Day 101 - Tijuana Connection

 Tijuana Connection 

Matthew Ryan Fischer

 

Word slowly spread around the office that Ryan went to Tijuana once a month. It was true that he drove through Tijuana, but he wasn’t going there. There was a woman east of Rosarito that he liked to visit, but he didn’t feel the need to confide everything to his co-workers. As more people found out and more favors were requested, Ryan politely nodded and would say he would see what he could do. Some people wanted medicine. Others a special type of cigar or alcohol not sold in the States. A few asked him to return with something a little stronger, which he was not going to do. Buying a few things for friends was one thing, but risking his neck was another. Besides he really didn’t feel comfortable driving with a car full of stuff. Someone could break into his car, or he could be stopped at the border, and that would create a whole different hassle.

Michael was from New Jersey, but was the type to tell people New York and believe it himself. Michael flew back and forth from Washington DC to San Diego and worked with Ryan at a research lab outside of La Jolla. Two months out from seventy, a trophy wife and daughter back east, Michael learned of Ryan’s trips and began to hatch a plan. His wife was twenty-five, and theirs was a very neat and clear arrangement. Part of their agreement in having a child together was that she could see men her own age to satisfy certain needs. Michael loved her enough to convince himself that it was the right thing to do. He didn’t want to be there or ever see it, but he believed it needed to be done. Still, he had his own emotions and resentments and certain desires that were not often met. When he heard about Tijuana, Michael developed ideas about what he might find for himself during one.  

Ryan didn’t want to take him. Ryan knew the sorts of things that went on in some of the back rooms of bars in Tijuana, but he had no interest in stopping or being anywhere close. Men like Michael were just as likely to be mugged or murdered as they were to find any carnal delights. Michael wasn’t worried. He was from the east coast. He had been around the block and seen a few things. He was tough and could handle himself. Ryan laughed to himself and almost felt sorry for the old man. He was a co-worker and Ryan was torn between trying to give him what he wanted and trying to protect him.

Ultimately, he made a concession. Michael could follow him to the border in his own car and Ryan would drive them across and take Michael to a local area with the types of bars he was looking for. Ryan would drop him off, and Michael was sure he could walk back to the border and his car. Ryan would go about his business and go see the woman he had waiting for him a little further south. As Ryan dropped Michael off, he wondered to himself if he would ever see this man again, and felt a little sad for abandoning him here, even if it was what we wanted.