Well, who would have guessed? A serial novel on the Club Lexus site. Gripping. Compelling. Eye-opening. I await the next installment with bated breath.
Colin

 

i didnt think i would get this deep in the story honestly lol. continuing now..

 

they ate just about everything. kinda tasted like chicken. apparently they had done this a few times before but that was the biggest one yet. luckily my Ls400 was okay, then again it had seen such an extreme amount of abuse over the last 7 years maybe i just didnt notice it. considering i drove head on into what was basically a moving piece of concrete, i didn't have any front end damage at all. we were all sitting there talking and eating our gator, when suddenly, the man that had a gun pointed at his head an had been dragged off into the grove by Tee and Paul, appears walking up to the fire. he was covered in bruises from head to toe, along with severe sunburn. everyone looks up and goes silent. he stands in front of the fire, and turns around, revealing to everybodys horror what he had been through. across his back, were whip lashings and more then we could even count. " no los cruces no los cruces" the man said, rocking back and forth. Larry and Tee both stand silently with their arms crossed, on the other side of the fire. then a twig snaps, and footsteps come. from between the pavilion and the dorm building, walks out Bossman, with a shotgun in hand. everyone is absolutely terrified of what would happen next. "This steer here, said a bit too much" he said with a mild southern draw pointing at the man, looking at us. i hear Tee translating to the group. "out here in there parts, you belong to us and if you try to **** us, you will either end up like this boy here, or end up at the bottom of that there pond." "nobody will miss you and nobody knows where you are." dont be stupid like this one was" bossman continues. as he walks toward the man, he keeps talking. "you are here to do a job. that is it. we house you, feed you, pay you, keep the law from getting you and all we ask in return is your loyalty and silence, and id call that a damn square deal" as bossman gets closer, the man starts shaking. bossman circles around the fire to where the man is standing. "dont be a goddamn dumb-***." bossman then smacks the man with the butt of the rifle, knocking him off his feet, into the dirt. and puts the shotgun to his forehead. the man begins to scream "Oh Dios OH DIOS!!" every fiber of my being wanted to get up and charge the son of a *****. "MI NINO MI NINO" the man screams. bossman ***** the shotgun. i make one slight move and Tito immediately grabs my arm and doesn't let me move. everybody was terrified. "Because Dumb asses are food." bossman quickly points the shotgun away from his face and fires about 4 inches from his head. everyone jumps about a foot in the air. the man is covered in blood dirt and is sobbing. "Now get this worthless pile of human garbage out of my sight". bossman says, and walks away. Larry and Tee pick him up by each arm, and drag him into the dorm. at was at that moment, i realized the situation i had truly found myself in. this was far far worse then a farm made up of mostly migrant workers and fugitives, with a nasty owner. this was flat out evil. this was terror, abuse, and explotation, and as shocked as we all were, it wasn't even the crust of the **** sandwich that was starting to envelop around me.

 

Here is a render I was inspired to make, based off of StereoRob's story, featuring him, Oreo, and his LS in the glades. Details were made more accurate from old photos and details StereoRob shared with me.

 

I've subscribed to this thread

 

Fear.

