The Rules of Wolfe Read Free

his order the sole cantina in Loma Baja was years ago razed and the village told to stay dry. The guards may drink only on their day off and someplace other than the rancho and Loma Baja, and the old couple is under strict directive to report any man they suspect of being drunk or having booze on the property. On his free day, every guard in his turn usually chooses to go to Ciudad Obregón in one of the compound Jeeps. The city is seventy miles away in a straight line but almost twice that on the odometer because of the serpentine route from the compound to the state highway, a drive of more than three hours. The Hotel Rey in Obregón is available to the guards at no charge. In addition to a fine cantina, the hotel has a resident cadre of whores better-looking than those of Loma Baja—though in Eddie Gato’s estimation not by much.
    Eddie and Neto were informed of the rules before they accepted the job, and when they arrived, they and their baggage were searched and the guard captain Jorge Santos advised them to take the rules very seriously. A guard under the influence of drugs or alcohol was an intolerable threat to security. The two guys they were replacing had been dismissed because the old couple had smelled liquor on them and made a phone call. The next day four security men arrived from Obregón and searched the guards’ quarters and found a bottle under a mattress. The guards admitted they’d sometimes take a drink in the room but swore neither of them had ever been drunk on the rancho or in the village. The man in charge only shrugged and he and another man took the guards away. The other two security men stayed behind to fill in for them until permanent replacements were sent. But because the Boss believed that ranch guards should be willing volunteers and would not have anyone assigned there who did not want the job, it was nearly three weeks before Eddie and Neto were selected as the replacements.
    Neto said he thought the two guards deserved to lose their jobs but it galled him that the old couple had snitched. He said the guards should have told them they’d break their neck if they ever ratted on them.
    Jorge Santos said it would be foolish to threaten the old ones. Like us, they must do as told, he said. And anyway, who do you think they are more afraid of, us or the Boss?
    He told Eddie and Neto a story about one of the Boss’s nieces and a Company lawyer who was also an old friend. The niece and the lawyer went on a date one night to a notorious nightclub and both got very drunk. While they were dancing she stripped to her underwear as the crowd cheered her on and she ended up sucking the lawyer’s cock on the dance floor in front of everyone. When word of the incident reached the Boss the next day, he was embarrassed and extremely displeased. The lawyer was having lunch with some friends when he excused himself to go to the men’s room and that was the last anyone saw of him. It was rumored that he had been slowly towed behind a boat in the Sea of Cortéz until the sharks were finished with him. Others said his punishment was in truth not so severe, that he’d only had his dick cut off and was sent to a small Company office in the Yucatán for the rest of his life. As for the girl, it was said she had been placed in a ratty whorehouse in Los Mochis and anybody could have her for ten pesos. She was there for several months and became infected with an awful disease and then was removed to a convent hospital somewhere where she has since spent her days cleaning up shit and vomit.
    My point, Jorge said, is this. If the Boss will punish one of his friends that way for displeasing him, if he’ll punish a niece that way, how do you think he would punish the old couple? Punish you ?
    Eddie Gato asked what became of the fired guards. Jorge said he had heard they were taken to Flores, who told them that because they liked to drink he was going to treat them to all the