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at all, he had only a Bourbon jaw, protruding ears and little hair.

At a certain moment Roberto decided that Papa needed help and left for the port. Immediately afterwards my mother asked to go rest and I accompanied her to our room which was accessed by a ladder from the room below, where Gianfranco would sleep. 

Back in the living room, I found only Luigino who, smiling faintly, declared that he'd already digested his morning coffee.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. 

"Do you know what time it is?" he asked me. 

I looked at my watch and told him it was half past two. So he was hungry, he said. In the tropics it is customary to eat late, but he got up early, at 5 in the morning. I realized I was hungry too, but I was still too excited to care.

After a while, Mary arrived with saucers full of olives and peanuts and offered us a drink. When Mary handed him the glass of fresh Daiquiri, Luigino had already eaten all the peanuts and olives.

The Daiquiri was good. And it really took away the thirst. I looked at the bouquet of flowers on the table behind the sofa and the impala's head on the opposite wall. Then, admiring Miro's painting, The Farm, I accepted another Daiquiri. Even Luigino accepted another one and sunk even further into the armchair.

Two dogs arrived. Mary told us that one was called Negrita and the other Black Dog, the one who was always next to Papa's chair. In fact, Black Dog, after smelling Luigino's legs and mine, went to crouch near the empty armchair in front of the one where Luigino was. Mary told us to feel at home, she would leave us for a moment, she had to take a look in the kitchen.