DAVID BENTATA

  Chapter 24 -   EL METRO (The Measuring Tape) "El Metro" .... This translates firstly to its proper Spanish name which is "la cinta metrica", but colloquially it is known as "un metro" “a metre”. In English? A measuring tape. Now that we have the title clear I must admit that this is not an original thought of mine. It is my friend’s Juan Antonio, well known in Gib through his company "Lineacristal" in La Linea, which specialises in shop fronts, glass curtains, aluminium works, etc. Over the years and with the various shops I have had both in Gibraltar and La Linea and he has worked in them, we have become more than business associates in fact we are friends. And as friends do when they're not talking business, they talk about their lives. I was telling him that many years ago I had planned to retire at the age of 45. Later that became 50, then 55, then 60, then 65... And here I am, my past 70 and still working, although at a different p...

    CHAPTER 23 – BIRTH OF GIDEON Somewhere in the internet maze, the labyrinth of Facebook posts, (a weakness of mine to dabble in) someone wrote that a child who is born immediately after a previous miscarriage is a special soul. But aren't all souls special? Without delving into the private ups and downs of my first marriage, it was an important and unforgettable part of my life, both during the marriage, the divorce, and up to this very day when my first-born son arrived. I was there seeing the incredibly messy, painful, totally miraculous birth of another human being; a human being which my late wife and I brought to this world out of the incredible love we had for each other. Yes, I know, I know, we divorced, but that was many years later. At that moment, the intensity of feelings that a father goes through is mind-blowing. No, I do not belittle what a mother goes through! How could I ever do that? Carrying a child for 9 months and then, the act of birth itself, t...

  CHAPTER 22   - CEUTA TRIP with SURESH Don't you just hate it when you lose your passport? OK, OK, OK .... but that is not what the story is about. This chapter is about my Marco Polo days, when I travelled with a suitcase full of samples in an effort to get orders. This was not my idea, it was my Dad's. " Tu crees que tu ya sabes todo del negocio? Venga, tirate al ruedo! " ("You think you know all about business? Go on then jump into the ring!") Y al ruedo me tire! (and jump in I did!) For my first venture I decided I needed a partner. The choice was between David Hassan and Toby both my closest friends. But David had moved on to UK where he got a job with Tito Benady in insurance. Or perhaps the insurance job came after that, but in any case, David was not in Gib. So, I got together with Toby who was working as a receptionist at the Victoria Hotel at the time. We registered the name British Commercial Agency which I felt sounded rather soli...

  Chapter 21 -   (Part 2 of THE ALCAIDESA YEARS) Despite the limited success, musically and inter-personally, when I think of Danae, the drug of music had gone deep into my veins. I know now that the CD "DANAE Canciones de Amor" is not to everybody's taste. In the style of the deepest songs by Leonard Cohen, Denis and I recorded the songs in it more as poetry with a musical accompaniment rather than fully fledged musical songs ..... Does that make sense to you?   One day I was in my car sitting in those interminable queues that our neighbour to the North would create. The queue went back all the way to Eastern Beach and we sat there in our cars, waiting for our turn to cross into Spain. As I was rounding the corner at the Sundial I looked to my right at The Cross of Sacrifice. I remembered my Dad bringing me here on Remembrance Sundays to see the march past of the colourful and musical bands of the regiments and the laying of the wreaths of poppies. Somehow even as a ...