A NEW DAWN, ONE YEAR LATER
Epilogue

It’s been a year and two months since the Rolando died, still no one knows who really killed him and Jaison it’s still on the run, although he has a MySpace and Facebook, but no one really have him in his contacts. One quality that I always found amazing of people is their capacity of reinventing themselves, just like Madonna, Jaison did the same.

I found Jaison Alvarez on his Facebook by mere accident one day; I was gossiping between my contacts and I found him, although with a different name, now I’m wondering what was his real name?, and if his background story was real?. I doubted about him many times, but I know I wasn’t the only one; now he’s going by the name Rafael Jaramillo and from what I saw in his Facebook he is living now in Valledupar, but it seems he can’t forget his past very much and there are some old photos that are linked with his previous persona.

I think about this for so long, but when I moved from the country all those thoughts started to disappear slowly, but sometimes I remembered everything except I don’t want to remember it anymore; but, I guess is impossible to forget because memory is what makes us humans, remembering the past and not trying to make the same mistakes,, but I don’t know if history is cyclical as sometimes history tend to repeat itself apart from some cases that can go in different scenarios.

Probably Laidy was right, Jaison was only a guerilla soldier in cover and he was in control of the faculty, as well in some aspects over the administration’s office; but also he was an obsessive compulsive individual who got obsessed with Rolando, at the end he wanted to become him, he wanted to become Rolando and gain the respect our late friend had from everyone in the faculty, as well in the entire campus; but I think that Jaison was in love with Rolando also, and, he never was brave enough to say what he felt about him, Jaison proffered to live in a lie but when you are never faithful to yourself, you start to create mask to avoid seeing and meeting the real you.

It’s something sad from any perspective that you look, but probably the most frustrating thing is that the police at the end they didn’t do nothing, and they demonstrated a lot of homophobia and bigotry. It’s weird to see homophobia in a country that accept same sex unions and still homosexuals and lesbians are taken as third class citizens, Rolando was a gay guy who gave a lot to the community and still he didn’t get the justice he deserved.

It’s been one year; today is April the 15th, and I was the only one at the Jardines de Paz cemetery, no one was there except me, I guess because I went only to visit the city and the others where away or were working. It’s amazing how a year pass really quickly and it’s amazing that we are only fragments of more complex webbing called history. We are born to be forgotten, it’s something that is true, except for a few privilege people who can be forever at the annals of history. A year had passed, and nobody of the new students knew you or they even knew your name, you practically never existed in La Tadeo right now, is like a television show got a retcon and some characters where written of the series, the only thing I need to say right now, is thank you.

Dominic Lazarus left a small stone above Rolando’s grave; he left Jardines de Paz smiling, because even with all the difficulties everyone who knew him were ok, but not many of the bunch where left in Cartagena, and he regretted not to have time to see them; soon after the graduation most of the people went to Bogota and Medellin; and he, he went to live in the United States, but Dominic knew he was going to have ties for the rest of his life with that city that inspired Macondo, the city that was a mirage in the Caribbean, that place called The Heroic, that city named Cartagena.

The End


GOODBYE
Fifth Chapter

One week after Rolando was murdered, Dominic knew by Laidy that his funeral was going to be held in La Funeraria Los Olivos, at the neighborhood know as Pie de La Popa, it was one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. El Pie de La Popa was the home of many of the old manors that were common at the beginning of the 20th century, when Cartagena was a young city ruled by some families, but now in the beginning of the 21st century, El Pie de la Popa is only a mirage of his previous self; most of the old manors are gone, replaced by modern buildings and small business that had taken several landmarks.

Dominic told her that he would try to go, but Laidy knew because of his thanatophobia he wasn’t going to be present; she decided to go by herself and know who else was there at the funerary. While she was in the bus, she couldn’t stop thinking about the whole situation, it was something she never thought it could happen, but it happened and the entire student staff of the Communications and Publicity faculty where moved about the incident.

She felt that the entire ride to the funerary was eternal, and everything moved slowly around here, but there wasn’t other thing except to accept the truth of what happened, because there wasn’t other thing to do.

Los Olivos was the biggest and oldest funerary in the entire city, it was founded in the 1880’s, and today it was known pretty well because they knew how to exploit the business of life and death in such a romantic fashion by making the grievers feel a little less their pain.

