they smiled. Carlotta whispered another appeal that only God could hear -- for the souls of Gorgonio Gandara and his wife, Reginia Freques, as they greet these two old friends, who now mutely fell into step with the women.

Slender and arrow-straight, Reginia had black curls and joyous blue eyes. She too, was a dancing spirit, a daughter of the dawn. Her husband, Gorgonio, seemed ancient, like an old ancestor. His dark eyes were unlike the lizard eyes of many old people. They were bright folks, like intelligent twinkling stars. He was a squat, square-shouldered round faced man. his formerly authoritative build was now covered with a left over layer of middle aged suppleness, that hinted at his pleasant, almost mild personality. As a couple, you would have had to look long and hard for a more interesting pair.

It seemed impossible to all of them, that La Puerta Del Pais was no longer Gorgonio and Regina's home. For a brief moment, within the distinct reaches of her mind, Carlotta thought she heard an approaching stage. Then, remembering the present twenty-first moment, Carlotta pointed in the direction this small group were obligated to go.

When this group of five, reached the old Tiburcio Cemetery, they lingered just for a few minutes. Some of them spat upon old memories, especially of certain people, like Judge Simon Newcomb. Meanwhile, some of the others prayed for Padre Antonio Borrajo to come to their aid, as he had done many times in the past.

Despite its age, the cemetery was well kept. Headstones primarily bearing Hispanic surnames were occasionally laced with lively scarlet creeper trumpet flowers, among the fake urns filled with sun-faded plastic flowers. A swift hummingbird tried to siphon nectar from each blossom in turn, obviously more and more disappointed at each urn.

From there, the group hurried on. Instead of crossing to the ruins of the mission, they turned and made their way to El Molino, where Maximo Aranda and Gregorio Garcia were supposed to meet them. The building was once the headquarters of Company N, of the Texas Frontier Forces. Later, it was the headquarters for the Tiburcio Texas Rangers.

When Carlotta spotted the building, she grinned at the memory of Maximo, a Texas Ranger of considerable charm who had once briefly held her heart. Then, she laughed aloud, remembering his best friend, Captain Gregorio Garcia. Both men were her life-long best friends.

Each morning she would bring Maximo his coffee. to quote his daily jovial request: "It had to be black as the Devil, strong as death, sweet as her loving and hot as Tiburcio or hell, which ever one had the greater temperature on that given day!"

Gregorio had a prominent nose and high cheekbones, thus the profile of his face was both noble and aristocratic. The nose, however, wasn't too prominent, nor were his cheekbones so high, that he wasn't considered good-looking in his own right. On the contrary, maybe it was either his curly, once black hair or maybe it was the spark in his eyes -- eyes of dancing mischief, which made him a popular man with the local ladies.

This popularity was unnoticed by his wife, Maria De Los Santos Alvillar. It was a joke between them, both knowing that Gregorio's heart and should belonged only to her. As charming as Gregorio was, however, for Carlotta -- there was never any man, outside of Maximo, who held her romantic interest for very long.

Today, Gregorio and Maximo were late. Everyone was wondering why these two old desperadoes would keep everyone waiting, with such an important gathering about to start. Deciding to wait a little longer, the other five stood around, all looking anxious, remembering and remembering.

They nervously talked about how just like in the rest of the west, there was a time when Tiburcio was a place with its own overt brand of law. While it didn't share the dubious fame of its nearby neighbor, El Paso -- who was once known as the "lead and likker town" and was legendary for its gambling houses, vice resorts and frequent murders -- Tiburcio was a place with its own peculiar perils.

Many had wished or tried to make it a town where a man's word was his bond; where rustling or stealing was evil; and where shooting an unarmed man was contemptible. Some had made great efforts to see to it, that Tiburcio was a place where strangers were treated with hospitality, and where a bargain sealed with a handshake was as good as any written legal agreement. However, despite all efforts of the truly good residents, who really cared -- there were many times in the past, when the town was a lawless town, despite good people, soldiers, the Texas Rangers, and the efforts of its priests.

This conversation led the group to thinking about the strange crisis in morals that had come to a tragedy many years back. Carlotta, personally had long ago concluded that perhaps the whole situation was due to a clash of races and ideas, against a background filled with the temptation of instant wealth, acquired by lawless practices. The saddest part of the history of the town was that men of previously good reputations joined hands with criminals.

