Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

The Swamp 359us. It felt like miles. I started to pass time by engaging in little experiments.I’d linger by Ingrid’s space and see how long it would take forAmahón to go to the guards. Usually it didn’t take very long.Again, I couldn’t understand why Ingrid was the one who was beingdisciplined and I wasn’t. I knew that Tom, Keith, and I had conductedourselves well, but none of what was being done to her seemed fair. Afew days after Ingrid was moved from the main cluster of hooches, Ispotted Enrique nearby.“What’s the deal? Why were Ingrid and I able to speak before andnow we can’t?”The sun was in Enrique’s glasses, so I couldn’t see his eyes. I movedto my left, hoping that he would turn with me so that I could meet hiseyes. He didn’t.“Those are the rules.”“But why are those the rules now when they weren’t before?”I moved again to stand directly in his line of sight. He folded hisarms across his chest and said, “Those are the orders from above.”I was sick to death of hearing that, and to avoid doing something I’dregret, I walked away. I hated that helpless feeling of speaking to a rock.I went to sleep that night with a prayer on my lips for more patience.The next morning, after I’d exercised, I had my usual little break andsnack. I intended to get a cup of coffee. A couple of coletas down, I heardshouting. I could hear Lucho and Malagón screaming at each other. Ipulled my boots on and ran over. As I was approaching them I could seethat Malagón had pinned Lucho to the ground. He was kneeling on topof him and he had Lucho’s arms immobilized. Lucho was thrashing hislegs and twisting his torso to try to get free. Without thinking, I ran intothe hooch, grabbed Malagón, and dragged him off of Lucho. I wasn’treally thinking or hearing anything at all. I just saw Lucho staggering tohis feet like he wanted to go after Malagón again. I looked to the side andI saw Ingrid shrieking and crying. She was crushing some papers in herhands, and she threw them at Malagón and stormed out of the coleta.