17 - His Darker Side

Las post, I introduced you to my Mothers first husband. Following I will tell you about his family and his other qualities and gifts.

The Lima family, were all gifted musicians, singers and poets. Several of his sisters and brothers would actually go on to have quite a career as recording artists; the most notable would be Radeunda and Raul. Most of their music was based on folk music of the era. My brother still has one of their most popular records and occasionally dusts it off and plays it.

More than twenty years ago, one of my brothers and sisters aunts came to visit and I had the privilege of listening to her sing. Even at an old age, she had an absolutely amazing voice. She could bellow out notes and sustain them beyond what I would have thought to be possible so late in life. She was how I remember most of the members of the Lima family sardonic, bombastic, churlish and glib, fun to be around but only for a little while.

So too, Ruben would have this same inclination and as I hear tell, was actually quite talented in other areas. Especially were his poems stirring and popular with members of the opposite sex. However, he would not continue this rich, enticing and colorful artistic profession either.
Ruben would learn to be a mason and as my brother describes him, a very good one. Throughout the years he developed great skills as a craftsman not just as a mason but as a carpenter as well. My brother recalls him, able to build an entire home practically by himself.

I recall stories as a child, in which many people would chase after him to come and do small projects for them. I recall distinctly that even after my mother and he split up, he came to the house where we lived in Havana City and built a bathroom for us.

In all the research I have done, there was no mention of shoddy workmanship. He was instrumental in the construction of the Regional / Municipal Airport in San Antonio de los Banos. He would also learn to forge beautiful and high quality knives. Even teaching my uncle Ismael how to forge them and create handles out of bone. He would collect old and dilapidated bicycles refurbish them and resell them for a good profit, most often during the Navidad season.

The Navidad or Nativity season was celebrated in lieu of Christmas from the New Year to about January sixth. However, he would not follow any of these rewarding careers either.

My brother boasts about him in a very proud and manly way, as he tells it, his Dad was very smooth and had many a women at his beckon call. With his great poetic quixotic nature, he would recite impromptu verses and woo the female hearts.

My brother says he can attest to his charming and debonair personality first hand. On several occasions he witnessed Ruben, come in to a restaurant and approach one or two women and start his hypnotic chant. By the end of the session the victims were so enthralled with his dissertation that they were left dumbfounded.

What an unfortunate waste of talent and charisma. However, there is one more item that I must describe – his propensity for “Santeria” or Cuba’s version of witchcraft or voodoo.

Santeria or voodoo in Cuba dates back to some of the first African slaves ever to reach the island. Most rituals and practices have its roots in African traditions. Santeria, commonly referred to as Latin American magic, is a fused religion that intertwines aspects of Roman Catholicism as it is practiced in Cuba with magic or magic rituals.

Although the vast majority of Santeros, followers of the religion, are found in Cuba, Santeria is by no means indigenous to the island. Santeria, derived from the Spanish word santo meaning saint, is the Cuban name for this religion because of the significant involvement of saint worship.

Despite the trappings of the Catholic sainthood, Santeria remains intrinsically an African religion that originated on the shores of the Nile River in present day Nigeria among the Yoruba tribe and possibly other geographical locations. It was inevitable that the religion would reach Cuba along with the slaves being imported from Africa in the slave trade of the 1700 and 1800’s.

Next post, I will describe some of the fundamentals of Santeria and Ruben's involvement.