
(Author’s Note: The following is an excerpt from a work in progress, a novel. From Mountain Road to Easy Street is the working title. This is a first draft so I hope you can excuse any typos or imperfections. The action being described by the narrator corresponds in the calendar to events that happened on a day like today thirty one-years ago. I will post each day — if I can find the fortitude — the corresponding chapter. Thanks for reading).
“What happened?”
“A fucking car accident happened. We were visiting Cuba, year before last. Someone came back and told him to hurry if he wanted to see his Mom alive. He jumped at the opportunity when the government opened up travel. If you didn’t have any problem with the law there when you left, then they would allow you to visit. Castro called it the Family Reunification something or other but this wasn’t about the family, it was about dollars. Cubans bringing dollars to prop up the economy after the Russians couldn’t help anymore. We had to pay for the hotel in Havana as part of the deal, even if you were staying with relatives. We were registered at the Habana Libre which used to be the Hilton back in the day, before the Revolution.
“So we made the arrangements through a family friend and off we went. I was floundering at work, jumping from job to job, unhappy as a motherfucker and my Dad asked me to go with him. He said it could clear my head, you know, help with the process and besides I wanted to see the family and my friends from when I was a kid. Hadn’t seen them in almost ten years. My childhood sweetheart, Rosie. I said yes. It didn’t take much to convince me. I gave notice at work when they wouldn’t give me time off –- I had just started there, so I kind of understood — no lost love between us, anyway.
“My Mom owns a sewing factory, right around the corner, on Mountain Road and Cliff. We all pitched in, my sister and me and my Dad would also help before he went to work everyday and after work and weekends. Dad was very concerned about leaving my Mom alone for a whole week, so as soon as he found a friend of the family to come by and help Mom, he made the plans to travel. He was worried leaving her alone for a week, ten days, can you believe it? It’s been almost two years since she’s been alone. She got her driving license at the end of the first. I guess she realized that she was going to have to drive herself places, ‘cause he wasn’t going to no more.
“It was in February when we left for Cuba. There was snow on the ground, I remember. Continue reading →
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