𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 ℂ𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕋𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝔸𝕨𝕒𝕪 •𝕁𝔽𝕂•

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 10 - ꜰɪᴅᴇʟ ᴄᴀꜱᴛʀᴏ

The strangest thing happened on the night of 14th March 1964.

Fidel Castro called John Kennedy through the secure Cuba-Washington hotline and expressed his condolences on Mrs. Kennedy's death, almost four months after the assassination attempt which surprised me and yet, raised a red signal in my brain. This was not what surprised me, though. What surprised me instead was the fact that he wanted Jack to host him at the White House for a dinner.

"He definitely wants something, Jack." I looked at the President of the United States as he sat in his desk in the Oval Office while Robert Kennedy stood by the wall with his hands buried in the pockets of his blazer.

"She is right, Jack. Agreeing to host Castro in America is straight suicide. And it means putting our chances of winning the reelection in jeopardy . The country will burst up on us. After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion -" Bobby removed his hands from his blazer pockets and made his way to where I was standing next to a seated President who was smoking his cigar.

"I know this seems like the worst idea but one of the journalists who had been with Castro hours after my attempted assassination informed me that he genuinely wishes to reconcile with Washington. If I deny him now, the steps that we have taken, especially signing the no invasion treaty with Khrushchev to avert the missile crisis, it will all blow up in our damn faces." He said, taking a drag of his cigar.

"Jack, how do you know it wasn't Castro who had appointed Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate you?!" I sat back against his desk and looked at him, my eyes pleading with him to change his mind.

"It can't be him. His reaction on my attempted assassination was a genuine one according to this journalist. Besides, he would be way out of his mind if he decides to blow up my brains in the White House."

John Kennedy stood up and cleared his throat. I stood up from where I was leaning on his desk and made my way to where Bobby Kennedy was standing. Bobby looked at me apologetically but he knew that it was impossible to convince Jack once he had made a decision but I couldn't shake this bad feeling that gnawed at me from deep inside me, that maybe, Jack was making a rash decision.

"We are hosting Fidel Castro here in the White House, Bobby. The only way that I can keep this sham of a peace maintained between Cuba and United States is listening to that man's wishes. Americans do not deserve another round of a nuclear war threat on em." Kennedy said with a finality in his voice that neither me, nor Bobby could make him change.

---

(One Week Later)

America blew up, just like Bobby Kennedy had said it would, dividing the country into yet two sides, those who welcomed the Cuban dictator and his friendship with America and those who were against it. At around five pm in the evening, the Cuban dictator landed on American soil.

I nervously walked up and down in my bedroom, already dressed in a satin peach coloured evening gown, my hair pinned up into a neat bun. "Castro is here!" Someone screamed in the hallway outside and my breathing hitched due to nervousness.

Lifting my dress with my fingers, I ran out of my stateroom until I was standing in the Truman balcony with a dozen more people from the Kennedy administration, everyone watching this iconic event with their own eyes. I pushed my way to the front until I found myself next to Caroline and John. Immediately, the two children grabbed onto my sides, clinging on to my hands as we watched our President standing below us in the South Lawn, surrounded by his usual flank of the Secret Service agents and many men in uniforms behind him. Robert Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon Johnson and a few other important men stood directly behind the President .