On the road in Mexico
The three woke up early as the wind whipped the dust and sand around them. A strange feeling hung in the air as the easterly sky looked dark and ominous.
"Amigos, we need to leave now!" Miguel pointed to the sky. "Very big storm!"
What appeared to be just gray clouds to Pete and Jeremy were a signal of extreme weather approaching to Miguel. Behind the gray clouds were super cumulus clouds racing towards them from the gulf of Mexico.
If they had been listening to the radio hurricane Grace appeared to be on a collision course projected to hit Corpus Christi, Texas in the next twelve hours. Several storms were out front on the perimeter of Grace already hitting parts of Mexico and Texas.
Miguel felt something in the air and the look on his face made Pete take notice, questioning the driver. "Miguel?"
"A sudden change of air pressure." Miguel looked to the two men. "Someone is getting very bad weather right now. We must go." He quickly walked to the truck, Pete and Jeremy followed quickly behind.
The three made their way north on highway eighty-five to Nuevo Laredo and the border. Pete checked the time and the distance remaining then elbowed the driver. "Looks like we will be at the border before noon, Miguel."
Miguel turned to Pete and wondered aloud. "Si, but who will be there?"
Jeremy looked out his window to the biggest storm clouds he had ever witnessed. "Miguel. Ever see clouds like this before?"
The driver made the sign of the cross. "Madre María, ten piedad de nosotros!" Mother Mary, have mercy on us!
Pete looked to the sky. "Yeah, what he said! Boss?"
Jeremy kept watching the sky out his window. "Yeah yeah, I agree. This will not be pretty."
Miguel drove faster.
"Hey Miguel, can your truck handle the speed?" Pete questioned how reliable the vehicle was.
"Pete, this is a great truck!" Jeremy vouched for it.
"Si no worries!" Miguel silently mouthed a pray as he drove.
Miguel and Jeremy rolled their windows up as the rain began to fall.
No one felt like talking as the weather gradually worsened the closer they drove to he border. The windshield began to fog as the moisture began to condense in the cab of the truck.
As they approached Nuevo Laredo Jeremy spoke for the first time in hours. "I have a plan." He lowered his window for a little fresh air. "After checking out the net for ways to get across the Rio, I've decided to use a canoe or a kayak. Whatever is there."
Pete shook his head. "Bad idea, Boss. You don't swim so good."
"Exactly why I won't be swimming." Jeremy shot back at his friend.
"A lot of rain, Amigo." Miguel looked over at Jeremy. "The Rio will be very rough!"
"Yeah, you're right, but I am gonna try." Jeremy shrugged. "It's the only way I know to get this medicine over the border."
"Thousands die every year crossing the Rio." Miguel watched the traffic closely. "Be very careful."
Jeremy thought how the glass jars would be vulnerable if he rattled them around too much. So many details to worry about and this is just the beginning of his challenges. He has always been the one with the plan, the schedules, and the foresight but this time is different.
His mind wandered with the rhythmic sound of the road under the tires and the rain on the roof. He thought of Gwen and the pain she must be in. Then hoped that he was truly healthy again and not just some weird form pain relief from the weeks in the flimsy hut. What he really wants is to be there for her whether or not he had been cured. For Jeremy, he did not want to miss out on his one chance at love.
Heavy rains turned the highway into a fierce river forcing Miguel to slow his truck. The serious weather made pulling off the highway an easy decision. "I can not see where to drive better to get off the road. Pete."
"I don't remember rain ever being this difficult to drive through. Then again, we don't get hurricanes up north." Jeremy wiped the condensation off the window again. "Maybe turn on the heat so we can see, Miguel." The rain obscured the view of the beautiful rich red colored sandy soil and the grove of vanishing stream oak trees breaking up the open vastness of the countryside.
"Si si." Miguel flooded the truck with warm air and the windshield began to clear.
The rain lightened and Miguel merged back onto the highway. The once dry sand of the Mexican desert turned into a thick muddy mess moving into the low laying areas. The three men were now closing in on Nuevo Laredo and Jeremy's heart rate began to climb.
Pete could sense a change in his friend. "You okay, Boss?"
"Does it really matter, Pumpkin?" Jeremy wound the window down for some fresh air. "What I am going to do, has to be done and you know it."
"You know, I love the Thompson twins...a lot." Pete confessed. "I mean I would do what I could but not this. This seems crazy, Boss!"
Jeremy smiled. "Then love must be making me crazy, Pumpkin. Because I actually want to do this."
"You do realize this is the most polluted part of the Rio Grande? They still dump raw sewage into the river." Pete elbowed Miguel. "Tell him!"
"Good luck, amigo." Miguel's gaze did not leave the road because they just arrived at the border city. "When love is involved, crazy is normal."
Jeremy slapped Pete's knee. "Thank you, Miguel!"
Miguel just laughed at the two friends.
Jeremy leaned forward to look around his friend asking Miguel a question. "Do you know where the access to the river is?"
Miguel nodded. "Si. West of the city. You should find something to paddle across the river there."
Pete showed concern for Jeremy. "You're gonna wait until the weather clears, right Boss?"
"No Pumpkin, I am not waiting." Jeremy frowned. "Drop me off and cross the border before they think about closing it. I need you two over there."
"Have you gone completely crazy, Boss?!" Pete pointed his index finger at Jeremy's head. "This is not the little Saugeen river where we learned how to swim. There is a storm raging and you have no idea where to cross!"
