Read Online Cuba by Stephen Coonts - Free Book Online

made him
    sit at her feet and placed her hands in his.
    Ah, yes. Hector Sedano. If anyone could,
    it would be you.
    “They do not appreciate youea”…Maximo’s wife
    told him as they rode back to Havana in his car.
    “They are so ignorantea”…she added, slightly
    embarrassed that she and her husband should’have to spend
    an evening with peasants in such squalid surroundings.
    Of course, they were his family and one had duties,
    but still… He had worked so hard to earn his standing and
    position, it was appalling that he should have to make a
    pilgrimage back to such squalor.
    And his relatives! The old woman, the sisters
    … crippled, ignorant, dirty, uncouth …
    it was all a bit much.
    And Hector, the priest who was a secret
    politician! A man who used the Church for
    counterrevolutionary treason.
    “Surely he must know that you are aware of his
    political activitiesea”…she remarked now to her
    husband, who frowned at the shacks and
    sugarcane fields they were driving past.
    “He knowsea”…Maximo murmured.
    “Europe was so niceea”…his wife said softly.
    “I don’t mean to be uncharitable, but truly it is
    a shame that we must return to
    thisl”
    Maximo wasn’t paying much attention.
    “I keep hoping that someday we shall go to Europe and
    never returnea”…she whispered. “I do love
    Madrid so.”
    Maximo didn’t hear that comment. He was wondering
    about Hector and Alejo Vargas. He couldn’t
    imagine the two of them talking, but what if they had
    been? What if those two combined to plot against him?
    What could he do to guard against that possibility,
    to protect himself?
    Later that evening Hector and his sister-in-law,
    Mercedes, rode a bus into Havana. “It was good
    of you to stay for
    Mima’s
    partyea”…Hector said.
    “I wanted to see her. She makes me think of
    Jorge.”
    “Do you still miss him?”
    “I will miss him every day of my life.”
    “Me tooea”…Hector murmured.
    “Vargas knows about youea”…she said, after glancing around
    to make sure no one else could hear her words.
    “What does he know?”
    “That you organize and attend political meetings,
    that you write to friends, that you speak to students, that most
    of the priests in Cuba are loyal to you, that many people
    all over this island look to you for leadership…. He
    knows that much and probably more.”
    “It would be a miracle if none of that had reached the
    ears of the secret police.”
    “He may arrest you.”
    “He will do nothing without Fidel’s approval. He
    is Fidel’s dog.”
    “And you think Fidel approves of your
    activities?”
    “I think he tolerates them. The man isn’t
    immortal. Even he must wonder what will come after
    him.”
    “You are playing with fire. Castro’s hold on
    Vargas is weakening. Castro’s death will give him
    a free hand. Do not underestimate him.”
    “I do not. Believe me. But Cuba is more
    important than me, than Vargas, than
    Castro. If this country is ever going to be
    anything other than the barnyard of a tyrant, someone
    must plant seeds that have a chance of growing. Every per-
    son I talk to is a seed, an investment in the
    future.”
    “”Barnyard of a tyrant.” What a pretty
    phraseff”…Mercedes said acidly. The last few
    years, living with Fidel, she had developed a
    thick skin: people said the most vicious things about him and
    she had learned to ignore most of it. Still, she
    deeply admired Hector, so his words wounded her.
    “I’m sorry if I”
    She made sure her voice was under control, then
    said, “Dear Hector, Cuba is also the
    graveyard of a great many martyrs. There is room
    here for Vargas to bury us both.”
    He was remembering the good days, the days when he had
    been young, under a bright sun, surrounded by happy,
    laughing comrades.
    All things had been possible back then. Bullets
    couldn’t touch them, no one would betray them
    to Batista’s men, they would save Cuba, save her
    people, make them prosperous and