The pageant competition was underway at the Abraham Chavez Theater in downtown El Paso. 14-year-old Sarai Jimenez stepped onto the stage, wearing a sleek pink dress. The spotlight shone brightly upon her as she approached the microphone. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she took a deep breath to steady her nerves.
"Good evening judges and audience," she began, speaking slowly and clearly. "My name is Sarai Jimenez and I'm 14 years old."
Sarai paused briefly before continuing. "If I'm fortunate enough to win this pageant, I plan to use the platform to raise awareness about our environment and how we can drive efforts to make it cleaner. We're fortunate to be here on this earth. It's our duty to take care of it."
She held the microphone confidently as she made her case. "I also hope to spread awareness to kids who don't have access to a proper education. Reading and writing opened up a whole new world for me growing up. But too many kids don't have access to books or after-school programs. As your role model, I'll be a voice for those children."
When she finished speaking, she gave a poised smile and small wave before exiting the stage. The audience clapped, but nobody clapped louder than her parents, Renata and Hugo Jimenez, in the audience. Hugo was a bigger guy with a goatee and an orange button-up shirt. Renata was tiny and wore a pink blouse matching her daughter's dress. After the audience finished applauding, Renata turned to Hugo. "That's our girl," she said with an excited smile. "She's truly freaking phenomenal," Hugo said with a smile.
Beep beep beep - they were interrupted by a phone call from Hugo's phone. Hugo reached into his pocket, answered it, and put the phone to his ear. "¿Te vas a ir a la mierda ya? Recibirás tu dinero cuando lo tenga," he said with a disgruntled tone, then abruptly hung up.
Renata turned to Hugo. "You sure that was a good idea? I don't think they're the kind of people you wanna talk to like that."
"It's all good, baby," Hugo said with a smile. He put his hand on her thigh and the two sat back to continue enjoying the pageant.
A few hours later, the Jimenez family was on their way home, riding in a red Toyota SUV down North Mesa Street. Hugo was driving while Renata sat next to him. In the backseat, Sarai now wore a tiara on her head as well as a satchel - she had won the pageant. The family drove in silence for a while.
Beep beep beep - Hugo was once again being called by the same unknown number, which was connected via Bluetooth to the car's speakers. Hugo ignored the call, letting it ring. He then got a text from the number reading "última oportunidad" (last chance). They called again and Hugo ignored it once more.
Later that night, Sarai was sleeping in her bed in her pajamas, though she was still wearing her tiara. BANG BANG BANG - she was immediately awoken by a loud, repeated pounding at the front door. At the door were 5 hooded men, two of them holding bats which they swung repeatedly at the door, even smashing a window. One man reached his hand through the broken window and opened the door from the inside. The men rushed into the house and quickly upstairs.
They barged into a locked bedroom - it was Sarai's room. She was in the corner with her knees tucked, crying and screaming in fear. Once the men identified it was just her, they said a few words in Spanish and left. They then barged into the next bedroom. The second they entered, Hugo was waiting. He let out a grunt and threw a punch or two, but it was ultimately no use - the men overpowered him. They began beating Hugo while Renata screamed and cried in the background. The men grabbed Hugo and rushed him out of the house, throwing him into a white van with Chihuahua, Mexico license plates before driving off.
Back in the house, Renata was crying and panicking. She rushed into Sarai's room where Sarai was also crying. "Mom! Mom!" They held each other and cried.
Days later, multiple missing person reports had been filed and police contacted, but still nothing. Sarai was sitting at the counter when she received a text from an unknown number - it was a video. She clicked to watch it. In the video, three hooded, ski-masked men were in a forest. One waved to the camera then went off screen, pulling the beaten and tied-up Hugo into the frame. Sarai's stomach dropped at this sight and she dropped her phone, beginning to cry. She ran to her mom's room. "Mom, it's dad!"
Renata got up from her bed and grabbed the phone, unpausing the video. Hugo was ordered to get on his knees. One man had an axe, while another walked up to the camera holding a notecard that read in red ink: "No jodas con caras de carne dinero" ("Don't fuck with Fleshfaces money"). Sarai and Renata both gasped at this sight.
Once the man backed away from the camera, the man holding the axe walked up to the tied-up Hugo and began hitting him over and over on the neck with it. Eventually, this caused Hugo's head to fall off in a bloody, gory scene. Renata screamed as she dropped the phone. Sarai stood there in shocked silence, her eyes filled with tears, as Renata ran off into her bathroom vomiting into the toilet.
Five years later, it was the present day. 19-year-old Sarai Jimenez sat on her bed, recollecting the day of her father's death. She now wore a pink graphic tee from her personal brand paired with pink shorts. She turned to the bedroom wall, where a white posterboard listed "Cartel Affiliated Businesses" - some crossed off, others not crossed off.
"Hello? I gotta pee," Scott yelled from the living room, interrupting Sarai's moment of reflection.
"Hold on!" Sarai yelled back as she got up from the bed, a gun in her hand.
Scott was peeing in the bathroom while Sarai waited outside the door. He opened the door, then looked at the door that would be his way out - his ticket to freedom. He stared at it for a long time, millions of thoughts racing through his mind, until the gun was pointed right at his head.
"C'mon man, I like you, please don't make me have to use this," Sarai said as she began to pull the gun down.
Scott looked back at Sarai, then reluctantly walked back to the living room. Jose Carlos was still taped up on the couch next to where Scott had been sitting.
Beep beep beep - just at that moment, Sarai got a call on her phone. "Hey girl, yeah yeah, I know I'm running late. I'll be there right now." Sarai said in a contrasting more upbeat tone.
Sarai walked to the living room where Scott awaited, no longer bound. "Look, I gotta run. I don't have time to tie you back up right now, but just know if you try to run, I will find you - that's a promise. If you run and set him free along with you, I'll find you, then I'll fucking kill you. That's a promise."
With that warning, Sarai walked out of the apartment.
To be continued..