A Father's Love by David Goldman

Author:David Goldman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2011-04-12T04:00:00+00:00

WHEN I RETURNED in the afternoon, the guards would not allow us to drive inside the complex gates. Silvana had complained that we could grab Sean and put him in the diplomatic vehicle and whisk him away to the embassy. We parked on the street and walked into the compound.

Once again I sat at the table by the pool and waited for Sean to arrive. The grandparents seemed to be in no rush for their lunch to conclude. Eventually, after about twenty minutes, Sean came back downstairs again. This time he was accompanied by a man who looked to be in his thirties. Who is this guy? I thought. What are they doing now?

The man introduced himself as Cadu. “I’m Sean’s friend,” he said.

Sean’s friend?

“Let’s go swimming!” Sean called. We jumped into the pool like two excited friends, and I was glad the pool water obscured the tears I could no longer contain. We laughed and splashed and enjoyed being together.

We were no sooner in the water, however, than Cadu jumped into the pool as well. He kept trying to maneuver his body in between Sean and me. The man who described himself as “Sean’s friend” tried to stay close to Sean, usually within a foot or two of him, sometimes closer. It was obvious that he was a plant, intentionally attempting to disrupt our visit. Knowing that we were being watched, I chose to ignore the man, awkwardly moving around him without saying a word each time he positioned his body between Sean and me.

Okay, I thought, if he’s trying to antagonize me, I’m not taking the bait. I grabbed a beach ball and tossed it to Cadu. “Let’s play catch,” I said. I was there to be with Sean, and I wasn’t going to let anything or anyone change that. If anyone would be the odd man out, it would be Cadu.

From an inconspicuous position nearby, Karen and Congressman Smith witnessed the whole thing. The congressman turned on my Flip video camera, clearly capturing in brief segments the actions of the intruder. The congressman came over and introduced himself to the man in the pool, squeezing his hand quite firmly as he did. “And who are you?” the congressman asked.

“I’m Sean’s friend,” the lug repeated.

“At your age? You’re the friend of an eight-year-old boy?”

We learned that the man was a lawyer and an associate of the Lins e Silvas and Ribeiros sent to observe Sean’s and my visit.

Eventually, the antagonist appeared to feel foolish, and he climbed out of the pool. He continued to watch us closely, though, and I could hear him talking on a cell phone while Sean and I played. He was speaking in Portuguese, so I couldn’t easily understand him, but I could guess to whom he was speaking.

One of the main things I was happy about—and an aspect of our visit that Sean’s grandparents were no doubt angry about—was that when Cadu climbed out, and Sean and I started playing with the beach ball, we were immediately in our own world.

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