after that night, thats all there was. fear. we worked in fear, we ate in fear. and we lived in fear.
most of the guys that were there came in not too long before me and none of us really knew what the real story of the place was. they used many tactics. whippings beatings, deportation, torture, and other things that i have a hard time even wanting to remember yet seared into my mind until the day i die. deportation was something everyone soon came to fear, as it was one of the worst things they could have done to them. theirs plenty of news stories about illegals being deported back to whatever country they originally came from. the thing is most people that jump the boarder wall are not just here for a better life. they are here to simply be able to LIVE a life. for example, one of the guys that worked with us told his story, about how he came here and ended up on the farm. his name was Hubie, formerly a father of 4, and husband of 15 years. he had got mixed up with a gang, which came after him and his family over unpaid debts. one steamy summer night, 3 members of the gang, entered his home and brutalized his family. they came in through a bedroom window. Hubie hearing the shuffle awoke to see them standing in his bedroom. 3 men about 6' tall, wearing black hoods brandishing handguns. they demanded the debt he owed them for a final time, and he didn't have enough to pay them, his wife, who had been sitting at the kitchen table smoking a cigarette because she couldnt sleep, opened the bedroom door. as soon as she saw the men, she screamed and tried to run to her children, but one of the men grabbed her by the hair, slammed her on the ground, and another held her head down with his boot. by this point his children, 3 boys, ages 1 a baby, 4, and 6, and daughter age 8, heard the commotion. the baby started crying. the rest of them huddled in a closet, absolutely terrified as they listened to thier parents scream, cry, and beg for their families lives. Hubie watched in horror at gunpoint, as the men all took turns brutally raping his wife. just as the last man finished with her, she managed to turn around and bite one of the men as hard as she possibly could, drawing blood. the man howled in pain. "PUTA SUCIA!" as the other pulls out a large buck knife and stabbing her in the back till she let go, and fell to the floor in a pool of blood. Hubie, watched his sweetheart, that he met at a cantina 20 years before, that had been by his side through thick and thin, his soulmate, his other half, gurgle blood as she died in front of him. he was panicking, sweating, and frantic as they held him down with a gun to his head, wondering next what the fate would await his 4 small children next. "CORRER NINOS RUN RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!" he says. one of the men hit hubie on the top of the head with the butt of the pistol, and the other ran after the kids, trapping them. there was enough noise where neighbors had called the cops. with sirens in the distance, the gang members pointed the gun at hubies head, and told him he was next. as they were leaving, they grabbed hubies daughter dragging her off into the night,her fighting and her screaming. Hubie collapsed on the floor, sobbing, covered in blood holding his bludgeoned wife, rocking back and forth with her in his arms, along with his other children. the police didnt really do much, as they were in bed with the cartels. he and nobody else, ever saw his daughter again. soon after, in fear for his children as well as his own life, they grabbed what they could carry, and left. Hubie was out of work and his children couldn't eat as they were on the run from the gang he owed money to, and stayed in a few places with friends and family but had to keep running. he left his kids with his mother, left everything he had behind, and fled to the states. "we all have our reason why we on this farm amigo and that is mine" he says to me as we pick oranges and load the barrels into the old bus. most of the guys there, either fell into some kind of tragety trying to get to the states, or they were running away from trouble in their country, as well as ours. Hubie had already had one encounter with ICE and he didnt want another one. "i go back to mexico, i die" he said.

 

jesus man you are almost spot on! that really does look like it.

heres the actual car.

 

