-
Mary, Again
- The Kent State University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
141 • mary, again Miss Mary arrived in Cuba at the end of July 1961, accompanied by Valerie Danby-Smith. Mary looked thin and sad. We hugged and tried to maintain our composure, bracing ourselves for the tasks ahead. Several of Papa’s old friends came to greet her—Mayito Menocal, Elicio Argüelles, and José Luis and Roberto Herrera. After they left, she got down to business and requested a meeting with Fidel Castro. She drafted a detailed list of what she planned to leave behind, making it clear that what she was leaving behind was for the Cuban people and not for the Cuban government. In her document she also requested to be allowed to take her most valuable and personal possessions out of the country. Fidel Castro met with Mary at the Finca. She explained her wishes to donate the house to the Cuban people in exchange for being permitted to take the remaining artwork and valuables out of the country . Castro told her that he had to think it over, because the artwork was now patrimonio nacional; it belonged to the Cuban government. He left without giving her a response. In my possession I had a leather valise stuffed with a manuscript Papa Hemingway had given me for safekeeping. I kept it hidden on the top shelf of his study closet. The manuscript, to which he often referred and to which he added pages throughout the years, was wrapped in a plastic bag, to keep the moisture out, and then in a towel. As per Papa’s instructions in his last letter to me, I handed over the valise to Mary. She smiled and hugged me when she opened it and realized what was in it. I didn’t know what manuscript it was, but I know Papa 142 rené villarreal and raúl villarreal had worked on it for many years. There were other manuscripts in safe deposit boxes in a Havana bank that she was also able to retrieve. Over the next couple of days, Mary carried out her secret agenda with help from me and Valerie. She went through photographs, letters , and magazines from the library and through boxes that were stored in the basement. Once the selections were made, she called me into the library. “We have to destroy all of this,” she said. “It was Papa’s wish. It all has to be destroyed quickly and quietly.” I told her that a bonfire should take care of it. “I want you personally to handle it. No one else. Tu siempre has sido nuestro hombre de confianza,” she said looking into my eyes. I went behind the abandoned cowshed where we burned the garbage from the house and lit the fire. It burned strong fast. I brought a wheelbarrow around the terrace to the French doors of the library. “This is the most important box. Burn it first,” she said nervously. Mary accompanied me to the bonfire. I tossed the box in and watched as the flames consumed the papers. Eventually the box crumbled. I saw relief on Mary’s face. “Wait until it all burns, then we’ll get the rest,” she said, not taking her eyes off the flames. When we went back for more boxes, she told me that now it was all right to call Pedrito and ask for his assistance. “I’ll be in the library with Valerie sorting things out. You stay with the fire and have Pedrito bring the boxes to you,” she instructed. I got Pedrito from the pantry, where he had been waiting until we needed him. He wheeled the boxes to the fire. I threw the boxes in and watched as the fire slowly consumed the photographs, letters, and paperwork. Mary came down with the last wheelbarrow full of boxes and on the way they met Pichilo. Pedrito and Pichilo asked for some photographs to remember Papa by. Mary told them that she would leave several with me and I would distribute them later. “Do you want to go back to the States with me?” she asked me. “No, not for now,” I said. “I don’t want to leave my mother and father behind. I’m still getting over all this. Once you leave, things are going to be different.” “Yes, I’ll be far away, but we’ll always be in touch,” she said. “I have a letter from Papa,” I told her, taking the letter out of the breast pocket...