Hands of Stone - Christian Giudice [173]
“Whenever I asked for money, it was because I was in real need of it. He would always give us money, his family,” said Toti. “His friends would also ask for money but they would end up taking his things away, stealing the money from him. He once held a party in his house and he had a wallet with six hundred dollars in it that he left on the table. The wallet got lost in the middle of the party and since those were all hundred-dollar bills he could have asked to search everyone in the party for the money. But Duran said he did not care about the money, he only wanted to get back his ID and the other documents. And the wallet turned up, without the money, which meant the thief was still there at the party. Those were the manzanillos.
“Yes, they did take everything. Whatever was left there: things, money, shoes, anything. They would take whatever they found. They were his friends and he would not hear a word against his own friends, even more when it was not possible to point at one of them in particular. Besides, it was his home. I cannot tell him what to do. It is his house and he is the one to decide.”
Before Toti moved to his current house to live a more primitive lifestyle, he shared in his brother’s financial success. Nor has he been pushed aside. Roberto and Felicidad have tried to accommodate a move back to Panama City.
Toti fidgets with his matches as he lights a cigarette. There is work to be done at his home, he says and motions to leave. Like Clara and Victorino, he lives in near poverty. Still he doesn’t complain about his lot. He doesn’t blame Roberto for anything and lauds him for being a great brother. “I must admit that we used to be a lot closer in the past. At present we are not that close. It is nothing like it was at those times when we were together all the time. I do not go to Panama now. He still treats me well when I go to visit him, but it is not the same. He used to be nicer with us then. When I go there we do talk. He always advises me to come where he is and to stop drinking. But I am not used to luxury places. I do not like this.”
Moises Samaniego lives several miles from Toti. Moises is Duran’s uncle on his mother’s side. Back in the Seventies, when life was good, Moises had a minor following as a folk musician. Stylish and good-looking in old photos, Moises, whose wife Rosina has passed away since then, seems content. Back in the 1950s, he spent time working with Margarito Duran in the Panama Canal Zone and still reserves a special place for his friend. Moises looked after young Roberto for long periods of time when Clara needed to get away. However, Samaniego doesn’t hold Roberto in the same regard as he used to. There is a sense that Moises is even angered by Duran’s careless nature with money.
“Sesenta millones, sesenta millones or sixty millions,” Moises repeated over and over again as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying. Although it might be an exaggerated sum, Moises holds Duran responsible for the state of the immediate family. “Something happened to my sister Clara. Now she is too poor.”
When Moises needed Duran to get his son out of jail for gun possession, he was left waiting. There was no money at the time. “My son was in jail for having a gun without a permit,” said Moises. “I asked Roberto to help me get him out of jail, but he was waiting for a million dollars that was coming from Argentina. He never got it, and my son is still in jail [in April 2004]. I can’t get him out.
“[Roberto] hardly did anything for his family. He never cared as much about helping his family as he did for the chombos, or blacks. I was trying to help my friend get a business started and he needed some money to start it up. Roberto didn’t want to help. He never did anything for this family. I want this to