own unbridled enthusiasm was another shock to Renaldo. His mother had been
the classic grieving widow following her husband’s death. While her youngest
son was pleased with the lady’s uplifted spirits and joie de vivre, he also found
the association between his mother, Wolfgang Stoltz, and Astor Gordero to be
an amazing coincidence. Over all though, he was pleased for his mother and he
admired the efficient Herr Stoltz.
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RENALDO
Astor Gordero had dropped by Casa San Marco on the boy’s first morning
home to cheer him up and give him some encouragement. He started their
conversation, however, with the topic of Herr Stoltz and his mother.
The attorney offered his apologies and humbly stated that he preferred to
“bring any doubts or ill feelings about this development to light immediately,
so that the proper measures could be taken.” The inference was that Gordero
would allow nothing to interfere with their attorney-client relationship, not
even his association with Wolfgang Stoltz. Renaldo assured The Fat Man that
as far as he could tell, his mother was in the best frame of mind that he had
seen her in for ages, and that he had no problem with Herr Stoltz ‘paying a call’
to Casa San Marco. He did confide in his attorney that her attitude about his
returning to school was a major source of discomfort. Gordero suggested that
perhaps Herr Stoltz could be of subtle assistance in that matter, but first the
boy had to get back on his feet and start building up the strength in his foot.
Ubaldo Luque had sent along a list and descriptions of certain exercises that
Renaldo could perform while convalescing to keep his overall body condition
close to top form. The physio trainer that would be visiting Casa San Marco
daily would instruct him in their proper execution.
“Octavio Suarez wants . . . no, needs you back on the team, young man.
You must devote all your energies to strengthening your limb. You will be
attended to each day. Suarez will be apprised of your progress. Things with
the team are still extremely unsettled. The Nicodemo Garcia situation is by no
means resolved. We have faith in your resiliency, Renaldo. We know that you
will come back to us!”
The truth of the matter centered around the potential loss of millions
of dollars in the coffers of A.R. Gordero and Sons should their recent star
acquisition became ‘yesterday’s has-been’ before the World Cup Tournament
even commenced. It was Gordero that had insisted on the intensive recuperative
program that the boy would receive at home. He was not about to let this
Roman candle become a dud without first experiencing its skyrocketing glow!
The imperative thing was to keep the boy in shape, keep his spirits up,
and give him the best medical attention. Even with all that, the prognosis was
grim. If Renaldo attempted too much too soon, he stood the possibility of
rupturing the weak tendon completely. Rest and small doses of massage and
physio were the only safe solution. An agonizingly slow solution.
Astor Gordero could be of personal assistance on the spiritual level,
however. He delivered an item to the downcast youth that had the desired
effect.
“Before I depart, Renaldo, there is one last thing. This correspondence
crossed my desk the other day, and I thought you might be interested in it.”
He pulled a legal-sized manila envelope from the inside pocket of his flowing
26
JAMES McCREATH
white linen suit jacket. “I will stay in touch, my boy. Get that foot in shape, or
no more mail delivery!” he chuckled as he made his way from the parlor.
Inside the envelope were several newspaper clippings that contained
reviews of Symca’s shows in various South American cities. The promotion had
been a phenomenal success, and bookings for World Cup tour packages were
selling out in a hurry. It seemed like each foreign city had more glowing things
to say about the Argentine chanteuse than the previous venue. Renaldo only
glanced at the headlines briefly, for wrapped inside the articles was an envelope
addressed to Renaldo De Seta. The script was her hand.
The missive had been written before his unfortunate gift from Juan
Chacon, so the mood was up-tempo. While Simone had been unable to watch
any of his games on television, she had scoured the local newspapers for details
following each match. She also called Astor Gordero from time to time, for
more detailed inside reports.
The singing sensation revealed that the pace of her tour was exhausting,
but nevertheless exhilarating because of the warm reception that greeted her
at each stop. Renaldo devoured every line of the newsy letter, but it was a final
personal message that caused him to blush;
‘I think constantly of our last embrace in my dressing room at Teatro Colon.
The power of your touch, the feel of you against me . . . it was overwhelming!
Never have I lost my senses as I did that night. I pray for God to keep you
safe and well, and to place me in your arms again soon. I await our reunion,
breathlessly! All my love, Simone.’
He reread her note and the newspaper articles until late in the afternoon,
eschewing lunch, and only rising from his recliner when the physiotherapist
arrived to commence the healing therapy. Renaldo ate supper with his mother
that evening, then retired to his room to play the guitar and pour over Simone’s
words once again. The therapy had been excruciatingly painful, but Tito, the
therapist, had been friendly and as gentle as possible. He told Renaldo that
the two of them had to develop a relationship of trust for the therapy to be
beneficial. There would be pain, but the pain and anger that Renaldo was
about to experience should be focused positively on a quick recuperation, not
negatively, toward Tito, the therapist.
