The Twelve Read Online Free Page B

Spanish teacher, Fernando Iglesias.
    Señor Iglesias, as he asked his students to address him, was the most unlikely man to become a teacher, let alone inspire students the way he did. He was the youngest son of the fifth wealthiest family in Cuba. Along with the other four clans, the Iglesias family controlled the politics, owned the sugar mills, the railroads, the casinos, and everything else worth owning. Fernando had hot and cold running servants who attended to his every need. He excelled at partying in a way he said only a real Cuban would understand—a variation on the Brazilian Carnival with outrageous enthusiasm and intensity, a love of beauty, and an appreciation for great art.
    Though he did not need to do so, Fernando went to law school because it was considered a dignified career for him to pursue while waiting to inherit his fortune. However, he was an idealist and wanted to see reform—in particular the removal of Fulgencio Batista, Cuba’s dictatorial and repressive ruler. As a student, he provided significant funding for a young idealist named Fidel Castro. It was only after Castro came to power that Fernando realized he had backed an equally totalitarian dictator.
    By the time Fernando was ready to flee Cuba, he was only permitted to take $5.00 and the clothing on his back.
    He landed in Miami and got a job as a soda jerk in a Howard Johnson’s restaurant. He spoke eloquent English, and with his cultural background, he applied for the position of Spanish teacher at various private schools on the East Coast. His upper-class upbringing suited the requirements of the Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York, so in 1964 he found himself teaching ninth-grade Spanish at this private, boys-only, day and boarding school.
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    Señor Iglesias had no experience as a teacher, but he possessed a rich knowledge of life in his Latin culture. Consequently, Max found his teaching methods were rather unorthodox but always dramatic, exciting, and magical. His philosophy was that nothing was impossible. He took his students to New York City to attend parties with other Cuban exiles where the wide-eyed young men were exposed to exotic foods, exciting music, and beautiful women.
    When the Spanish Pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair opened in Queens, New York, Señor Iglesias organized a trip for the entire class, including backstage passes to meet the gypsy flamenco dancers. Max was amazed that this simple teacher, who had virtually no money, could find such joy and excitement in everyday life.
    Fernando’s love of his native culture was thoroughly contagious, and Max soon adopted a deep affection for all things Hispanic, including stories about the Incan and Mayan civilizations and how the Spanish conquistadores had vanquished those highly evolved civilizations so quickly and seemingly effortlessly. And thus, on September 9, 1966, at the age of 16 and full of enthusiasm and wonder, Max set sail with a student group on the USS Aurelia for Southhampton, England, en route to Barcelona, determined to learn more about the culture that had spawned Cortes and Pizarro.
    Upon his arrival he was assigned to the Segovia family, which consisted of the matriarch, the widow of Segovia, her three children, and their maid and cook, Julieta, who had been with the family since the birth of the eldest son, Alejandro.
    Alejandro was an extraordinarily handsome twenty-eight-year-old party boy who hobnobbed with models and artists, including Salvador Dali. He was an architect but not very successful and constantly fought with his mother about money and his less-than-stellar career accomplishments.
    Roberto, the second son, was twenty-four and also studying architecture. He did not have Alejandro’s fabulous good looks but had a pleasant face, although he was somewhat on the chubby side. He became engaged to his high-school sweetheart while Max lived with the family. Her name was Cristina, and she was much taller and