Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

Broken Bones and Broken Bonds203had made her announcement, I was sitting in the hooch when I heardLucho yelling, “Keith. Keith. Come over here. It’s Patricia. They’regoing to play a message from her to you.”I had one of those brain-cramp moments when I thought he mustbe nuts, but then I saw him waving his radio. While I’d heard that onereport about my “son” being okay, not knowing more left a huge holein my universe. But at some point over the last several months, Patriciahad taken it upon herself to start sending messages to me. I tore overthere and skidded to a stop like a cartoon character. I held the radio tomy ear. I was breathing hard, but it wasn’t because of the short run.Hearing the voice of anyone I’d known before was reason to be excited.After a few commercials and some announcements, I heard the voicethat had thrilled me the first time I heard it on an Avianca flight fromBogotá to Panama.“Keith, this is Patricia. I want you to know that I love you. I hate itthat I don’t know if you are able to hear me or not. The boys, Nicholasand Keith, are doing well, but they need you. Nick has three teeth andKeith has two—”I had to put the radio down then. Everyone was looking at me, and Iwas just so torn up, I didn’t know what to do. It was an enormous reliefthat both of the boys were alive. On top of that, to hear this womanwhom I’d basically told to move on with her life. A woman whom I’dtold not to count on me to be any part of the children’s lives other thanfinancially supporting them. To hear that same woman professing herlove for me was too much. It just didn’t make sense. I’d known and beenwith Malia for six years, but I’d dated Patricia for only six months. If myfiancée didn’t seem to be standing by me, why the hell would Patricia?In light of this message, it became even more important for Clarato tell people that I wasn’t the father and neither were Marc or Tom.Orlando agreed with us that Clara should tell people we weren’t thefather, but the rest of the group said that it was a private matter. Insome ways, I could understand their position about wanting to keep