Chapter Text
RECORDING ID: MEM-0001
SUBJECTS: ALAN SCOTT AND AMEYRO NARVAEZ
STATUS: PRIVATE ACCESS
LOCATION: BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
DATE: AUGUST 19, 1942
[BEGIN TRANSCRIPT]
ALAN: What is your name?
AMEYRO: You know my name.
ALAN: For the record, I need you to state your name.
[BRIEF PAUSE]
AMEYRO: Ameyro…
ALAN: And your last name?
AMEYRO: I don’t think I have one.
ALAN: I doubt that. You must use something for bureaucratic purposes.
AMEYRO: Dodds. I use Dodds.
ALAN: Oh. I see.
AMEYRO: Is this staying on the record?
ALAN: I can…expunge this. Though that still leaves us with one problem.
AMEYRO: Which is?
ALAN: You need a last name.
AMEYRO: I think I’ve managed fine thus far.
ALAN: Barely.
AMEYRO: I’m not worried about what you think of me.
ALAN: That wasn’t an insult to you. I just want to know what name you want.
AMEYRO: Ameyro is the only name I want.
ALAN: You can only use Wesley’s surname for so long.
[PROLONGED PAUSE]
AMEYRO: Narváez, then.
ALAN: Narváez. That’s strong. I like it. Does it have any meaning?
AMEYRO: No.
ALAN: Surely there are other names you could use?
AMEYRO: There are. Nobody questions a Narváez, though.
ALAN: I see. Would you like to take a break before we move on?
AMEYRO: No. Just keep going.
ALAN: Where were you born? You’re not from stateside, are you?
AMEYRO: No, I was born in Bor— Puerto Rico.
ALAN: We’re a bit far from Porto Rico. Where do you call home?
AMEYRO: Nowhere.
ALAN: Nowhere?
[BRIEF PAUSE]
AMEYRO: New York is the closest thing I have to a home.
ALAN: You have a Mrs. waiting for you there?
AMEYRO: You’re not as funny as you think, Mr. Scott.
ALAN: Okay…New York. What do you do for work out there?
AMEYRO: I’m a writer. Well, I want to be.
ALAN: Do you have any publications?
AMEYRO: In the works. Mainly for science, there’s an untapped world of medicine right now.
ALAN: Speaking of, you seem to have striae on your neck. Why is that?
AMEYRO: Would you believe me if I said it's from the night I died?
ALAN: Yet you say I’m unfunny.
AMEYRO: You are.
ALAN: Well, anyhow. How about your fashion? It’s quite unusual to find someone dressed like you around New York City.
AMEYRO: It helps me stay cool. The material is light, and protective against the sun. Farmers on the island dress like this in the fields.
ALAN: Were you a farmer? Before you migrated to stateside, that is.
AMEYRO: No…I was a protector.
ALAN: A soldier?
AMEYRO: Soldiers belong to the state. I do not.
ALAN: Like an outlaw then?
AMEYRO: I’m nothing like that Green Lantern, if that's what you’re implying. I simply did my best to protect my people.
ALAN: The Green Lantern is a friend of the show. Would it really be such a bad thing to be him?
AMEYRO: He’s not really my type…
ALAN: No? I’m surprised. Many dream of being the Green Lantern.
AMEYRO: Yeah, well, not me.
ALAN: What do you dream about then? Do you have any lifelong aspirations and hopes?
AMEYRO: I want to see my family again.
ALAN: Family is important to you, I gather?
AMEYRO: Yes, there’s nothing that matters more to me.
ALAN: So I assume you have a mom and a dad. Any siblings?
AMEYRO: Yes I had one. My sister.
ALAN: How close would you say you are to your family?
AMEYRO: I’m— I used to be very close to my family. My sister was my favorite though.
ALAN: Really? Why was that?
AMEYRO: Have you ever known someone, and felt as though they could read your mind?
ALAN: Perhaps.
AMEYRO: We were born only a few years apart. We grew together the way two trees grow beside one another.
ALAN: Trees?
AMEYRO: Separate trunks. The same roots. I don’t think there’s a single childhood memory that doesn’t include her in some way.
[BRIEF PAUSE]
ALAN: You mentioned earlier that you used to be close with your family. What happened? When was the last time you saw them?
AMEYRO: Truthfully…it’s been a very long time.
ALAN: Since you were a kid, I assume?
AMEYRO: Yes, something like that.
ALAN: Are they in Porto Rico?
AMEYRO: I believe so. I’m unsure where exactly. I got lost as a child. After being for so long by myself, I thought that coming to America was my best chance of survival.
ALAN: That must’ve been an incredibly dangerous journey for one person. How did you manage?
AMEYRO: I was fortunate enough to be taken under the wing of a kind couple who were making the journey back home to New York. They’re the ones who helped me clean up my act and put me through school, so I can become the man I am today.
ALAN: Tell me what that experience was like, attending school in America that is.
AMEYRO: I currently hold a degree from City College of New York, though I’ve been writing and editing for much longer than that through apprenticeships.
ALAN: Your degree is a medical degree?
AMEYRO: No. Natural History, with large focuses in anatomy and pathology.
ALAN: And how do you think your classmates would describe you?
AMEYRO: I’m sure you could guess.
ALAN: Not very many Porto Ricans in your cohort, then.
AMEYRO: No. Not at all.
ALAN: Why do you think that is? There was that Porto Rican fella who graduated from Harvard during the 20s.
AMEYRO: The public is not used to seeing us as educated, or well-spoken. So when the public sees men like Don Pedro, they think “he’s one of the good ones.”
ALAN: And you don’t agree with that sentiment? That Pete is a “good one?”
AMEYRO: I believe that all my people are capable of success. That every Puerto Rican kid denied their right to work, school, and life could have been destined for greatness just as Don Pedro.
ALAN: Inspiring. This is something you feel strongly about.
AMEYRO: Nothing I believe in more.
ALAN: That’s the reason why you’re here today, isn’t it?
AMEYRO: Well it certainly wasn’t to see you…
ALAN: Of course not…well, what about your own success? Outside of reuniting with your family, what goal do you most want to accomplish in your lifetime?
AMEYRO: I want to complete a body of work that feels useful beyond the moment it is made. Writing, illustration, records of disease and injury. Anything that helps people understand what is happening to them when they cannot understand it themselves. If I am successful, then I will have made something that outlives me.
ALAN: The pursuit of knowledge and academia, a very noble endeavor. Where do you see yourself in five years?
AMEYRO: Still working. Writing, editing, drawing. Hopefully with a few publications to my name by that time.
ALAN: What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death?
AMEYRO: I—
[BRIEF PAUSE]
AMEYRO: I’m not sure that’s a question that I usually think in terms of.
ALAN: Most people do.
AMEYRO: Yes, I suppose they do.
[PROLONGED PAUSE]
AMEYRO: I think I would prefer not to frame my work around that. If it is useful, then it will be remembered in whatever way it needs to be. If it is not, then I doubt I would have much say in it anyway.
[PROLONGED PAUSE]
ALAN: Well…that concludes this portion of the interview. Thank you, Mr. Narváez.
[BRIEF PAUSE]
ALAN: This recording will now be closed.
[END TRANSCRIPT]