La Última Pintura

The afternoon sunlight hits the sea just right. A flock of seagulls soar effortlessly through the warm, salty air. Grace enjoys painting just as her mother did before recently passing away. The gleaming sea and its soft, undulating waves serve as an inspiring backdrop for Grace as she begins to paint a portrait of her mother on this very beach in Manzanillo, Colombia.

Grace was born in Manzanillo, approximately thirty minutes outside of Cartagena. Manzanillo is a beautiful and quaint beach community nestled within the lejos (cliffs) of the Carribbean coast, entangled with nature that is juxtaposed by the distant edificios (buildings) of vibrant Cartagena. The locals are humble and hardworking, yet happy despite their modest means. Grace lives with her father, her brother, Esteban, his wife, and her two sobrinos (nephews). She recently moved back from Cartagena where she had worked as a sous-chef in an upscale hotel, which is also where she met Chef German. The talented and affable young chef, known for his mouthwatering pescado frito (fried fish), recently decided to focus his endeavors as a private chef. He easily convinced the unassuming Grace to join him as his lone sous-chef for a gorgeous extended stay lodge on the edge of Manzanillo, Casa Del Mar.

Like Grace and Chef German, the folks of Manzanillo have a mixed relationship with tourism. The fisherman, local jewelers, and other tradesmen rely on tourists to make a living. However, the looming possibility of seemingly overnight development threatens to remove their entire village without a moment’s notice. In fact, Grace recently learned through her brother that there are eminent plans for a large resort development that could eradicate their community. Esteban was fortunate to land a job as a clerk for the mayor’s office in Cartagena and always has a pulse on current events. This latest development plot is especially dire given that the developer is the infamous Jorge Ruiz.

Jorge is Cartagena’s most successful developer and is known for being shrewd and ruthless. The only person who has the ability to rein-in his dealings is his older brother, Diego Ruiz. Ironically, Diego is also Cartagena’s mayor. While Diego is generally well liked and more compassionate than his brother, he is not immune to back room deals and using muscle to get his way. Growing up in Cartagena, the Ruiz brothers’ father was a local police officer and in their father’s dealings with the cartel their mother was tragically kidnapped and murdered out of vengeance. The Ruiz brothers reacted differently to their loss. Diego, who was older at the time, responded with a desire to reform violence and cartel influence in the city, leading to his career in politics. Jorge, however, was younger and had a close connection to his mother. Jorge took his mother’s death even harder and grew up very spiteful. The Manzanillo resort is only the latest of Jorge’s projects that threatens the livelihoods and displacement of honest locals.

Given Esteban’s connection to the Mayor, he tells Grace that he will ask Diego to persuade Jorge to reconsider. Grace knows it’s a long shot and that Esteban will risk his career by doing so, but what other choice do they have? The next day, Esteban carefully approaches the Mayor in the hallway before entering his office. “Senor Ruiz, may I have a moment of your time?” The Mayor, who has been impressed by Esteban’s tireless work ethic, agrees to spare a moment. Esteban nervously mentions Jorge’s plans for development at Manzanillo and respectfully asks Diego for help. Diego pauses, furrows his brow, and responds, “I don’t like meddling in my brother’s business. That said, I admire your courage. I’ll tell you what, I’ll ask my brother to reconsider but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. He is a stubborn man.”

Meanwhile, the latest guests to arrive at Casa Del Mar are a couple on their honeymoon from Washington, D.C. The recent bride, Sylvia, is strikingly beautiful with smooth, tan skin and carries herself confidently despite her initial shyness. By contrast, her blond husband, Wesley, is jovial and borderline boisterous. Wesley and Chef German immediately take a liking to each other while Grace sees Sylvia as a reflection of herself from a distant world. Eavesdropping on Chef German and Wesley’s conversation, Grace learns that Sylvia grew up poor in West Virginia and had to overcome mountains of odds related to income, geography, and her mixed race to ultimately become a successful tech entrepreneur. In her early thirties, she had been given seed money to promote inclusive humane technology, a goal shared by her angel investor. Grace is surprised to learn of Sylvia’s wealth given her unpretentious demeanor. The conversation is abruptly interrupted when Chef German announces that the sancocho (traditional Colombian soup) is ready.

