Ok so things are dangerous- check, I am alone in a foreign country- check, I have no idea how to get out of here- check.
Well, let's keep going then. If you've been following this story until now, you're probably dying to know about this secret. This part was so challenging to put into words...Here is part 4, I'm going to let you in on a secret that you'll have to hear from me to believe. You've been anxiously asking for this so let's see what happens next!
If you missed the first part, check it out here
part 2 is over here and everyone's favorite part 3 is here before reading on :)
Confessions of a Vagabond:
The Next Chapter: "Remember the Time I Worked for a Drug Runner in Punta Cana PT 4"
A gypsy life bought to you by @heart-to-heart
From January 2014- June 2017 I have been what you would call a vagabond, a nomad, even a gypsy by definition of the words. I had what they all have in common: no fixed home...and no fixed income but the wildest stories.
I woke up to a loud noise, face down in a puddle of my own drool.
No chance was I going to open that door.
I was scared. I mean, come on, this was the second time now I had woken up like thisâŚ
Could it be the rum?
Itâs possibleâŚ
Did I drink enough rum for it to be possible?
Itâs possibleâŚ.
But wait a minute⌠I was drinking water at the end.
Nothing was making sense. This time, my phone was in bed with me and luckily had some clues on it.
âCall me when you get this.â Said a message from a name I didnât know.
FB was open to a friend request of the same name.
I did remember that before my eyes shut on me, I was sitting at a table learning all about my new âfriends.â
I texted the number back. They asked me if I was OK and told me they were coming over.
Coming over? What are they talking about⌠coming over?
...
âCome downstairs!â
Someone was yelling outside of my window. I looked down, eyes fogged and saw an outline of a tall man.
âCome down!â
He yelled again.
Ugh. Ya, OK, let me just get right on that, random stranger.
I got another text-
âI donât know what room is yours, come down so we can talk.â
Well that was good news at least. The random man didnât know which apartment I was in, just my building. I guess I could go down and see what he was yelling at me for.
But wait⌠then who was knocking on my door earlier?
...
Jeff was a tall, muscularly man⌠His eyes, deep and dark, his hair the same color of his skin, a beautiful dark tan from his days under the sun.
He said he had been living in this compound for a few years and that heâd known the gang since they got there. He asked me if I was familiar with any of their businesses. I told him I had come to work for them at the cave and on their not-so-yacht. He told me he lost track of me the night before, that I had simply vanished.
âHey, I have a bit of an intrusive question to ask you. Iâm not really sure how to go about it but⌠well, are you into any drugs?â
I stood there, face blank, hands on my forehead trying to shield the sun from my eyes looking up at him. I looked into his kind face, his brows narrowed.
âIâm sorry, maybe thatâs not for me to ask.â
His eyes quickly dropped to the ground, searching frantically for anything else to look at other than my eyes.
âUmm⌠Jeff was it?â
He nodded.
âI donât really feel comfortable with this kind of personal question, but no, Iâve not been on or using any drugs though I feel like something weird has been going on.â
âWhat do you mean by that?â
I struggled trying to find the right words...
âI think itâs possible that Iâve been⌠never mind. Nothing, itâs silly. Anyways, who even are you?â
Feeling really stupid that I was giving this stranger personal information, my mind started backing out of the conversation quick. I found out Jeff was from Canada too, he moved to Punta Cana a couple of years ago and had never been back home since. He worked down in one of the restaurants during the days and bartended a hang out spot at night. He said heâd been around long enough to know who was who and seeing me come in, new, peaked his curiosity. Especially when he found out that I lived in the same buildings as him.
If youâve ever seen 'Melrose Place', you might be able to get a better picture of our housing situation. Basically itâs a compound with 8 different buildings that each had separate apartments within them, like a residence. In the center was a big pool and hang out area. What made this place even more attractive was that a lot of people living there were foreigners who were working in the hospitality and tourism industry so it was kind of a close knit community where everyone eventually ended up knowing each other (and all their business).
Emily came out onto her patio and saw Jeff and I outside talking.
âJeff! Good to see you, how are you?â She yelled down.
Jeff started looking incredibly uncomfortable, he shifted around on his feet and yelled back up-
âHey Em, Iâve been good, Iâve been good. Howâs the baby?â
âWhy donât you two come up here and we can all hang out a bit, Iâm lonely!â
Jeff looked at me, then back up at her.
âI actually have to go to work, but I have tonight off- maybe later?â
He smiled at me and started taking off across the court.
âIâll catch up with you both after work! I hope you feel better kiddo.â He yelled back over his shoulder.
That was so strange I thought. I wonder what he wanted. Now Emâs attention was on me.
âCome up here! Iâve been trying to get a hold of you!â
âYa OK, one second⌠I need to lock the door.â
I thought seriously about just staying in my place and ignoring her but I thought if anyone was the good guy, it would be her so begrudgingly I drug myself over to her place and up those awful stairs.
