Family Matters - Chapter 1
Family Matters by Nina Lavoie
Intermediate Level English. All in the present for transposition exercises.
China has secrets. That much is obvious. When she travels to Paraguay to visit her family, she wants to hear the whole story about Wenasclao and finding the Simon Bertoni treasure. Everyone is happy to see China. But something is amiss.
When goons dressed up as the secret police come storming into the house to arrest her, even the Bertoni family is surprised that she has vanished. Then Johnny, a new teacher from school, finds listening devices in the house. Things are starting to get out of hand.
Apparently some people think that China killed General Stroessner twenty years ago and may still know where he buried the Stroessner fortune. Whoever controls that fortune, controls the future of Paraguay. Serious stuff, indeed.
Family Matters is the second in a series of three books (Family Secrets, Family Matters and Family Ties) about the Bertoni Family and their adventures in Paraguay.
PRELUDE
China gets off the plane in Asuncion airport but her family is not there to welcome her. Actually, she has not told them she is coming. It is better that way.
Besides, she has things to do in Paraguay that are better done quietly before she goes to the Simon Bertoni Foundation house and surprises her family. And they will be surprised.
They think she is unable to travel; that she is old and frail and ready to die. Far from it. She is still strong and spry and able to get around. But, still, she has to be ready to die. Especially now.
Maybe not from old age, but Paraguay is dangerous for her still and she does not take that lightly. She has people to meet and things to arrange and with any luck she may make it through the next year alive.
CHAPTER ONE
Jane Bertoni’s life is getting more interesting every day. Yes, she is disappointed that Miguel Angel is her brother, but she is also relieved. She genuinely likes him. Not just as a boy but as a person.
They go everywhere together.
They hang out at school, obviously, and most people thought they are “a thing.” And they tell nobody any different. The family has decided to keep the whole affair strictly in the family. It is better that way.
Nobody knows that Miguel Angel is her brother and she finds the intrigue rather fascinating. It also gets Alicia off of Miguel Angel’s back. She no longer pretends to be his girlfriend, finally accepting that Jane is his girl.
Alicia has decided to stay in Paraguay to finish school even though her father, Wenceslao Benegas, has moved to Argentina to take care of the family business there.
“Jane, I want you to meet Johnny,” Miguel Angel says as they walk into the school courtyard.
“Johnny?”
A young man walks up them and holds out his hand.
“Mr. Martinez. But my friends all call me “Johnny,” the young man says with a smile. “Mr. Martinez, glad to meet you. My name is Jane.” Jane is a bit flustered. Johnny is very good looking, probably mid-twenty-something, and has a fantastic smile. But Jane is confused. “What do you do, Mr. Martinez?”
“Johnny, please,” he responds.
“Ok, Johnny,” Jane says. “Do you work for the school? You’re obviously too old to be a student.”
“No, no. I am a teacher here at the school. I teach History and Geography to the High School students.”
“Sorry, but aren’t you a bit young to be a teacher?” Miguel Angel says, interrupting.
“Miguel, be polite,” Jane says. She sounds like her mother.
“It’s fine.” Johnny says. “It’s my first job so I get it. But my English is perfect and that’s what they were looking for. I just graduated from college in the States but I wanted to come back to my home country, so when I got this job offer, I jumped at the chance.”
“Shouldn’t we be calling you “Mr. Martinez” instead of “Johnny,” since you are a teacher?” Jane asks.
“I thought about that but it’s not really my style. If the school doesn’t like it, we can always start the next school year right.”
He pauses. “You guys will be graduating in a couple of months anyways, won’t you?”
“Well, I will be, but not Jane. She still has two years to go.” Miguel Angel turns toward her a bit concerned. “I hadn’t thought about it before, but do you have any idea of when your family will be moving back to Chicago?”
“You’re from Chicago?” Johnny asks.
“Yes, we are. My parents are writers and they were invited by the Simon Bertoni Foundation to write their next book about Paraguay. That’s why we’re here.” She turns to Miguel Angel. “I hadn’t thought of it either. But I don’t really want to go back. I want to stay here with you.”
