Free at Last!

Aliet Costa Olivera ran down the streets of her shantytown for the last time, the moonlight guiding her. She tried to keep pace with her sickly mother, Yanara, while balancing her brother, Einar, on her back. Yanara held only a wooden crucifix and her rosary as she struggled down the winding streets. Aliet wanted to leave. She wanted to leave now. Cuba was not safe. Castro had made sure of that. He had promised them freedom, but he gave them bondage. Yanara wanted to keep such things from young Aliet but the cruel reality of their life was overwhelmingly obvious. Her father, Sergio, told her of freedoms they could find in América. Sergio was planning to meet them at the beach after sneaking to the bolsa, the black market, to gather supplies.  "Rapida, mamá!" (Quick, Momma!) Aliet whispered as loud as she dared. Aliet's feet pounded on the dirt, thumping in her ears, sweat trickling down her face. "¡Ya voy!" (I'm coming!) Yanara wheezed while she ran, each step a struggle. Her weak legs couldn't keep up with Aliet's energized ones. "¿Dónde está Papá?" (Where is Papa?) Einar asked sleepily. Aliet shushed him, not wanting him to wake anyone. Einar, three, didn't understand what was going on. Since Castro came into power, all anyone felt was fear. Einar didn't know Castro, but he knew fear. Aliet kept running and was forced to drag poor Yanara behind her. "No, Aliet. Puedo hacerlo yo solo," (Don't, Aliet. I can do it myself,) her mother panted. Aliet ignored her. It took their weak, malnourished bodies an hour to run to the coast. Yanara was staggering, Einar too tired to cry. Aliet looked at them and thought about giving up. But then she remembered why she was leaving.  She was leaving Castro and his rule, leaving poverty, leaving imprisonment, leaving black market trades. She was leaving fear.  "No podemos darnos por vencidos. Mira lo lejos que hemos llegado," (We cannot give up now. Look how far we've come,) Aliet said, putting her hand on Yanara's quaking shoulder. "Mira hasta dónde tenemos que ir," (Look how far we have to go,) Yanara said in a voice weak with desperation, gesturing defeatedly toward the sea. Aliet looked into her rich brown eyes, glistening with tears of unsaid dread. Aliet looked into them and she heard. She heard all of her mother's fears. Every unsaid word, every plea of help swallowed, every desperate cry whispered in the dead of night. Aliet heard them.  "Voy a llevar todas sus cargas, mamá," (I will carry all your burdens, Momma,) Aliet said resolutely. Yanara looked into her daughter's eyes, fear clouding her own. She opened her mouth but was interrupted by Aliet's embrace. Einar, smooshed between them, struggled to free himself. Aliet and Yanara lived in that moment for a fleeting second and an eternity. Aliet never wanted to let go. Another pair of arms joined them- Sergio. Relief flooded through Aliet as she felt the arms that would carry them. They stood on the beach; sand sneaking into their sandals, the salty wind blowing lazily past them, the waves lapping in time with their breathing. "Vengamos y tomamos la libertad en nuestras propias manos," (Let us come and take freedom in our own hands,) Sergio said, his voice gentle and soothing, yet determined. Aliet nodded, reluctantly letting go of her mother. She squatted down in the sand by her father, quickly tying together wood and tin Sergio had bought while he attached a motor to the raft. Standing and looking at the choppy seas, Aliet realized neither she nor Einar could swim.  Bang!  Aliet turned at the sound of the gunshot to see two Federales, clad in green. The moon glistened off the pistols that threatened their freedom. "¡Detener! Dejo que digo!" (Stop! Stop I say!) One of them yelled at them, his voice like crashing waves. "Obtener la balsa! ¡Vamos! ¡Ahora!" (Get the raft! Go! Now!) Sergio yelled at Aliet, his eyes pleading, begging her to leave. Aliet nodded, yelling for her mother. Panic coursed through her veins. Her every movement and thought screamed Run! She pushed the raft into the water, struggling against the sand. She heard gunshots again behind her, and turned, seeing her father shooting openly at the soldiers with a revolver. "¡¿De dónde sacaste eso?!" (Where did you get that?!) Aliet heard panic and bewilderment in her mother's voice. "No importa que ahora! ¡Vamos!" (Nevermind that now! Go!) Aliet's father never took his eyes off the soldiers. One was hit in the shoulder, yet he still kept coming. "Vuelve aquí!" (Come back here!) "Donde esta tu permiso?!" (Where is your permit?!) The soldiers yelled at Aliet and her family, but they didn't stop. Aliet was terrified that someone heard the shots and yelling and would come to investigate. She dragged the raft into the water until it was up to her waist. "Pásame Einar!" (Pass me Einar!) Aliet yelled frantically to her mother. Yanara lifted little, scared Einar, and passed him to Aliet. "¿Qué está haciendo Papá?" (What is Papa doing?) little Einar cried as Aliet plunked him in the raft.  Aliet heard two thuds and prayed one of them wasn't her father. But, Sergio was there, helping Yanara and Aliet into the raft. Aliet looked around in a haze at her family then back to the Cuban shore. She could faintly hear a motor in the background. Time passed in silence as the family got their bearings; Einar drifted to sleep, Sergio figured out how to steer, and Yanara came out of her huddled state. The waves splashed against the raft, rocking them like babies in a crib. When Aliet looked back, Cuba was out of sight. A shiver went down her spine. Not of fear, but of hope. Aliet grabbed Yanara's hand. She looked at the horizon and the slowly rising sun. Tears in her eyes, she yelled from the depths of her soul, "Libres al fin!"  Free at last!

------ Aliet is a Cuban girl in 1961. According to History.com, "On February 16, 1959, Fidel Castro is sworn in as prime minister of Cuba after leading a guerrilla campaign that forced right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista into exile." uscis.gov says that in 1961-62 58,000 refugees fled Castro. Britannica says, "Indiscriminate arrests, acts of torture, and executions began almost at once throughout Cuba. By May 15, 1959, some 600 people linked to the Batista government had been put to death by revolutionary courts." Castro was a Marxist-Leninist in ideology. Also, Castro gave Che Guevara power by declaring him a natural-born citizen, and "Guevara would spend the following months presiding over military prisons, directing court-martials, and making extensive tours of Asia, North Africa, and the Soviet Union." Castro became President of Cuba from 1976-2008. He became the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961-2011. Castro created the first Communist State in the Western Hemisphere. He and Che Guevara are now two of the most famous Communist leaders in history. Aliet is one of the many Cubans who were able to flee Castro's rule, and find freedom in the United States. I hope you like Aliet and her story! I translated all the spanish from Duolingo, which I thought would be more reliable than Google translate, if you were wondering :).  I got the idea for this paper by listening to a recent speech given by Maximo Alvarez. It was amazing and beautiful and he used some really good imagery. His speech was very eye-opening. His father actually escaped Spain, and Alvarez escaped Cuba. You should definitely look him up!