23 - The Fina Affect

In the following paragraphs I need to discuss an issue that needs to be brought to the fore but I must do so ever so delicately, I don’t want to give any impression of my mother, other than what she really was; a strong willed woman, survivor and someone that would do anything for her children.

Well as it turns out, prior to my mother stepping in to Ruben’s life, he had a girl friend or possibly a fiancé; her name was Fina. They had been together for some time and as such, she had ingratiated herself deeply with the Lima family. Everybody loved her and considered her part of the family. Obviously, she had certain characteristics that allowed her to meld well into that clan.

Than on one unfortunate day, my mother stepped in to the picture. As with many Latin men and especially with Ruben, my mother was probably just one more conquest for his manly ego and probably an easy target. However, my mother turned out to be more tenacious by this time than anyone might have given her credit for. It was just not going to be a simple matter of his conquest and than he would go on about his usual life. She was astute enough to know how the game was played by now and she won that battle. However, by my mother nudging Fina out of the scene, she would incur the disdain of the Lima family for many decades and it would have far reaching consequences on future days to come.

So in a very short while my mother would become pregnant for the first time and my darling sister was born, her name is Regla. My sister was born on October 13, 1949 in a little town called Martin Perez, in the province of Havana. Fiery red hair, freckles set in a canvass of milky white skin.

My sister would display characteristics and personality traits resembling the Lima family more so than the Mesa family and definitely more than she cares to admit. Her exuberant and gregarious personality would be some of her more endearing traits; she was always the life of the party. My mother would shower her with love and affection as best as the times and circumstances would permit. However times were hard and they would get worse.

Ruben, although he dearly loved his daughter, would not always adequately provide. Often my mother would have to go and do odd jobs even take on work in order to provide enough for the family. While she had to overcome this hardship, she would also have to endure his drunken attacks upon coming home. He would rage because she had no dinner ready for him or his clothes were not clean or pressed.

So while my mother was consumed trying to feed my sister and keep her in as much a normal environment as possible, Ruben was consumed with business schemes, women and santeria. As described above, although he had great talents and had the means by which to make a fairly descent living, he chose to scheme his way through life; always trying something new, different or better as he would put it but never making a steady income.