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Let´s imagine the Aerolineas Argentinas 737 circling over the water and heading through its final descent towards the runway with Pranav staring out the window at Parque Camet and Caisamar and the pasture and then the runway. As I fall back through Dante´s Inferno, unable to move on to Purgatory, his flight touches down. It´s a mild late May day - a near heat wave for this time of year - the warm temperatures clashing with the autumn leaves. He descends the steps noting the airport is quite small and out of date. His luggage arrives after a delay and he heads outside to hail a taxi. But first he makes a phone call on his Movistar Nokia ´ liberado ´ - which means it´s second hand and better not ask too many questions about where it came from.

Yeah, I´m at the airport.
Which one Pravnav??
This one ... here ... Mar del Plata.

I close my hand over the phone and whisper frantically at Isa and Diego,

Esta aca ya! En el aeropuerto!!
Como? Ezeiza?

Isa answers looking surprised.

Nooo!! Aca! Mardel!

I uncover the phone. Pranav is saying something about the wind or the weather. Not sure which.

Sorry bout that Pranav. Tell the taxi driver to take you to Strobel y la costa.
Huh? You said Felix Camet ...
Yes, but that´s how you say it, ¨Strobel y la costa¨.

I hear him talking to the driver.

Ok. We´re on our way. Damn it´s nice weather!
Yeah, it´s a mild spell. Enjoy it while it lasts Pranav, see you soon.

He´s already hung up. Without a word I turn and help Diego move the dresser into place against the bedroom wall. It´s a dark green and still gives off the odour of fresh paint. Isa is arranging a print on one wall and Multicanal installed the internet and cable connections yesterday afternoon. Pranav has been phoning us almost daily, driving us nuts. I´ve warned him that it´s best to bring cash or a certified cheque at least. Thing is, a cheque would likely go through Rojas´s or Cagnazzo´s account and who knows what would be left for us? With the payment in cash, we should at least get a few grand. He seemed flippant about it. ¨ Don´t worry man ¨ was all he said. I move to the kitchen but see Isa is busy arranging things and I feel I´d be in the way. So me and Diego decide to shift the living/dining room table slightly; Diego scavenged it from behind an upscale building near Guemes. Isa bustles in from the kitchen and moves it back to where it was. Me and Diego stand helplessly and watch her. I wait till Isa pauses for a moment and then say,

Bueno, lo espero en la vereda.

A knock on the door as Isa is about to answer me. It´s Sergio, who is either Rojas lawyer or more likely, Cagnazzo´s contact/colleague in Mardel who has taken over the handling of Rojas´s affairs. Rojas voice echoes behind him in the hallway. He´s chatting with some of the workmen who are finishing up the bachelor apartment. He glides into view, all smiles. Good. I kiss cheeks and use the moment to escape downstairs to be there when Pranav arrives. Step by step I descend, my senses buzzing. This next move is dangerous, and I hope it works. But I´m in deep already as it is. I take two steps at a time just before the entrance hallway and move briskly towards the front door.

The sea is dark gray and the waves are brittle and collapse crispy in splashes of foam. I turn and look north up Camet and see a taxi approaching slowly. Must be him. It pulls to a stop and after a short pause the passenger door opens and Pranav steps out. He´s buff and young. That might be a problem. No, don´t worry about that. If he was a little taller I´d peg him as a club bouncer. Spends time in bars, definitely a party boy. I approach the cab, nod at the driver who´s getting a duffel bag out of the trunk and shake Pranav´s hand.

You made it.

He´s laconic in that Texas way ( hey ... is his answer ) and he takes his bag up easily and after surveying the front of the building ( it looks like Mexico he says ) we head up the stairs to the front door. I look behind me quickly and carefully and yes, they´re there. Like I said, this is going to be dangerous. I open the front door and we head upstairs to the apartment, me chatting affably as I can about the weather and the city. They say that in poker when you´re in the zone, you anticipate what´s going to happen without even being sure how or why. And I´ve placed a really big bet.

Si puedes firmar aqui ... y aqui ... y tambien aqui - Sergio intonces officiously. He´s counted the money already. I´ve never seen thousand dollar bills before. All cash, all real it seems. Did he just bring the cash with him? Or take a day trip to Montevideo? Where is that cash from? Pranav looks alert despite his slumped posture at the kitchen table. He´s definitely a gamer. The tension in the kitchen has dissipated a little by now, with the cash crisply filling an envelope that sits on the table and the contract signed and sealed. The sudden knock on the door is loud and intense. Isa jumps slightly and Rojas and Sergio look at each other and then at me. And then at the door.

Policia!! Abren por favor!!