at 4:45, the days work was about finished. we were all tired, sweaty and about to drop dead. it was now June, and summer had fully descended onto south florida. we were far inland, so no nice seabreeze or anything like that, however we did have our afternoon storms that would show up like clockwork every day, around 2pm bringing torrential downpours and deadly lightning. one day, while we were out in the Cain field, far away from any shelter. Paul was in a particular mood of nasty and instead of the routine where everyone would huddle down near the truck till it passed, we had to keep working. Hubie, Tito, myself and a few other guys were hauling stalks to the truck, when the sky went pitch black in the distance "hollywood, look like we got a grande tormenta headed for us amigo!" "si si de hecho grande amigo" i say to Tito. that'll be hell when it gets here boys, lets wrap it up! says Larry, who was also out sitting in the truck with paul "vamonos!" Tito says to everyone. as we started towards the truck, paul turns to Larry and they start arguing about something. Larry sits back down and Paul stands up in the truck, and fires his pistol in the air. the shot echoing and scaring some nearby birds out of a nearby palm tree. "GET YOUR GODDAMN ASSES BACK OUT IN THAT FIELD!!" everyone shocked, stops and looks at Tito. "Paul, it danger out here for me and my people you know we must-" paul points his pistol at Tito and fires it into the ground about 15 inches from his foot. Larry yells from the truck, "DONT YOU BACKTALK HIM BOY OR HE'LL KILL YOU WHERE U STAND!!" Tito throws his stalks down on the ground. "Tito amigo, have you lost your mind man?" what are you doing???" i say. "I SICK OF YOU PUTO HIJO DE PUTA!" he yells to Paul. Paul and Larry both jump down from the truck with their guns drawn at Tito "thats it, Tito cracked and now hes going to die. oh my god!" it raced through my mind Tito picks up the machete and runs directly at Paul, and Paul opens fire. he hits Tito in the leg but doesn't kill him. larry leans over and says to tito, as he holds his leg trying to keep himself from bleeding out. "you really is a stupid sum***** aint ya boy" larry says. Tito spits in his face. Larry kicks Tito as hard as he can, directly in his leg wound. suddenly, Bossman appears behind the truck with Tee, "Bring him to me" bossman says. and turns around back to the farm. Larry and Paul drag Tito back down the path out of the field. Tee comes out to the field. and instructs us all to get back to work. as we head back into the field, the sky was getting darker and the wind picked up. it smelled like rain as the downdraft came through and we could hear distant thunder. we all pick up our machetes and start cutting. about 10 mins later, the sky turned black as the night and lightning was cracking louder and louder. it sounded like we were in a war zone. i started to worry a bit but everyone else just kept working like it was a sunny day. several minutes later, all the hairs on my arms and neck stood up there was a bright flash, and my ears were ringing. i suddenly see smoke and yelling about 20 feet away, a few rows over. i threw my tools down as i already knew, like an instinct that something was wrong. this wasn't just a very close lightning strike. it was death. suddenly the rain hit the field like a waterfall. i round the corner, and theirs 10 workers, standing in a circle talking while 2 others are on the ground trying to get a response from a man on the ground. one of the workers took a direct hit from a lightning bolt. his shoes were blown off, his shirt was seared off, his eyes were bleeding, and he was unresponsive. that day in the field, because of whatever corn cob Paul had shoved up his ****ing *** hole, one man who had been pushed to his breaking point, was shot and dragged off to god only knows what kind of hell, and another man lost his life. he was somebody's son, he was someones father, he had a family someplace that loved him, and yet there he was, cooked by a bolt of lightning, dead on the ground in a sopping wet muddy sugarcane field. now i was ****ing pissed. i had restrained myself many times already, and i knew what i could face if i said the wrong thing or acted out, but i turned to Tee, and yelled "HAVE WE NOT HAD ENOUGH FOR TODAY? WAS THAT ENOUGH?!' Tee crosses his arms with a half smile, chuckled, "yeah. that will be enough." 'VAMONOS VAMONOS" tee says. two of the other workers, still shocked at the situation at hand, picked up the deceased, and put him in the bed of the truck, and everyone else walked back to the camp. Tee drove off with the dead man. to this day i dont know what Tee did with him, where he was buried if he even was. it is something that haunts me still to this day.

 

As a young man who lives in Orlando and is fresh out of high school, this story is hitting close to home, it's making me reflect on where I'm going in life and it's making me extremely grateful for what I have. Thank you for what you've written so far Rob and I hope you continue your gripping tale!

 

As the days went buy, things at the farm got worse and worse. it went from what seemed like some good ole' boys just giving people a means to make a life with cheap labor, into a ****ing prison death camp. once bossman got his hooks in you long enough, you belonged to him. really it was the closest thing to modern day slavery as one could get and by all accounts, it was. as the men spent longer and longer at the camp, the paydays got smaller and smaller. if you tried to leave, you would get your *** kicked or threatened with deportation. now, let me reiterate just how terrifying the word "deportation" or "deportado" really was for these guys. yes, Hubie had Hellish things happen to him and his family back home, he struggled to survive in the states, and would surely hunted down like a dog and murdered in a incredibly heinous way, as some Mexican gangs will do, is was one of the worst-case scenarios if he got deported, but virtually all the others stories were still bleak and very dismal, and everyone there on that farm, as well as other illegal aliens elsewhere. people dont jump boarder walls and walk away from everything they know and love simply for a change of scenery. with a real threat of Deportation looming over these guys heads, as bad as things were, they mostly just tolerated it. I myself, had my own nasty encounter with a run-in with Boarder Patrol and DHS agents about a year before.

