It was a Sunday afternoon. I heard somebody bounding up the steep stairway at Buyea’s apartment building on Albany Street. I lived alone on the third floor. It was my old pal Dexter, Dexter Johnson. It was unexpected visit. Dexter had been working in Montreal with Allan Robinson, another high school classmate of mine.
Dex said they were on their way to Taxco, Mexico to buy silver wholesale. He asked me if I wanted to go along. He said the journey would probably take two or three weeks. Allan was off seeing his folks but would be back shortly. So I quickly threw together what I needed for the trip. This included, on a whim, a realistic looking toy gun.
I raced down to Albert’s restaurant to call Bill on the payphone. He was a good sport about it and soon we were on our way.
It was a non-stop drive to Laredo. Allan had a pickup truck with a cap on the back that served as a camper. One guy drove, another kept him awake with conversation and the third slept in the back. This rotation worked pretty well. Although I did not have a license I drove some too.
We arrived in Laredo and finally got motel rooms for some real sleep. The next morning it was back to that routine driving south through central Mexico. Monterrey, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro and finally a stop in Toluca. The magnificent scenery was a real treat. We camped in a park on the side of a volcano there. The next morning Allan wanted to check out the major market in Toluca. I bought a great sweater and woven blanket there. Then we pushed on to Taxco.
Just as we were arriving in Taxco a circus arrived in town. It looked like something from the 19th century. They had a parade to stir up business and little kids were excitedly skipping along beside the clowns, elephants and wild cats in their cages. It was quite a spectacle!
We booked rooms in the Holiday Inn there. It sat high on a plateau above town and had a Mayan influenced design with a large terraced courtyard in the center. Very nice! With the currency exchange the price was right too. It also had a beautiful bar room. We had quite a few that night and got in late and up early.
Allan was determined to get the silver jewelry at the lowest possible price. No middle man. He was going to take it back to Montreal and sell it on the street there.
First, he went to the state run store to get a bead on those jewelry prices. They were way too high for him of course but it was a starting point. Then we searched all over that beautiful city with its impressive church for the right contact. After two or three guys claiming low prices, Allan finally got one guy to take us out to a village where the artisans made the stuff. We drove out about 20 miles away from the city to a remote little village surrounded on three sides by 100’ cliffs. We parked in a lot on the edge of town and walked in. There were no streets for cars in the old adobe style town.
Our contact took us to an attractive house near the center of town. There a middle aged woman was introduced to us as the silver jewelry dealer. She had several family members around and Allan and her sat down at a table to do some hard bargaining.
Now while Allan was talking about buying in great quantities I noticed some subtle hand signaling going on between the other family members. There were four men standing around the table. Dexter sat near the table and I was off about 20’ observing. Well the men kept up the hand signaling and in my exhausted, fatigued state my imagination went wild. Allan had about $2000 cash on him. Big money down there. So I am thinking..”Holy Shit! They are about Rob us, Murder us and throw our bodies over the cliff!” Then I remembered the realistic toy pistol.
I excused myself and quickly walked back to the truck, grabbed the pistol and stuffed it under my belt in the back. A long tailed shirt hid it. I hurried back to the house.
When I got back I figured it was about that critical time. Allan had a lot of cash on the table. The men looked intense. I was tense. I waited… hoping to make the right move at the right time. All of a sudden one of the younger fellows jumps up out of his chair and starts screaming in a high pitched voice. It wasn’t Spanish. It wasn’t anything. Plates and cups went flying as he tore about the room. He was a very angry wild man! Allan stood up with a fearful look on his face. Dexter, startled, backed away.
I was ready to reach for my “gun” when the brothers of the wild man rushed over to restrain him. His mother patted his arm to calm him down.
Well, it turns out that the young man was deaf and he had been having a hand signing argument with his brothers. She explained that he gets really frustrated with them from time to time and kind of loses it.
BIG sigh of relief here. They concluded their dealing and we hauled the jewelry back to the truck. But that little toy gun came into play again the next day.
After one last night of good time carousing at the Holiday Inn we headed the next morning towards Acapulco. About 4 hours into the trip we suddenly came upon a roadblock. We are talking sand bags and machine guns here. Some of the Federales had submachine guns. Everyone had pistols.
I sat in the middle. Allan and Dexter were told to get out and bring their belongings out of the back to look for drugs. Federales surrounded the truck. While I sat there calmly a uniformed man came over and opened the glove compartment. Then I remembered…..the Toy Gun! This guy felt around the glove compartment for a second then his hand hit the gun. He shouted out something in Spanish and four submachines that had been pointing at the ground popped up and were now pointing at our bellies. “Toy!!! Toy!!” I shouted again and again.
The next few minutes were right out of a Hollywood film. The Federale steps back and slowly examines the toy pistol. Then he begins to laugh. He turns around to show his compadres and escalates his laughter. Then they began to slowly laugh and slowly their laughter escalates! Before long the whole gang of them are laughing uncontrollably!
BIG sigh of relief again.
Five hundred yards down the road from that checkpoint that little toy gun went out the truck window and into a ditch.