JAILTIME

MY FRIEND ALVARO HAD A LARGE WOODEN FRAME HOUSE IN THE SMALL TOWN OF SAN ISIDRO DE CORONADO ABOUT A TWENTY MINUTE BUS RIDE FROM SAN JOSE UP THE VALLEY. THE HOUSE HAD FOUR BEDROOMS ONE BATHROOM AND A KITCHEN. I NEEDED A LARGE HOUSE BECAUSE I WAS EXPECTING MY WIFE AND TWO BOYS AND MY PARTNER KEVIN CAMPBELL AND HIS WIFE AND SON. WE WERE ALL GOING TO LIVE TOGETHER FOR A TIME. LIKE ALL TOWNS AND CITIES FOUNDED BY THE SPANISH EXPLORERS A COUPLE OF HUNDRED YEARS AGO THEY HAD THIER CATHEDRAL-LIKE CHURCH IN FRONT OF THE TOWN SQUARE. IN SOME PLACES THE SQUARES ARE USED AS SOCCER FIELDS AND IN OTHER CASES SUCH AS IN SAN JOSE BAND SHELL LIKE STRUCTURES WERE BUILT OF CONCRETE AND USED TO MAKE POLITICAL SPEACHES AND FOR ENTERTAINMENT. AS I WALKED FROM MY HOUSE TO THE BUS STOP I WOULD GLANCE OCCASIONALLY TO MY LEFT OR RIGHT AND WOULD CATCH A GLIMPSE OF A FACE LOOKING AT ME. AS SOON AS OUR EYES MET THE FACE WOULD DISAPPEAR. IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT I WAS A STRANGER IN TOWN AND BECAUSE OF MY ANTICS WAS PUT UNDER SUSPICION. WHY, ONE PERSON IN SUCH A LARGE HOUSE? I WOULD COME AND GO AT ODD HOURS. SOMETIMES I WOULD BE AWAY FOR DAYS. I WAS SEEN ON THE ROOF STRINGING A RADIO ANTENNA THIS WAS IN THE DAYS WHEN THERE WERE VERY FEW TOURISTS AROUND AND THE PEOPLE IN THESE SMALL TOWNS HAD NEVER SEEN A GRINGO BEFORE. SINCE THEN THE COUNTRY HAS REALIZED THAT THERE IS A FORTUNE TO BE GAINED THRU TOURISM IT IS VERY DIFFERENT TODAY. IN ANY CASE I WAS UNDER SUSPICION.
IT WAS ON A SATURDAY MORNING THAT I WAS AWAKENED BY A KNOCK ON THE DOOR. I WAS BARELY AWAKE BUT STUMBLED TO THE WINDOW TO SEE THE POLICE WALKING BACK TO THEIR JEEP THINKING THERE WAS NO ONE HOME. I WENT TO THE DOOR AND CALLED THEM BACK. " BUENAS DIAS SENOR ", ONE OF THEM SAID, "BUENAS DIAS", I REPLIED. THEY ASKED IF THEY COULD COME IN AND I, FEELING TOTALLY INNOCENT OF ANY WRONG DOING INVITED THEM IN. MY MISTAKE . NOW I SEE HOW INCRIMINATING THINGS CAN APPEAR. THEY SAW VARIOUS MAPS ON THE WALLS. THEY SAW THE TRANSMITTER THAT WAS NOT QUITE IN OPERATION YET AND TO BE USED TO COMMUNICATE WITH MY PARTNER ON OSA PENINSULA WHERE WE WERE ENGAGED IN GOLD EXPLORATION IN THE RIVERS AND STREAMS. THEY SAW KHAKI CLOTHES HANGING ON HOOKS ON THE WALLS. THEY CHECK UNDER MY PILLOW AND FOUND MY HANDGUN. THEY TOOK A BOARD OFF THE WALL THAT APPEARD LOOSE BUT FOUND NOTHING. THEY FELT THAT THIS WAS ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO CALL THEIR SUPERIOR. TWO OF THEM GOT INTO THE JEEP AND DROVE TO SAN JOSE. I SAT WITH ONE OF THE (I WILL CALL THEM SOLDIERS SINCE THEY DID NOT LOOK LIKE POLICE) AND WE TALKED AMICABLY. IN ABOUT HALF AN HOUR THE JEEP RETURNED WITH THE SUPERIOR OFFICER. HE TOOK A QUICK LOOK AND ASKED ME FOR MY PASSPORT. DISASTER!!!! MY ATTORNEY HAD MY PASSPORT SINCE HE WAS APPLYING FOR MY RESIDENCY PERMIT. THAT WAS ENOUGH TO HAUL MY TRANSMITER, GUN MAPS ETC. AS WELL AS MYSELF BACK TO SAN JOSE WHERE I WAS PUT INTO A CELL AFTER THEY HAD TAKEN MY