libertad part two

        In Santiago Reyes worked for the distillery made famous for Ron Matusalem. The salary was good, much better than his earnings as a teacher. He managed labor relations, and was very influential with the harvesters and millers. They trusted him. The bigshots saw an opportunity in this. They felt he was the perfect man, able to staunch any revolt. Most important, he could do so without getting into politics.
       Reyes had a business friend named Fred Rosen, a powerfully built lumbering man with broad shoulders. In a suit he looked big as a highway billboard. While in Cuba he shucked the busines wardrobe and settled into cotton shirts and worsted shorts. He had pink skin and brassy hair. Worry-lines
tracked across his forehead.
        Meeting Tomas for the first time, he asked, "Well, how's my Cracker Jack boy?"
        Not having worn the sailor suit for a long while, Tomas had no idea what that meant.


                                                                                         *


        On his thirteenth birthday he received a gift from "Uncle" Fred, a portable record-player with a spindle fixed for the modern 45 RPM platters.
        "Well, young man, you are officially a teenager, and this is the music American kids are listening to."
        He spoke in a strange melodic Spanish.
        Tomas opened the wrapped package with the skill of a surgeon. There he found recordings by Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, Bill Haley and The Comets.
        "Many thanks, Uncle Fred."
        "You're very welcome. Say, could you find something Senora Teresa's kitchen for us to nibble on?"
        "Si!"
        On the way out he heard Uncle Fred chuckle to Papi. "My wife thinks kids his age listen to Perry Como and Tony Bennett."
        His warm face gleaming, Reyes replied, "I understand. Thank you so much, Amigo."


                                                                                        *


        Setting down the bowl of plantain frito, Tomas overheard them talking, speaking of "the coming troubles." Papi's face was dark and grim, yet he invited his son to sit and be a part of things. Tomas was
dumbstruck following his initiation in Man Talk.
        Fred Rosen said to Reyes, "I know your sentiments, hombre. You're a soft-boiled socialist."
        "That may be, but I am no revolutionary."
        Rosen nodded, then added, "All right. I do remember you saying not long ago that the illiteracy among your macheteros is deplorable, Same goes for the millworkers. They are all getting the raw deal."
        "The bosses screw them right and left."
        "So how far are you from shouting, Workers Unite?"
        "A long way. I am not for getting shot at the barricades just so some Bolshevic can usurp all the gains we make."
        "Cynical, but wise."
        Rosen looked upon the son while addressing the father. "What do propose we do about your family?"


                                                                                            *


        "Papi, where does Uncle Fred live?"
        "He lives in Miami. He represents our distributor in the United States. A good friend."
        "His Spanish is foreign."
        "Yes. He first learned what he could pick up from country folk in Spain. As a young man he fought with partisans against the fascists. His accent is from Andalusia."
        "He fought in a country not his own?"
        "Yes. He was an idealist."