Preview of a Postscript

Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.
Albert Einstein


I'm still undecided whether Meet Me Under the Ceiba, once published, will have a postscript. My wife, Erinn, favors a brief explanation of the murder that inspired the story. But placing myself in the shoes of the a reader, in the case of this novel, I believe I'd prefer wondering how much is true, or not.

In any event, here’s a peek at an addendum that, conceivably, may never appear anywhere else.

A Postscript

On Christmas night of 1999, Aura Rosa Pavón—a humble coffee-picker and jack-of-all-trades—was murdered under circumstances close to those described in this novel: a labyrinthine entanglement of jealousy, lust, and greed. Her body was found at the bottom of a latrine two months later, where the killers had dumped it. It was Aura Rosa’s sister, María Auxiliadora Pavón, who, acting on a vision, led the authorities to this heartless resting place.

At the time I was living in Nicaragua, and with great interest I followed the case in the newspapers. Needless to say, I was deeply saddened by the thought that Aura Rosa had to pay the ultimate price for loving Carla Vanesa Muñoz, a young woman who since childhood had been the victim of sexual exploitation. In addition, I felt that the murder perfectly illustrated the homophobia that is rampant not only in Nicaragua, but in all of Latin America. To cite one relevant example: Aura Rosa Pavón, in life, spent two months in prison, charged with committing sodomy—including one week, as a penitentiary joke, in a men’s facility. In the novel I shortened the time of Adela Rugama’s confinement by more than half. I believe that to have done otherwise—in other words, to write the truth—would have dangerously tested the readers’ faith in the narrative.

Also, in conditions similar to those related in the novel, three suspects were brought to trial. La Comisión Pro Derechos Humanos de Lesbianas y Homosexuales placed considerable pressure on Nicaragua’s judicial system to find these individuals guilty. Perhaps as a result, the accused were sentenced to thirty-five years in prison, each. Nevertheless, through various quirks in Nicaragua’s laws, those convicted of murdering Aura Rosa Pavón only served three years of their sentence, and under the law they cannot be retried for the crime. Carla Vanesa Muñoz committed suicide two weeks after their release.

I am deeply indebted to María Auxiliadora Pavón, Aura Rosa’s older sister, who during one exquisitely lucid day-long conversation gave me the foundation of this novel. She is a remarkably courageous and generous person who has chosen to forgive her sister’s killers rather than to seek vengeance. Without her cooperation, Meet Me Under the Ceiba would not exist.

Unlike the fictional “chronicler” of this tale, my “investigation” was limited to a few trips to La Curva, an exploration of the surrounding communities, a chance visit with the judge who presided over the case, and the scrutiny of court records and newspaper articles.

In writing this novel, although I took countless creative liberties, I did my utmost to preserve the spirit of Aura Rosa Pavon’s life story.

Those are the facts.

The rest, I guess, is fiction.