“Caramba!” (Good Lord), Maria Losa expressed surprised when I told her that I had stopped indulging in party high jinks. She stood up from the table I was sharing with her and another three women and moved to a second table where Lucia Valdez was with other former colleagues. I watched her whispering into Lucia’s ears and the later looked at me with a surprise written all over her face.
Maria pulled Lucia from her chair and they came to me. “Hey Chico (Boy) what did you say?” I repeated what I told Lucia. “Ave Maria (Holy Mary)!” She also exclaimed.
My dear readers, I knew you were wondering what kind of narrative I was dishing out to you. Well, sometime ago, I was invited by my former colleagues with whom I attended school at the Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. They were celebrating with some old guards of the Nicaraguan Revolution known as the ‘Sandinistas’ and they deemed it appropriate that I should be among them. Indeed, my former colleagues thought I was still the wild African guy who used to frighten them with my queer and baffling voodoo tricks on campus.
“Boys and Girls, the old days are gone and your colleague is now upright with God.” I told my colleagues in Spanish. All of them laughed except one called Dolores who nodded in agreement to what I said. Anyway, as the party grooved on the entire group realized that I meant what I said.
As usual, the ladies of our group were in Chiapas dress; these dresses are really unique and extraordinary. They are handmade by women from the town of Chiapas de Corzo. They consist of a wide skirt and a blouse (or dress), very heavily embroidered and decorated with ribbons. The background is black, and the embroidery is colorful and bright. Usually flower patterns are used.
As for us the men, we were wearing the Poncho; it is one of the typical Mexican pieces of clothing that is well-known and loved all around the world. It is a warm outerwear. There are variations of poncho. For example, classical poncho is a simple piece of cloth with a hole for the head; it doesn’t have sleeves. Then we put on the Sombrero (hat); it is a Mexican hat with a wide brim. This hat is made of straw or heavy felt. It protects the body from the sun.
The party which started around four in the afternoon ended at eight in the evening and I was about to get down and into a taxi for my hotel when Dolores approached me and told me to wait for her. She took me to the parking lot to her car.
“I think you are the only person that I want to introduce to a special friend of mine.” She said as we hit the main highway. Dolores is a Clinical Psychologist in one of the prestigious hospitals in Mexico City.
I was surprised when we got to the house and met the husband. Indeed, Jose was our senior and he is now a Corporate Lawyer with an international bank in the city. They told me that their two children were in United States attending university. After chatting for some time, Dolores told the husband why she wanted me in the house.
Dolores went to the phone and made a short call and ten minutes later the door bell rang which she quickly answered. The husband told me that the person I was meeting was a neighbor.
I blinked twice when Dolores came to the room with a lady in her mid- forties. Indeed, she was looking very beautiful and elegant; she had the Latin American look and I appreciated it.
She sat near Dolores as she was introduced. She smiled a little and despite the scar on her cheek, she still looked very beautiful. I became a little apprehensive when Dolores disclosed that her friend was a former leftist guerrilla fighter.
Juanita (For security reasons I have changed her name), took over and told me how she became a woman fighter. She said she was the only child of her parents in one of the Latin American countries battling a civil war. Her father was an official in the government at that time.
Juanita continued that one night some armed men besieged their house and killed her parents but spared her. At the age of sixteen and not knowing what to do, she was persuaded by a school colleague to join the guerrilla group and became a child soldier.
She said a lot of atrocities were committed on both sides and she regretted joining the group. She even tried to escape and had to face the punishment of torture.
For years, she bore the pain as a guerrilla and was looking for the chance to escape. One day, a very important man was captured by her unit and was tortured. She revealed that the torture was very gruesome and the man who was uncircumcised was brutishly circumcised. In the process the man lost a great deal of blood and nearly died. Juanita said she felt pity for the man and decided to save him.
She therefore told the leader that they should take the man and dump him somewhere and they later agreed. The man was put at the back of a jeep in the night with Juanita. As the vehicle moved away, Juanita managed to talk to the victim and assured him that they were going to release him to get medical help. The man thanked Juanita and told her that if ever got tired of the life she was leading she should contact him in a certain town and he would be ready to help. Juanita ordered the driver of the jeep to drive to a local clinic and the bleeding man was dumped there.
Next week, I would narrate how Juanita managed to escape with the help of a pastor in the boot of his car.