Seems like the idea that he fits in by appearing as someone trusted is right. Who did the Aztecs trust more than their priests? He didn’t even have to hide, they would cut out hearts for him when he told them to.
First, I would like to apologize if my grammar is quite awful, English is my second language and sometimes I can’t find the correct words, I also suck at writing because of that little problem.
Seeing that pic remind me of something…
Mayans considered the ceiba tree to be sacred tree. Ceibas, are huge, with long breaches, and always the main part of many scary legends in the South of Mexico. Where I used to live(Tabasco) old people kept telling stories about the Devil coming out of those trees or how some evil spirit disguised as a Ceiba that lured drunk men and made them disappear to never be seen. It was very common to listen in the news about people disappearing, but really no one cared, although sometimes the bodies of those vanished appeared floating in the river near downtown.Police always mentioned they were drunk and drowned, and it was the fish and crocodiles that ate their fingers and face.
Ok, I’m derailing. You see, that pic, the ceiba tree and the river thing have to do with an old friend. I knew him since primary school, we were really close. But once i entered High School and lately college i lost any contact with him. It wasn’t until five years ago that I heard news about him. He had gone to Mexico City and studied to be anthropologist, later to return home and start working in the INAH(That’s the National Institute of Anthropology and History). So, there we started to see each other as friends,as I was into some messed up relationship.
At first, we were cool. Talking about what we did and all that stuff, and well, I’m a big aficionado of the Mayan culture and kept asking him the things he did in the INAH. “Cool stuff.” He said to me, usually what he did was that every time there were plans of constructing a new road or building houses he was sent to take a look, and make sure there weren’t any remains of ruins, cool isn’t?
Well, one day he showed me…no, he told me something. “You see, the INAH is keeping a lot of things secret”. Yeah, I laughed, as that line was out of some lame movie. According to him, they had been making some amazing discoveries but were afraid to show them to the public eye, it could change history as we know it. Kinda of stupid, but whatever.
Then he told me about those legends we had always listened since kids. “Remember, the legend of el Diablo coming out of a ceiba? These legends are not from this century.” He was very excited. “We have found proofs that the legends go beyond, the Mayans feared this god that lived inside the ceiba trees, and they always offered human sacrifices to calm him.” He said that once the Spaniards came to conquest the place, and everyone was turned to Catholicism, the legend changed the god to the devil himself. He even showed me a scan of some Mayan painting they had found. I was like wow, cool, yes, awesome.
And that was it. He was sent to Chiapas later, as there had been some troubles with some the excavations. The last time I talked to him via phone, he told me the workers of the area were too afraid to get into the rain forest, afraid of something they called the ya’axche’ wíinik (Ceiba man or something like that).
After that i moved to the north of Mexico and got in to a new University, that was 3 years ago. This year I went back to Tabasco for the Holy Week vacation to see my mother and sisters…and breaking up with my now ex-boyfriend, something that should be part of an E/N, but I’m not here to talk about that. So, I went to my friend’s home, but it was abandoned. According to his neighbor he hadn’t been seen in months.
So I went to his mother’s home, and she told me the same. He even made it into the newspaper as a missing person! His mother was heartbroken, and broke in tears right there in front of me. She said my friend had started acting quite strange once he returned from Chiapas, turned in to an alcoholic and well his life was turning in to a train wreck.
He had disappeared since December.
Jesus, I got really sad that moment…but I couldn’t investigate more as I was busy fighting with my ex.
The three days before leaving home I heard some very bad news. The had found my friend’s body floating in the river, you know what was worst? Some sensationalist newspaper showed the pic of his corpse. Ugh, that was…horrible. I think I puked the moment I read that note. The police was a little confused, as his body seemed to have just a few days dead. His arms were gone, and his stomach had been split opened and filled with stones. They said he had probably been kidnapped, and the criminals killed him and tried to hide the body by throwing it to the river. Quite sad and depressing. I spent the last days retrieving some stuff from his house, his mother was to depressed to even come with me, and my dearest friend never had a girlfriend or wasn’t even married.
There wasn’t much left in his home, the rooms were empty, no clothes, no furniture, no belongings. It seemed he sold all of them. All I could find was some shoe box hidden in a corner of his bathroom.
Inside there was only old corn seeds(which i tossed away) and these pictures:
A Ceiba tree:
A photo of the painting he showed be in the past,it was kinda of blurry:
Somewhere in Chiapas:
I’m not sure where is this from, this is not from the walls in his home:
Yes, I forgot to tell you my friend’s name. You know, sometimes I can’t remember his name. Is like…fuzzy. Yes, his name was Carlos.
Weird, that’s a common and easy name.
Damn I miss Carlos…
So, ok…remember Carlos? My friend who was found dead floating in a river? I received a call today, his mother was found dead in her backyard. A stroke, they said.
But I can't assist to her funeral, I'm in the middle of the new semester.
Also, I would like to apologize. I was a big fucking liar. I didn't show you all the photographs I found in Carlos' shoe-box.
I'll…post this. Jesus, I've a huge headache. You see I haven't been able to sleep, and I haven't eat other stuff but rice and pasta…no water. Coffee only. I heard noises last night, outside. One cat is missing.
Anyways, the photos. And you'll see why I didn't show you them.
Oh, Dios Santo y todos sus angeles protegenos…
I'm out of here. I need some sleep, and real food.