“So, you two are together?” Johnny asks. Is that disappointment in his eyes?
“No,” Jane blurts out.
“Yes,” Miguel Angel says at the same time.
They look at each other and then laugh. Miguel grabs her hand.
“So which one is it?” Johnny asks, a twinkle in his eyes.
“Yes,” Miguel says firmly.
“And no,” Jane says, smiling. “Both, neither, we don’t really know. We are just going with the flow.”
“Sounds romantic,” Johnny says with a laugh. “Ok, I have to go. See you in class.” And he strides off with those wonderfully long legs of his.
Jane is smitten and she knows that Miguel can sense it.
“Don’t say a word,” she says to Miguel, who just smirks at her, lets go of her hand and heads off to class.
“General Stroessner was the president of Paraguay for thirty-five years until the revolution in 1989,” Mr. Martinez is saying. He has introduced himself to the class and has given a bit of background about becoming a teacher and then has started right in on a discussion of the Stroessner regime and the effects it has had on Paraguay.
Jane’s hand goes up.
“Yes, Jane,” Mr. Martinez says. “Did you have a question?”
“Wasn’t General Stroessner a dictator?” Jane asks. She has insider information now and wants to hear what Johnny will say about it. Not that she can reveal any of the details she has learnt from the Montoyas and her father.
“Well, for some people he was a dictator, certainly.” He pauses. “But for others he was a great leader and the one who brought stability to Paraguay. Don’t forget about the civil war and the unrest that rocked Paraguay for almost ten years before he took over.”
“But he violated human rights and killed opposition politicians without a trial,” Jane says. “And he wouldn’t allow for free elections for the whole time he was in power.”
“That’s also true,” Mr. Martinez says.
“That’s why it took a revolution to get rid of him and many people aren’t even sure he is really gone.”
That makes the class sit up and listen. Things are getting interesting now.
“What do you mean, Mr. Martinez?” asks Lisa on the front row.
“Maybe you don’t know this bit of historical fact,” Johnny says. “But nobody ever found General Stroessner’s body in all the fighting. He just disappeared.”
“But he would be, like, a hundred years old by now,” Ignacio says. He is a quiet boy who almost never speaks in class.
“Yes, probably long gone by now, but I wasn’t really talking about him but rather about his influence in Paraguay, even today.”
Johnny gets up from the desk and walks over to the window.
“Everybody knows that General Stroessner would never have been able to stay in power if he didn’t have the support of “El Doce.” Who knows who I’m talking about?”
“El Doce are the twelve richest families in Paraguay who really control things behind the scenes,” says Ignacio. This is obviously a topic he cares about. “They are still the biggest threat to democracy in Paraguay.”
“Exactly,” says Johnny. “They supported General Stroessner because he supported them. But do you know what else was never found during or after the revolution?”
The class is silent.
“The money.”
“What money, Mr. Martinez?” Lisa asks again.
“The Stroessner fortune, it was called. It just disappeared. But it wasn’t just money that belonged to his family, most of it was stolen from the country, especially at the last minute when he knew he would lose.”
“Where is the Stroessner fortune now?” Jane asks. Nobody is raising their hands but Mr. Martinez doesn’t seem to mind.
“No one knows for sure. In a bank somewhere outside of the country no doubt.” Johnny stops for a moment to think. “After the revolution, things were very difficult. That money would have been very helpful in rebuilding the country. But it was gone. The gold reserves were gone. It all disappeared almost overnight.” He pauses. “The scary thing is that if it ever shows up in the wrong hands, they could use it to destabilize the government, even today.”
“Is the government worried about the Stroessner fortune being used against democracy?” Jane asks. “That seems a bit farfetched.”
“Maybe,” Johnny says. “Maybe not. Obviously “El Doce” didn’t know where it was either or they would have used it already to try to influence the new government. But there are people today who are actively looking for that money and plan to use it aggressively to gain power.” He stops, a bit startled that he has said so much. “Well, at least that’s what some people think.”
That’s interesting, Jane thinks. Our History teacher is a conspiracy theory nut. What a laugh!
But she still thinks he is cute. That’s all that mattered.
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