“Oregano or Honor”

January 2018. El Prat Airport, Barcelona. “Where are you coming from?” “From Santo Domingo.” “Follow me. We’re going to pass the suitcases through the scanner. Are you carrying any substance?” “Substance?” “Yes, something we should keep in mind before opening your luggage.” “You’re going to open it too?” (It’s the first time that’s happened to me. But I’ve seen how it works. The police put on their gloves, they ask the passenger to open the suitcases, and begin to take things out at random as if they were digging around at a stall in the flea market.) “Does it bother you?” (After ten hours flying and four waiting, on no sleep?) “Help yourself. No problem.” “In this suitcase you’re carrying a lot of notebooks.” “I’m not carrying notebooks.” “Looked like that to me on the monitor.” “They’re not notebooks.” Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas, Issue 106, Vol. 56, No. 1, 2023, 55–56