We Were Strangers Page #5

Even your enemy.

There is a taxi stopping

in front of the house.

It's China.

What's the matter?

A man followed me in the street. I had

to take a bus and a taxi to get rid of him.

Maybe he liked your legs.

No. He was not that kind. When I came

out of the bank, I ran into Ariete.

He was in his car. This other man

was leaning against the building.

When I left he started to follow me.

- What did Ariete want?

- He asked why he had not seen you.

What did you tell him?

I said that you were out in the country,

listening to the Guajiro music.

Did he believe you?

- I don't know.

- Probably not.

He had you followed because

he thought you were going to meet me.

He suspects something, I guess.

Suppose the Porrista comes

and we have to kill him? What then, Tony?

The jig will be up.

We'd have to make a run for it.

We will have trouble

getting out of the country.

That is why I think

we should make plans for an escape.

People who come under suspicion

of the Porrista leave the country.

But it takes planning.

We should make contact

with the rum-running boats...

that are smuggling people to Miami.

- We are not making any plans for an escape.

- Why not?

Because every new person

we get into this is an added risk.

We must count on the plan

being a success to save our lives.

But there is a chance

that even if we succeed with the bomb...

public opinion will turn against us.

It is possible we will be called murderers.

The people may be shocked

beyond their powers of judgment.

A few days ago, Miguel, you refused to bet

about the digging because you said...

that it was immoral to gamble on something

that had to do with killing.

I say not to gamble

on the judgment of the people.

That is even more immoral.

Running away, that would be shameful.

We have no right to do what we are doing...

unless we're prepared

to answer with our lives.

What's the matter with you?

You look as though

you were covered with blood.

It's only the red clay.

- China, what's wrong?

- Nothing.

Why, you're trembling.

- I had a bad dream.

- That's not surprising.

Ariete and I were alone

on the steps of the Contreras tomb.

It was night.

He was holding me in his arms...

and I was telling him everything,

the plan from beginning to end.

He kept caressing me with his hands.

I tried to make him stop, but he wouldn't.

He didn't seem to understand

the importance of what I was saying.

He was holding me so tightly

I couldn't breathe.

And then suddenly

the cemetery was crowded with people.

Their mouths were open.

They were screaming,

only it sounded like singing.

They grabbed Ariete.

Someone brought a rope.

Then they hung him from the lamppost

and set fire to his body.

- It was awful.

- Why was it awful?

You want that hyena to die, don't you?

But Ariete's being alive

meant that we had failed.

That the bomb hadn't gone off

and all this was for nothing.

We will not fail! Don't think it.

- Even in your dreams, don't think it.

- Tony.

We've struck rock.

A ledge of rock.

It's hard, like the wall of the Morro.

Where is Tony?

In the cellar with Guillermo.

They are setting the charges.

So he is going to dynamite?

As soon as it gets dark.

The traffic is heaviest then.

He thinks there's a fair chance

that the explosion won't be heard.

If it is heard, people will only say,

"What was that?" and think no more of it.

Is it not better to work a few more days,

try to dig around the rock...

than risk everything by blasting?

A few more days, yes. But it might take

longer than that. It might take months.

We have wasted 20 hours already.

The trucks have come back empty

for the third time.

The police will be swarming over

this neighborhood like ants.

Perhaps.

He's willing to risk it,

after all the work we have done?

There is nothing sure about a plan

of this kind, amigo. It is all risk.

Well, amigos, everything's ready.

The charges are set.

In a half hour, when it's dark,

you'll all leave the house.

- I'm asking you to...

- I'll set the charges off and follow you.

If the police come, we'll just keep walking.

There's a man in front of the house.

He's passed twice.

China, come here.

You ever seen him before?

That's the man who followed me

on the Prado.

- Are you sure?

- Yes.

There's no telling what this means.

We'd better get down in the cellar.

Get the food out of sight.

Straighten the beds.

There's a car stopping.

It's Ariete!

Remember, if you need any help,

we could kill that swine.

It'll be better than nothing.

Good evening, seorita. May I come in?

I warned you...

I might pay you a little visit.

Enrique.

See, I do not come empty-handed.

A small tribute.

Flowers that smell are better than these.

- Where are your people?

- At the movies.

Do not lie to me, please.

If they are at the movies,

it is at the theater at Matanzas.

Rum, Morro crab, fruit.

Perhaps you would prefer

going out somewhere?

No. It's cooler here.

I don't drink.

I approve of that.

It is bad to see young girls drinking.

They are in every caf now,

wherever one goes.

It is bad for the country.

I am happy to see you're not like the others.

- What do you see in this man Fenner?

- What do I see in him?

Yes. I don't understand it.

A girl like you should not

go around so much with an American.

I don't approve of it.

We know what they're like,

what they're here for.

When I see them in the cafs,

looking at our girls...

joking with each other in their loud voices...

I feel the dollars they bring into our country

aren't worth the insults.

They are not all like that.

You are mistaken. They are all the same.

This man Fenner

is no better than the others.

I have only spent one evening

with Mr. Fenner.

But a very long evening. All night.

It was morning when I saw you.

Is it not peculiar to have dinner, breakfast

with a man you have just met?

- We went to the jai alai...

- It was Monday night.

There is no jai alai on Monday night.

Then it must have been another evening.

- But you say you have only seen him once?

- Once or twice.

Three times, perhaps.

- Eat.

- I am not hungry.

Have you ever heard of an American

who has taken his life...

because of unhappiness in love?

It has never been.

For money they jump off their skyscrapers

every day, but not for feelings.

They are incapable of a large sentiment.

Rum runs right through me.

I know you think it's strange for me

to talk this way to you.

Me, a policeman.

I frighten you.

I can see it in your eyes right now.

I am not frightened, seor.

You are lying to me again.

It's the same everywhere I go.

My closest friends are frightened

when I call on them.

People who have nothing to hide,

if such people exist.

We all have something

we wish to keep hidden, even the best of us.

Perhaps that is good.

Otherwise, there would be less need

for men of my profession.

I will tell you something.

Last month I went to Pinar del Rio...

to the village where I was born.

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