Before i set off for greener fields in Orlando, and Before i lived in my car briefly, before i lived in that one room hell hole that led me on the journey i was currently experiencing, I lived in a old dilapidated double-wide trailer on the outskirts of Lantana, FL a seaside town sandwiched between Boynton Beach and Lake Worth, in south Palm Beach County, about an hour away from the hell i was currently witnessing. before i took possession of it, it belonged to my estranged hoarder and drunk Uncle Ted, (great uncle, my grandfathers brother), who was pretty much outcasted from my family and lived a fairly unknown and lonely life in the place for many years. nobody spoke to him, and he really didnt speak to anyone. in mid "07, i was living in one of those seedy Pay-by-the-week joints called the "Inlet Inn", along federal hwy and the railroad tracks in Boynton Beach. it was miserable hard living working as a day laborer but nothing compared to what was the current situation. One morning i got a call from my dad, "Hey Bud how you holding up?" i did my usual *****ing about how my life sucked and if he could throw me a few bucks, and he usually would but would always give me some big lecture and degrade me a bit. "Got something better for you buddy, Your uncle bill passed away and he has an old trailer down there, heres the address, you can have it" hearing those words made me almost shriek with joy. he gave me the address of the park and told me to go into the office and request the title and keys. i IMMEDIATELY packed my bags, checked out of the hell hole inlet inn, and drove to the Trailer park. "Lake Worth Cascades" it was called. once a clean and quite beautiful retirement community, changed hands 15 years before and since became an absolute slum. this place was extreme poverty. extremely decrepit streets full of potholes, overgrown grass, nobody had a car that wasn't at least 20 years old and falling apart that lived there, and it was predominantly black and Mexicans. -did i stand out in my pretty white Ls400? oh dear god did i ever. it was a huge park, probably 600 or so trailers all in disrepair, some were burned out with boards or chain link fence nailed to the windows. it was BAD. "heh, you're Beaumonts nephew?" the heavyset Hispanic man across the counter at the park office said to me. -apparently he had a bit of a reputation at the park. "lot rents 350 a month, due on the 5th, water is 10 a month, you have two weeks after its due to pay with a 95 dollar late fee, or we refuse rent and evict you" "okay no problem i say" "take Wexler street, hang a left on Marks way, Hang a right on Francina Court and your uncles place is 4 down on the left" "welcome to Lake Worth Cascades" he says, and shakes my hand. at that point it was starting to go dusk and my Lexus clunked and groaned driving over all the pot holes. i come apon the lamp post, "43-3" it was missing the "0". not only was his trailer left to me, but also all of his stuff, including his dusty 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis under the carport, with flat tires, 26k miles, and tags that expired ten years previously. the power was still on in the place. all the shades were drawn, and i could hear the hum of a small AC unit going in the back bedroom. i was absolutely stoked, and felt like a millionaire after living in that ****ty little motel. i unlocked the door and the second i stepped past the threshold i was overpowered by the smell of rotting food, and feces. i clicked the lights on, and the place was so full of garbage and junk i could barley make my way across the room to hit the alarm timer on the stove, that was still going off and had been for over 3 weeks. Uncle Bill was a hoarder, and a bad one. this place was like something off of one of those TV documentaries, trash Piled floor to ceiling, years of well, everything. the place smelled like death and was full of garbage, roaches, and mildew from a leaky roof, but hey it had space! and it was cheap!

