When Hector was 21 years old he met Barbara, a girl from the neighbourhood. Hector had his own apartment in Phoenix and was working at Copper State. One day while visiting his old neighborhood he sees this beautiful girl. She was not yet 16 years old but he was smitten. And so was she. She was young and impressional and started to follow Hector around. Once when she was unhappy at home, she came to Hector’s apartment and refused to go home. He tried to reason with her but she persisted. Each day when he got home from work she was still there. She had been at his apartment for 4 days when he came home drunk and found Barbara still there. He weakened and made love to her. So he agreed that she could stay with him as his woman.
During this time Barbara’s family was worried about her. She had left before but always came back after a couple of days. But back in the old neighbourhood, there were rumours about Barbara and Hector. A week later Hector was followed home by Barbara’s brother Carlos to find out where he lived and brought back her parents.
Her father, mother and a policeman were there. They took him to the local jail and threatened to arrest him on a rape charge. The sentence for statutory rape then was 5 years in prison.
Barbara’s parents claimed that he had ruined their daughters’ reputation and would have to marry her to make things right. Hector was confused at this request but her father was determined. Her father insistent and again threatened Hector to press charges if he didn’t agree. So he did agree and he was released. The next morning they all went to the Justice of the Peace and Hector and Barbara were married. And even though they got married under pressure, Hector and Barbara were in love and eager to start a life together
*I took a break from the story to make a Thanksgiving dinner for our side of the pond. One side tends to draw the larger rigs and the newer trailers and is the sunny side. The side we were on has the trees behind us so we get more tenters, small vehicles and some homeless folks. Also, it caters to the local fishermen. Our dinner was attended by about 11 people and was very appreciated. Hector came and was all dressed up. He looked quite dashing. He is quite shy and it took some convincing to get him to attend. But everyone likes Hector and we all had a good time. This has become a sort of tradition with us, and I enjoy it a lot.
Married life started for Hector and Barbara. Two years passed and they had a baby boy, Hector Junior. Barbara was a good mother and a kind and beautiful woman. Hector worked hard at his job at Copper State and took on a second job to save enough money to buy two houses often doing long shifts coming home exhausted. One such night when the baby was 11 months old, Hector came home late, very tired and climbed into bed next to his sleeping wife and baby. When he awoke in the morning he heard the sound of Barbara in the kitchen sounds of Barbara making breakfast. His baby son was still in bed with him. But when he looked down at his sleeping son he saw the baby was very still and had turned blue. He frantically called his wife to come. When she saw the baby she became hysterical and cried out. She picked up the baby and ran to the phone and called 911. Within minutes the house was full of paramedics and police. But the baby was dead and Barbara was distraught with grief. In her shock, she accused Hector of killing their baby. Hector was in shock himself and couldn’t believe these words coming out of his beautiful, kind, gentle wife. Before Hector could speak he was handcuffed and on his way to jail charged with 2nd-degree murder. How could this be happening?
more to come…
