Dragonfly Dreams, Part Six

Another shot rang out, making their taxi swerve wildly from side to side. Frank was kneeling in the backseat in a pile of broken glass. They were being shot at by Janet Jones…the crazy woman from the airport. Apparently she wasn’t going to let her job go undone this time!

“What does she want?” Frank yelled out as Chuck tried to take a quick peek out of the shot-out window.

“She wants us dead mate!” Chuck yelled back, his Australian accent coming out thick and strong.

Chuck yelled something in Spanish to the taxi driver that Frank didn’t recognize fully. He must have promised the driver something good…probably lots of money….because their speed picked up considerably.

“What do you see?” Frank called out, hoping for good news.

“I can’t see…” Chuck was cut off as another shot whizzed past his ear. He practically fell back down into the floor, on top of Frank.

“Well, I saw that,” he grinned, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead, “It was a little too close for comfort though.”

“Don’t you have a gun….weapon…anything?” Frank was exasperated. What had he gotten himself into?

“Nope mate,” Chuck looked grim, “Told ya’. I only deal in tattoos.”

Just then another bullet whizzed into their car. Frank heard a sharp cry and the taxi swerved dangerously making them tumble to the side of the car. Both men stared at each other with wild eyes and then glanced up over the seat. The driver was lying in the front seat in a quickly spreading pool of blood.

“Awwww no!” Chuck yelled, “She took out the driver. Well….nothing much else to do except…”

And with that, he hopped over into the front seat so quickly that Frank could hardly comprehend it. He did hear another shot ring out though. Chuck yelped loudly but took control of the taxi, pulling it back onto the road.

“Are you okay?” Frank yelled, feeling helpless in the backseat.

“Just a graze mate…just a graze,” Chuck called back, “But I may have a painful time sitting on my bum for a few days.”

Frank couldn’t believe that Chuck was trying to make jokes at a time like this.

“I’m gonna try to lose her,” Chuck yelled out over the noise of the racing engine, “Hold on!”

As the taxi swerved violently to the left, Frank found himself being thrown against the other side of the cab. He tried to grab the seat….the floor mats….anything to give himself purchase. But he just found himself in a pile of arms and legs. He prayed that he would survive both Janet Jones and the crazy driving of Chuck.
He could feel the taxi accelerating and then there was another wild swerve as the taxi skidded on two wheels around another sharp corner. Frank could see dust boiling up outside the taxi.

“Look out the back and see if you see her still,” Chuck yelled back, “I’m trying not to kill these fools playing in the street!”

Frank said a silent prayer and peeked up over the back seat. The jagged glass of the rear window was all over the top of the seat. It danced and glinted like diamonds in the hot Brazilian sunshine. Hot dusty air was rushing past his head, making his eyes instantly water. He scanned the street behind them. There was nothing there.

“I think….I think you lost her,” he called out, “I can’t see her anywhere back here.”

Just then the car started to hitch and give. They started to slow down.

“It’s a good thing, mate,” Chuck was trying to get the slowing taxi over to the side of the road, “I think that this car has seen its last mile….or it could be the fact that we are out of gas. I guess that could be the problem.”

Again with the jokes! Frank wondered if Chuck had some sort of mental deficiency. The car slowed to a crawl and instantly the two men were out and in the dusty dirt road that Chuck had driven them onto. There were a few people walking along…mostly local farmers and a few scrappy looking children. Several of the men were leading horses packing large bundles of bananas.

“Come on then!” Chuck said, taking Frank by the arm and tugging him toward the field beside the road, “I think that it’s best if we just clear the area. You know what I mean?”

“What about him?” Frank asked, pointing to the driver who was slumped over in the front seat.

“Who….him?” Chuck asked coolly, “Well Frank….there isn’t much we can do for him now. He’s dead….and I don’t want to end up that way. Do you?”

Frank shook his head.

“Good!” Chuck said, eyeing an approaching pair of scraggly looking girls who were giggling and waving bunches of red flowers, “Now let’s get out of here before the locals notice Senor Deadman there! Plus….Janet Jones and her taxi could be just a minute behind us. I think that I did a pretty good job losing them, but I want to get off this road!”

Soon they were far off the road. Nobody seemed to notice….or care….that they were leaving a dead driver in the taxi as they slipped into the tall grasses that lined the road. Just a few minutes later, Frank looked behind him and was surprised to see that he couldn’t see the road anymore. It was like they had stepped into another world.

Chuck noticed that he was looking. He smiled grimly, “You gotta love those Brazilian grasses. They are good for something.”

Frank tried to smile, but found that his face just wouldn’t do it. He felt hot, tired, and thirsty. Every part of him seemed to hurt. He just wanted to get to a nice hotel….have a hot bath….have a good meal….and not have someone trying to kill him. Isn’t that what anyone wanted?

Just then there was a rustling in the grass beside of them. Both men froze.
“What was that?” Frank whispered. He kept trying to think about what wild animals were prevalent in Brazil. Jaguars? He was pretty sure that jaguars were found in Brazil. He cursed his lack of knowledge about the world. If he got out of this alive, he was going to buy himself every Frommer’s Guide that was ever made and read them all.

“Shhhhh,” Chuck placed a finger over his lips. The two men stayed deathly still. The movement of the grasses came closer….and a screech started to sound out around them.

Frank didn’t know what it was. But whatever it was….it was headed right toward them!

Until next week.....class dismissed!