For the next several weeks, Tito would become a daily fixture at Casa San
Marco, a fixture that scheduled his visits around times when the lady of the house
was absent. Any awareness on Florencia’s part of a lingering association with
Argentina’s National Soccer Team was sure to produce an adverse reaction.
Astor Gordero had been the one to suggest that Tito be ‘spirited’ into
the residence when his mother was away tending to her active schedule. That
proved not a hard matter to arrange by simply sneaking a peek at the lady’s
daybook in advance, and so it was to be. On the afternoon of Tito’s first visit
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RENALDO
to his new patient, the pain of the therapy would be dulled by the euphoria
of young love and the dreams that had been delivered in a manila, legal-sized
envelope.
It was now the fourth of May, eight days since Simone’s stirring note, eight
days since Tito’s initial session. Renaldo still could not put pressure on the
inflamed heel, still could not stand without crutches, still could not walk, let
alone run or jump. It was taking too much time. There were only twenty-seven
days before the opening kickoff in River Plate Stadium. “This is too slow, far
too slow,” he lamented.
That evening as he sa
t alone, staring blankly at the television screen,
Renaldo De Seta came to the conclusion that he had nothing to lose by talking
to Olarti about native medicine. He rang the small, sterling silver bell that
brought Oli from the kitchen.
“What can I do for you, Señor Renaldo?”
“Oli, I’ve reconsidered what you told me about your native healing
methods. I would like very much to talk to Olarti about the medicine man he
knows. The other doctor’s medicine is not working quickly enough to enable me
to play football again. I must do something, anything! But please, Oli, do not
mention a word of this to my mother. If she ever found out that you had helped
me for this purpose, I am afraid that there would be dire consequences.”
“I understand, Señor Renaldo. Would you like me to summon Olarti now,
or in the morning?”
“Well, I’m not going anywhere, Oli, so if he doesn’t mind spending a few
minutes right now, then I would love to see him.”
The two men talked for over an hour, not as employer-employee, but as
old friends would talk. Renaldo was fascinated about the possibility of meeting
a man such as Copiapo, the native holistic healer. No one knew his exact age,
Copiapo having outlived all of his contemporary tribesmen. His reputation as a
miracle worker, according to Olarti, was known throughout the Pampas. Both
natives and whites, primarily gauchos and plains farmers, were counted among
his followers.
The legend was difficult to find, for even as an elderly man, he pursued
his ancestor’s nomadic lifestyle. He was even more difficult to actually see, for
the healer was very selective in choosing on whom he shone his light. Olarti
was certain that he could track Copiapo down through his contacts at Buenos
Recuerdos, and as soon as there was news of the healer’s whereabouts, a visitation
would be requested.
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JAMES McCREATH
As sketchy as the information seemed, it did give Renaldo reason to hope.
A thin thread of hope, but still hope. There were several logistical problems to
work out if he was able to obtain an interview with Copiapo. Not the least of
these was the fact that Renaldo was, at the moment, an invalid in Buenos Aires,
not riding the Pampas in Pergamino.
For some reason, his grandmother, Lydia, came to mind. He had not seen
her since departing Buenos Recuerdos shortly after the new year, although she
had written him two encouraging and supportive letters urging him to ‘live
his dreams.’ A weekend trip to visit her, with Olarti driving because of his
injury, would be just the diversion that his mother would never suspect. To
cover himself and reduce Florencia’s suspicions, Renaldo turned his attention
to the university forms that had been left for him. He completed all the
documentation necessary and placed them on her bed with a note inscribed
“Mother knows best. Your loving son, Renaldo.”
He could play her game! Show an interest in returning to his studies,
then just before plunging into the textbooks, request a weekend visit with his
grandmother to clear his head. He knew the ruse would work. Now it was up
to Olarti to find Copiapo.
An unexpected phone call summoned Renaldo from his bed the next
morning. It was the morning of his nineteenth birthday.
“Señor Renaldo, your brother, Lonnie, is on the telephone. He was
wondering if you could talk to him,” Oli stated from the half open bedroom
door.
“Tell him I will be right there, as fast as I can hobble to the phone.”
There had been no word from his older brother since the beginning of
March, when Lonnie had informed their mother that he was not returning to
university. He was taking the semester off to continue his travels with Celeste
and would decide about school at a later time. Florencia, needless to say, was
incensed with her eldest, and had told Lonnie that he and that ‘communist slut’
he had taken up with were not welcome at Casa San Marco until he came to
his senses and decided to get his life in order. In other words, get rid of the girl
and go back to school.