Life, interrupted.. Uncle Bill had been cooking a T-bone steak on an iron skillet when he fell over and hit his head on the stove from a stroke. he was able to just crawl out the front door to gasp for help, before he died at the bottom of the steps on the driveway between the trailer and the old mercury, according to the neighbor, middle aged single mother named Tammy with 3 bratty kids all from different dads, next door who wasn't very friendly. well, the Tbone steak was still sitting there in the skillet, covered in flies and maggots. over the next 2 weeks i worked around the clock, doing day labor construction jobs and trying to make my uncles old trailer my home. it was a good size place, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, big kitchen good sized living room with a nice glassed in sunporch at the front of it. Waste Magnagement must have hated my guts, as i had piles of junk i could hide my car behind every trash day. while clearing out his stuff, i learned alot about my uncle and his life that most never knew. he was in poor health and suffered from Diabetes, COPD, and Hepatitis C, as what reflected in the medicine cabinet. he also smoked so much he had throat cancer and had to have his voice box taken out, and used one of those "robot voice" devices to speak, called an "electrolarynx". there was 5 or 6 of them strewn around the place. one day while i was hauling an old TV to the curb, i tripped over the stupid cordand the tv went flying smack into the right front fender of my LS400. i was cursing up a blue streak and i hear a girly giggle in front of me. not real loud but enough to notice. i look up and there wasn't anyone around. figured i was loosing my mind. that evening, filthy dirty in some flip flops and board shorts, i walked into the corner store for some smokes and a cold pack of Heineken. set the 6 pack down on the Formica counter with a soft thud and a girl with jet black hair, green eyes, and olive skin turns around to me at the register. "ID" she says. -i was only 22 but she couldn't have been any older then 18 or so. i stop and look at her for a second, "ya you live across the street from me and have the Lexus. im Bianca, whats your name?" "was that you laughing at me earlier?!" i say. "bad TV hit your pretty lexus tee hee hee it okay?" she said. i shrugged and said "yeah she'll be okay if you come out and kiss her better" she looks at me looks at the parking lot with the car. "k" she says as she keeps giggling and she gives me change back from the $20 bill. i turn around, and walk out the door. as im getting into the car, the front door of the store flies open, Bianca runs over to the fender, and kisses it. "all better now, oh you didn't tell me your name. "Bobby.. im Bobby"... "ok ok see you later bobby mr man byeee" she says and runs back into the store. i honestly didnt know if she was trying to be cute or if there was something wrong with her, but she was cute, DEAR GOD she was cute. Over the next few weeks i got to know her a little better. turns out she was Mexican, but here illegally. however she had applied for her US citizenship and was doing everything she could to get herself legit. Bianca was 19 years old, and had only been in the states since she was 12 but youd never know it. she spoke absolute perfect English and barley had an accent. she was smart as hell and was doing everything she possibly could to "blend in" with the area. well, a month went by and next thing i knew, i had a girlfriend. a smart, very pretty, but illegal mexican girlfriend. one evening, we were sitting on my front step talking about current events, we would sit out there sometimes for hours talking about everything. i swear, me and Bianca probably could have come up with a solution for all the worlds problems. that night it was a bit more active in the sky and we must have seen a dozen shooting stars. one of them so bright it flashed like moonlight for a second. "i wonder what all is out there" i said. 2 seconds later, i dropped my beer and jumped about ten feet in the air when some random scruffy cat comes out of nowhere and helps himself to my lap. "he likes you" Bianca says. "he usually isnt this friendly and oh his name is Oreo because he looks like a cookie i named him oreo" -she kinda had a tenancy to talk about 1000 words a second sometimes running everything together, when she got exited about something. it was somewhat annoying but cute and sweet at the same time. i really kinda liked this chick. like really really kinda liked this chick and the more she was around the more i wanted her and constantly. well the next weekend, everything changed forever. ill never forget waking up at 2am to lots of commotion, glass breaking and screaming. i FLEW out of bed, grabbed my gun, and went tearing *** out the front door, because i knew that voice. gun in the air, suddenly 10 DHS agents appeared, all pointing shotguns at me. "TURN AROUND LAY FACEDOWN ON THE GROUND AND INTERLOCK YOUR FINGERS" all with laser sights on me. i dropped the gun and did exactly as they said. then i see 3 of the men, ripping Bianca out of her trailer in her nightgown. screaming trying to hold on to her mother, both of them screaming and crying. one of the men ripped them apart, shoving her mother to the ground. it took 4 men to restrain Bianca, as she screamed, kicked, and, cried. "BOBBY BOBBY!! she screamed to me. everyone was upset. they threw her into the back of a van, and i never saw her again. After explaining things to the DHS agents, they questioned me a few mins, then gave my gun back to me and told me to go to bed. so so sad.

