A DECORATION FOR THE PRESIDENT
APRIL 1961
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MR. PRESIDENT:
ENCLOSED IS A DECORATION AND A MEMENTO OF YOUR GALLANT LEADERSHIP OF THE BOMBING MISSION
WHICH RESULTED IN THE COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF HOUSING PROJECT 7,
HERE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF HAVANA.
THE DECORATION, IF IT HAS NOT TURNED TO BLACK BY THE TIME IT REACHES YOU,
YOU WILL RECOGNIZE AS A HUMAN HAND.
IT HAS STILL A GOLD RING ON ONE OF THE FINGERS.
YOU MAY MELT THE GOLD AND ADD IT TO YOUR MILLIONS,
OR YOU MAY WANT TO GIVE IT TO LITTLE CAROLINE.
IT IS THE HAND OF A CHILD. HIS NAME WAS EMILIO.
HE WAS FOURTEEN, THE SAME AGE AS EMMETT TILL, WHEN HE WAS MURDERED.
EMILIO HAD NO FATHER, NO MOTHER, ONLY A LITTLE SISTER, SIX YEARS OLD.
HIS FATHER WAS KILLED BY BATISTA, HIS MOTHER DIED LONG AGO OF TUBERCULOSIS.
EMILIO WAS AN ORPHAN BUT HE WAS A GOOD BOY.
HE TOOK CARE OF HIS LITTLE SISTER, CONCEPCIÓN, EVEN UNDER THE BATISTA DICTATORSHIP,
WHEN HE WAS ONLY 11, AND SHE WAS THREE.
HE WOULD SHINE SHOES, BEG, STEAL SOMETIMES, I AM SORRY TO ADMIT,
BUT HE WOULD FEED HER ALMOST EVERY DAY,
AND HE WAS CLEVER AT FINDING PLACES FOR THEM TO SLEEP AT NIGHT.
LATER, AFTER THE DICTATOR WAS OVERTHROWN, EMILIO GOT LAZY.
ESPECIALLY AFTER THE NEW GOVERNMENT FOUND A FOSTER HOME FOR HIM AND
THE LITTLE GIRL IN HOUSING PROJECT 7, AND HE DIDN’T
HAVE TO RUN LIKE A FERRET EVERY NIGHT LOOKING
FOR NEW, SAFE PLACES TO SLEEP.
HE STOPPED SHINING SHOES. HE STARTED TO SCHOOL,
ONE OF THE NEW ONES, AND SOMETIMES, I CONFESS, HE WOULD JUST PLAY.
I SUPPOSE NOT BEING HUNGRY ALL THE
TIME NOW MADE HIM DULLER, SLEEPIER, LAZIER.
PERHAPS THAT IS WHY HE DIDN’T RUN FAST ENOUGH
WHEN HE HEARD THE FIRST BOMBS, SOME DISTANCE
AWAY. OR PERHAPS HE WAS TRYING TO CARRY HIS
SLEEPY LITTLE SISTER – SHE WASN’T SO SKINNY
ANYMORE SINCE CASTRO TOOK OVER THE FOOD
MARKET. WE WILL NEVER KNOW.
WE FOUND ONLY HIS HAND. WE SHOULD HAVE SENT YOU AND YOUR WIFE
SOME MOMENTO OF THE LITTLE GIRL, BUT ALL WE
COULD FIND WAS THE LITTLE BOY’S HAND, THE HAND OF
EMILIO, FOURTEEN YEARS OLD THE SAME AGE AS
EMMETT TILL, WHEN HE WAS MURDERED.
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