Lonfranco’s name was forbidden to be mentioned in the casa, and for all
intents and purposes, he ceased to exist in the mind of Florencia De Seta. Her
new, self-fulfilling attitude, as well as the attentions of Herr Stoltz, made it easy
for her to put the wandering vagabond out of her mind.
“Hello, Lonnie, are you alright? Where are you?”
“I’m in better shape than you are, little brother, if what I read in these
week-old newspapers is true. Happy birthday, by the way. Now that you are an
old man, is your body giving out on you? What happened? I saw one of your
20
RENALDO
games on television, the one against Peru in Buenos Aires. You looked terrific!
How badly are you hurt?”
“Well, I still can’t stand on my foot, but I haven’t lost hope. Where on
earth are you?”
“We are in Bariloche, in the lake district. I have never been down here,
so we are going to explore the National Park. You know, mountain climbing,
hiking, the works. You should see the glaciers. They are breathtaking! How is
Mama? Oli told me that she was out at the moment, so I figured that I could
spend a few minutes talking to you. What are your plans?”
“You know what Mama wants me to do. She already has me registered in
medical school. But to be a part of the National Team, that was the experience
of a lifetime! I want to make it back there, to play in the World Cup. It will
be a struggle though, both physically and mentally, with Mama overseeing
my every move. Oh, by the way, she has a new suitor, a man by the name of
Wolfgang Stoltz. He’s a lawyer who works for Astor Gordero. Seems like a
decent man. Anyway, Mama is on cloud nine these days. But what about you?
When are you coming back to town?”
“No plans, little brother. I’ll tell you one thing, though. If you make it
back to the World Cup Team, I will be in Buenos Aires expecting to get really
prime seats from you. So don’t let me down. Get back there with the team.
Medical school can wait, just like law school. I better go now, these phones are
expensive. Good luck, kid, I miss you. I will bring back your present from my
travels. Happy birthday and get back on that team!”
“Thanks, Lonnie, I miss you, too. It was a big help to have you to talk to
over Christmas. Give my regards to Celeste. Please call again, when you get the
chance. Good-bye for now.”
As the receiver went dead Renaldo felt a pang of remorse shoot through
him. There he stood, alone in the second-floor corridor of his ancestral home,
memories of the happy times flooding his brain. Childhood memories of the
perfect family life. A loving, respected father, a devoted mother, a rough and
tumble older brother. Lavish birthday parties and expensive gifts from years
gone by. A perfect childhood, a perfect family.
Those times were history now, alive only in his fond recollections. They
had been a complete family for only seven years, from his own birth to his
father’s d
eath. Seven years! Not long enough to savor the joys of family, not
long enough at all!
21
Chapter nineteen
It was fortunate for Lonnie De Seta that the national telephone service,
Entel, was performing to its usual poor standards during the call to Casa
San Marco. The truth was that Lonnie was not in Bariloche, but in Barracas,
a working-class barrio on the south side of Buenos Aires. The poor connection
had made him seem hundreds of miles away, which is where he wished he was
at that particular moment.
He moved quickly out of the pay telephone kiosk and disappeared into
the dark, narrow alleys of the local marketplace. He would pick up the staples
of his existence, then return to the room that he had shared with Celeste for
almost a month. It had been a month of living in hell.
Lonnie De Seta was a changed man. He had stepped over the line and
there was no going back now. No second-guessing. The revolution was all that
mattered. The revolution and Celeste, of course.
He was now a true soldier, for he had struck a coup alone and earned his
warrior’s feather. Three words told the whole story. Three words that affirmed
that he would be a fugitive until the end of his days. Three words . . . Miguel
Tobias Panizo.
It was Señor Panizo’s unfortunate fate to be the under secretary for
economic coordination and a labor specialist at the beginning of April, 1978.
It was also his unfortunate fate to be targeted for assassination by a dissident
cadre of the Montonero movement. The evolution of this terrorist splinter group
threatened to disrupt the plans of the junta for a peaceful and bloodless World
Cup Tournament. The same evolution also disrupted the plans of Lonnie De
Seta.
The splinter group was formed the instant that the three grenades exploded
outside the Banco Nacional in February. That six people would die had been
unexpected, but the public outrage and condemnation of the ‘barbarous act’
had exceeded anything seen in modern Argentina.
An official day of mourning was proclaimed by the junta, and all the
dead were given full military honors. The press uniformly called for stepped-
up antisubversive action on the part of the military, and Lonnie knew that he
had been lucky to escape the sweeping police dragnet. That was not the worst
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