Martedì, 16 Marzo, 2004 | Posted by Jesus Miguel Luis Rodriguez at 07:14

Jesus Miguel Luis Rodriguez was his name. "I am Jesus Miguel Luis Rodriguez" is the way that he always introduced himself. His Cuban first name was pronounced "Jay-seus", but having the fortune of attending schools in a western country meant that he developed a nickname of "Gee Wiz".

Jesus Miguel Luis Rodriguez. His pencil thin moustache, his aligator shoes, his outcrop of entangled locks that grew wildly on his scalp, also gave a healthy, hirsute covering to his back and chest.

In fact, one former girlfriend claimed to have shaved her name into his back. Maria Immaculata Teresa Cervantes got every letter on there. However, by morning the proof had been covered over by a new thicker growth. On hot summer days when Jesus removed his shirt, you could still make the faint curly outline of Maria.

He could dance. His favourite was the Tango as it was more physical than the Rhumba. The tango is about violence and power. One partner is guide and subjugates his partner into following. The tango is not about cooperation and a liberating freedom.

The tango is about dictatorship and oppression. And Jesus Miguel Luis Rodriguez loved it. He loved the physical violence associated with it. He loved its aggression. He loved the driving staccato of its beat.

And Silvia loved him.

It was the gold tooth that always worried me about Jesus Miguel Luis Rodriguez. That and the gun that he kept in a holster strapped to his ankle.

Jesus Miguel Luis Rodriguez kept the devil on a leash, but it would soon escape and do more than bite the hand that fed it.