WALLET , WATCH, MONEY ETC. AND SAID EVERYTHING WOULD BE RETURNED AS SOON AS THIS MATTER WAS CLEARED UP. THEY ALLOWED ME ONE PHONE CALL. I CALLED SENOR FRANSICO FONT AN ELDERLY BUSINESS MAN, MY FRIEND AND THE FATHER-IN-LAW MY FRIEND ALVARO. HE WAS AT THE JAIL IN FIFTEEN MINUTES AND WE SPOKE THRU A SMALL HOLE IN THE MASSIVE WOODEN DOORS. ALL WE COULD SEE WAS EYE TO EYE. I TOLD HIM ABOUT MY PASSPORT AND THAT MY ATTORNEY, CARLOS JOSE GUITIEREZ GUITIEREZ HAD IT. HOWEVER IT WAS SATURDAY AND THE CHANCE THAT MY ATTORNEY WAS NOT IN TOWN. NOTHING HAPPENED FOR THE FOLLOWING FOUR HOURS. THE SOLDIERS DECIDED THAT WAS ENOUGH TIME. THEY GAVE ME BACK MY VALUABLES, PUT ME IN A JEEP AND HEADED FOR THE PENITENTIARY.
THE PENITENTIARY WAS A LARGE FORTRESS-LIKE STRUCTURE WITH UNSCALABLE WALLS. IT STOOD ALONE ON A SMALL RISE JUST OUTSIDE OF SAN JOSE THERE WERE FOUR GUN TURRETS IN EACH OF THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE FORTRESS. IT APPEARED TO BE MADE OUT OF BROWN SANDSTONE. THEY BROUGHT ME IN AND CHECKED ME OUT AT THE DESK. AFTER SOME DISSCUSION AMONG THEMSELVES THEY MARCHED MY THRU ONE IRON GATE, THRU A HALLWAY AND THRU ANOTHER SET OF MASSIVE IRON DOORS. IN THIS CASE THEY LET ME KEEP ALL MY VALUABLES KNOWING FULL WELL THAT IT WOULD STOLEN BY MORNING. WHEN THE MASSIVE IRON GATES SLAMMED SHUT BEHIND ME A THOUSAND EYES LOOKED AT ME TO SEE WHO THE NEW PRISONER WAS. I WAS WELL DRESSED COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING. THERE WERE PRISONERS IN RAGS. THEY SLEPT ON THE STONE FLOORS SOME ON FLATTENED CARDBOARD BOXES. THE PLACE WAS A VERY LARGE DUNGEON-LIKE ARENA AND FOR PRIVACY BETWEEN THE VARIOUS PRISONERS BLAKETS OR SHEETS WERE HUNG OR WALLS OF CARBOARD FROM DISCARDED BOXES ALLOWED A CERTAIN DEGREE OF INDIVDUAL SECLUSION
I STOOD THERE LOOKING AT ALL THOSE EYES AND SOON TWO OR THREE OF THE PRISONERS SIDLED UP TO ME AND ASKED IF I HAD A CIGARET. I WAS YOUNG AND STUPID BACK THEN AND I SMOKED. I WAS LUCKY AND MADE SOME IMMEDIATE FRIENDS. I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT IF I WAS GOING TO SPEND THE NIGHT. AT TEN THE LIGHT GO OUT AND IT IS VERY, VERY DARK. SO I WAS TAKEN AROUND AND INTRODUCED TO THE DIFFERENT PRISONERS. I WAS TOLD BY MY SMOKING FRIENDS NOT TO ASK WHAT THEIR CRIMES WERE. THEY INTRODUCED ME TO A PRISONER WHO WAS VERY FRIENDLEY AND IN THE COURSE OF CONVERSATION HE PULLED OUT A TWELVE INCH DAGGER THAT HE HAD FASIONED FROM A PIECE OF ANGLE IRON FROM A BED. IT WAS HIDDEN UNDER HIS MATTRESS, AND SLAPPING THE PALM OF HIS HAND WITH THE FLAT OF THE BLADE HE SAID," ESTE NOCHE ME VOY" I WISHED HIM LUCK ON HIS BREAKOUT AND LEFT TO MEET
SOMEONE ELSE
I MET THE SON OF A WEALTHY FAMILY WHO WAS IN FOR MURDER./ HE HAD HIS OWN PRIVATE CELL. IT WAS COMPLETELY WALLED IN AND ABSOLUTELY PRIVATE. THERE WAS A DOOR THAT COULD BE LOCKED. HE HAD A RADIO A COMFORTABLE BED AND APPARATUS TO MAKE COFFEE. HE HAD OTHER AMENITIES SUCH AS A TABLE THREE CHAIRS AND A SOFA AND A HOT PLATE--OH WHAT MONEY CAN BUY.