Sergio is very fast. He´s already staring angrily right at me. I return his look as steadily as I can and lift my eyebrows in what I hope is an ironic gesture that confirms to him that yes, it was me. I walk to the door and let in Sargento Vanni and two other policemen. He´s squat and ugly and direct, although at first he was officious and puzzled at my approach. It was outside the comisaría on Independencia just past San Martin. Two days ago, I had decided to follow my hunch. A little research on the money laundering laws and what that might mean to a real estate contract - not to mention a large amount of undeclared cash - and I rolled the dice. But that´s not my bet. To make it all work, Pranav has to be more than a gamer from Dallas. He has to have a much bigger reason for moving to Argentina. I let the three in and they nod at Sergio and Rojas ( especially Sergio ... their instinct tells them he´s the capo here ) and then Vanni turns his eyes on Pranav, like a wild boar cornering a prey.

Vos sos Pranav? Si? ... le pido que abres tu valija, por favor.

Silence in the room. Pranav feigns ignorance but I know he understands perfectly the question. Does he speak a little spanish? I´ll bet he does. And I´ve bet he has something in that bag. Vanni nods at one of the officers who grabs the bag quickly and opens the zipper. It doesn´t take long. Inside some pants and wrapped inside several shopping bags are several packets. White powder. How many kilos? Rage and terror in Pranav´s eyes which are now focused on me. He´s like a cornered wolf, but he knows he´s helpless. Isa is stunned and Diego stares uncomfortably at the packets. We all stare. Sargento Vanni taps the table quietly. I turn and look at Sergio and now my eyebrows do lift in a very sarcastic gesture. It´s your move Sergio ... and he takes the lead.

Señores. Sentamonos todo. Y hablamos un toque.

Sergio speaks easily and casually and smiles at the seargent. The two other policemen finish going through Pranav´s bag and find one more packet. They then move into the living room. I guide Isa towards the stove and help her put the new kettle on and we fill up a mate ( not quite the welcome ceremony Isa had planned ). I let Sergio talk. He surprises me by turning to Pranav and asking in accented English,

How much more cash you have?

Pranav glares a moment but then sullenly replies,

30 thousand.

So we begin to negotiate. Between sips of mate, although Vanni looks a little impatient and wants to get this done and be on his way. Like any job. Listening, I gather a kilo of cocaine is worth tens of thousands of dollars at street level. I hear cinco tossed about so it seems there´s at least five kilos of coke. Placed on a ship headed to Europe, maybe worth a hundred grand?

Where you get this from?

Pranav shrugs at Sergio´s question and answers,

Up north.

A curious silence follows with Sergio beaming at Pranav maliciously until he finally breaks and snorting disgustedly admits he has a pipeline to and/or from Mexico and that he flew in through Mexico City and Panama. Pranav wants in on the European trade through Argentina it seems. It seems a very roundabout way when you have so much cocaine coming into Argentina from Bolivia and Peru. How does he get it in? Pranav only gives vague details and Sergio suddenly decides not to push anymore and offers the following,

No se como haces entrar esta merca, ni me importa. Solo quiero saber si podes garantizar por lo menos cinco, mejor diez, kilos por mes. Podes??

Pranav nods inmediately. Ok, his spanish is actually pretty good. Five to ten kilos a month. 100 to 200 grand. A month. Vanni taps his fingers menacingly on the table but Sergio fondles the seargent´s arm and purrs,

Treinta para vos. Trienta para nosotros y el pibe este se queda con el cuarenta porciento. Si le apretamos bien aca mismo ... no habra mas guita ... no??

Vanni glares uglily but nods satisfied. The policemen stand quickly and bundle the merchandise into a small dark bag. Sergio shakes Vanni´s hand and they kiss but I´m not done. I want to accompany Vanni downstairs. I stand up quickly and open the door and wait for the Vanni and his two subordinates. As they pass into the hallway I look at Sergio and then Rojas and say,

Lo nuestro ahora Sergio. Veinte mil.

Sergio grins fiercely at me. Rojas has been quite but looks reasonably relaxed, given the circumstances. Sergio says,

Te doy quince ahora. Lo resto cuando nos juntamos todos.

I nod and close the door behind me and Vanni and his boys walk quickly ahead of me down towards the front door. When we reach the ground floor I open the door but remain inside the entrance hall and say,

Yo me encargo de Pranav. Acá, tomá mi numero.

It´s my cell phone written on a small piece of paper. Vanni snatches the paper from my hand without even looking at me and grunts something I don´t quite catch. I wait a long moment and breath slowly before heading upstairs again. Sergio opens the door and I see the bottle of Reginatto on the table. Isa´s idea for when we signed the contract. Pranav´s glare is a little more sardonic and a little less hateful than eariler but he´s still furious. And he´ ll be living upstairs from us. I open the bottle and we all drink, sipping cautiously and quietly from the glasses Isa bought on Rivadavia just a few days ago.