Rolando was being observed in the main room, and there were over 300 people sitting right next to him, but the only one near him was Jaison and an unidentified fellow. Is amazing that you only know how many people you moved in your life, only after you are death; basically the whole room was packed up. Laidy was amazed to see all those people there; it was astounding to see how many people where moved by Rolando.

Everyone there were talking, sharing anecdotes or simply staying in silence watching; Laidy was thinking that nobody wanted to see his body severely beaten and bruised, they wanted to remember him as the loving guy devoted to his students and friends, and not as the victim of a hate crime, but his former boyfriend was there, also he was a coworker of Rolando except from a different faculty. He was crying out loud like if they were still together.

Edgar was in shock and in denial that Rolando was gone, he was sobbing in silence next to his new partner, Laidy was wondering what was inside Edgar’s head, she never had a tragedy like that one in her own family; but she couldn’t took her eyes of Edgar during the entire ceremony; the only thing she could knew for certain it was that no one else in that room knew Rolando as the way Edgar knew him.

Near Laidy, there was the Cave Gang, a small group of students who where into the Goth and Punk movement, also they were Rolando’s closet group of friends in the student body. They were almost away from everyone, they were standing in a corner looking at everyone with some grudge, like saying “you don’t deserve to be here” but those were only look to hid their pain from the people; as deep inside they were really hurt and depressed about everything, because they lost one of their clique.

Laidy tried to approach to them, she thought of making amends with them for just one second, because she was part of the Cave Gang, but different points of view in the in-group philosophy led Laidy to take another way after they backstabbed her. Laidy was walking to them, she was going to say that life was too short to make grudges like that, but when she was approaching and saw the way they were looking at her, she changed her mind and went back to her seat, that moment she knew some people won’t accept any kind of apologies, even if you are the one who deserves it.

Jaison walked away in silence after somebody took a photo of him seated near the casket, that photo appeared in the media the next day; after the photo was taken, nobody saw him again physically; but after he left, those rumors started again in the middle of the room, different rumors about his past, but none of them were accurate at all.

A couple of hours later, Rolando’s casket was transported into the Jardines de Paz, behind the casket there was Edgar, always following the casket and crying inconsolable, he lost the love of his life and there wasn’t any way possible that Rolando could come back, probably for Edgar that was his biggest fear, he lost one of his dearest friend in an ghastly way.

About 5 pm, took place the burial, there wasn’t any religious one because Rolando was an atheist; his friends and family (who flew from Cuba) they shared stories about him and how they were blessed to had him in their lives, and now that he was gone from the Earthly plane, the wished that they will meet again the grace of God really soon.

Laidy was bursting in tears, wishing that Dominic were there with her, but she had to ease the pain herself. It was kind of traumatic but that ceremony helped many people to realize that their friend was gone, and it was going to be a rough path to recover from that happening.

Later, Laidy went back to her house, she was a mess, her mom looked at her she noticed her daughter had a rough time, she didn’t knew what to do except giving her a hug, Laidy replied with a sweet smile. Without words Laidy said goodnight to her mom, even if it was 7pm she decided to go to bed early.

Before heading to bed, Laidy called Dominic she wanted to share how the afternoon in the funeral home was. Dominic pay attention to every single word she said; he sounded somber, like he spent the afternoon crying also because he knew Rolando for several years and he was his student back in highschool.

The last phrase Laidy said to Dominic was “I think I was right Jesus was the one who murdered Rolando”, Dominic replied “Why?, why do you say that?”. Laidy stood in silence.

That day Emma was in college, she decided to not skip classes because the time of the service was held at the same time as a class called Constitutional Pedagogy. Emma was thinking about everything and especially about the police report that it was something related to a couples fight because there wasn’t investigation at all; the case was closed almost 72 hours later because it was the first known murder of a gay man in Cartagena; it was ok for a man to beat his wife but it wasn’t ok for man or a woman to say I love you to another person of the same gender, it was a taboo to speak about, but it was a taboo that the media cover an event like that in such a fair way.

Emma couldn’t concentrate for the entire class and she was in the need to ask for someone else help, someone who did pay attention to the explanation about Free Speech and Interpersonal Rights; but for Emma even if it was another day, it wasn’t another day for the entire faculty, everyone was in a somber mood. About 1 pm, knowing that the rest of her classes were going to be cancelled, she decided to return home because there wasn’t anything to do at the campus.