...
âI came over this morning and knocked like crazy. Where did you go last night?â
âWhat do you mean?â
âBabe, you straight up vanished from the bar. James and I were so worried about you!â
âUmm⌠to be honest, I really donât know.â
âI saw you in the bathroom and you were not looking so good, I went to get you water and when I came back you were gone.â
âI⌠I donât know Em⌠I donât remember... Is there anything I should know about?â
âWeâre going to need to get you feeling better! Kyle is about to come over and heâs super excited for us to get the cave open!â
âEm⌠I canât handle anything right now, I think I just need toâŚâ
The door swung open and broke my train of thought in half.
...
Adam! Finally Adam was here!
âHoly *&%$ honey, what happened to you?â
He asked me. My eyes were rolled back into my brain, my head was flung back onto the pillows behind me and my face was a creamy pale white (despite my usual tan.)
âProbably the rum.â
I said to him, half smiling. Then I motioned for him to come over to me and we hugged- this hug was so powerful. It was a connection to home, trust, years of loyalty to one another. I was feeling like he was my savior. I still needed the money and he would keep me safe, I knew it.
When Adam arrived, it was so much different for him, Kyle and James took him out, bought him dinner, showered him in drinks and he was so caught up, he couldnât be bothered by anything. I tried to confess to him that I was worried about what was going on but he assured me it was fine and told me to relax.
âAdam, seriously, I need to talk to you alone.â
âHoney, I canât talk to you alone right now, weâre out with everybody, just relax. Letâs have some tequila- I know you love tequila. What do you say?â
âWell, Ok youâre probably right. I am probably just overreacting. You said youâve known them for a long time, right?â
Cheers!
Adam kissed me on the cheek and told me to go shower and get ready because we were about to 'live it up.'
When I walked in the door to my apartment, I noticed the door was unlocked.
I was thinking the worst and started fearing that my stuff would be gone when I got in. Nothing looked different except⌠that wasnât my shirt on the sofa. Those werenât my shoes at the door. That wasnât my bag in the kitchen⌠someone else was in the house.
I went out to the patio and could see that Emily was sitting on hers, smoking. I started gesturing like a mad woman to get her attention, pointing inside and mouthing wild versions of âSOMEONE IS IN MY HOUSE!â
It looked like a light bulb went off in her head and she got excited.
âMust be Anna, she works for us! Say hi!â
Well, why wouldnât they tell me they were putting someone else in the house? I was having a meltdown trying to figure out what to do.
Just then, the bathroom door opened and this beautiful girl walked out in a towel.
âHola...â (Lots more Spanish that I didnât understand.)
âUmm⌠Hi. I donât speak Spanish⌠yet⌠Iâm sorry.â
âMe⌠Anna.â She said pointing to herself, then grabbed my hand and brought me into the other room. She motioned towards her things and then laid down on the bed and motioned for me to join her.
Iâm not the worldâs best charades player but I gathered she was telling me she would be living in this room.
I smiled at her, (the universal language) and sat down beside her. I was hoping I could get some information from her.
âCan you speak any English?â
âA little.â
âAHHHH! Great!â I squealed with delight! âSo you work for Kyle and James.â
âI am work for Kyle.â
âWhere?â I asked.
âIn town. I am Kyleâs girl.â
âYouâre his girlfriend?â
âKyleâs girl.â She repeated smiling at me.
Well, now I was even more confused but yelling from outside caught my attention.
Adam was downstairs with a huge glass in his hand.
âYo homegirl, let me up!â
âJust come up the stairs Adam, Iâll meet you at the door.â
Adam barged in and flung himself on the sofa.
âIsnât this the most fun youâve ever had? Seriously this is such a great gig!â He slurred.
âAdam, I really want to talk to you.â
âGet your damn panties out of their bunch. You need to shower and get ready. Wear something beautiful. I want you to be my date!â
I showered and got ready and when I came out of the bathroom, Anna and Adam were sitting on the couch laughing and having a semi decent conversation.
âAdam, you speak Spanish?â
âWell, a little, I know Portuguese. Why?â
âAsk her right now if sheâs Kyleâs girlfriend.â
...
Together we went back over to their apartment, but James and Kyle were flying around the place with fliers, clearly in work mode.
âYo Adam, we have to go promote the *&%^ out of this place tonight. Are you down?â
âHell ya I am, thatâs the name of my game. Letâs do it!â
He grabbed my hand and started pulling me out the door when James stepped in front of us and blocked me out of the door.
âWell, actually letâs make it a guyâs night tonight. The girls can stay here with the baby, Kyle stayed in last night.â
With that, they were all shuffling through the door into the hallway and leaving me with a blank stare on my face. Adam didnât even look back.
