The Midget

By Jay Goodman

I have decided to write another story about my life once again. As I look back into my memory bank, I've decided to share with you one of the craziest trips I have ever made. For all of you who have read The Great Escape 1 and 2, you already know that my trips down to Mexico have not always been easy. In fact, to this day I regularly thank God that I am still alive. I can say that everything that my family and friends have done was not always planned out. Most of the time it was spur of the moment decisions, we wanted marijuana so we went down to get it. Looking back now I believe it was a good thing for us to operate this way, because it was virtually impossible for anyone to set us up. I must admit it was very good for that reason, but at other times things could get, well, very dysfunctional.

A great friend of mine, Danny, who I've known since childhood, decided to go along with me. Danny, who damn near had his brains blown out on one of our trips down south, sported a very nasty scar at the top of his forehead, right along his hairline. I would joke with him a lot after that crazy experience, even though that day scared us both to death. It never did deter us from ever going back. I even asked Danny what the odds were of it ever happening again. The trip was supposed to be easy, just fly down to Chiapas, pick up a little pot and fly back. Sounds easy right? Anyway, we preferred to leave just a little after dark. It was easy to cross into Mexico back in those days, but if we flew in at night the chances of us being seen were much less likely. By morning we would arrive with the sun, and it would be easier to land.

Most of the time my grandfather's friend would not even know we were coming. When I'd get there we'd do fly by's to check for military patrols. Chiapas is the last state in Mexico, it sits right on the border of Central America. The place where my grandfather's friend lives is out in the wilderness, it's very isolated with nothing around. There is no 911, no police and no type of assistance whatsoever. It's every man for himself The spot where the old man lives is very close to the border of Guatemala. This is where the people of Central America go to cross into Mexico. Since there are no police around, the military groups have patrols. Even though these military patrol groups never really bothered the Mexican citizens, I would still fly back and forth until I was sure nothing was going on out of the ordinary down there. Of course, someone in his family would see me and they would let the old man know, then either exactly where this plane is at, and I want to steal it. This is where you and your friend come in, I want you to go there and steal it."

"Tonight?" I said.

"Yes."

"You want me to go to Panama tonight, and steal a plane?" I asked again.

"That is correct. Listen, I know you must be thinking I'm crazy, but here are the missing details. I have someone in the house who will go with you, they have a spot less than half a mile from the plane with the gold. All of Panama will be celebrating a big festival tonight. And, as I told you, the Noriega family have kept this a secret from everyone. The plane is at a small runway, and it's being watched by one man, who is a midget."

"You have to be joking, a midget? That's the only security?" I asked him.

"Yes." he simply stated.

I looked at Danny then at Roberto.

"I promise you Jay, I'll owe you one." said Roberto.

I started laughing, "Okay, let's get started."

Roberto waved at the house and to my surprise, it was a woman who was going with us, a very beautiful lady I might add. She then looked at Roberto.

"Maria, this is Jay, who I've already told you about and his friend Danny."

She smiled and said that it was nice to meet us, and then said that we have to leave soon. Roberto gave us the go ahead and let us know that Maria will fill us in on the details on the way there.

"And Jay, I promise you, I owe you one."

As we were getting on the plane Danny let me know that he had a bad feeling about all of this. I laughed at him and told him at least she fits through the door. On the way to Panama Maria told us that it was going to be easy. I asked her who the midget was. I saw a smirk come to her face, which I didn't like.

She said that he has worked for the Noriega's for many years, Manual had bought him from the circus to entertain his children when they were young. He's been with them ever since.

"But don't worry," she said. "He drinks heavily and usually passes out early. "

"Does he have a gun?" I asked.

"No." she replied.

"Why is he even here, it's a midget without a gun?" Danny asked.

Maria didn't respond to this, which bothered us both. Once we landed it was very dark, she let us know that it was very close from this point. I saw a man standing by the building where she had us put the plane. She informed us that this is a friend of Roberto's, and that he's going to fly your plane back.

"Why didn't he fly the plane with the gold?" I heard Danny ask her.

"Because if someone see's him, they will hurt his family. Nobody knows you two. Once I see that you and Jay leave with the gold, I'll come back here and fly back to Roberto with him." stated Maria. " Let's go. "

It didn't take us long to get there. There were enough lights for us to see everything. All three of us watched the area for a few minutes and didn't see any movement. I asked Maria where the midget slept, and she answered.

"In the shed, which is right by the plane."