JAISON’S BACK-STORY
Fourth Chapter

Nobody really knew Jaison, he was known as Jaison between the student body of the faculty of Communications and Publicity; he was a complete mystery to everyone because he never gave details of his life, except that he lived with an aunt who nobody really knew.

Some people said that his dad left his mom for another woman and he was living in the same city as Jaison, but nobody was really sure about the veracity of his background because he was the one who gave his story and it was always changing it. The only common ground in every version of his stories it was the his mom was murdered because she was a syndical leader, and the guerrilla and the paramilitary didn’t liked syndical leaders because they could move the people away from their leftist influences, in other words being a syndical leader in Colombia was being like chess king, you will end killed no matter what; but those were other times of more violence.

Other stories said that Jesus was really a member of the militia; he was in cover to kill Rolando because they knew about his charity helping street kids and possibly members of the Colombian Revolution. Jaison had strict orders to clear the path so they could enroll people from that college to their cause; maybe it was true because those days, that was an strategy of the paramilitary forces as well as the guerrilla, they went to college and schools to enroll students and teachers, but they didn’t went publicly they send moles to the places they considered strategic in their cause.

Probably it was true because some other suspected members of the revolutionary groups they didn’t like Jaison at all, and most of the time they were arguing but it was clear that Jaison had the control of the faculty and he had more influences over the campus than them.

A student who knew Jaison from another college, she always said how problematic he was and at the end he was expelled after he threaded a teacher with a knife; she wasn’t sure how he ended in La Tadeo after that incident; she always spoke about how a loner he was, as well as aggressive; some time later after this story was heard, another gossip came, this time it was said that he tried to gain political control in the campus but he was expelled and almost arrested after the police knew about his violence outbourst.

Many stories were told about him, but not a single one of them could said a truth about who he was, except that everyone was scared of him. During the course of 2007 everyone was trying to be amicable with him, or ignoring him completely because there wasn’t other choice, he was there like the Big Brother; but Jaison biggest mistake was that he got obsessed with Rolando he wanted to be him at any cost because Rolando had the respect he didn’t had, but it was a conflict of interest because with his obsession he murdered him, but with his obsession he fell for him, he feel for the Cuban gentleman.

With the rain came Jaison, and with the storm he left; nobody really knew him very well and the ones who looked like they knew him, they never spoke about him again, they expressed some fear in their faces when he was mentioned; at the end his life was a mere gossip, a story half way told, someone who came to everyone’s life but at the end he was only a Visitor Q.


EMMA’S LUNCH
Third Chapter

In the faculty of Communications, Emma De La Espriella was a star between the student body; no one like her knew how to get an interview with personalities of the city. Everyone thought about her as the friendly girl who will have a big future, because she knew how to handle people in a friendly way, also Emma was the Communication Officer of the branch of the Young Journalist of Colombia Association of the college.

The office was located in the third floor of the faculty, it was basically one small room that was adjacent to the meeting room of the Communication faculty, but that single room had a great view of the horizon in the 13 mile. Dominic was also a member of the association; he served mostly as Emma’s assistant and photographer from time to time.

It was a nice day of April, it was the 16th, it was sunny day and it was really beautiful. Emma and Dominic were the only ones in the office; no one else was there, not even Jaison who was the Head of the branch. Emma was a really nice girl, she rarely doubt about anyone and usually didn’t asked questions about anyone’s life, but Dominic was the opposite as he was almost a paranoiac conspiracy believer, one more loose screw and he would be an alien believer. They were working on the webpage of the branch and updating the calendar of events.

“Dudette, I feel tired” said Dominic in a low tone. “I know dude but we have one more hour left and we are going to use it” replied Emma in a really low tone.

“Hey Dudette, I’m wondering where is Jaison?, he never miss one here”. “I heard he was going to Barranquilla about something, but I didn’t pay too much attention on what he said”. “Ah! Boomer, I was going to ask him something about next week event at the multiple room” said Dominic lowering his tone. “Dude, hell! You can ask me, I am the second in command!” Replied out loud but Dominic only could give a frantic laugh as we wasn’t waiting for that answer. “You know what dudette, I will ask you later, we only have 30 minutes left to end this and we are not going to have a break for the rest of the day”. “Y’right dude, time is flying”.

