The Girl from Guantanamo
Page 17
Pilar embraced her and the baby, encouraging Teddy to join in the group hug, which he did. “Don’t worry, it’s not what you think, Consuela. It’s for us.”
Teddy, elated, kissed Pilar, Consuela, and the baby. “OK, we’ll get into the details later. Right now, we need to get down to the dock. We have to be out of Cuba by 8:00 pm. Let’s go!”
They gathered the two suitcases and the baby’s gear, and the four of them took a taxi to the boat. The activity at the dock had died down, as the sun would soon be setting. They boarded the boat. Pilar, Consuela, and Roberto went below deck to the main stateroom.
As Teddy cast off, he looked back at the dock. There were at least fifty boxes of sporting goods neatly stacked. Despite all the personal thoughts swirling around in his head, he could help but wonder what that Cuban harbor official would do when he arrived for work.
The return trip to Miami went off without a hitch. At sunrise, Pilar sat on a bench at the stern of the Isabella. She picked up a week-old newspaper. There was a tragic story in it about an eight-year-old boy on a farm in Indiana who accidentally shot and killed his four-year-old brother. Pilar thought about all the violence she had experienced in her young life. Then she thought about the life she hoped she and her family were about to live. She took the Smith & Wesson from her bag, walked to the rail and tossed it into the silver blue sea.
Back in Key Biscayne, Pilar, Consuela, and baby Roberto settled in to the guest wing of Teddy’s house. For the sake of appearances, they took separate rooms.
That night, Teddy and Pilar stayed awake until the wee hours of the morning catching up. Pilar told Teddy the entire story. She started with what had happened when Salazar took them to Haiti. She then told him about Chip Thompson, and the price she had paid for seducing him to help the rebels. Teddy was a sympathetic listener and fully supportive of her actions. How could she have known the true character of Fidel Castro or that the revolution would turn out the way it did?
They discussed whether Pilar should tell her family that Camilo Cienfuegos was not the father of Roberto Miguel. Teddy thought it best not to share the truth unless they came up with a good reason to do so. The fact that the mother of Cienfuegos’ child and his half-sister were living together provided a nice cover for the true nature of Pilar and Consuela’s relationship.
Teddy filled Pilar in on his life in Miami. He had realized that he was gay during his college years. He began going out with men on the sly, but he always maintained a girlfriend to attend family events. However, Inez had become suspicious, and there had also been rumors in the community about him, which made her very uncomfortable. Although she was and probably always would be in denial, he was comfortable with who he was. In fact, he told Pilar that it was due to Pilar’s unconditional acceptance of him at a critical age that he was able to be who he was and love whom he loved regardless of society’s expectations.
They discussed how life would work. He would take care of her, the baby, and Consuela. She and Consuela could continue their relationship while he in the shadows continued to pursue his own relationships. “We will be our own version of a happy family,” he said.
Pilar accepted his proposal. She was happy that Teddy would be a part of raising of her son. As good as she felt with Consuela, nothing could compare to the connection she had with Teddy.
The following day, both families gathered for a party on the lawn. Miguel was the happiest he had been in years when he saw Pilar with her child. Even Inez was cordial to everyone. After everyone had loosened up with several drinks, Teddy gathered everybody.
With Pilar at his side, he said, “I have an important announcement to make. Pilar and I are going to be married.”
Everyone clapped. Inez let out a shout, relieved that her son would no longer embarrass her. Maria was relieved and grateful that her grandson would have a wealthy father. Miguel and Pablo, who had bonded over the long journey to win Miguel’s freedom, were very comfortable with the news that they would be in-laws.
Teddy leaned over and kissed Pilar.
“Somos sólidos,” he whispered in her ear.
“Yes, we are solid,” she whispered back.
PART THREE
A TOUR DE FORCE
PRIDE AND INFAMY
The technician clipped the mic to the collar of Doug Evan’s $400 Ermenegildo Zegna blue-tonal plaid shirt as a makeup woman applied a little extra powder to ameliorate the shine on his nervous face. He shook hands with Charlie Flowers and took a seat at the famous round table thirty seconds before the taping commenced.
Charlie, the old pro, tried to put the younger man at ease with a warm smile before beginning the interview. The director counted down, three, two, one, and pointed to Flowers with a silent . . . you’re on.
“Good evening and thanks for joining us. Today on the program, I welcome journalist Doug Evans, whose new book, Guantánamera, has taken the literary world by storm. The story he tells in this bestselling debut is about Pilar Ruiz, who in 1958 changed the course of Cuban history by warning Fidel Castro of ‘Operation Clean-Sweep,’ a CIA plot to assassinate the leadership of the Castro Revolution. The story is a tour de force in journalism by a former tabloid reporter, and I am pleased to welcome Doug Evans at the table.”
“Thank you Charlie, it’s a pleasure to be here.”
“Let me start by observing that having quit your job at a tabloid in an effort, shall we say, to put your journalism degree and writing talents to better use, you must be very pleased at the reception to your first book. You must also be amazed that recent developments in Cuban-American relations brought about by President Trump’s harsh reversal of Obama’s attitude toward Havana have apparently turned your compelling story into a national obsession.
“Yes, you’re right. The success of my book is startling, and I owe it partially to this unexpected event.” Evans shifted in his seat as the camera cut back to Charlie.
“Is it true what I heard just this morning, that Raúl Castro himself has confirmed the accuracy of your narrative about Pillar?”
“That’s what I hear, yes. Apparently he wrote an editorial in Granma, the Cuban state-run newspaper, not only to validate what I present, but also to discuss how the spirit of revolutionary heroes like Pilar Ruiz lives on in Cuban society. Talk about irony.”
