Desert Passage (13 page)

“I think you should place the larger picture off to the side, the colors of the smaller picture will look better if they are in the middle of the group,” Ramón wisely suggested.

The shop owner looked around to see who had made the interesting observation and was shocked to see the young man sitting on the bench.

“Do you really think so?” the man asked.

“Yeah, try it,” Ramón suggested, still staring at the window.

From behind the glass, the canvases were reorganized as Ramón had suggested. The shop owner then came out and assessed the window display with a critical eye.

“It does look better, much better,” he said approvingly. “Do you live around here? Do I know your parents?”

“No, we're just passing through.”

“You've got a sharp eye,” the man complimented. “I appreciate the help. Come inside and I'll show you the gallery.”

Ramón was surprised at the man's kind offer and accepted the invitation. He walked into the sophisticated shop, surrounded by expensive paintings and sculptures waiting to be purchased by wealthy tourists. Each canvas and handcrafted sculpture was more beautiful than the next. Ramón had never been so close to real works of art.

The shop owner graciously walked with him around the store and introduced him to the work of local and nationally recognized artists. When the tour was complete, he handed Ramón a small stack of glossy postcards depicting many of the works of art he had just seen.

“These are yours,” the shop owner said in a generous voice. “I can recognize an artist in the making when I meet one. Good luck, son.”

Ramón thanked the man and placed the postcards in his backpack. The kindness of the shop owner had made him feel closer to his dream of becoming an artist someday.

Time passed quickly as he continued to gaze at the captivating art works in the shop windows, but after a while Ramón realized that Miguel was probably waiting for him at the park. He took one last look and hurried back. He found Miguel snoring loudly on a park bench with his backpack placed on his chest.

“Hey, we better find a place to camp out for the night before it gets dark,” Ramón said, nudging Miguel on the arm. “Get up, man. Let's go.”

Miguel made one last loud snort and sat up in surprise. “What's going on? Where are we?”

Feeling the exaltation of an artist inspired by a new vision, Ramón replied, “We're in heaven. We finally made it to heaven.”

 
Chapter 26
 

N
atalie roared up the side streets, past the center of town, into the hills inhabited by the gigantic rock formations. Ramón pointed toward a cluster of red rocks in the distance for Miguel to navigate to. The sun was beginning to set below thin wisps of clouds. Ramón turned to see the pale red earth turn to brilliant orange and the blue sky filling with streaks of pink, lavender, and gray. The metamorphosis of color was perfectly orchestrated by nature. Miguel drove around the cluster of rough rock into a cavern on the western side so they could view the sunset and the town below.

There were old tree branches and dried brush lying around the rocks. Miguel gathered the twigs and brush and piled them on the ground to make a fire. He took the matches from his backpack and lit the brush, then slowly fanned the smoke into flames. Ramón took out the wrapped burritos from the backpack and decided their rations for the night. He decided that they would eat one burrito each and split one of the chocolate bars for dessert.

Miguel looked disapprovingly at the single burrito sitting on the sleeping bag. “Is that all we're eating?” he asked, taking note of the candy bar in Ramón's hand.

“We'll have one burrito tonight and one in the morning. That leaves only one more ration for tomorrow's lunch,” Ramón said, unwrapping his burrito and taking a bite.

“I don't understand why we can't eat regular food. We have the extra money. Look, it's here in my pocket!” Miguel was getting upset. He remembered seeing his favorite fast food restaurant in the town just minutes before.

“That money doesn't even belong to us. It's Abuelita's, and we're not going to spend it unless we have to. It's for an emergency, remember?”

Miguel thought of his grandmother lying still in her hospital bed. The excitement of the trip had kept his thoughts away from her but now, in the quiet of the desert, he began to think of her and wondered how she was.

“Ramón, you think we did the right thing leaving Abuelita?”

“The nurses said she was going to be okay. We have to believe that,” Ramón replied solemnly.

“Besides,” Ramón added, “I know in my heart she's okay, don't you?”

Miguel smiled, feeling reassured by his cousin's insight, “Yeah, I do.”

“I said a prayer for her last night before I fell asleep,” Ramón confessed quietly.

“I did, too,” Miguel answered.

They sat on the hard ground and ate their dinner. Miguel ate the burrito in three bites. Ramón gave in and allowed him to also eat one of the granola bars along with one half of the chocolate bar.

