Thousands of Tears

            The moment arrived on July 31^st 1986 at around 2:30 in the afternoon.  I arranged to meet Paul at the intersection of 90^th Street and Sterling Avenue in Cooper City, Florida, against my better judgment. I chose this type of setting because I did not want to reveal to him where I was staying.

            When I arrived at the location where we had decided to meet, he was already there. He came out of his truck and walked towards the car I was driving. He greeted me abruptly and started reaching over to take Anna. I took her out of her car seat and gave her a hug. He then took her out of my arms, said goodbye, and walked away with her towards his Mazda pick-up truck. He mentioned that he would call me later as to a time to return her to me.

            I immediately realized that he had left her diaper bag on the front seat of the car I was driving, so I called out to him to get the bag when he suddenly jerked with nervousness. Perhaps he thought I figured out his malicious plans and changed my mind about this beach trip. Despite my hesitations, I walked over to his truck and handed him the bag.  Something deep inside my gut made me feel that he was up to something awful. I felt that he was going to run off with her and I regretted that I had agreed for him to have her for the day.

I went back to the car and watched as he drove off with her and even though I wanted to change my mind, it was too late. They were gone.  Little did I know that I would not see her again for the next five years and three months.

            It was a long and stressful day of wondering where Paul could be with AnnaMaria since I had not heard from him in 24 hours. I was lying on the sofa at my niece’s apartment with a myriad of thoughts going through my head. One of those thoughts centered on him absconding with her to Jamaica. I couldn’t bear to think about it. I was so restless; I could hardly sleep.

It was now about twenty minutes past midnight when the phone finally rang. My niece, Golda, answered it and informed me it was for me. I could feel my heart pounding as I picked up the phone with the greatest apprehension.  “Hello?” The voice at the other end of the phone had a distinctly sinister tone, “Maria, this is Paul,” my estranged husband said. “I have AnnaMaria with me in Kingston and she will never return to the United States. If you try anything, I will kill you!”

           “Paul, what is wrong with you? Why are you speaking like this? You have violated my trust! You have Anna in Jamaica?” I gasped in shock not wanting to believe what I had just heard. He repeated his threat as I felt myself seething with rage. He had secretly flown with our daughter to his homeland in the Caribbean to stay with his family.

My voice trembled as I asked to speak with his mother since each plea on my part was thwarted with another threat. I wanted to maintain my composure so I opted to communicate with her.

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