“It’s 2011. There is talk that Santos might open discussions between us and Parliament. If that’s true, it would be the first sign of progress since this war started. There have been a lot of abuses committed by both sides. It’s useful to know who did what. It will help you keep score. Without knowing what our grievances are, it’s hard to be motivated and not overcome by depression.”

“What’s depression?”

“That’s when you feel that your life has spun out of control and nothing you can do can fix it. You become unutterably sad and lose all motivation and ambition. Instead of an asset to yourself and others around you, you become a burden and unreliable. Combat is too dangerous to have people around you in that state. We rely on each other to stay safe. One way to keep out of such a mental state is to think about the injustices that have occurred to those of us here, including you, Pip. You are here for a reason.”

“Really? No one has given me one yet since I was taken.”

“Okay. Let’s start with El Heledaro, your step dad, I believe. Am I right?”

“Si.”

“Your dad would never have met you if he weren’t a drug dealer, a Capo, right?”

“Si.”

“He would not be a Capo if the Colombian government was treating its citizens fairly and not trying to tax them off their lands. They would be making a fair living. No one wants to live life by hurting others unless they have no choice. That is what has led to the war. I’ve told you that. In the process of supposedly maintaining law and order, the National Army has been committing crimes against the people. In the newspapers, these actions are called unlawful and extrajudicial killings; they are in insubordinate military collaboration with newly forming more illegal paramilitary groups.

The military is perpetrating forced disappearances; torture and mistreatment of the people they arrest, and then identifying them as FARC or ELN operatives. If citizens aren't outright murdered, they end up in overcrowded prisons. Our Judges are crooked too. If brought to justice somehow, military personnel are routinely set free and are soon back to murdering our people. 

That gives you some idea of why we’re living the good life out here in the jungle with the bugs, the mud and the snakes. You’ll get used to them.”

“Don’t worry, I’m already used to them. I’ve learned all about handling snakes and bugs. I think I learned all I need to know about mud on my way here.” Carbonell laughed and patted her on the head. He soon learned that she meant what she said about her abilities with snakes.

There was weapons training, too. Once again, she marvelled at how it could be that everyone in camp knew how to do everything and was proficient at everything. There were no slackers. It was a completely different experience from what she remembered of home. Her parents seemed to live an orderly life, but nothing like this. She wondered if she would ever see them again. She didn’t have time to dwell on it. There was kitchen duty next.

Pip welcomed it. She’d never known such inclusiveness. It felt comfortable and purposeful. In what had so far been a directionless life, suddenly there was purpose that took on dimension once she started travelling with a group, and visiting peasant farms in what she later learned was the Choco Department. (Colombia is organized by departments, not states, provinces or districts.) She liked the idea of having a goal to work towards and a reason to be doing it.