One Friday evening at the end of june, Hubie, myself as well as a few other guys were sitting around drinking some brews and playing cards, when we saw the gate open at the front of the camp. the second we saw what was behind that gate, everyone throws down everything in a blind Panic, gets up and flees as fast as they possibly can, many into the pond and a few into the Barn where the cars were all parked. A stark white Chevy suburban with dark tinted windows, a federal licence plate, and a big green sideways slash across both sides. with "US Customs and Boarder Protection" written in gray, to the right. the fear of these men was so intense, that even though i was as white as a white boy could be, even i sensed the sheer terror of what was coming, and ran into the water with them. as we all crouched down into the reeds in the murky pond, we tried to peek through them best we could to see what was happening. the SUV stopped, and 2 agents stepped out and walk in front of the headlights, casting shadows that made them look like 10-ft tall demons shuffling across the wall of the barn wall. Bossman approaches them and shakes hands with both of them. i couldn't make out what they were saying over the crickets, cicadas and frogs in the pond, however i did hear a laugh from bossman. Suddenly, Tee and Paul emerge, Dragging a restrained man towards Bossman and the agents. He spits at bossman, who wipes it off his face with a handkerchief, smiles, and kicks the man as hard as he possibly could directly in the *****. the man, restrained and bloody with his hands zip-tied behind his back, howells in pain and falls to the ground. both Agents then proceed to taze him at once. i hear Larry, from across the driveway, eating a piece of BBQ chicken yelling "YEAH! YOU LIKE THAT BOY?" "YEEEEE DAWGGIE DOO!" Tee and Paul both give the man a blow to the rib cage with their moccasin boots, and walk away. Bossman nods to the agents, and gives them an envelope, the Agents then drag the Man over to the vehicle, throws him in the back, and leaves the compound. as fast as it began, it was over and an eerie quiet hovered over us like cold death. everyone begins to rise up out of the lake, when all we see is a silhouetted Bossman, with his stetson hat and the moon rising behind it, and the glow of the cherry from his cigarette, walking towards and standing at the bank of the pond. we are all just standing there, scared t death of what was next.
"EVERY DAMN ONE OF YOU HAS A PRICE ON YOUR BACK. EVERY GODDAMN ONE OF YOU" "Dont forget that now ya hear" he says in a lower voice as he turns around, and walks back to the house.

 

I agree,i'm just up to this part now.

 

When's the next part,can't wait.great stuff.

 

today probably if i can find some extra time. been crazy busy lately

 

next morning, i wake up at 5:30, some of the guys were still asleep. i stumble off my bunk and step outside for a smoke. it was strangely quiet around the farm that morning aside from the cicadas and crickets. i sit down on a tree stump next to the fire pit, damp from the morning dew and start thinking. thinking about what my next move was going to be and how i was going to get the hell out of there without severe bodily injury or in a body bag. my LS400 was crippled, my phone was broken, and i was at least an hour walk from the nearest anything. however, they had been paying me even though it wasn't much. $10 here $20 there, and i actually had enough to get another important part to get my car back on the road, if it would make it. Oreo saw me outside and ran over to me, mowing about whatever was on his mind. he had a rat in his mouth so i assume he wanted to brag about his latest score, i imagine. as i take my last drag off my smoke, Oreo runs back over to the car, and Larry rounds the corner between the barn and the pavilion. "BOY COME ON OVAH HEAH" he yells, motioning me over. at this point fearing for my life, i cautiously approach him. Tee and Paul were both sitting at the breakfast table in the pavilion, "friend, come sit" Tee says. "yeah C'mon Hollywood" says paul. -they were being strangely nice to me but i was about to find out why. larry, and i sit down at the table. paul tells me,
"Hollywood, son, you been with us here on the farm now for several months." "yeah ive been here awhile and im about ready to get out of here guys, i need to get home" larry slams hit fits down on the table, "GODDAMNIT BOY THAT THA WRONG AWNSA SHUT YEH MOUTH AND OPEN YEH EARS NOW BOY!" "Son, you've been with us now for several months. you haven't caused us no trouble, tried to cross us, and just do as we say" paul says. "well yeah i do what i can around here you know since you guys helped me out and all" -playing along with their game. Paul leans back in his char with a creak, and crosses his arms. "Son, Bossman and i been talking and we really like you here. Howd you like to get more involved and stick around awhile but with us instead of in that shed full of human trash, well pay ya better, youll get that car back on the road faster, hell, we might even kick in a few bucks for some of them big flashy wheels everyone wants these days if you stick around. -this was getting scary as it was interesting. "well i dont know guys i gotta think about it i got a family and all" everyone frowns. Tee speaks up. "well don tink about too long Cabron or we throw you out on your ***! or feed you to gator!" as he points to the pond.

"Relax guys, give me till the weekend to think it over, cool?" Si, fair enough." Tee says.

 

Been logging on to CL to read more of your story.
I am craving more and more of it, I've read this a few times over.
Can't wait to read more.