Standing there with the others, upset with Maximo and Gregorio for being late, Carlotta fanned herself with the fan-like folded paper she withdrew from her waistband. Realizing their lateness was nothing they could control, she let her memories take her back to other times. She whispered to herself, "Maximo, I will always love you, even though I could not be your wife."

Just the thought of Maximo in his sand colored trousers and shirt, the ample brimmed western hat, his ribbon black tie -- reminded her of passions she'd long ago buried with her youth. She remembered he'd fought in small and large wars, in Indian and Mexican raids, the horrific Salt War, and of course -- against horse thieves and train robbers. Now he was just another old soldier being asked by her, to fight one last time. However, neither his old Colt six-shooter, nor his Walker six-shooter, could win this war. Far greater weapons would be required.

The five of them had been waiting for Maximo and Captain Garcia for over ten minutes. They'd grown silent, each lost in their own thoughts. Yet, without the voice of discussion, they gave up their wait and proceeded to walk towards the Old Roller Mill on Main Street. Only Carlotta looked back, worried about the still missing Texas Rangers. Then, the thought occurred to her, that they were all like the old mill, perhaps the entire group of them were relics of a time gone by.

The mill was once a central part of Tiburcio's history. "Flouring" being an important industry in the town, with generations of local farmers loading their wagons with corn and wheat to be brought there to be ground and sacked. Just like the mill, one man had left his market on the town too, Sheriff Charles Ellis -- Teodora's deceased husband.

He had once owned El Molino. For years, Carlotta had kept an empty rotted sack of his popular "Eagle Brand," just to remind herself of the evil some men are capable of. There is often a fine line between criminals and lawmen, and Charles Ellis crossed it whenever he could.

At his birth, a fortuneteller was sent for because he was double-jointed and had a complete set of teeth. His poor mother's reaction upon her first glimpse of him was utter horror. What bothered the fortuneteller most, was that he was born with a veil over his face, which to her was a warning that Charles would come to no good. The fortuneteller's counsel was a prediction destined to come true.

Even as a young boy, he was the schoolyard bully. He was at least a head taller than his classmates of the same age. He easily outweighed them by significant pounds. Many of Tiburcio's grown children of his generation, had been gleefully entertained the day they all joined forces and attacked him as a group. For all involved, this was one of their sweetest childhood memories. Every one of his small peers conspired to get even with him on the playground, where the supervising Padre had left unexpectedly to attend to an emergency and the opportunity presented itself.

Just as Charles was about to take Ignacio's lunch pail for the umpteenth day in a row, the children swiftly descended upon him in mass. Jumping on his back, they began wailing him with their fists. The girls snatched the lunch back form him, while two of the biggest boys yanked his trousers down to his ankles, even managing to let one of the youngest and frailest boys give him a swift kick in the behind, before they left him humiliated on the playground.

The punishment they all got from the priest for their part in the incident, had not dampened those participating in their victory. Well-remembered even to this day, the priest, who was completely aware of Charles' basic personality flaws -- metered out the punishments on Charles' former victims very mildly. He also gave Charles a stern lecture about his own blameworthiness in the whole episode. Once would have thought the memory of that incident would have taught Charles a little, but it didn't. He continued his harassment, becoming even more aggressive towards any child he considered weaker.

As an adult, his opaque lifeless slate-gray eyes were often fixed whenever he was tormenting anyone he had power over. His eyes were as repulsive as the man himself. One looked into them and saw only frost depths, devoid and incapable of any loving expression. The effect of looking long and hard into them, was certain to send shivers down the spine of the looker, who most certainly knew that something vile and disturbing had just gazed back at them. There was something reptilian about the now obese man. His shapeless flesh completely hid his bones.

Carlotta reverently believed he was devoid of all human attributes and deserved no sympathy. Yet, repeatedly, he was elected to office, thanks to the backing of powerful and corrupt men. In his lifetime, he was not only the owner of the mill, he was the El Paso County Tax Assessor, County Treasurer, and Sheriff. His evil thirst for power held no boundary for many years.

History was due to repeat itself, for the lesson Charles Ellis did not learn on the schoolyard grounds, was in the end cost him his life. The recollection of that lesson was pushed aside in Carlotta's mind. As the small group continued past the mill and headed up much further down the road to the Tiburcio jail. Carlotta's mind flitted back and forth between worrying about the absence of Maximo and Captain Garcia and the task at hand. The hour of the battle of many life times was rapidly near.

Next: The Tragedy of a Salt War - Part VI