By Lien Estrada
HAVANA TIMES – I’m at my bookstand, selling. A friend comes by to say hello, and at that exact moment a customer asks me to reach a book for him. I ask him which, and he answers: whichever has the most pages. I shudder. I look at my friend and insist: my family and I have to eat. My friend agrees and tells me: for one who loves books, this is terrible.
Anyone who asks for a book uninterested in the content but for its number of pages plans to use the paper for wrapping peanuts, fried foods or simply to use as toilet paper.
Better not to discuss this, I tell him. We didn’t say anything more about it, but then he tells me a story that’s no less terrible.
The day before, they assaulted Jose Luis Serrano, one of our intellectuals who’s been the moving force behind many cultural projects and for years has maintained a radio program about music. My friend told me what happened to Serrano on Maximo Gomez Street.
Some kids appeared in front of him, knives in hand. It wasn’t that late at night, around ten minutes to eleven, he tells me. They took his shoes and the bag where he was carrying his books from work. At that point, he flashed a beam from a flashlight he was holding in his hand, and his assailants took off running. He wasn’t going to go after them. How could he? They were young and agile, he had to let them go.
I told my friend that Holguin’s been suffering for a while now, from assaults in broad daylight, that no one talks about. He added something I agree with: “you have to pay attention to the newspaper of the air,” meaning those things that are talked about under one’s breath, in the hallways and informal spaces. Because we already know what the official sources talk about: more successes.
I can only echo his thoughts. I believe it one hundred percent. It’s a reality that’s always battered us, I think. It’s said that they [the government media] don’t inform us, they misinform us. I tell my friend we need to be more careful, because however you look at it there are no indications the situation will improve. My friend has no encouraging words for me. Improve? It’s going to get worse. The handwriting’s on the wall. Frankly, I don’t want to think he’s right, but I don’t have a good argument to offer.
Later, I continue getting news of other assaults. A woman named Georgina, was also assaulted. This time on AricocheaStreet. She was going to buy some chicken for dinner. Two kids in hoodies and dark glasses. They took a gold chain her son had given her, her iphone and the 10,000 pesos she had in her bag.
I went to see her with a friend and we even congratulated her. “We’re all alive,” we stressed while we visited her. “That’s the important thing, Georgina agreed, “the rest can be recovered, but our life comes first.” She continued: “While they were sticking me in the back with something sharp,” I kept saying, “Oh my God! Oh my God!!” and they told me to shut up and just give them this and that.’ Of course, I handed it all over without the least resistance.
We have to wish each other luck, I tell myself. We know that these aren’t the best of times, and right now we can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Keeping your guard up is important to always be aware of, but these days, it’s essential.
Read more from the diary of Lien Estrada here.
