From there we went to my husband’s mother’s house. There were five of them. They all slept in the same room, and the other space served as the living and dining room. There we made our own room. I had always lived with every comfort, but at 21 years old the only thing that mattered to me was living this new life.
My mother-in-law constantly told my husband that one day I would leave him and return to my comfortable life. She made many complaints, and we did not stay there long.
We went to live in the south of the city, with an aunt who had thirteen children. There, in her daughters’ room, on a small cot, the two of us settled in.
I continued with my job, but he was sent to take the Lancero course in Tolemaida (Melgar), and I was left alone at my aunt’s house, who very generously hosted me.
After about two months of his training, he was sent to Barrancabermeja, Santander. He was to form a counter-guerrilla group on an islet of the Magdalena River called Casabe.
Casabe had been the home of the Shell oil company, which exploited petroleum in Colombia.
At that time, I was expecting my first child…
What did I do?
I resigned from my job, bought a ticket to Barranca, and set out to reunite
with my husband. I carried my guitar, my suitcase, dreams, illusions, and
everything else.
With the recklessness of my 21 years.
My father, very lovingly, accompanied me to catch the plane.
I arrived in Barranca at night. I identified myself to a police officer at the airport. He called the Battalion, and they contacted Casabe. Late that night, my husband came to pick me up in a boat.
Casabe was very beautiful, but I should not have been there, since they were preparing the first counter-guerrilla police contingent, and from there they would go into the jungle.
I must explain why I went. My father was a friend of the Director of the
Police, and I had an appointment with him to ask that my husband be kept in
Bogotá, because I would be left alone. He was emphatic in refusing. I told
him that if that was the case, I would go with my husband.
And I did.
Tomorrow, new episodes.