For the rest of their morning Emma and Dominic ended the updates of the webpage and the first class they had was Radio News with Rolando at the radio’s cabin, but there was no hurry because the class was at 1pm and it was only 11am.

When they finish, Dominic went to the third floor with the Cave gang, Emma decided to go to the cafeteria and have lunch before the class start. While they were walking to the departing point, Emma received a call from Jaison, he told her that he was going to be a more time away than he expect and she was in charge now of the Young Journalist Association; Emma receive the news with some joy because she didn’t expected to heard that.

“Dude it was Jaison, he told me that he was going to be away for a little more time and that I that I was in charge of the association” Emma said with a big grin in her face; “Dudette, congratulation, so that makes me the second in command?” replied Dominic with a sardonic smile. “No dude that will be Josephine, you’re still my assistant”, said Emma laughing hard.

A few minutes later, Emma went to the cafeteria and Dominic went upstairs to meet the Cave gang. Emma was jolly because she didn’t expect that call. When she arrived in the cafeteria, she ordered a lunch and a diet coke, then she tried to spot anyone she knew but everyone else was in class or back at home, so Emma decided to eat alone. There weren’t any tables available so at the end, she went to eat outside in the patio that was in the middle of the cafeteria and the main building.

April the 16th was a beautiful day, it wasn’t raining, the sun was shining and there was a cool breeze roaming in the air; it was a perfect day to eat outside and Emma was enjoying her meal below a really bushy tree; for her that day was really calm so far. When she finished her lunch she went upstairs to wait for the class with Dominic and the Cave gang. Emma never hanged out with the Cave gang but she was a good friend of many of them, and sometimes she visited the third floor to cool herself in the sunniest days.

It was above 1pm, everyone was inside the radio cabin and Rolando didn’t show up. Nobody knew why he was late, he always reported when he was going to be tardy and everyone was thinking that maybe he got jammed in traffic because he didn’t had classes in the early morning. About 3pm when the class was about to finish everyone was thinking that what could happened because they didn’t receive any call from him; one of the girls went to the faculty to know if he called there, but the faculty secretary was worried too because he didn’t called to report that he wasn’t coming either.

Many people tried to call him back to his cell phone but he didn’t answered, also there wasn’t any response from the other school he used to teach, and not even from his house; then they started to realize that he didn’t report either yesterday, panic came because he was missing.

About 3:10 pm the dean went to the radio cabin, most of the people were still there, including Emma and Dominic. The dean words were somber “Your teacher is missing, nobody has seen him for 24 hours, the police had been notified”, then a small guy with a squeaky voice said that Jaison hasn’t been seen for over a week either, but nobody pay attention to the squeaky guy.

Emma then said that she received a call from him that his was in Barranquilla in some event at the UniNorte; the dean looked at Emma strangely “When did he said that?”, “this morning” Emma replied, “Can you call him back?” asked the Dean very politely. “Sure, and what I say to him?”. “Ask him where he is?” “Why I need to say that?”, “Because there isn’t anything in Barranquilla or at any other college right now involving the Young Journalist Association”. Replied the dean.


APRIL THE 15TH
Second Chapter

April the 15th was the day that Rolando was murdered according to the necropsy report; they said he was chocked and the mauled with a hammer or an object similar in weight that was missing from the scene. The police didn’t made anything to catch the criminal, less than a week the case was closed. Many of the students and friends were angry, between those were Laidy and Dominic because everyone suspected and some of them even said that Jaison was the killer and no one else because he was bragging one time he got high behind the place where the stoners used.

Laidy was one of the first to know about that their teacher was dead, the news came on the 18th, he was found in his home after the corpse started to smell; she didn’t went directly to the scene but a friend of her told her that it was Jaison said where it possible could be, the police didn’t interrogated him and he went free really quickly. Laidy thought that a killer always return to the crime scene to brag what he did and in some way Jaison did that, and he did it at the funeral also.