I THEN MET A COUPLE OF GAYS (FLOWERS AS THEY ARE CALLED BACK THEN). ONE SAID THAT IF I WANTED A BED THEN I SHOULD SLEEP WITH HIM. THE OTHER WARNED ME THAT IF I WERE TO SLEEP WITH THE FIRST ONE THAT I WOULD WAKE UP WITH NO SHOES. THEY WERE AT ODDS AND BOTH WANTED MY ATTENTION. MY SMOKING FRIENDS TOLD THEM TO BEAT IT IF THEY DID NOT WANT A BLOODY NOSE. I MET SEVERAL REVOLUTIONARIES AND OTHER TYPES OF POLITICAL PRISONERS. THEY WERE ALL THERE. CRIMINALS, MUDERERS, GAYS, RAPISTS. ALL IN ON HUGE ROOM. IT WAS NOW EIGHT P.M. AND I BEGAN TO BE A BIT CONCERNED ABOUT THE NIGHT AHEAD.
FORTUNATELY MY SAVIOR MR FONT, PACO FONT AS HE WAS KNOWN TO HIS FRIENDS, CAME IN AND SPOKE TO THE PEOPLE AT THE DESK. HE WAS EXTREMELY UPSET THAT SUCH A THING COULD HAPPEN TO ME. HE SAID THAT MY ATTORNEY WAS OUT OF TOWN FOR THE WEEKEND AND THAT NOTHING COULD BE DONE TILL MONDAY MORNING. HE TALKED THE GUARDS INTO TAKING OUT OF THE MAIN PRISON. THE GAURDS THEN PUT ME BETWEEN THE TWO IRON GATES APART FROM THE REST OF THE PRISONERS. I DONT THINK I CAN EVER SAY HOW RELIEVED I WAS AND FOREVER GRATEFUL TO MR FONT. HE ALSO BROUGHT ME A CUP, SPOON AND BOWL. IF YOU DID NOT HAVE SOMEONE ON THE OUTSIDE TO HELP YOU, .YOU WERE OUT OF LUCK . MY SMOKING FRIENDS WERE SAD TO SEE ME GO. I GAVE THEM THE REST OF MY CIGARETS AND THANKED THEM
SO I SLEPT ON THE SINGLE STONE BENCH IN THE HALLWAY. I REALLY DID NOT SLEEP BUT LAID THERE AND TOST AND TURNED. THE STONE BENCH WAS A BIT OF A DETRIMENT TO A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP. ACROSS FROM THE BENCH WAS THE KITCHEN. A SEPERATE ROOM WITH A BLACKENED EARTHEN FLOOR. IT WAS LATE NOW AND THERE WAS NO ACTIVITY. AT SIX IN THE MORNING CAME IN AND STARTED A WOOD FIRE BENEATH TWO FIFTY FIVE GALLON DRUMS. THE PUT WATER IN BOTH DRUMS AND DUMPED SACKS OF RICE IN ONE AND SACKS OF BEANS IN THE OTHER. EVERYTHING IN THAT KITCHEN WAS BLACK FROM SOOT. COFFEE WAS MADE IN A SMALLER CONTAINER. AFTER TWO OR THREE HOURS I HAD MY RICE AND BEANS AND MY COFFEE. THE DRUMS WERE PLATFORMS WITH WHEELS AND WERE WHEELED IN TO THE MAIN PRISON. THE PRISONERS THEN HAD THEIR BREAKFAST IF THEY WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE A CONTAINER TO BUT THE FOOD IN. WHEN ONE INMATE WAS DONE HE LOANED HIS BOWL TO HIS FRIEND. AND SO IT WENT. THE SAME THING EVERY DAY TWICE A DAY.
