{"id":19101,"date":"2020-08-18T11:00:35","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T15:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=19101"},"modified":"2020-08-21T08:32:23","modified_gmt":"2020-08-21T12:32:23","slug":"hiding-in-maine-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/hiding-in-maine-with-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiding in Maine. With Us."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe allowfullscreen allow=\"fullscreen\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:450px;\" src=\"\/\/e.issuu.com\/embed.html?backgroundColor=%23d2d2d2&#038;d=sept20issuu&#038;hideIssuuLogo=true&#038;pageNumber=74&#038;u=portlandmagazine\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Excerpt from <em>Red Hands<\/em>, a novel by Colin W. Sargent.<\/h2>\n<p><em>By Colin W. Sargent<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Searching for the mother and son I had tried to know, I drove to the Old Orchard Beach library. I\u2019ll never know if I would have been able to find the courage to do what they had done. If every assumption I\u2019d ever had were ripped away from me\u2014if I were in mourning for myself and my life\u2014could I travel a world away and hide in plain sight the way they had? She told me she felt that everyone in the world was either watching her or watching for her. I tried to imagine Iordana walking in to register her son \u201cDavid Daniels\u201d for school. Think of what it took to accomplish that. Maybe Iordana walking in alone. That first day. Imagine her practicing being poised for their questions, Catalin coaching her: \u201cYou\u2019re tensing up. Stop looking suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEasy for you to say. I am!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Imagine her mind running wild. \u201cWhere is his birth certificate?\u201d \u201cWhat is your Social Security number? Are you a US citizen?\u201d \u201cWhere does the father work?\u201d \u201cWhere do you live?\u201d \u201cWhat school bus stop will he be using to board?\u201d \u201cDo you want to sign your son up for the lunch supplement?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Approaching the reference desk, I asked the librarian for the Old Orchard Beach High School yearbook for the Class of 2000. As I took it to a table in the corner, I felt her eyes following me. Now I was the one under suspicion.<\/p>\n<p>I expected to see nothing, or \u201cNot Pictured\u201d. But I was wrong. There was Dani, standing tall on the basketball team. Had Iordana ever blended into the crowds to watch him? For an instant I imagined Ior-<br \/>\ndana\u2019s story never being told\u2013erased, like so many victims of conflict. She\u2019d never come to Maine, never spoken to me, never gagged on my burned haddock, never shown her heart.<\/p>\n<p>Then I caught my breath. Feeling Iordana looking on, I slowly turned the page to David Daniels\u2019s senior class photo. He stares out from it. \u201cDavid Daniels. Dave.\u201d His chosen inscription: \u201cThe truth is only what<br \/>\nsomeone chooses to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cDeath to the Dracu gGandson!\u201d<br \/>\nIn terror, Iordana Ceausescu of Romania disappeared in secret to Old Orchard Beach with her son while the world searched for them. in secret, she lived among us for five years. Drawn from 800 hours of unique interviews with iordana. Colin W. Sargent\u2019s Red Hands\u2014\u201can astounding account of the Romanian revolution in the voice of Ceausescu\u2019s daughter-in-law.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2013Martin Goodman in the Morning Star<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Excerpt from Red Hands, a new novel by Colin W. 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