People were talking, and they didn’t made Jaison easy his last days in College, probably they were right probably they were wrong, but one theory was that Jaison found Rolando’s corpse because he indeed was his executioner, but there wasn’t any logical explanation about why left college if he was innocent; some people said it was the grief, other say because someone send him a death threat, people were suspecting that the ones who send the death threat were the guys of The Cave Gang who were really close to Rolando; but those where gossip like many other stories.

Dominic knew the sad news by Laidy, but also he knew some other details by an ex-girlfriend who called him a few moments later after he finished talking with Laidy; the news spread like a virus, in matter of hours everyone knew it, everyone known that Rolando was dead. Dominic thought at first it was a joke, because her former gal was a little psychotic and she used to imagine things from time to time, but this time it was a real and Dominic was shocked because he never imagined one of his closest acquaintance was dead.

About 6p.m. some people were reunited in the outside of Rolando home in the neighborhood know as El Bosque, they were standing outside without muttering a word, all of them dressed in black, there many people some of La Tadeo, friends and neighbors, it was a silent procession, no one was really speaking and everyone was a holding a candle.

Laidy was between them; she was sitting near the Cave Gang, but maintaining a distance because she wasn’t part of the group anymore although she felt still in. Everyone looked in shock, but for Laidy her attencion centered on Edgar, Rolando’s long time partner. Even if they fought horribly, he was sitting there with his current partner, and everyone was giving the condolence to Edgar because there wasn’t any other relative of Rolando there, as everyone else were in Cuba.

Edgar was in complete pain, he never felt really happy again after that, and he cried for a long time because he lost someone was special to him. He never was an expressive man in public, he was serious and he always was circumspect with any aspect (at least in front of his students) but that time he was a wreck, and for the very first time his students saw a more humane face of Edgar, because nobody saw him expressing an emotion beyond a mere laugh or a small gesture of appreciation; but, for that time the people who considered him an automat they saw his humanity.

Laidy was looking at everything; she never knew a gay man could cry for his boyfriend, she started to think about many things, her head was a mess in that moment and she was feeling like awakening from a slumber, she started to see the world for the very first time beyond The Heroic, she started to see how there other people beside the common status quo, she started to see the other lives that were hiding in shadows because they knew they couldn’t by accepted by the common majority. Laidy was happy, it was strange because she had an epiphany, she felt more human than ever but at the same time a strange rage started to invaded her because someone took from her a dear friend she cared very deeply, a friend who was gay and gave too much to a society that didn’t cared about him.

About 6pm Emma was returning to her house, she was tired as she spent the entire day outside in classes, but she didn’t complaint about it as she liked to spend outside because she got bored being at home doing nothing. She knew that Rolando died while she was in classes, she wasn’t feeling anything, she barely knew him but still something was missing because Rolando helped her several times during many radio assignments, she was feeling empty because no one deserved a such an awful dead like that.

After she changed, she grabbed her cell phone and called Dominic, the first thing she said “Dude, you know I got terrible news”, Dominic replied “What happened dudette?”, “Dude, do you know that Rolando was killed?”, “I knew it dudette, I knew it”.


LAIDY AND TRAMP
First Chapter

Laidy was a rebel with a cause, she wasn’t the prototypical punk girl who talked like a parrot everything from Fidel or Chavez, she was a rebel in the terms that she did what she wanted in his life, ideologically she was a free thinker and thought that communism was an utopist idea that couldn’t be taken too much serious, but still she enjoyed hanging out with the Cave Gang because she thought they were interesting even with their stupidities.

A student of Publicity she had several classes with the Communication students, in a class of Masses Theory she met Dominic Lazarus and they were instant friends because she found someone who thought similar as her and for that moment both became almost inseparables, taking several classes together and hanging out outside.

A few classes that were Laidy’s favorite were all the Radio classes, because she loved radio publicity and because she was a friend of Rolando. Technically publicity students weren’t allowed to go to radio but Laidy convinced the dean of Publicity and the end she was in Rolando’s class.

People went missing every single day on a problematic country as Colombia, and it wasn’t common to see news about missing people or people abducted by the subversion or common criminals, Cartagena wasn’t the exception, after Monteria and Bogota it was one of the most dangerous city on the entire country and at the same time it was the jewel.

