A few minutes afterwards an elder black woman wear a purple scarf more white locks came up on next-flooring windows. She checked baffled but acknowledged Willy. “ Hola. Hola. ” She allowed united states upstairs.

Her term is Gladis Castaneda, and you will she was actually a professional traditional pianist during the Havana throughout the the newest 1950s. She was a little lady inside her 80s otherwise 1990’s. She nodded when he mentioned La Reina. Sure, she told you, however lived in this neighborhood, correct next door. Right here, regarding the flesh, is actually someone who understood brand new epic Superman-evidence, in reality, the guy in reality existed.

Superman, Castaneda said, is actually significant, solid, recognized. “Everyone understood your given that Queen,” she said. “He was gay, you did not wreck havoc on him.” She questioned me to remain. “He was the top. However, good. Muscle.” He previously epidermis including hers: dark, yet not most. “He was a man. Nobody got an issue with your.” I asked if everybody in the society understood just what he did getting a full time income. “Young buck, Serbien Frauen it was years ago. He kept many years ago.”

Willy expected in the event the she knew just what became away from your, and you can she told you she thinks the guy passed away for the Miami. Her time is waning, and you may Willy nodded if you ask me to suggest the time had come we go.

Down on the road, i satisfied a vintage man tilting up against the wall surface. His label is actually Elado. He transmitted a great cane and you may dressed in a loose eco-friendly sweater with a Masonic icon holding out-of a string as much as his shoulder. Willy told your we had been seeking information about the man it called Los angeles Reina.

“ Si, si, ” the existing guy told you. “Los angeles Reina-people knew him. Mulatto. Regarding the height,” he nodded inside my guidelines. “Everyone else respected him. He stayed here getting two decades. However, anyone know exactly what he performed having a full time income.” The guy told you Superman kept on the U.S. within the 1959. “Not one person knew his name. People just entitled your La Reina.”

I inserted their particular spacious flat, and you may Willy told me that which we was in fact doing

Across the street by the chapel, roosters crowed. An effective girl using Rollerblades spoke into the a pay cell phone. A classic people within the a fabric tennis cover smoked a good cigar on the a beneficial backless wooden chair.

Their hair try light and wild

We stepped by way of Los Sitios toward Barrio Chino up until i showed up from the 507 Marquis Road. We stood on the street taking a look at the entrances so you’re able to an excellent martial-arts college: Escuela Cubana de- Wushu. It had a red-colored and you may red act having a gold foo canine and you will a yellow iron entrance.

The door was open. Into the top entrance was a beneficial courtyard that have a tiny eatery and lots of stationary exercise equipment. The theater immediately after endured the spot where the school’s outdoor courtyard is. I attempted to believe where in fact the stage could have been. The putting on a costume space in which Superman available to the new inform you. The newest balcony where drunken travelers saw the brand new show.

A short time later on i gone back to Barrio de- los Sitios so you can material for other individuals who may have known Superman. From the flat strengthening next to Gladis Castaneda’s, we fulfilled Superman’s real next-door neighbor: a former pizza cook titled Roberto Cabarero, 82 years of age, which have a heavily discolored and expanded muscle mass shirt, sagging brown jeans toward travel open, and you may black clothes with openings throughout the toes. His body sagged such as for example a sea turtle’s.

Cabarero’s flat, in which he lived together with his spouse, was little and you can ramshackle, full of rubbish. Their partner sat in the center of the tiny home, rocking back and forth for the a solid wood couch, speaking loudly from the no-one specifically. An invisible blared tinny dated Spanish music, and you will a dog was available in and you will from the space so you’re able to eat crumbs off the floors. A security time clock seemed throughout all of our meeting. Nobody troubled to show it off.