Still hungry, Miguel sat back against the rock wall and looked down at the town beginning to light up in the darkness. “It feels like we're really far away, huh?” he said.

“Yeah, I've been thinking that all day.”

“Those guys at the Grand Canyon were cool. I wouldn't mind going back to the canyon next year,” Miguel added.

“There's a lot we should do,” pondered Ramón, “there's so much to see. I mean, look at this place, just think of how many more places like this are there in the world. We could probably travel nonstop for the rest of our lives and never see everything there is out there.”

“Hey, man, we could, you know, travel our whole lives.” Miguel's imagination sprung into action. “We could drop outta school and just drive Nat around. We wouldn't need a lot of money. We would work along the way. But we would need another sleeping bag, though.”

Ramón laughed at Miguel's idea. “Yeah, just drive around seeing the sights and begging for food, that sounds awesome.”

“No, I mean it, at least once a year or something, take a trip somewhere. See something new!”

“If Grandpa Esteban was still here, he would understand,” said Ramón, closing his eyes to feel the last of the sun's rays on his face.

“I'm going to tell my dad to take us places. We need to see the world.”

“Yeah, we'll tell Tío Rodrigo after he's done yelling at us. He might be real mad when we see him, you know? Did you ever think of that?”

Miguel's excitement left his face.

“My dad cares about us, I just wish … I just wish he could remember what it was like to be young.” He took a long pause then continued, “We had to do this, we had to go on our own.”

Ramón took a long wood stick lying off to the side of the fire and stuck it into the flames. “If my dad were here, he would understand.”

Both boys sat in silence, leaning against the side of the enormous red rock with the soft firelight flickering in their eyes.

 
Chapter 27
 

T
he rocky cavern provided adequate shelter for the boys. The desert winds blew from the southeast and the large expanse of stone shielded them as they slept. Miguel had stacked extra branches nearby and in accordance with their original plan, Miguel suggested that Ramón use the sleeping bag first. They found spots on the ground that were the most comfortable and used the backpacks and extra clothes as pillows.

Ramón fell asleep first. The sleeping bag was large and he nestled into it while feeling the heat of the flames on his face. Being next to the giant red rocks made him feel safe despite being out in the desert alone. He slept the first part of the night easily. Then the first of two dreams came.

He was driving the scooter along an ocean coastline. The road was extremely narrow and on the left side of the road was a steep cliff which dropped off sharply into the crashing waves below. The road was dangerous and the scooter was leaning toward the cliff, closer every minute he traveled. Ramón steered the scooter away from the cliff but no matter how far to the right he turned the handles, the scooter drifted to danger. It felt like no matter what he did to drive the scooter away from the dangerous cliff, he was going to fall onto the rocks below.

Ramón woke up for a moment and turned over in the sleeping bag. The heat of the fire warmed his back and he saw Miguel placing more wood on top of the flames. The warmth of the fire quickly put him back to sleep.

Then the second dream came. Ramón was standing on open ground. There were no buildings or people; all he could
see was a flat horizon of empty desert. He looked for a road or a sign for direction but nothing was there. He was completely alone. Strong winds began to blow and in an instant all visibility was gone. He could see nothing but clouds of dust and dirt swirling around him. The sky darkened and he covered his mouth to avoid breathing in the dust. Out of the darkness appeared two beams of lights. As the lights grew stronger, he heard the roar of a familiar engine. An old truck pulled up in front of him and Grandpa Esteban stepped out.

“Hey, there, we've been looking for you,” Grandpa Esteban said, taking off his cowboy hat and dusting it with his hand. “Your dad and I have been worried, we didn't think you'd be able to find us in all this dust. It's quite a storm, isn't it?”

Ramón stood speechless, looking at his beloved grandfather. The older man was still wearing his worn work boots and driving the same old pickup truck that he and Miguel used to take rides in.

Ramón wiped his eyes and refocused on the apparition. “Is it really you?” he asked in a whisper.

“It's okay, Ramón, come here and give your grandpa a hug.”

Ramón ran to his grandpa and threw his arms around his barrel-sized chest. “I'm so glad you're here, I thought I was lost. I couldn't see anything, how did you find me?” he asked.

“We never lose sight of where you are or what you're doing. We've been following you all the way since you and Miguel left the house. This old truck can keep up with anything, but I need to check the brakes, they've been squeaking lately.”