The Legacy Page 6

  “Is he okay?” Eric asked.

  “I don’t know,” Brian replied. “I can’t see him.”

  The big screen in the stadium showed a brief shot of Chip trying to get up, but the paramedic held him down and told him to just lay there for a few more minutes. Then the screen displayed the results of the final and showed the winner taking his victory lap of the stadium.

  Several minutes had elapsed since the end of the race, but Chip continued to lay on his back on the infield getting treatment from the paramedics. He was now starting to understand what the paramedics were asking him and could respond with somewhat coherent answers. His vision was also starting to regain focus rather than being just a blur of colours. Suddenly a shadow hovered over him with a huge cape, blocking out the light.

  “Do you think you can get up?” It was Michael, draped in a huge American flag. Michael reached down, grabbed Chip’s hand and then gradually pulled him to his feet, with the paramedics helping to make sure that Chip wasn’t going to collapse again.

  “I owe you one,” Michael said as they walked off the track together, arm in arm. “I couldn’t have won the gold without you.”

  *** Chapter 12 ***

  Two days later, Brian and Eric waited for Chip in the lobby of the Sheraton. Brian was planning to fly back home later that morning, but Eric and Chip were planning to stay for a few more days to tour Rio de Janeiro and a bit of Brazil. Chip was leaving the high security environment at the Olympic Village and taking his father’s spot at the hotel, where he could be a typical tourist.

  “Do you think Chip will be disappointed with his tenth place finish?” Eric asked his father.

  “He shouldn’t be,” Brian answered. “He was ranked twelfth in the world coming into the Olympics and he finished ninth in the 10,000 metres and tenth in the 5,000 metres.”

  “I was hoping he could have held on for a medal in that last race,” Eric said.

  Brian glanced at his watch. Chip was now over half an hour late and he was getting concerned that he wouldn’t get much time to visit with him before he had to leave to catch his flight. Finally, he saw Chip coming through the revolving doors of the hotel. “Congratulations son,” Brian said as he rushed over to give Chip a huge bear hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks Dad,” Chip said.

  “Me too,” Eric said, taking his turn to give his brother a hug. “For a while there, I thought you were going to set a new Olympic record time.”

  “I was pushing the pace as much as I could,” Chip said, “but I didn’t have enough left at the end to finish it. Fortunately, Michael did.” Chip waved to Michael who was hovering in the background. “Michael, this is my father, Brian, and my brother, Eric. This is Michael Porter, Olympic gold medalist.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Michael said. “I don’t think I could have done it without Chip’s help.”

  “Eric, I hope you don’t mind,” Chip said, “but I asked Michael to join us on the tour. He doesn’t fly back to the states until tomorrow and wanted to get out of the Olympic Village and away from the media for a while.”

  They all visited in the lobby for the next hour, with Chip and Michael telling them the inside story of what it’s like to be in the Olympics. Brian could tell by the stories that Chip told that his Olympic experience had been a positive one, even though he hadn’t won a medal. They were interrupted in their stories when the shuttle-bus driver announced that the next shuttle bus was now leaving for the airport.

  “That’s my cue,” Brian said. “My flight leaves in a little over three hours and it will take a while to get through security at the airport.” He rose and gave both his sons another hug before he departed. “See you back home in a week,” he said as he boarded the airport shuttle.

  It was about forty five minutes later when a luxury coach pulled up in front of the hotel. The tour that Eric, Chip and Michael had signed up for was a first-class tour that was only offered to the wealthiest of clients. Brian had paid for his two sons to join the tour. Michael had charged it to his credit card. “This tour isn’t cheap. If my agent doesn’t come through with some big endorsement deal, I’ll be hocking this thing to pay for it.” Michael clutched the gold medal that was hanging around his neck, but carefully hidden from view underneath his shirt. He hadn’t taken the medal off since they had put it around his neck, not even when he showered.

