Conquistadora - Esmeralda Santiago [52]
“It was a great blow to his family,” Ana said.
“May he rest in peace,” Faustina repeated, making the cross.
“Don Luis knew him well, then,” Ana said.
“Yes,” Faustina resumed her story. “He looked out for opportunities in the area. The fifteen cuerdas we’re on now was the first purchase. The previous owner built the casona, the trapiche, and the chimneys. He had six sons.”
“All of them in this house?”
“Well, they weren’t like you and me,” Faustina said. “He lived with one of his slaves but didn’t free her. Or for that matter, his own sons.” She turned her work. “Things are different here in the campo.”
Ana wondered what Faustina would say about her arrangement with Ramón and Inocente.
“Unfortunately,” Faustina continued, “they were all partial to drink. The joke around here was that they drank more of their rum than made it to market.” She laughed. “When the woman died, he lost his reason. He drank more and couldn’t manage the work. He gambled. When he needed money, he sold his slaves and, eventually, his sons. He scattered them all over the island to the best buyer.” She locked eyes with Ana for a moment, then dropped them. “Appalling …”
“Impossible to imagine.” Ana hadn’t heard the story of the beginnings of the hacienda. “But when we came here there were slaves.…”
“Don Rodrigo wanted to keep it going, but he couldn’t leave his business, so he hired Luis to manage it. We sold him some of our slaves and installed one of our foremen as mayordomo. Luis did as much as he could, but it was hard to manage this place and ours. We thought the property would be sold after don Rodrigo’s death, but we were happy that his nephews were coming.…”
As Faustina talked, Ana’s temper grew, but she controlled her breathing and loosened the grip on the fabric she was mending. Ana figured that their old, maimed slaves were sold to the absent don Rodrigo by don Luis, who kept the younger, healthy ones for his own farm. She couldn’t prove it, but she believed it as if Faustina had said it aloud.
“We’re so glad that Ramón came with a wife. Families do better here than single men.…”
“Is that so?” Ana asked, to keep Faustina talking.
“Men need women to keep them civilized. A white man without a wife has too many temptations.” She arched her eyebrows until they nearly reached her hairline.
Ana had seen several light-skinned, light-eyed babies on the hacienda. When she mentioned it to the brothers, they joked that Severo was increasing their stock. She thought that was impossible because enough time hadn’t elapsed. It now occurred to her that their father might be don Luis. She had a hard time conjuring the enormous man ravishing the women she knew on the hacienda. Her anger rose.
“Men alone succumb to drink,” Faustina said quickly, embarrassed by her own innuendo. “They play cards and spend days at the cockfights. Most of the property around here was transferred not through the usual channels, but because owners signed them over to creditors, much of it due to gambling losses.”
“Is that how don Rodrigo added to the original fifteen cuerdas to its current size?”
Faustina was flustered, as if Ana’s direct question had broken one of the rules of conversation. “Well, no … yes … I don’t know.… My goodness, what a question!”
“I meant no offense.”
“Not at all, it’s just … well, it’s true, I suppose. Most of the people around here … that’s all they own, you see … slaves and land … and, well, land is the only thing that doesn’t grow on this island.” She laughed at her wit, a jolly sound that made Ana smile because she understood that Faustina laughed often, although not always because she was happy.
“I understand.”
“But I’ve done all the talking!” Faustina waited for Ana to speak. “Our husbands have already become friends,” she continued, uncomfortable with Ana’s silence. “Severo brought your husband and brother-in-law to meet us at San Bernabé just a few days after you arrived.”
“Did you know him, too, before we came?”
“Yes. Don Rodrigo sent him out here to check