Laia’s Tale: A Tale Of Two Fathers

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             Series Introduction Once upon a time, there was a family of five who lived in Madrid. In the Lopez family, there was Paco, the father, and Carolina, the mother. The oldest child of the three was called Biel. And Biel had twin sisters called Jordina and Elia. In the summer that these stories take place, Elia and Jordina turned eighteen and Biel was twenty-one.Carolina’s mother, Pilar, was very elderly and in rapidly failing health. The Lopez family decided that they should spend the summer in Tarragona, where Pilar lived. They would take care of Pilar in her last days, say their goodbyes to her, and enjoy the Mediterranean coast for a spell.Now, Tarragona is a very old and strange place, deeply steeped in history and myth, and legend. There are many tales of the fantastic, and dragons actually do march through the streets at their annual festivals. It was the capital of Roman Spain and has seen many occupiers come and go over the centuries. There are those who consider it occupied territory even today, and that it should by rights be a part of the free state of Catalonia. It is a town with many ghosts if ever there were one.And so, it was not wholly surprising that, while they were in such a place, each of the Lopezes had an extraordinary (not to mention sexual) adventure, which will be related in turn in this series.First comes Pilar’s tale. I hope you enjoy the stories!                                                                                       Pilar’s Tale My name is Paco. It’s Francisco, really, but everyone knows me as Paco. We came Çekmeköy Escort to Tarragona because my mother-in-law was eighty that year and at the end of her life. Pilar, my wife’s mum, was not a wicked mother-in-law. We were never friends, exactly, but there was none of the poison and bad blood that can come from a mother who disapproves of her daughter’s partner. We rubbed along ok.Sitting with Pilar, Carolina and I made small talk. But this story really begins when my wife was called away by a phone call. When she was out of earshot, Pilar sat bolt upright and grabbed my hand.“I need to tell you something before I die. Come and see me one evening. Just you. I’ll be awake.”This was totally unlike her. Pilar had been married for fifty years, until her husband, Jorge, had passed away. What on earth could she have to disclose?I decided not to share her request with my wife. At least, not until I knew what she was going to tell me. This, it transpired, was a wise decision.Luckily, an opportunity soon presented itself to get away for a few hours.“Biel and the girls are going to the water park for the day. I’m going shopping,” said my wife. I knew that this was my chance to see Pilar. I sent her a message to expect me on Tuesday afternoon.                                                                                                *It was five o’clock when I arrived at Pilar’s bedside. She smiled at me warmly.“Good evening, Paco,” she said. I returned the greeting and enquired about her health.“I am well enough, thank you. Now, I imagine Escort Çekmeköy you are curious as to why I have asked you to come alone.”“I am,” I said.“Paco, there is something about your wife I have never told a living soul. I must tell someone before I pass on. If you want to tell her, it is up to you. But, please, not while I’m alive. You won’t have long to wait, I’m sure.”I said nothing to this, but I inclined my head to signify agreement to her request. Pilar smiled appreciatively, then she began her story.“I was a young woman, just nineteen years old. It was during the civil war, and I was active in helping the Catalan independence movement and protecting people from the air raids Franco’s forces conducted across Tarragona. One night, my friend Dolores and I had to hide in the air raid shelter that our organization had built. We sat on the floor listening to the shells and the bombs go off, hoping everyone we knew was safe.Now, we were safe down there, so we looked about the shelter a bit. Hidden behind some boxes, we discovered a small door in the shelter. It was locked, but the lock was very old and broke with a little pushing and tugging. The door was quite low, so we had to stoop to pass through it. And it opened into a tunnel. The tunnel was dark, but we weren’t cowards, so we picked up candles and made our way down it. It felt like we were the first people in a very long time to walk down there.You know the layout of the city. There is the cathedral at the top of the hill, then the ruins of the Roman Forum and, below that, Çekmeköy Escort Bayan the ruins of the charioteers’ circus. In those days it wasn’t nearly as well excavated as it is today, but we realized we were walking into where the old circus had been. And, to our amazement, we heard human voices. Who on earth could be down here?Dolores and I heard talk and laughter as if there was a bar open. We were a bit afraid now, but we carried on. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and we followed it, cautiously.“We can just look in on them. If they’re Fascists, we can run back before they see us,” I whispered to Dolores, and she nodded. If we were caught eavesdropping on a Fascist organization meeting, we would have been arrested.The light grew brighter, and we inched slowly forward on tiptoes toward it. The noise was coming from around the corner. Hesitantly, I looked around the corner.There was a cavernous room lit by flaming torches. There was a bar. About twenty men were there and serving girls were bustling about pouring drinks and flirting with the men. But the extraordinary thing was that they were dressed in leather tunics and boots. They were all dressed in the style and fashion of ancient Tarraco.I took them to be actors, or maybe history buffs. Eccentric people having fun dressing up in Roman clothes, even if that was an extraordinary thing to do when the war was on. But then I began to listen to what they were saying.“Let’s have a song! I’m going into the arena tomorrow; this could be my last night!”“Nonsense, Marius. You’ll get through. You always do!”“Everyone’s luck runs out eventually.”“Don’t tempt the Gods!”“Hey, we’ve got some visitors!”Someone had seen me. A man marched over and pulled me by the arm into the room. He was a bit rough, but not unfriendly.“Hello, what’s your name, sweetheart?”“Lola…I’m Lola.”

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