"Let's go Danny." I said as we walked down to the plane. I hated it once we were in the light. Danny said this is a beautiful twin-engine, I can start this plane in less than two minutes. As we reached the plane we could hear music coming from the shed. Danny checked the side door and to our surprise, it opened. He put his head inside the plane and said, "My God, look at all of the gold. "

We stepped inside and it looked like Fort Knox. I told him to hurry and let's get out of here. As Danny began to hotwire the plane, I started to shut the door and he said he needed the light. I left the door open just enough for him to see, and true to his word, he had it started up in no time. He looked back at me with a smile and said shut the door, and let's get out of here.

As I turned to shut the door, I saw something move. It looked like whatever it was, was running like a monkey on all fours. Before I could say anything I saw a bottle come down on Danny's head. Danny let out a moan, while the midget let out a war cry. As the midget raised the bottle a second time, I grabbed ahold of his arm. I could not believe how long his arms were, he was a midget with normal human-sized arms. He spun around and bit me on the leg. Danny was up now and grabbed him from behind, picked him up and slammed him on his back. The plane was moving but to our surprise, the midget jumps back up and pulls out a knife. Danny once again grabs his arm and I punched his little ass with two or three good shots to the head. Danny is screaming at me to get the plane because it is moving. I run to the controls and I hear my friend say take it up before someone else shows up. I looked in time to see the midget bring his knife down on Danny's foot.

Now, Danny let's out a war cry and grabbed a bar of gold and hit the midget in the head with two good blows. Danny is now screaming at me to get the plane up. My friend is dragging this midget to the door, and as he throws him out the door he grabs Danny's leg. Now, all I can see is the midget's arm inside the plane. Danny starts kicking him with his other leg trying to get loose. Just as I was getting this plane in the air I see the little bastard come right back through the door. Him and Danny are rolling all over the place; Once again he starts beating him with another bar of gold, finally beating him unconscious. He shut the door and tied this little guy up with our belts the best he could. Danny finally sat down and took off his boot, blood is all over the place, so he cut a piece of the midget's sleeve off and tied it around his foot.

When we landed back at my friends place back in Mexico and pulled around to a stop, I could see the old man's son Roberto waiting for us with a big smile. I opened the door and stepped out.

"Roberto said, "I see we struck gold."

About that time Danny was stepping out of the plane door backwards, pulling the bloody midget out and threw him on the ground. He looked at my friend's foot, the cut on his head and then looked at the midget for a second. When Roberto spoke, I could hear his Spanish accent for the first time.

He said, "What the fuck is that?!"

Danny said, "It's a circus midget sir." And then we both busted out laughing.

He or one of his sons would get on the radio and tell me everything was good, and to come on down. I would laugh because I could see how happy the people that worked his place would be when I'd fly by. Some of them would jump up and down because they knew that I would have cases and cases of cold beer. These people loved Bud Light, I mean LOVED it.

As I landed and came to a stop everyone would come over, say hello and of course, help unload all of the cases of beer. As my grandfather's friend would come over I could see in his eyes he was happy to see me. I could see as I got older why he and my grandfather were such good friends, they were a lot alike in many ways. First things first, we went inside to eat. His wife Maria, was way into her late eighties, maybe even early nineties. But no mistake, she got around like she was thirty years younger. Everytime I went down she would always cook me breakfast that was fit for a king. I would always be on edge flying into another country. When I was younger it was exciting, but of course, I was too young to fully understand the degree of danger that came with my actions. It wasn't until I got older and some very close getaways woke me up to just how dangerous all of this really is.

So, once I reached my destination there was always a big sigh of relief. Once Danny and I finished eating we would go out back to one of the many huts he had for some R&R. The old man always hated that I would go outside to the huts. He would always insist that I stayed inside the house. Truthfully, it was very nice outside. These places were built for his workers, they had electricity and were very comfortably put together. Plus it gave me a sense of my own private area, and I like it. After we got a little sleep we went outside to our hut and opened a beer to relax. The only thing I can say is, WOW!, this place had such a breathtaking view. The old man and his late father put this Spanish style mansion together out in the middle of no-mans-land. This ten bedroom mansion had a movie room, disco dance floor, regulation pool tables, a bowling alley, an Olympic sized swimming pool and many state of the art features way out here in the mountains. All of the windows were bulletproof. He had places built on the roof where spotters could watch the surrounding area. Plus, his men were armed for war

This part of Mexico was for many years dominated by the Mayans, an indigenous group chiefly of the Yucatan, Belize, and Guatemala. When I was a teenager and it was less dangerous, I had the privilege of visiting one of the Mayan temples. I could not believe how well this place was still intact. I walked the steps of the temple from the ground to the top, and it felt much like climbing the wall of a building. When I reached the top I just sat there looking around and was truly amazed at