Paloma's Song for Puerto Rico by Adriana Erin Rivera

Author:Adriana Erin Rivera [Rivera, Adriana Erin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction diaries; historical fiction; Latino history; Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino; Spanish-American War; coffee farming; US invasion; occupation; Latino music
Publisher: Capstone
Published: 2023-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

Wednesday, July 27, 1898

Night

The moon and stars are glowing with enough light to give shadows to the palm trees. The night air feels very still. There is no breeze. It is quiet aside from the coquí singing together.

After dinner, Mami insisted on staying awake until Papi returned home. We had already put Jorge to bed. My family usually goes to sleep early so we can wake up early and do our work before it gets too hot.

“You must go to sleep, Paloma,” Mami said after she caught me yawning. “It’s been an exhausting day.”

“No. I want to wait with you,” I said in my stubborn way. “I’m not even that tired.”

“Go,” Mami ordered. “I’ll come tuck you in soon.”

I retreated and knelt down to pray. I prayed for the safety of my island, my community, and most of all, my father. What would happen to our family if he didn’t come back?

I was adjusting the mosquito net when I heard my mother scream. I ran to see what happened.

“You’re here! You’re here!” Mami cried.

The front door was wide open. I found my parents holding each other in a tight embrace outside. I think they were afraid of letting each other go. Papi looked over at me and motioned for me to join in the hug.

“What happened to you?” Mami asked Papi as he got settled inside.

Papi looked disheveled and had new rips in the knees of his pants. He told us about how the United States soldiers had been marching on the main road that linked Ponce and San Juan.

“I wanted to greet the American soldiers,” Papi said. “Everyone I saw on the way to market was offering the troops something from their homes and farms to welcome them to Puerto Rico.”

Then Papi encountered chaos. Spanish soldiers learned of the location of the United States military and attacked. But there were far more American troops than Spanish, and the Americans had better guns and rifles. The Spanish were fighting with muskets. It became a fight that Spain couldn’t win. Puerto Ricans also jumped in to help the Americans. Meanwhile, other Puerto Ricans were turning on each other.

“I had to find a safer route through the countryside,” Papi said. “But some Spanish soldiers found me and questioned me about my loyalties.”

Eventually, the Spanish troops let my father go. When he reached the market in Ponce, parades and celebrations were in full swing to honor the Americans.

On Papi’s journey back, there were more delays. It was dark by then, so he had to be careful not to be mistaken for a Spanish soldier. He didn’t want the American troops thinking he was the enemy. All he had was the moonlight to guide him home.

“I prayed for your safety,” I told Papi.

My father kissed me on the head and said, “It’s been a long day for all of us. Perhaps we should go to sleep.”

I crawled into my hammock with the comfort of knowing my family was together again.

My father coming home safe feels like the answer to my prayers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.