Read Havana Jazz Club for Free Online Page A

to pieces. She thought about the little raft they had passed, about the women and children traveling on it. It was impossible to believe that they could survive the storm, and her heart clenched. Would they make it? The men were shouting, and she struggled to open her eyes. Orlando wasn’t at her side, and she wanted to call to him, but her voice stuck in her throat. She tried to go find him, but her body wouldn’t obey. Then she heard them scream: “Sharks!” After that, silence.
     
    “Wake up, Billie!” Orlando was shaking her impatiently. “We’re almost there! Look! America!”
    Billie opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Orlando’s face, wrecked by exhaustion but happy. Behind him, she made out a strip of land.
    “That’s America?” she asked, incredulous.
    “Yes, my love!” he exclaimed, embracing her. “They’ll drop us off on a beach where there’s no guard, and a friend will pick us up and take us to Miami.”
    They left the inside of the truck. All the men were looking at the coast expectantly, but they didn’t look all that happy.
    “What’s going on with them?” Billie asked, finding their somber demeanor strange.
    Orlando looked down sorrowfully.
    “We lost a man last night,” he said. “He fell into the sea.”
    “Ay! Our Lady of Charity!” Billie exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands. “And you couldn’t rescue him?”
    “It was impossible. We couldn’t see anything. Only the shark fins circling the boat. It would have been suicide to jump in and look for him.”
    “Poor man!” Billie exclaimed. “Did the sharks eat him?”
    “Most likely. If not, he probably drowned.”
    “That’s horrible!” she sobbed, hugging her husband.
    “Okay, my love, calm down,” he said. “Everyone knows what they’re risking when they make this trip. We’re okay, and we’ll soon be able to put all this behind us.”
    After disembarking, they spent a few days in Miami at Orlando’s friend’s house, just enough time to recover from the trip and buy a few things, including plane tickets. Orlando was afraid Billie would like the city so much that she wouldn’t want to continue on to Spain. She was dazzled by the stores, the hotels, the restaurants, the cafés, the beautiful dresses, the jewels, the cars, the locals’ friendliness, and the easy, relaxed atmosphere. She felt at home in Little Havana, surrounded by Cubans, speaking her own language, inhaling the strong aroma of Cuban coffee at all hours. There was only one difference—one she couldn’t put her finger on at first because it was a strange sensation—she was breathing freedom.
     
    During the long flight to Spain, once she had recovered from the exhaustion and emotional upheaval of the last few days, Billie was filled with sadness. She couldn’t get the image of her father out of her head—the way he had been sitting in his armchair, depositing a kiss on the palm of her hand, and saying good-bye with a confident “see you tomorrow.” How long would that “tomorrow” take to arrive? She knew her father would be distraught when he found out that she and her husband had fled. Celia would be the one to break the news, enduring not only the pain of losing her daughter but also the uncertainty of not knowing if she would ever see her again. Because she knew her mother knew that she was leaving when she said good-bye to her at the door of her house that night—when she hugged her like that and told her that she loved her, that they all loved her, and they would always be by her side “even if you’re far away, it goes without saying.” Her heart must have been bursting as she watched her leave, unable to stop her. Billie erupted into tears whenever she thought about it, and Orlando consoled her with infinite patience.
    “We’ll be back much sooner than you think, my love,” he said to calm her down. “You’ll see.”
    And Billie clung to that promise with all her strength, snuggling into her