âYou can go too if you want Em, I can watch the baby.â
âNo, itâll be fun for us to stay put. Letâs have a girlâs night! Want some rum?â
My mind: "Umm NO I DO NOT WANT SOME RUM! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
âYa, sure.â
Do you ever go back in your head and just slap yourself for saying something stupid. I just slapped myself right now.
Em called her delivery guy and what seemed like only 5 minutes later, a knock came at the door.
I opened it, half expecting to have to pay the delivery man when I came face to face with Jeff.
âHeard there was a party over here pretty ladies, Iâve got the rum!â
We were all dancing, swinging around the small room, munching on chips and pizza we had just ordered and taking swigs of rum while the baby was sleeping in the other room.
I stumbled into the bathroom, I had never used their bathroom before but we were all pretty tipsy and after I asked Em where it was and made my way to it, I realized I was in their own personal space for the first time, it was like seeing them with new eyes.
The bathroom was a mess, stuff everywhere and bottles leaking in the sink, in the shower. I had a serious urge to clean it. I saw some powder all over the back of the toilet and wiped it off into the toilet bowl. I got some stuck to my hands and started dusting it off into the air. It got in my nose and caused me to sneeze really loudly and Em came running into the bathroom.
âBabe, why didnât you just ask for some?â
I learned later she was responding to the now missing powder.
âFor some⌠what?â
âYouâre so funny⌠Here, do you trust me?â she grabbed an object, I couldnât see what it was.
âUmm⌠ya Em, I guess so âŚsure.â I was trying not to offend her and to be honest, she was the one I would trust most out of the whole lot of them. She seemed so gentle, loving, caring... maybe it was because she was a mother.
âI know things have been tough for you, I think I have a way to make you feel so much better.â
I really wanted to feel better, it felt like I had been losing my mind lately.
âOK, now just lean your head back, it's completely natural, organic from the bushes in South America. We get it from staright from the boats, don't worry! Iâm going to give this to you now, just relax.â
Mind spinning off rum, not knowing who to trust and lusting desperately for the pain in my heart to stop, I let my head fall back into her waiting palm. Holding my head with her one hand, she took her other hand and put the object into my nose.
I was so surprised by how fast it all happened that when I opened my mouth to ask her what was going on, I breathed in, heavily. (After years of working in bars and nighclubs, I had done a really good job avoiding drugs despite working along side of them and now I was knee deep in an unknown country with no friends or family around with this being the time to change all that.)
HOLY *&%$. My world was spinning.
Jeff and Emily kept going in and out of the bathroom. The energy was wild in the room, everything was amplified. I felt like I would never be able to sleep again. I couldnât even be mad because I had this permanent smile on my face. I did start to get super paranoid though and I sat down, mind racing.
"This is natural?" I asked her.
âHoney, youâre fine. I can tell youâre tripping out. Itâs all natural, I promise. Like I told you, we get it ourselves.â Em was standing over top of me, her mouth was moving in all kinds of weird directions.
âWhaatâŚ?â
Jeff came over and stood over top of me now.
âYouâll love it girl, embrace it.â
3-4 hours later I was on the ground having what they were calling âwithdrawal.â My skin was trying to expand from my bones, my heart was on fire, pushing its way through my ribs, I was crying and laughing and rolling around on the ground begging for it to stop.
I took Emâs phone and ran to the roof with it. I called my guy back in DC and he told me to stay calm. I was now hysterical, telling him how much I missed him and loved him and just wanted desperately to be with him. I told him I wasnât safe and how things were turning out so differently than I had planned. I was scared and alone.
Just then, James showed up on the roof and took the phone.
âHey man, sheâs fine, I got her, donât worry. Weâll have her call you tomorrow k?â
Then he hung up the phone, picked me up over his shoulder and brought me down to the couch.
âGuys this isnât good, how much did you give her?â
âI donât know, it seemed like she wanted it. Sheâs freaking out, youâre going to have to go get more, we ran out.â
"YOU RAN OUT?!"
I could hear them arguing over my sobbing that was turning more and more dramatic.
âAlright, Iâll be right back. Keep her down here.â Then James left out the door.
âPlease help meâ I begged. âPlease make it stop. I need it to stop.â
Jeff was smoking on the balcony, Em was hovering over me stressing out.
The door flung open and in walked Kyle and Adam.
âHey whereâs James, we need to get Chris (that was a name I hadnât heard before) out of here.â
He looked over at me and then back at Emily.
âI donât know what is going on in here but you better get her sorted out. Chris needs to be on that boat in the morning and we have to help him do it.â
âWait a minute, I thought he was clear, I thought they werenât following him anymore.â
âWell Em, when youâre on the run for f*^%ing manslaughter⌠then take off out of the country, things donât just stop for you that quickly. Now come on and help me plan this!â
OMG. If you want to hear the rest of this, you're going to have to wait until next time! Just wait until I tell you about Chris's story... how he ended up on the run and why they were helping him...it's too much for right now... I have to give it it's own part to do it justice. Check back in with me soon for part 5.
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