  The tour included champagne and hors d’oeuvres served to the patrons before the tour started, a comprehensive tour of the sites of Rio, a fancy lunch, a tour of some of the outlying countryside of Brazil, and a full course dinner at the end of the tour. When the three of them boarded the luxury coach, there were only six or seven people taking part in the tour, including them.

  “Good morning,” said the hostess after they had boarded. “We’ll be making a couple more stops to pick up guests at other hotels before we begin the tour, but we should be ready to get started shortly. In the meantime, please let me know if there is anything you need.”

  The tour bus headed to the Marriott where a few more people boarded the bus. Eric could easily tell that two of them were from Australia as their accents were pretty thick. He thought he recognized them as part of the Australian fans from the swimming events they had watched. There was also an older couple who joined the tour along with a couple of teenagers. At first, Eric thought they were together but they sat in different parts of the coach. The bus was still less than half full as it headed to the Copacabana to pick up more passengers.

  At the Copacabana, Maria was attempting to use all of her charms on the manager to convince him to let her join the tour. “Not a chance,” the manager said. “It costs a lot of money to take this tour. I can’t let you go for free.”

  “I’ll make it up to you,” Maria said giving him a coy smile.

  “That’s not going to work with me,” the manager said. He was well aware of Maria’s reputation of flirting to get what she wanted.

  Maria looked inside the lobby and could see the wealthy guests drinking champagne and eating hors d’oeuvres. She could see Greg inside with all of the other guests. He had offered to pay for her to join the tour, but she had politely declined. However, she was still hoping to be able to find a way onto the tour bus.

  “Hello Maria,” a lady said as she tapped her on the shoulder. Maria turned to see that it was Sylvia and Jean-Pierre Girard, the couple she had served at breakfast a few days earlier. “Are you going to be working on this tour?” Sylvia asked.

  Maria paused before answering. “I’m not sure.”

  “We’re quite looking forward to it,” Sylvia said. “We arranged for a sitter for the kids and it will be the first thing we’ve done on this trip with just the two of us.” She hugged her husband’s arm as she said it.

  Just then, the tour bus pulled up in front of the Copacabana and the guests started getting ready to board. Maria moved back behind one of the pillars of the hotel as she didn’t want Greg to see her.

  “Boy, I sure hope she’s part of this tour,” Chip said as he looked at Maria through the bus window.

  “Down boy,” Eric said when he saw her. “If she’s that attractive and rich enough to be part of this tour, she’s probably already spoken for.”

  Greg took his seat on the bus. He had been watching for Maria, hoping that she would be joining him for the tour, but it appeared that she was going to stand him up.

  “Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Taylor,” the Manager said to the next two people to board the tour bus. The manager ticked their names off of his list and did the same for the four Japanese men who boarded after them.

  After the last passenger had boarded the bus and the manager had ticked off all of the names, he nodded to the driver and started to head back into the hotel. Maria saw her chance and stepped out from behind the pillar. “Sorry I’m late,” she said as she boarded the bus and gave the driver her best smile.

  The driver was just about to question whether she was authorized to be on the tour when
he heard Greg call her name from a few rows back in the bus. “Maria, back here.” The driver decided not to question her. She was obviously one of the guests.

  Maria made her way back and sat down beside Greg. “I’m so glad you could join me on the tour,” Greg said. “I know that it’s really expensive. Are you sure you don’t want it to be my treat?”

  “No, that’s not necessary,” Maria said. “I got the staff discount.”

  Eric and Chip had watched Maria board the bus and sit down beside Greg. “See, I told you she was taken,” Eric said to his brother. But even Eric was disappointed to see that she had a boyfriend.

  There were now about twenty passengers on board for the tour and for the next few hours the bus took them to the various sites in Rio. They travelled to the statue of Christ the Redeemer on top of Corcovado Mountain.

  “Dad and I saw this statue the day we flew in,” Eric said. “It seems even bigger from down here on the ground.”

