The Black Minutes

13

The prison in Paracuán is on the road headed into the city, on a hill looking down on the river. Originally, the building belonged to a Spanish hacendado. Now its towers are used by eight armed gendarmes to watch over the inside of the penitentiary.
To go in, all personal items must be left in an envelope; belts, shoelaces, and anything that can cut or be melted down must be removed. A sign written on a cardboard box warns that alcohol, food, sharp objects, bananas, mangos, or soursops are not allowed, since the inmates will ferment the fruit to make alcohol. At the entrance they ask you for an ID, they ask your relationship with the inmate, and then they let you in.
René Luz de Dios López was not called the Jackal by many people anymore. Everybody just used his first and last name. When Cabrera asked for him, one of the guards said, “He’s the one over there with the guitar. Hurry up, they have to go eat dinner; it’s time for mess hall.”
The man known as the Jackal was playing the guitar and singing a religious song with some other inmates. Cabrera didn’t want to attract any attention from the guards so he interrupted him discreetly. “René Luz de Dios?” And he explained why he was there.
López wasn’t surprised. “Two interviews in two weeks. I’m getting famous.”
And Cabrera knew he was getting closer.