I NEGLECTED TO SAY THAT BEFORE I WAS PUT BEHIND THOSE IRON DOORS I WAS BROUGHT IN TO THE OFFICE OF A HIGH RANKING OFFICIAL A SUBORDINATE BROUGHT ME IN AND THE WARDEN, GENERAL, COMMANDANT WHATEVER. AS I WALKED IN HE SAIR BUENAS DIAS SENOR, SIENTASE AS HE MOTIONED TO A CHAIR. I SAID GRACIAS AND SAT DOWN ACROSS FROM HIS DESK. THE DESK WAS NEAT AND ORDERLY AND THE WOOD WAS POLISHED TILL IT GLISTENED. HE HAD A NEATLY PRESSED BROWN UNIFORM AND THE BRASS BADGES SPARKLED. HE HAD A THIN WITE MUSTACHE AND SIMPLY OOZED AUTHORITY. HE SHOVED A MAP ACROSS THE DESK AND ASKED "ES SUYO" AND I SAID "YES IT IS MINE". HE SAID "ES MAPA MILITAR?" I SAID " NO IT IS NOT A MILITARY MAP IT IS AN EXPLORATION MAP" THERE WERE RED AND BLUE DOTS ON THE MAP AND HE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT THEY REPRESENTED. I TOLD HIM THAT THE MAP SHOWED THE WORK THAT WE WERE DOING IN OUR EXPLORATION FOR GOLD IN THE RIVER. THE RED DOTS REPRESENTED PLACES TO BE TESTED AND THE GREEN DOTS REPRESENTED THOSE PLCES ALREADY TESTED. I DONT THINK HE BELIEVED ME AND I NEVER SAW THE MAP AGAIN. HE ASKED ABOUT MY PASSPORT I TOLD HIM MY ATTORNEY HAD IT. HE ASKED ME HOW I GOT INTO THE COUNTRY. I TOLD HIM A REGULAR lACSA FLIGHT OUT OF MIAMI. WITHOUT MY PASSPORT I COULD PROVE NOTHING. HE ASKED ME IF CASTRO SENT ME HERE. I SAID NO IAM NOT A GUERRILLA IAM A GEOLOGIST. AFTER A FEW MORE QUESTIONS HE MOTIONED TO HIS SUBORDINATE TO JAIL ME
THAT SATURDAY NIGHT THERE WAS A RUCKUS. THE PRISONERS WERE BANGING THEIR CUP AND BOWLS ON ANYTHING THAT WOULD MAKE A NOISE. SUNDAY WAS ELECTION DAY FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF COSTA RICA. CALDARON GUARDIA AN X-PRESIDENT HAD BEEN IN EXILE IN MEXICO FOR THE PAST TWELVE YEARS AND SCHEDULED TO RETURN TO COSTA RICA AND RUN FOR PRESIDENT. FOR SOME REASON THE PRISONERS WERE EXCITED. AFTER THIRTY SIX HOURS OF NO SLEEP I BEGAN TO FEAR THERE WOULD BE TROUBLE IN THE STREETS. THEN I BECAME FEARFUL THERE WOULD BE A REVOLUTION AND CHAOS AND I WOULD BE LOST AND FORGOTTEN IN THIS INFESTED PRISON
HOWEVER , ALL TURNED OUT WELL. I WAS OUT MONDAY MORNING AND STOOD ON THE CORNER LOOKED UP AND LET THE SUN SHINE ON MY FACE. WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE HOW ELATED I WAS.
THE NEXT DAY I WENT TO TO THE CANADIAN CONSULATE AND TOLD WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND WHAT CAN WE DO. HE SAID DO NOTHING CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY. AND THAT WAS THAT.