Living in Cartagena was a paradox, because half of the city was living in poverty and the other part, let’s said the touristic part is an exact replica of South Beach Miami, it was a city filled with contrast and contradiction, but yet it was beautiful not because of the ancient panorama but because the warmness of the people. Cartageneros were usually friendly to almost anyone, and they were happy which was a quality that every foreigner found appealing; people smiled a lot in that city, always there was music and happiness in the air.

The red chronic of the local newspaper wasn’t filled with hope, it showed the worst view of Cartagena, but one real view that was extremely ghoulish; the psychopaths killing in motorcycle was daily gossip, the interfamily violence, the sexual tourism, the murders at music joints, the scandals and the corruption of the politics was always present. Many people were leaving the city because they were scared, others leaved the city because they committed many crimes and they wanted to escape the punishment. It was really beautiful, but also it was really dangerous.

Laidy was growing bored of Cartagena, she wanted to go to Bogota as soon she graduated, because Bogota social climate was less tense than her hometown, and also because she wanted to be somebody, except that life can take other spins and she ended well but not as she wanted. She was bored to not see any future for anyone in Cartagena, she was worried to end like everyone else, worried about what she was going to with no future at all; but those worries didn’t came early in her life, they came as soon her graduation was near in the horizon.

In her college days in La Tadeo, Laidy was really well known with her thought image, but around her friends she was known as gentle heart that cared deeply about the people she loved. One of Laidy’s best friends was Rolando, she considered him one of her most value friends because he helped her to find a job in a school that he teach beside La Tadeo and Laidy was really grateful to him.

But for Laidy everything wasn’t in pink, she had problems at home because her mom thought Laidy was a lesbian and as well many people in college because Laidy was really friendly to many people and at the same time she was really sensible about the gossip that was around her. She never liked all that talk because she felt her reputation was being shattered and many times she cried at Dominic about all those gossips.

Probably for Laidy the worst punches she received in her life were when Rolando died and when the Gang backstabbed her; she saw Rolando as a fatherly figure because in her life there wasn’t anyone and her dad was always busy with something else, and the Gang was like her family with no blood relation, she trusted them until one day, the chubby one of the group, the one who always was resentful with everything and a little bit psychotic, she decided to start a gossip about how easy was Laidy and how her betrayed her boyfriend of that time (plus a few other stories in the process), Laidy had a huge fight with her chubby galpal, but she didn’t had any luck and the damage was done, one month later she saw the chubby one with her ex-boyfriend, but time healed that wound and Laidy didn’t care, the Gang was in her past.

About six month later, Laidy had her worst nightmare came true, Rolando was missing and no traces of him were to be found; she went several times at his home but the door was closed and no one answered. She was one the first people to join the search of their teacher, but her heart was broken when they found the awful truth and one week later thanks by Jesus, who said “he suspected he was at his home all the time”. A lot of people go missing every single day and until that day Laidy didn’t care about their fates, but when her friend went missing it was personal and she couldn’t start ignoring a problem that was present every single day in Colombia, she knew she had to make something, to make a difference, she became more political and outspoken about different issues, but something Laidy was going to remember it was the she lost her friend in the middle of an April rain.


THE RAINS OF APRIL
Prologue

There isn’t a mythical city in Colombia as Cartagena de Indias; is the jewel of the country and the second most important city after Bogota not to say that probably it’s most important city than Bogota, because worldwide is known better than Bogota and tourist usually associate the fun of being in Cartagena than any other city of the country. Also, many important events take place in The Heroic, and when an important visitor arrives for the very first time in Colombia, usually the first city that is show by the president is Cartagena.

Telling the story of Cartagena is quite complex, because there were 800.000 lives and a vast history that took from pirates to the revolutionary road of a continent; that’s why it’s difficult to talk about the history of the city, as it has been key in the development of a country, and also a continent; but there is a phrase that can suite the city very well “Beautiful & contradictory”.

For Dominic Lazarus, Cartagena was a synonym of adventure, but sometimes it was a homonym for routine and boredom; at his 22 years of existence, he was an adventurer but at the same time someone insecure about his own self and talents but he was always happy to face new challenges. An adventure for Dominic was going to college; it was an adventure as he could have a more positive look about what it was to be a Cartagenero.