Charlie arched an eyebrow and leaned in. “And can you tell us why this is ironic?” he asked.
“Well, given the fact that Pilar became disillusioned when she felt both Raúl and his late brother Fidel betrayed the revolution, and she fled to the US . . .”
The distinguished broadcaster let that observation hang for a while. “Yes, it’s fascinating that after all she did, essentially saving the revolution, she just walked away from it in the end. But we don’t want to give away everything that occurred.”
Yes, it’s all there in the book, Mr. Flowers.”
“Indeed it is. We did try to get Pilar, the woman who is the main subject of your book, to appear on the program with us tonight. She was absolutely gracious and charming on the phone, but politely declined, saying . . . ‘Thank you, but I’ve told my story to Doug Evans, and he got it exactly right. I don’t want to spoil it.’”
Doug beamed with pride. “I can think of no higher praise,” he said. He looked into the camera. “Thank you for your faith in me, Pilar.”
Charlie, clearly enjoying Doug’s theatrics, pressed on. “Tell me about the CIA man in your story, the man who treated her with violence but who gave up the secret to Pilar that derailed the operation and changed the course of Cuban history. What ever became of him?”
“Yes, Chip Thompson,” Doug said. “He was run out of the CIA long ago after the debacle of Operation Clean Sweep. He had been keeping a low profile, working in an obscure job for the telephone company and playing golf—basically living out his golden years in comfort and anonymity in West Palm Beach, Florida.”
“But things have changed for him with the revelation of his key role in all this, inclu
ding his treatment of your heroine Pilar, haven’t they?” Charley interjected.
“Yes, they certainly have. His third wife left him. He was ostracized at his elegant golf club, and I’m told he has moved to Alaska.”
“Sort of a self-imposed witness-protection program?” asked Charlie, laughing.
“Yes, exactly.”
“There was another character, sort of a dastardly middleman who came to you with this story in the first place,” Flowers said.
“Ah, yes, Mr. Salazar. The FBI-CIA informer and would-be slave trader. He has had an easier and more lucrative experience adapting to his newfound infamy than Mr. Thompson.”
Charlie jumped back in. “He’s become something of a hero himself to the far right—and the anti-Castro folks, hasn’t he?”
“Yes, he came to me with what he knew initially because of his financial pressures, but he’s found a better solution than receiving payment from me. He’s put his talent for the pursuit of dark conspiracies to work as the host of his own talk-radio show in Tampa. “I hear he’s looking to buy a pricey waterfront property in Naples, Florida”
Charlie Flowers shook his head. “You can’t make this stuff up, can you?”
Doug smiled at his host, turned back toward the camera and replied: “No, Charlie, you can’t. Ain’t America Great?”
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, Jon Lee. Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life. New York: Grove Press, 2010.
Anton, Alex and Roger E. Hernandez. Cubans in America: A Vibrant History of a People in Exile. New York: Kensington Books, 2002.
Barrio, Hilda and Gareth Jenkins, The Che Handbook. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003.
Bardach, Ann Louise. Without Fidel. New York: Scribner, 2009.
Chomsky, Aviva, Barry Carr, and Pamela Maria Smorkalloff, eds. The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2003.
English, T. J. Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and then Lost It to the Revolution. New York: Harper Collins, 2007.
Franqui, Carlos, Camilo Cienfuegos. Translated from the Spanish by Paul Sharkey. First English-language edition 2013 by ChristieBooks. Hastings, East Sussex UK: http//www.christiebooks.com/ ChristieBooksWP/ christie@btconnect.com.
-----------Diary of the Cuban Revolution. New York: English Language Translation, The Viking Press, 1980.
Gjelton, Tom. Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause. New York: Viking, 2008.
González Echevarria, Roberto. The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
González-Pando, Miguel. The Cuban Americans. Westport, CT, London: Greenwood Press, 1998.
Guevara, Ernesto “Che.” Guerrilla Warfare. Translated from the Spanish by J. P. Morray. BN Publishing, 2012.
Lipman, Jana K. Guantánamo: A Working-Class History Between Empire and Revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
Lowinger, Rosa and Ofelia Fox. Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Inc., 2005
Halberstam, David. The Fifties. New York: Villard Books, 1993.
Hansen, Jonathan M. Guantánamo: An American History. New York: Hill and Wang, 2011.
Mailer, Norman. Harlot’s Ghost. New York: Random House, 1991.
Mathews, Herbert L. The Cuban Story. New York: George Braziller, 1961.
Pérez-Stable, Marifieli. The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy. New York: Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 2012.
Phillips, Ruby Hart. Cuba: Island of Paradox. New York: McDowell, Oblensky Inc., 1959.
Schwab, Stephen Irving Max. Guantánamo USA: The Untold Story of America’s Cuban Outpost.
Reid-Henry, Fidel and Che: A Revolutionary Friendship. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kanasas, 2009
Sweig, Julia E. Inside the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2002.
-----------Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Szulc, Tad, Fidel: A Critical Portrait. New York: Perenial, 2002.
Thomas, Hug. Cuba, The Pursuit of Freedom. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by Simon Toffell
Don Roth is a graduate of New York City’s renowned Stuyvesant High School. Columbia College, and NYU School of Law. He also has an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
After working as a Trial Attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission, he was an Associate Attorney at two law firms: Fried, Frank, Harris and Shriver and Jacobson LLP New York; following this he worked at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
Don’s long entrepreneurial international business career has involved the negotiation of deals and the financing of contracts in numerous countries located in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
At the time of the Cuban Revolution he was serving as a Lieutenant (jg) in the US Navy aboard the USS Raymond (DE-341), which brought him to the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay and the waters nearby.
This book is his first novel.