ALBERTICO Y ESPERANZA PART I

Alberto Jordan Carriles; known among friends as Albertico back in the day, married Esperanza De la Cruz Gispert. They managed to remain married despite the turbulent end of the fifties; the difficult sixties, the hard seventies and all the decades to this moment. They live in the same old house in Lawton and do whatever they have to do to make ends meet; though ends never meet in Cuba. As they stare at each other, still with that loving look of their school years they sometimes let their minds wander and travel in time and space. Gatekeepers of so many memories they have devoted the last few days to review their life together; for some reason they didn't start at the beginning; they acted like someone who was late for the feature film and hardly had time to watch the plot unfold. Thus, their first memory goes back to when Albertico was arrested for planting a bomb in Parque Trillo; the cop had noticed his nervousness and followed him discretely only to catch the young man red handed. Albertico spent two weeks in jail; many of his fellow prisoners were roughed up by the cops; one of them was even tortured, but probably because Sargento Antunez had grown fund of him, he was never touched or even threatened. 

Before sending him back to a teary girlfriend, Antunez had lectured him at length about the intricacies and complexities of life. It was always complicated and it was never what it seemed to be. Those barbudos you so blindly follow will only use you. If they defeat El General they will bring decades of chaos and tribulation; thank God the Americans will never allow that to happen. Go home, marry that beautiful young girl and be un hombre decente. That was the last he ever saw of Abilio Antúnez Millán; next thing he heard was that the Sargent had been shot by a firing squad; he wept silently while his wife cried helplessly wondering how the man who had spared her husband's life had lost his so uselessly. Albertico kissed her in the forehead and echoed the dead man's wise words: it's complicated; it's not as simple as it seems. Never did he dared question the better judgement of the man sent by God to save his beloved Cuba; man is not capable of understanding everything: hay cosas que no se entienden. 

Then came Albertin; just to differentiate him from his dad, and Mariana; seventeen months later. Brother and sister that Esperanza had to raise in the capacity of a father/mother figure since Albertico was always doing something great for the good of the country. He could run a farm although he had never even learned the difference between and pig and a swine. He could oversee the construction of an apartment complex although he wasn't even able to spread plaster on a wall. He left at dawn and came back: if he came back, after midnight. Esperanza just put up with it; no use arguing; if Fidel was able to do so many things at the same time; how could he fail him staying home when there was so much to do for the future?. Years came and went as Albertico saw his children only asleep in the room they shared.

Susana and Antonio, their best friends, were about to leave the country. This was evidently a communist dictatorship that only a fool like Albertico could not see coming; then los Yankees invaded; or were they Cubans?; Susana and Antonio had been detained in the biggest raid in the history of the island. Albertico knew his friends were decent people who would never do anything to harm their country but things are complicated; hay cosas que no se entienden; if only these Americans were less hostile and left us alone. Finally their friends were released and allowed to leave the country. Albertico wouldn't see them off at Rancho Boyeros; unfortunately their friendship had to end there. Albertico wept silently but Esperanza cried helplessly. He kissed her forehead and reiterated his ritornello: it's complicated; hay cosas que no se entienden. And off he went before his children were ready to go to school. Much needed to be done, a nation had to be salvaged TO BE CONTINUED...