  They were treated to a seafood lunch after they rode a cable-car to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain. “I’m supposed to be on a restricted diet and not eat too much seafood,” Eric said, “but this is so delicious.” He went back up for a second helping and ended up standing behind the two Australians in line at the buffet.

  “Hi, I’m Eric Baxter,” he said while waiting his turn in line. “I think I saw you guys over at the Olympic pool a few days ago. How did Australia end up in the relays?”

  “G’day,” the first Australian said. “I’m Lucas Williams and this is my brother Oliver.” His brother nodded hello, but was concentrating on filling his plate with seafood. “We won a few gold medals in the individual races and one of the women’s relay races, but only got a bronze in the men’s 4x100 freestyle relay and a silver in the medley relay. Damn Americans beat us out at the end in both races.” He suddenly realized he might be talking to an American. “Sorry, are you American?”

  “No, I’m Canadian,” Eric said pointing to show them a red maple leaf logo on the sleeve of his shirt. “But, be careful because my brother ran for the American team even though he was born in Canada.” Eric pointed to where Chip was sitting. “And the fellow sitting next to him won a gold medal for the U.S.” Eric invited the Australians to join them at their table.

  “Guys, this is Lucas and Oliver Williams from Australia. This is my brother Chip and this is Michael Porter. Michael won the gold medal in the 5,000 metre event.”

  “Congrats mate,” Lucas said.

  “Thanks,” Michael said as he pulled out the gold medal from underneath his shirt to show it to the Australians. “But I couldn’t have done it without help from Chip who set a hell of a pace.” Michael reached over with his right arm and gave Chip a gentle push on his shoulder.

  Over at another table, Maria and Greg were enjoying the extravagant meal. “So what do you do for a living back in Germany,” Maria asked.

  “I’m in politics,” Greg said. “I’m the policy advisor for the CDU party.”

  Maria was disappointed to hear that he was a politician. She didn’t know what politicians were like in Germany but she didn’t think much of the ones they had in Brazil. There were constant reports of corruption at every level of government and there had been numerous protests by the Brazilian people over the last few years leading up to the Olympic games. Maria had even participated in a few protests herself, but she wasn’t sure they did any good. Whenever they got rid of one corrupt politician, he seemed to be replaced by another just as corrupt. “Oh well,” Maria thought to herself. “That’s only one strike against him. Nobody’s perfect.”

  “Hello Maria,” Sylvia Girard said as she looked for an open table along with her husband. “Do you mind if we join you?” she asked as they approached.

  “Please do,” Maria said. “This is Greg Schneider. He’s a guest at the hotel visiting from Germany. Greg, this is Jean-Pierre and Sylvia Girard. They’re from the United States.”

  Another couple who were looking for a place to sit overheard the conversation and decided to sit at their table as well. “Did I hear someone say they’re from Germany?” the man said. “We’re from Germany as well. I’m Klaus Weber and this is my wife Anja.”

  Before long, the Girards were talking about their kids and showing pictures of them to everyone at the table. Maria could hear the love in their voices as they spoke about their kids and she envied them immensely. The Webers were an older couple and responded by pulling out pictures of their grandchildren, which they also showed with great pride.

  “If I hear one more person talking about their kids, I think I’ll shoot myself,” Greg leaned in and whispered to Maria. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Strike two,” Maria thought to herself. She could never be with a man who didn’t like kids. But she just smiled at him and politely excused herself as they left the table. “I think the tour bus is going to be leaving shortly,” Maria said to the Girards and the Webers as they headed off.

  After the extravagant lunch, the bus did a brief tour of one of the favelas. It wasn’t just any favela, it was the one that Maria called home, although she didn’t disclose that fact to Greg. “I can’t believe some people have to live in these shacks,” Greg said to Maria when he saw them. “I thought they were going to try to get rid of all of the slum areas in Rio by the time the Olympics started. I’ve heard they’re filled with thieves and drug dealers. It would probably be best if they just blew the whole place up.”

