A couple of minutes after an older black colored lady sporting a red-colored scarf over white tresses emerged about second-flooring window. She seemed puzzled then again recognized Willy. “ Hola. Hola. ” She welcome us upstairs.
Their unique term is actually Gladis Castaneda, and you can she ended up being a specialist traditional pianist for the Havana throughout the fresh 1950s. She try a little lady in her eighties otherwise 90s. She nodded when he stated La Reina. Yes, she said, however lived-in which people, right across the street. Right here, regarding tissue, try an individual who knew the brand new epic Superman-proof, actually, that the guy in reality resided.
Superman, Castaneda said, try tall, good, known. “Visitors knew your just like the King,” she said. “He had been gay, nevertheless don’t wreck havoc on him.” She requested us to sit. “He had been their height. But strong. Muscular.” He’d skin instance hers: black, although not most. “He had been a great people. Nobody had a problem with him.” I asked if everyone in the society understood what the guy did to possess a living. “Son, it actually was years ago. He kept many years ago.”
Willy requested when the she knew exactly what became regarding him, and you may she told you she believes the guy passed away from inside the Miami. Their unique energy is actually waning, and you can Willy nodded in my experience to suggest it was time i wade.
Upon the road, i found an old people leaning from the wall structure. Their name is Elado. He carried a great cane and dressed in a loose green jacket which have UkraineBrides4you App kostenlos herunterladen a great Masonic symbol holding of a sequence around his neck. Willy informed him we had been selecting details about the guy they titled La Reina.
“ Si, si, ” the outdated guy said. “La Reina-everybody know your. Mulatto. Regarding your top,” the guy nodded in my direction. “Every person respected your. The guy resided here having 2 decades. Needless to say, anyone knew just what he performed for a full time income.” He said Superman kept towards You.S. in 1959. “No-one understood his term. Everyone simply named your Los angeles Reina.”
We entered her spacious apartment, and you may Willy told me whatever you was basically doing
Outside of the church, roosters crowed. A girl dressed in Rollerblades talked to your a wages cellular telephone. An old people in the a fabric tennis cover smoked a cigar into the an excellent backless wooden couch.
Their locks are white and you may wild
We strolled compliment of Los Sitios into the Barrio Chino up until i turned up in the 507 Marquis Roadway. I stood on the street taking a look at the access so you’re able to good martial-arts college or university: Escuela Cubana de Wushu. They got a yellow and you will purple facade with a gold foo dog and a red-colored iron entrance.
The entranceway is actually discover. For the side entrance was an effective courtyard having a tiny eatery and some fixed gym equipment. Brand new movie theater once stood in which the school’s outdoor courtyard became. We made an effort to thought in which the stage might have been. New putting on a costume place in which Superman prepared for the latest tell you. The new balcony where drunken tourists saw the fresh new performance.
A few days later we returned to Barrio de- los Sitios in order to canvas for other individuals which could have understood Superman. On flat strengthening close to Gladis Castaneda’s, i satisfied Superman’s real neighbors: an old pizza pie chef titled Roberto Cabarero, 82 yrs . old, with a greatly stained and you will lengthened strength shirt, sagging brown pants toward travel wide-open, and you will black clothes which have openings on the foot. His facial skin sagged such as for instance a-sea turtle’s.
Cabarero’s apartment, in which the guy existed together with partner, is little and you can ramshackle, littered with junk. Their spouse seated in the tiny family room, rocking forward and backward when you look at the a solid wood couch, talking loudly during the no body specifically. An invisible blared tinny dated Language songs, and your pet dog was available in and out from the place to help you eat crumbs off of the flooring. An alarm time clock seemed during all of our appointment. No-one bothered to make it well.
