November of 1963, Storm clouds had broken over the Sanchez household.
After the disastrous attempt at a sexual encounter with his girlfriend Dora, she no longer visited his apartment unaccompanied. Carolyn was always with her.
By no means did this cool her ardor; Dora’s affections were just channeled differently.
Meanwhile, Rudy’s parents had entered into a trial separation…
Rudy’s father had always been a ladies’ man and had no problem engaging in dalliances with women he was not married to and made no substantial effort to hide this behavior. It did not help that Rudy’s dad was a handsome man with a suave demeanor,
Rudy’s mother, a devout Baptist, had had enough and entered into a trial separation.
A very crowded situation indeed, Rudy’s mother’s best friend and husband, her two daughters, and son plus Rudy’s mom, his three sisters, and his grandmother.
Eventually, Rudy’s lady folk moved in with his cousin in Hollis, Queens, who had no children.
On the other hand, Rudy was free to stay with his dad in the apartment in Brooklyn, where he continued to commute to his work in Brooklyn and pursue his dalliance with Dora on the occasions they were both off.
Things went ahead rather shakily. It seems Rudy was free to visit mom at any time, but the same was not true about the girls visiting Brooklyn.
In any case, somehow, Rudy’s mother got it in her head that Rudy was following in his father’s footsteps and that he and Dora may be partaking in some Hanky Panky. (True, as far as that went, but who let the cat out of that particular bag?)
One thing led to another, and the next thing you know, Rudy is unemployed and with too much time on his hands.
To top this off, Rudy’s “best friend,” Darryl, had let some sensitive information slip to Rudy’s parents.
The revelations and suspicions led his mother to decide the only way to save her sons’ soul were to ship him off to relatives in Puerto Rico.
Rudy had never been to Puerto Rico, and from what he had heard, a trip to PR in the winter might be a sweet gig.
Fade to LaGuardia airport and a flight to San Juan PR.
Upon arrival in Puerto Rico, they were met by Rudy’s Uncle Peter, who had agreed to take joint custody of Rudy.
LopezJoint custody meant staying at his uncle Peter’s home in Ceiba, PR, a beachfront town, or staying with his mother’s brother Juan in Las Piedras, PR.
Juan was a strict Pentecostal, attending church at least twice weekly. Not a happy prospect for Rudy, who was already leaning heavily toward Agnosticism, despite having served a stint as a choir boy in his Baptist church.
Rudy’s mom took him to visit both uncles so that he could check out the pros and cons of staying with ether family. It was made clear that who he stayed with was entirely up to Rudy.
Lopez
His uncle Peter was an easy-going man who worked for the Air Force base at Roosevelt Fields. He had four sons and a daughter, whom Rudy was uncomfortable with. There was a strip of beach within walking distance of the house on the plus side.
On the other hand, his Uncle Juan lived in landlocked Las Piedras, the town his father had grown up in.; which gave him access to all of his father’s relatives, including Rudy’s grandparents. His uncle Juan had two.
One was a few years older than Rudy, while the other was near Rudy’s age. On the negative side, his uncle was a devout Pentecostal and attended service at least twice weekly.
Rudy had access to the public card or “Carros publicos” (private taxi services) which served as a taxi service that ran between towns, so as long as he had funds, he was free to travel back and forth.
Rudy suffered a nasty mosquito bite near the beach at his uncle Peter’s residence shortly after New Year’s.
He Bagan to feel ill and decided he would get better care at his uncle Juan’s home.
At his uncle Juan’s home, he was diagnosed with Dengue Fever, a mosquito-transmitted illness. For one week, Rudy lay abed, too weak to get up.
During this illness, he grew extraordinarily homesick and was ready to forsake this tropical paradise for the snowy streets of Brooklyn.
At this time, Rudy’s parents decided to bring him back home to stay with them even though his parents’ separation had not been resolved.
Rudy’s mother made an unscheduled trip to Puerto Rico to bring him back home, where he again stayed with his dad in Brooklyn.