There was no hatred, no dissension, but what there was was worse – a wall of silence. We never talked – I mean, of anything substantial. ‘After everything else, that was the blow that brought your mother to her knees. She had barely recovered from the bullet wounds when you came along and gave us joy – something to compensate for going into exile from a land we loved. You cannot believe the hell we went through when we first were married. ‘Once upon a time your mother and I were married,’ he began, ‘married in every way – the same ideals, the same beliefs, the same concerns about how we should raise our children. He shifted forward, leaning his bulky frame on the desk.

He raised his palms to the sky in a gesture of helplessness and answered, ‘It was her decision, Laurita.’ He hesitated and she broke in, ‘And you’re just leaving Mama in that – that nunnery?’ In Cuba medicine is free, and I can treat anyone who needs me.’ ‘Besides, as a doctor nowadays I spend more time with insurance documents than with patients. ‘You know my greatest dream is to go back to a free Spain – but who knows if I will live long enough to see Franco dead? I admire Fidel, and Guevara is an intellectual with all the right ideas …’ ‘I am going to live in Cuba,’ he explained. Luis sat behind his desk, tilted his chair back, and lit up a cigar. ‘I mean, what the hell is going on in this family?’ ‘I feel like one,’ she confirmed bitterly. Luis pried open a bottle of Canada Dry, poured it into a glass, and handed it to his daughter.

This way they will be much easier to pack. Seeing his daughter’s reaction, Luis explained, ‘Estelle showed me how to catalogue the books and journals. The journals that had once been strewn like so many autumn leaves were now arranged on shelves. She could not help noticing how neat it had become. Laura nodded and followed her father into his private domain. Come to my study and have a drink, niña.’ He then added quickly, ‘I mean a Coca-Cola or something.’ ‘She spends some time in prayer, and then she goes to sleep. Now that the cleric had departed, Laura turned to accost her mother for abandoning her.īut Inez had disappeared.

Because the Lord certainly wasn’t with him when he was mugged three months ago and I had to sew five sutures in his cheek.’

Luis could not keep himself from whispering sardonically to Laura, ‘Let’s hope he’s right.

Doctors by Erich Segal