The next day at work Diego summons Esteban into his office and states with an unwavering expression that his brother is unwilling to scrap his plans for development. Diego goes on to explain that “Jorge is willing to provide you and your family with a small plot of land next to the resort, but only if you can come up with 73 million Colombian Pesos” [approximately $20,000 US dollars]. The glimpse of hope Esteban had quickly fades. While better than being displaced, there was no way his family could pull those funds together. Plus, his community would still be destroyed. He begrudgingly tells Grace and his family the sour news later that evening.

Throughout the next few days, Sylvia and Wesley continue to develop deep connections to Grace, Chef German and the town of Manzanillo. So much so that Grace offers to walk the newlyweds down the beach to her community to meet some of her family members, including Esteban. Predictably, Wesley engages in a deep conversation with Esteban and learns of the redevelopment plans for Manzanillo, something Grace had been too proud to reveal. After being pressed for more details, Esteban relinquishes the notion of needing 73 million Colombian Pesos, which prompts a look of caution from Grace.

Sylvia and Wesley say their bittersweet farewell to Grace and Chef German later that week. Following their departure, Grace starts to clean the casa when she notices Sylvia’s small black notebook placed neatly on the kitchen counter. She had previously admired how Sylvia diligently wrote in the black journal, similar to Grace losing herself in her paintings. Without a way to contact Sylvia, she carefully opens the book to hopefully find contact information. The book immediately flips to a dog-eared page, which in neat, bold handwriting reads “Dear Grace, someone once made a difference in my life and I have been waiting for the right moment to pay it forward. This is that moment.” Following the note are the codes to the lock box safe in the room Sylvia had stayed in. Grace holds her breath while she opens the safe, her fingers quivering in anticipation. Once open, she sees an envelope with her name on it. The contents include a check for $20,000 US dollars. Grace stands up slowly, tilting her head to the sky, and lets out a huge breath of relief. She then hurries to tell her brother of the astonishing gift. The next day, Esteban cashes the check and rushes to work to gleefully hand the money over to the Mayor. The Mayor stares at Esteban in disbelief, followed by a smirk. “I will talk to my brother.”

The next day, Grace returns to her painting to finish the portrait of her mother on the beach playing with a young Grace and Esteban. While relieved that her family can remain thanks to Sylvia’s generosity, she can’t shake her solemn mood knowing her community is going to be mostly destroyed. She is determined to finish the painting to fully capture her memory in this beautiful place before its gone forever, and vows that this will be her last painting – la última pintura.

As she places the final touches, hues of shimmering yellow and blue on the sea, she sees Jorge and his business partners walking the beach for a final site visit. She can’t bear to look this man in the eye and quickly darts inside, abandoning the painting on the front porch. As Jorge walks closer, he notices Grace’s painting and finds himself drawn to it. He stares at that painting for what seems like an eternity. The portrait incites buried memories from his last days with his mother. A similar scene flashes before his eyes. An innocent memory of him and his brother, Diego, on the beach with their mother before she was brutally stripped away. An unusual surge of emotion consumes Jorge as he thinks of his mother’s warmth, compassion, and her love of nature. All things that had withered from his soul a long time ago. He thinks about the serene water and the lush vegetation that buffers the beach from the dirt road. He thinks about the children playing on the beach. He thinks about the colorful homes and the families inside.

The Mayor calls Esteban into his office again the next day. Esteban is sure he is going to be told more bad news. That Jorge has reconsidered allowing Esteban’s family to remain. Diego senses Esteban’s nervousness and tells him to relax. “My brother is no longer pursuing the Manzanillo redevelopment. He is shifting his operation to a larger piece of vacant land further from the city.” Esteban cannot believe what he has just heard. “That’s not all. He has also made a contribution to lobby for a conservation easement over your community to protect it from future development. I plan to move the legislation forward as soon as possible.” Esteban is as confused as Diego is by Jorge’s change in heart. Diego then slides an envelope across his desk. In it lies the $20,000.

One year later, Grace sits on her front porch painting a beautiful watercolor depiction of Sylvia writing in her black book on the Casa Del Mar terrace, with the iridescent sea in the background. She pauses, thinking of Sylvia’s note to her. Grace has still not spent the $20,000 that had been returned. She has instead pledged to pay it forward to someone else one day. She smiles to herself, and then returns to her painting. She dabs her brush in light blue and white, and swirls her brush on the canvas to create the final texture of soft waves kissing the beach.