“Come in,” my father said. “Do you come with good news?” The captain smiled at him and at my mother.
“It depends,” he said.
My father asked him to sit down in our sala.
“Your fairness has not gone unnoticed. General Rogelio is willing to negotiate, considering the situation,” the captain began. He was holding a manila envelope. “The general is willing to let her go,” he started.
My father and mother almost jumped with joy. “That is good news!”
“Not too fast,” said Captain Ganesse. “He is willing to let her go if you also are willing to let go of something.”
My father did not say anything at first. He waited for the other shoe to drop. “What is the trade-off?” he asked cautiously.
“That you will stop criticizing the military.”
He looked Ganesse straight in the eye. The request was n