"I'll figure it out, Pumpkin! I've always figured it out." Jeremy lowered the temperature in the truck as he spoke softly. "Just be on the other side. I'll be there."
Pete folded his arms in front of his body. Miguel patted his knee. "Times like these you must trust your friend, not fight him."
Miguel pulled down a muddy road leading to the river. With all the rain that fell the water reached the top of the Rio Grande banks. "You need to cross very soon, amigo! This is about to get very bad!"
"About to get bad? Seriously, Miguel?" Pete shook his head.
Miguel stopped his truck far back from the edge. "Let's find you something to cross with. Anything and fast."
The three men ran different directions looking for anything to get Jeremy across the rising river. The rain soaked the men to their core but they continued their search.
Pete yelled from behind some brush. "Here! I've got a boat!"
Miguel arrived first and lifted the bow of the tiny rowboat. The bottom separated from the rest of the boat. "Sorry amigo, this one is rotted out."
"Over here! I have it!" Jeremy yelled to the guys. He stood at the river's edge holding onto an old wooden canoe. "It just floated to me." He pulled it up onto the bank. "It has to be a sign."
"Yeah a sign that someone else tried and failed!" Pete just looked at his friend but Jeremy didn't respond.
"I'll grab your bag, amigo. You need to leave quickly!" Miguel ran back to the truck for Jeremy's backpack. When he returned he warned the man about to cross the Rio. "These jars are not very strong. Be careful, si?"
"I understand Miguel." Jeremy wiped the excess water from his face. "You two get across the border!" He pushed Pete towards the truck. "Go!" He didn't turn. "Pumpkin, go!"
Reluctantly Pete turned and joined Miguel in the truck. "Let's go, Miguel."
"Don't underestimate your friend." Miguel looked at his drenched passenger. "Love seems to be driving him. You will not change his mind."
"Yeah he's as stubborn as a mule!" Pete shook his head as he watched Jeremy check his backpack.
The truck began to slip in the muddy ruts but Miguel lowered the gear and slowly made his way from the river. "Come on, my old friend. Get us out of here!"
Jeremy placed his backpack of precious liquid into the canoe. The rattling of the glass jars made him uneasy. "Crap!" With so much hanging in the balance, there was no room for failure. He needed to get all the medicine north to Gwen. He looked around for padding to keep them safe. His feet slipped on the wet clay.
"Clay? Right!" Jeremy grabbed the paddle and dug a chunk of clay from the bank. He removed the five jars and packed clay in the bottom of his backpack. Then proceeded to pack clay around each jar and returned them to the backpack.
He pulled the heavy backpack over his shoulders, pushed the canoe into river until it floated, then gingerly stepped a foot into the vessel. Jeremy pushed away from the shore with his other foot and the struggle immediately ensued.
The rushing water pushed the bow of the canoe down river and he feverishly began to paddle. "Damn it! Come on!" Frustration continued to build but Jeremy dug deep and used every bit of his strength to get the canoe to obey his wishes. "That's it, now keep going, Jer!"
Before he knew it the canoe passed the older international bridge. Jeremy fought with every ounce of energy he had to guide the canoe closer to the American side but he underestimated the power of the raging water. He just could not get the canoe pointed in the right direction.
His muscles flexed with each stroke of the paddle digging into the raging river bringing fatigue ever closer. Soon the canoe passed under the newer international bridge. "Damn!"
Jeremy paddled even faster and still he could not make progress. He slowed his paddling and just tried to keep the canoe from tipping. The man on a mission yelled at himself. "Jeremy, you'll never survive in the water! So pay attention!"
Jeremy could see a bend in the river ahead. It turned south. He also knew there would be an eddy, a place where the water circles back on itself, providing an opportunity to get closer to the American side. Then the unthinkable happened, the old wooden canoe struck a rock and water poured through the hole on the right side.
The rough Rio swallowed the canoe before Jeremy could react. With his feet tucked under the seat he was being pulled under the current. He managed a deep breath before his head disappeared into the filthy violent water. Yet another struggle of life and death began. This time with more than just his existence on the line. Gwen's face flashed in his mind.
The broken canoe careened around in the rapids like a pinball. It smashed into a huge boulder turning it sideways pinning itself against another boulder. Nearing the end of his breath Jeremy kicked, twisted, then extended his legs managing to free his feet and push up to the surface.
He gasped taking in water making him cough as he tried to breathe. His body could not take the stresses the river threw at him and he just closed his eyes. The vision of Gwen returned making him feel as though he failed her.
"Hey Gringo! You are not there yet!" It was Miguel junior reminding him of what was a stake. "You are not giving up now!"
"Miguel, I have nothing more to give." An exhausted Jeremy barely spoke.
"No! There is more inside. Find it, Gringo, find it!" Miguel floated above the drowning man. "You die here, Gwen dies. Gwen dies and my beautiful Harmony will never be the same!"
He struggled to raise his chin higher. "Miguel, it's too late. It's too late." Jeremy took a shallow breath and slipped under the surface.
Miguel followed and into the murkiness of the Rio Grande he watched hope flicker from his family. He yelled one last time and his voice rippled through the water. "Reach up!" Again he challenged Jeremy. "You will not give up! Raise your hand, Gingo!"
Jeremy's eyes flashed open to see Miguel pointing up. The exhausted man slowly raised his his hand.
"I've got you! I got you!" A woman screamed. She dragged Jeremy to the river bank where he would be safe from the raging Rio. "It's okay boy, we got him." The woman assured her dog, took another breath, and repeated. "We got him. Phew!"