The House Chapter 1 by Teresita Blanco
0The House Chapter 1 by Teresita Blanco
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There was nothing special or extraordinary about this house. It could easily have been your house.
This story takes place in a little island called Cuba. Most people do not know about Cuba. They hear about it from time to time. They are more familiar with the capital Havana. This story doesn’t take place in Havana. No. This house is located to the west of Havana, in a region known as Pinar del Rio. There is a park about a couple blocks away from the house. The park has some large, plumeria flower trees and some pines. The only other trees are pines separating two roads that lead to the school.
Behind the house there is a fence, and beyond it a little dirt park. It has some iron swings, a couple of slides and a single wall covered by Hibiscus flowers. Our story begins in the year 1982. During that time, Cuba still maintained healthy relationships with the Russians, formally known as the Soviets. There was still steak and chicken rations and the Amistad Stores were just opening. Dollars entering from the exterior was severely limited and considered a contraband. The exchange ratio for one dollar was 300 pesos.
The house was situated in the street known as Isabel la Catolica. The single floor colonial house had a high ceiling. The doors too followed in suit. Each was cut to a perfect fit, about 10 feet high. The connecting bedroom doors where only 7 feet tall. The facade had two 8-feet-tall windows made of wood with ornamental iron bars protruding from the walls. The windows where segmented into glass square. There was a second exterior, solid wooden window to protect it. These two windows opened within. As soon as you enter, you are greeted by a majestic large living room, with a tear drop chandelier. The living room and kitchen floor was made of a marble checkered board pattern. Meanwhile, the bedroom floors were made of red tiles. If you walk straight from this room, you arrive at the interior, walled concrete patio. Beyond this patio, one found the kitchen with the only “working” bathroom.
Working has quote on quotes for good reason. Since this was a colonial house, the bathroom and electricity was a modern modification. There was only a single faucet that had running water, and it was not found in the bathroom. Through the usage of a hose, the two main water tanks were filled. The first was located in the back-garden past, the kitchen. This garden was also made of concrete. It had the only working faucet, and a sink to wash the laundry. This water tank was made of copper. The second one was found in the interior, and it was made of blue plastic.
Aside from the water tank, the back garden had two gas tanks. They were mainly used for the gas stove. The kitchen also had the same tear glass chandelier. Each room had connecting doors. There was also a single door and a pair of windows that faced the garden. The windows in the bedroom where small and rather high, requiring a stick to open them every day. The first room was the only one that did not face the garden. Rather, its doors opened to the living room. It also had a window facing the porch. It also came with its own chandelier. The two other rooms had a regular, single light bolt lamps.
The interiors walls and crown moldings where painted white. The kitchen did not follow this pale scheme, since its walls where painted blue. The interior garden was unassuming. The floor was made of concrete. It had a single crate that led into the sewers. It was somewhat ornamental. The problem with this ornamentally was that the magnolia tree of the neighbor. It towered over this house. From time to time it would drop leaves into the concrete garden. When the crate was covered with leaves, it would clod up, thus creating a flooding hazard. In a corner of this garden, there was a half wave dipole antenna.
The reader may be wandering about this useless concrete garden of the house. The truth be told is that despite the heat, there has never been a pool culture in Cuba. The nearest pool to the house was a public one. It had been created to train Olympic divers and swimmers. The irony is that the first person who drowned in it was a foreign Olympic swimmer. None of the locals remember the name of the dead foreigner, just that he was an Olympic swimmer.
This was what the house looked when the family first moved in.