Dominic was a student at La Universidad de Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Cartagena branch; he was studying Communications and he liked his career; although sometimes he was extremely cynical to the future that journalists had in Colombia “if you aren’t killed you’re just be jobless” he said that every time he could, because sometimes he thought he made a mistake choosing that career and it was better that if instead of journalism he went to the Hypocritical path. Nobody thought of Dominic as an adventurer because he was a really a chubby guy, who looked scared most of the time (or bored) and he was really quiet toward many issues, but he loved going on the assignments that had an investigative value..

La Tadeo, as it was known in the city was one of the few educational centers that was located in the county side of the city, it was really beautiful and it was a different experience studying outside from the chaos of the city, but studying there it was like living in a microcosms because it was away from everything and almost away from every symbol of civilization. There were power groups inside the campus, there were the Goths, the Nerds, the Jocks, the acting troupe, the fashionistas, the gay and lesb community, The friends of God, the trendy’s, the stoners, the outcasts and the common folk too, it was like a small city inside the city but there were different rules.

One example of those rules it was that every group had his territories, the Goths owned the third floor, the trendy’s and fashionistas owned the cafeteria and the main hall of the building, the stoners owned the west section of the first floor and students of Graphic Design owned the east side of the first floor... well, those are only a few rules of the complex social environment of La Tadeo.

Almost everyone knew each other because the student body was really small and almost everyone had at the same time their classes, but when the rainy season came the university was almost empty as many people didn’t liked to travel in the buses when it was raining. For Dominic La Tadeo was his refuge from the chaos of the city, it was a small paradise but sometimes he was bored because there wasn’t too much to do at campus, not even going to the computer rooms because it was prohibited.

Dominic had a good relation with almost everybody, but his best friend was Emma De La Espriella, another student of Communications and someone who shared his passion for journalism. They were buddies and both were members of the Young Journalist Association. Emma was about the same height as Dominic, probably a little bit higher, she had brown curly hairy and she was always laughing hard when she was in a good mood.

Both of them where friends although Dominic was more of a the Goths, or as they were called the Cave Bang because they usually sat in the middle of a big, dark hallway located in the third floor near the radio cabin.
Every April the worst of the rain season came to the city, it was impossible to move from one place to another because of the poor sewer system were the floods, not even with a car you could go to the corner of your street because it was terrible, and in later years the problem went worse with the high tides.

For Dominic it was a depressing season, every time he saw the first rains of the month, he thought “with the rains of April I hope all the problems are going to be washed” but it was because different negatives experiences happened in April for him, even if in April was his birthday, but he hated to the month because nothing good in his opinion happened in April.

His good friend Laidy Mendoza, a small chunky girl who was also in the punk movement and she was friends with the Cave gang always tried to cheer him up but she never did it with any success. For Laidy, La Tadeo was a place where she could be herself and even if she was depressed, she was happy to be there. She met Dominic at one class the guys from Publicity and Communications had in common, and they were instant friends with their very first meeting.

But those were old times; near 2007 everything wasn’t picture perfect. Laidy wasn’t anymore a member of the gang, they backstabbed her when one of the girls spoke that Laidy was slut and that was the beginning of the end of her in the group; it was something she took her by surprise and affected her for a very long time because she considered many of the gang her closest friends. At the end Laidy ended in Bogota as many other people after graduation, she ended with a path in her life and she was trying to find her place in this big vast world.... but for her finding her place wasn’t easy, also

Emma was luckier, because she ended her career in Bogota and because of her stamina and determination she did survived the college years, but at the end no one was really prepare for adulthood, it took many as a punch in the guts, it was something sour to taste unemployment for the very first time, really nobody was prepared for adulthood, but at the end nobody is really prepared for that step in life.

Graduation was something to remember but at the same time was bittersweet because the memory of Rolando was present between the many people at the conference room in the Convention Center. But at the end he wasn’t mentioned, that day was for the students and it was a day to be happy, except everyone knew what it comes later, the real world was something worse than college itself, nobody was prepared but everyone was happy to end that phase.

At the end Dominic returned to Cartagena after living for sometime in the United States, he returned because it wasn’t the best time to go to the United States due the recession; he knew he could go back anytime he wanted, as he was a citizen; but he knew he was going to have ties with the city he once called home, except for him, his return wasn’t a mere ending but just a new beginning.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 20.03.2009

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To all those who died in the hands of war, no innocence should die, no one shall die of hate and fear and all those who passed away let them rest in tranquility