  “Strike three,” Maria thought to herself. The more she was getting to know Greg, the more she was starting to realize he wasn’t going to be her Prince Charming. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. “You know there are real people who live there and you can’t just blow up their homes, even if they are shacks,” Maria said. “Not everyone who lives there is a criminal. A lot of us work very, very hard and are doing the best we can.”

  “You’re one of them?” Greg asked, suddenly seeming embarrassed to be seen with Maria. He glanced over his shoulder to see if any of the other patrons had been listening to their conversation, but everyone else seemed to be listening to the tour guide and looking out of the windows of the bus.

  “Yes, I was born there,” Maria said, fighting back tears. “Some people have nowhere else to go. They’re trapped in their lives with no means to escape.”

  “I’m sorry,” Greg said. “I would have never thought…,” but he didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t have to.

  “We’re about to leave the city,” the tour guide said as they began the second half of the tour. “We’ll be heading to one of the rainforests of Brazil where you’ll be able to see monkeys, toucans and many other birds and animals that are native to this area.”

  The bus drove for about twenty minutes out into the Brazilian countryside. Greg and Maria didn’t say a word to each other. Maria just looked out the window of the bus. Greg looked like he wanted to be anywhere else than where he was.

  Several rows back, Eric and Chip were also looking out of the window, amazed at how quickly the landscape was changing. Only half an hour ago, they were in the middle of a large city and now they felt they were out in the middle of nowhere.

  The luxury bus had been travelling on one of the main highways but then turned off the highway and started heading down some dirt roads that were barely as wide as the bus. The driver was surprised when the road he had planned to take had a roadblock on it, with signs pointing the way to an alternate route. “Don’t be alarmed,” the tour guide announced to the people on the bus. “Our driver knows all of the back roads into the rainforest.”

  The bus picked up speed as it headed down a steep hill. As it neared the bottom of the hill, it was suddenly rammed on the side by a truck that came flying out of a small trail hidden by trees. Eric was thrown from his seat onto the floor with Chip tumbling on top of him.

  “Are you okay?” Chip asked, pulling himself off of his brother and back into his seat.

  “Yeah, I think so,” Eric replied. “What the hell
happened?”

  Eric looked at the other passengers who had also been sent flying by the impact. He helped an older couple back into their seats. They appeared shaken, but didn’t seem to be seriously hurt. There was a lot of shouting as the people on the bus dealt with the chaos that surrounded them. Suddenly, there was an eerie silence as everyone seemed to stop talking at the same time. When Eric looked out the bus window, he could see their bus was now surrounded by four military-style trucks. He looked toward the front of the bus and saw two men board the bus carrying weapons.

  “Todos fora do ônibus!” yelled one of the gunmen.

  The bus driver yelled something and one of the gunmen shot him without hesitation and then threw his body off the bus. “Pressa, pressa. Todos fora do ônibus!” the gunmen yelled again. They waved their guns directing everybody to get off of the bus. As they did so, each person had a black canvas bag shoved over their head and they were thrown into the back of one of the trucks.

  “Chip, where are you?” Eric yelled. He never heard the answer as he was hit on the side of the head with the butt end of a rifle. He was only semi-conscious as he was tossed around in the back of the truck as it raced through the forest. He thought they drove for a while, but he really had no idea because everything seemed to be happening so fast.

  Suddenly, the truck stopped and he was pulled from the truck and thrown to the ground. His hands were tied together with a long rope and as they pushed him forward, he realized he was tied to the same rope as the person in front of him. Then he felt someone pushed into him from behind and he realized there were several of them that had been tied together. It was like they were part of a chain-gang of prisoners.

  “De Março, março rapidamente!” came the command as they were dragged forward.

  They were led through the forest for what seemed like forever, tripping regularly over the underbrush. When one person would trip, it would trigger a chain reaction so that almost all of them would fall down. They would be dragged to their feet by the gunmen and pushed forward again.