Chapter 9. Birds of a Feather
“Don’t matter how much they seem the same—every day is different for folks who don’t waste ‘em.”
– Siggy’s Memory Book
Outskirts of Los Tios, Mexico
The desert sun shone through the window much earlier than Siggy was prepared for, waking him from the precious few hours of sleep he had been able to get the past few days. He looked around the makeshift clinic, still caught in a post-sleep haze and trying to reorient himself from the night before. A body lay passed out on the floor not far from Siggy, covered in a leather duster. On the exam table, Lorena rested with an improvised splint on her ankle. The dog sat staring at Siggy, apparently no better but no worse than it had been before. This left only one person unaccounted.
Siggy got up and looked around, unable to find any trace of his brother. Checking the door, he found a set of shoes missing—steel-toed boots. Siggy slid his own boots on and headed outside. He relished the morning air, not yet baked by the arid heat. Looking around the mostly desolate land, decorated with dull shrubbery, Siggy was unable to find his brother. He did find, however, a set of tracks made by overly large boots.
Trekking along for the better part of the morning, Siggy began to wonder what would cause Adelais to wander so far out into the middle of nowhere. Though they had been raised in the desert, they weren’t immune to the perils of living there. The bandito threat in particular had been steadily rising, and he and Adelais were in no small part responsible for that.
Wandering on, Siggy caught sight of a lone blue palm tree looking over a small hill. On the crest of that hill sat a large, shirtless man with innumerable scars. Siggy came up to him slowly and loudly, so as not to alarm his brother and become a potential victim of Adelais’s arbitrary violence. Siggy took a seat beside his brother, looking off into the distance.
“What’cha up to?” Siggy asked casually. The two sat in silence for some time before Adelais responded.
“How’s Lorena?”
“Dunno. She was still passed out when I got up. Ankle’s all patched up, so I figure she’s good enough.”
The brothers sat quietly, watching tumbleweeds blow by. Little but the fallow air disrupted the silence between them. Farther down the hill, a pack of coyotes pursued a group of roadrunners aggressively. Only the victors continued on.
“How’s your gut?”
“Doc patched it up well ‘nough. Won’t be runnin’ any marathons today, but I’ll live. Lost my favorite shirt, though.”
“Oh yeah… the one Lorena got ya’, right? Around Christmas?”
Adelais nodded. “Only Christmas I remember.”
“One outta two, anyway.”
“Wha’dya… oh. Ya’ mean the one where you and ma made those dumbass things fer everyone.”
“I think they were bracelets…” Siggy tried to recall.
“The hell were two you thinkin’ makin’ bracelets fer us?”
“Dunno. Think it was Mom’s idea. Was just a kid, after all.”
“Yer still just a kid.”
Siggy looked up, the fires of the burning shack and smell of melting flesh still fresh in his mind. The crackling of collapsing wood was as loud in his memory as it had been the preceding night.
“I killed ‘im, little brother.”
“I know.”
“Cracked his damn head open like a broken egg.”
Siggy looked at his own hands while listening to his brother. He cringed.
“Goddamn banditos. I’d kill every one of ‘em if I could,” Adelais said.
Siggy clenched his fists, unable to fight the tightness in his chest. “Why? Why’dya always wanna fight? It’s the same thing they do!”
“I don’t go rapin’ families and makin’ kids watch while I kill their parents.”
“So you figure you’ll just start killin’ banditos now? It ain’t gonna help anything! They ain’t comin’ back. Dead is dead.”
Before he could stop them, Siggy caught himself shedding tears. He tried to hide them from Adelais, but his brother caught the change in Siggy’s voice.
“Quit bein’ a bitch, little brother. I know they’re dead, an’ I know we can’t bring ‘em back. But we can kill as many bastards as we can so no one else has to deal with it.”
“So you’re just gonna keep killin’ ‘em huh? May as well join ‘em if yer gonna act like one—”
Siggy fell back as Adelais grabbed his collar, forcing him into the dirt. He tried to stop sniffling, focusing on catching his breath after the impact.
“Gonna kill me too?”
“Goddamnit, Sig…”
Adelais pulled Siggy up. He sat up, looking to his older brother, confused. Adelais remained expressionless, putting his arm around his brother’s shoulder.
“What was I suppose ta’ do, Sig? I tried it yer way. Went out and caught the bastard legit. Locked ‘im up. Few hours later, he was beatin’ on Lorena. If I let ‘im go, he woulda ended up killin’ ‘er. What choice did I have?”
“Maybe you’re right Ade, maybe. But you’re talkin’ about killin’ all of ‘em now. Do you even care that you killed a guy?”
“I ain’t soft like you. I dunno if I can even feel sad. Don’t have any tears. Just don’t.”
“We can’t keep on like this. There’s gotta be a better way than everyone killin’ and dyin’ for no reason.”
“Yeah? Ya’ ever find it ya’ let me know.”
“I…” Siggy stopped himself. “I will.”
“You ready ta’ head back?”
Siggy nodded. Adelais stood up, helping Siggy to his feet. Adelais began walking off, getting a few paces ahead of Siggy—who was struggling to keep up—before stopping and turning around. Looking back to his brother, Adelais took a knee, kneeling in front of Siggy.
“What’re you doin’ Ade?”
“Ya’ know what I’m doin’. Climb on.”
“What? I ain’t a kid—”
“Shut up and climb on.”
Siggy looked his brother over, concerned about the gut wound Adelais had received the night before. Even after all that, he still didn’t seem to slow down. Siggy began to wonder if his brother ran on sheer force of will as he climbed onto Ade’s back.
“Rest for a bit, little brother, I’ll get us home.”
Despite the discomfort and stench of his brother’s back, the fatigue from the night before coupled with getting hardly any sleep allowed Siggy to rest his eyes while Adelais carried him. Before long, Siggy’s mind began to drift back to his childhood, back to when Adelais was still just his big brother, a kid himself, trying to take care of the family. Though Siggy could feel the elder Martinez struggling to carry him even now, his big brother never quit. Before long, Siggy was fast asleep.