VIRGINIA
We went to Calloway, the site of the most beautiful estates in the state of Virginia. There was the hangar to land at Ted’s beautiful house. The estate must have been over 100 hectares and produced hay, cattle, vine-yards, and I don’t know how many other things. Don Emilio, a Mexican who had worked for the family for years, welcomed us.
“Hello, Don Emilio, how are you?”
“Fantastic, Mr. Ted. Welcome back.”
“Thank you, my friend. Let me introduce you to my nephew who is visiting.”
“Don Ted, all of you are blond and this little nephew is dark-skinned, is he from Mexico?”
“No, Don Emilio, you see, my sister dated George Chakiris and left us Jacob as a gift. But my family loves him very much.”
“Welcome, Don Jacob! I thought you were from Mexico.”
“No, Don Emilio. He was born in Central America, in a country of monkeys and cockatoos. Poor thing!”
I wanted to kill the senator. I didn’t find it funny at all, and what he said seemed stupid to me. Later, his family would come, and Don Emilio would tell them that he met their dark-skinned nephew, and none of 114
them would know what he was talking about. But then he told me that Don Emilio never spoke too much.
“Don Emilio, while I settle into the house, can you take Jacob and give him a horse-riding lesson? I want to ride and go to the lagoon.”
“Of course, sir! I’ll get Savage for you.”
“No, better get a more docile one like Treasure because my nephew doesn’t know how to ride.”
Ted left and I stayed with Don Emilio.
“I’ve never ridden a horse before. Bring me the most docile one, if possible, Mr. Ed. My dad Chakiris came from a Polish family and was a merchant. The only horse I had was the one we ate during a famine.”
“Don’t worry, young sir, you’ll see how easy it is to ride and you’ll like it. By the way, I’m very sorry.”
“Why, Don Emilio?”
“For the death of your dad, Mr. Chakiris. When they killed him in West Side Story, I cried like crazy.”
“Don’t even mention it. These gringos are the worst plague. I haven’t recovered from the death of my uncle, Mr. Chakiris.”
Half an hour later, Ted and I went horseback riding, me following him and riding a damn horse that was going at 100 kilometers per hour, following Ted’s horse that was running at 150 kilometers per hour.
I was scared to death because the beast didn’t obey me and did whatever it wanted. Apparently, this Nazi horse knew better than me where it was going and didn’t care about what I wanted. These two bastards 115
had played a prank on me, and it was the most horrible experience. Finally, I saw a lagoon. We had passed fields, forests, and I had seen cattle, deer, and all kinds of snakes that, thank God, Treasure couldn’t see.
I reached the lagoon, got off this damn beast that they surely brought from Germany.
“Don Ted, you really have a good sense of humor!
You gave me the horse that surely carried Nazi Ilse Koch26 in Buchenwald.”
I sat next to him, and we admired the beautiful lagoon. Now, what’s going to happen? What do I do with this cowboy? What does he expect from me?
“Jacob, now that we’re alone and among men, I want to ask you a question. Have you been with a man?”
“Well, of course, my university is full of them.”
“Are you trying to be funny now? I’m asking if you’ve had sex. Have you slept with someone?”
“Well, more or less. The first time was with a prostitute that my cousin arranged for me. It was horrible.
The second time was with a Colombian, then Daniel, a classmate from my university, and David.”
“What did you do?”
“Oh, I’m so embarrassed to talk about it. I don’t know how to talk about it. But, well, I’ll tell you the 26 Ilse Koch (22 September 1906 – 1 September 1967) was a German war criminal who committed atrocities while her husband Karl-Otto Koch was commandant at Buchenwald. Though Ilse Koch had no official position in the Nazi state, she became one of the most infamous Nazi figures at war’s end.