and once when he came out to the park to throw out the first ball, but Fidel had been in and out so fast that it didnât count. Now he was in the same room with Raul, and Raul said Fidel lit it up until it hurt his eyes, like all the lights going on in a dark bar at last call. (Raul didnât say nothing about last call or a dark bar, but I imagined it my own way.) Raul stood up by instinct and the president came around a desk and gave him a big bear hug, chattering away as he did it.
Castro has a tenor voice sort of roughened by the cigars he smoked for a long time. Raul recalled that Castro said:
â- Hey, big man, what a game tonight, I saw your first homer before I had to leave, big man. You are sweet, Raul, you swing like Ted Williams could swing in his prime. What do you think of that?
â Many thanks, Mr. President (Raul said). I was lucky tonight.
â Was lucky? You ARE lucky, Raul, this is your lucky night, son. Talk about luck, you are the luckiest man in Havana tonight and I am so happy for you.
â Why? What has happened?
â Hey, you, let me tell the story and you just listen, okay? You know what has happened? I am always looking out for people like you, great people rising up in Cuba, the flowers of the revolution now bearing fruit.
Raul said at this point he wasnât following the president very well, but that Castro had removed his hands and arms from the bear hug and was letting Raul stand alone.
â Raul, little Raul, we are going to show the world now what they have been missing for thirty years while the Americans followed their pigheaded plan to destroy Cuba. Well, weâre not destroyed, weâre just catching our second wind, true, Raul?
â Yes, itâs true (Raul said).
â Time now to show the world on the stage of the world what we are made of, what our young men can do when the challenge is thrown down in a fair and square way.
â Yes.
â- Do you know what is the stage of the world, do you, little Raul? You are so young, you were not even born thee, when I went on the stage of the world. Do you know where it is?
â No, Mr. President, I do not know.
â- Of course not. You are a humble child of humble farming people and only your great talent and determination have worked to give you the chance to go on the world stage which I, your president, have arranged for you because my life is devoted to the flower of the revolution, to all the flowers.
Raul said he waited while this went on for a while. Then Castro interrupted himself to ask a question.
â So you donât know where the worldâs stage is?
â No, Mr. President.
â Then I will tell you.
â- Yes, excellency.
â No, no, not excellency, that is for the bourgeoisie. President. The stage is New York City.
â What?
â New York City.
â Iâve heard of it. Yes. I know what you mean. New York. A city.
â Well, thank God for that, it would be no good to go some place you have never heard of it, would it?
Raul said Castro laughed then, and I can imagine it, but Raul said he was too nervous to do anything but just stand there.
â- So (Castro said) what do you say?
â About what, Mr. President? Castro frowned.
â About what I have proposed.
â What have you proposed, Mr. President?
â Arenât you listening, you cloth-eared bumpkin?
â Iâm listening, Excellency. Iâm just confused.
â You are going to be a Yankee.
Raul said he thought he would pass out. Someone had spoken lies against him and this was a cruel sort of joke, they were going to send him to prison, maybe for years. He thought of his beloved fiancee Maria Velasquez then and of a thousand other things and he wondered if he would be allowed to play baseball in prison.
â No, no, President, I am not a Yankee â¦
â I did not say that, bumpkin, little Raul, I said you were going to be. You are going to be a New York
Castro has a tenor voice sort of roughened by the cigars he smoked for a long time. Raul recalled that Castro said:
â- Hey, big man, what a game tonight, I saw your first homer before I had to leave, big man. You are sweet, Raul, you swing like Ted Williams could swing in his prime. What do you think of that?
â Many thanks, Mr. President (Raul said). I was lucky tonight.
â Was lucky? You ARE lucky, Raul, this is your lucky night, son. Talk about luck, you are the luckiest man in Havana tonight and I am so happy for you.
â Why? What has happened?
â Hey, you, let me tell the story and you just listen, okay? You know what has happened? I am always looking out for people like you, great people rising up in Cuba, the flowers of the revolution now bearing fruit.
Raul said at this point he wasnât following the president very well, but that Castro had removed his hands and arms from the bear hug and was letting Raul stand alone.
â Raul, little Raul, we are going to show the world now what they have been missing for thirty years while the Americans followed their pigheaded plan to destroy Cuba. Well, weâre not destroyed, weâre just catching our second wind, true, Raul?
â Yes, itâs true (Raul said).
â Time now to show the world on the stage of the world what we are made of, what our young men can do when the challenge is thrown down in a fair and square way.
â Yes.
â- Do you know what is the stage of the world, do you, little Raul? You are so young, you were not even born thee, when I went on the stage of the world. Do you know where it is?
â No, Mr. President, I do not know.
â- Of course not. You are a humble child of humble farming people and only your great talent and determination have worked to give you the chance to go on the world stage which I, your president, have arranged for you because my life is devoted to the flower of the revolution, to all the flowers.
Raul said he waited while this went on for a while. Then Castro interrupted himself to ask a question.
â So you donât know where the worldâs stage is?
â No, Mr. President.
â Then I will tell you.
â- Yes, excellency.
â No, no, not excellency, that is for the bourgeoisie. President. The stage is New York City.
â What?
â New York City.
â Iâve heard of it. Yes. I know what you mean. New York. A city.
â Well, thank God for that, it would be no good to go some place you have never heard of it, would it?
Raul said Castro laughed then, and I can imagine it, but Raul said he was too nervous to do anything but just stand there.
â- So (Castro said) what do you say?
â About what, Mr. President? Castro frowned.
â About what I have proposed.
â What have you proposed, Mr. President?
â Arenât you listening, you cloth-eared bumpkin?
â Iâm listening, Excellency. Iâm just confused.
â You are going to be a Yankee.
Raul said he thought he would pass out. Someone had spoken lies against him and this was a cruel sort of joke, they were going to send him to prison, maybe for years. He thought of his beloved fiancee Maria Velasquez then and of a thousand other things and he wondered if he would be allowed to play baseball in prison.
â No, no, President, I am not a Yankee â¦
â I did not say that, bumpkin, little Raul, I said you were going to be. You are going to be a New York
Similar Books
