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lefttext2 |
Baby
Blue gone to Highway Heaven? |
| February
25, 2003 - Tacna, Peru |
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| Evaluating
alternative transport. |
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My
flight from Lima arrived after dark.
The dusty airport in this border town only receives flights
from Lima and one other city. Outside the terminal building
a gauntlet of taxi drivers squawked for my business. The
driver I chose was willing to make many stops and give
me a brief tour for an extremely low price. So low that
I was embarrassed to bargain with him, even for the sport
of it.
First stop, bad news. Baby Blue was not where I had left
her. Then again, what could I expect after 14 months?
Well, my expectations were good, based on a recent phone
conversation. The conversation was with the lawyer I had
entrusted to watch over Baby Blue in my absence. The lawyers¹
office was next door to the garage where I had left my
truck.
More bad news: The lawyers¹ office was no longer there
either.
The lawyers currently occupying the space guided me in
the general direction of the new office after I declined
their offer for their services. I found the new office
but it was well after hours and I would have to wait until
morning to get any answers.
Thoughts of finishing my trip by bus did not appeal to
me. Going back home was not attractive, except for the
fact that I could hide under my own covers. I could do
nothing but wait until morning.
After breakfast, I walked 5 blocks from my hotel to the
office. The legal assistant and the wife of the lawyer
greeted me as if I was an old friend. It was awkward.
I was leery of their friendliness and just wanted to know
the whereabouts of my truck. They blamed the garage for
the disappearance just as the garage had blamed them.
I had a knot in my stomach. They were pointing fingers
at each other and probably in cahoots. Did they just not
expect me to come back, in spite of my emails and phone
calls?
The lawyer arrived shortly and produced a document that
did little to ease my fears. Soon we drove to the police
station. The proper authority was not there. The lawyer
left me and the aide behind to wait for the officer to
return. An hour or so later we were telling a brief version
of the Baby Blue story to the commanding officer. He listened
intently and said we should come back tomorrow morning.
Ohhh Noooo! Not another ride on the bureaucratic merry-go-round
from 14 months ago. (Stuck
in Peru).
 |
| Hurry
up and wait at the police station. |
I was not up to it. I did not know whom to trust. If I
could trust anybody! The legal assistants¹ name was Carmen.
She had been a guide and a friend to me during my previous
stay in Tacna. I could not imagine she had any knowledge
or involvement in a plot against me. As we shared a cab
back from the police station she said, "We can't waste
any more time. We must find out where Baby Blue is." She
took me to a psychic! I went along with the idea mostly
for the entertainment value.
El Divino¹ was named Javier. In his consultation room
we were totally surrounded by Christian images and memorabilia.
I felt like we were living parts of a shrine. Javier seemed
credible enough. He had a presence and a confidence that
seemed very out of place in Peru. After some chit chat
Carmen posed the question. Javier listened with his eyes
closed and answered without hesitation. "Baby Blue is
OK and in the hands of the owner of the garage." Simple
enough.
That evening I ran into a friend I had made in an internet
cafe' during my previous stay in Tacna. She said that
I looked very calm for having lost my vehicle. She said
Baby Blue was most certainly chopped up and sold for parts
by now. God rest her automotive soul. I couldn't bear
to think of all those wrenches and crowbars tearing hear
apart for black market Pesos (The currency is actually
be Soles in Peru, not Pesos, but you get the point.) It
was not a good day for me or the filmtrips adventure.
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