Aurora: The Billionaire's Heaven On Earth

Hurriedly, he walked towards me, pressing me against the wall. He was stronger than me, but I would fight him if I had to win that fight. He tried to take the phone away from me, and in response, I punched him in the face. I immediately regretted what I did and before fixing the mistake, I took another punch in return. When I realized I was fighting with my own father. The woman in the red dress tried to break up our fight and, in a single gesture, he pushed her against the wall. He didn’t respect my mother. Would he respect other women? The cell phone fell out of my pocket and Gonzalo picked it up. “You’re going to pay dearly for what happened today, you arrogant brat”. “I’m not afraid of you,” I said, as I wiped the blood running down my nose from my face". “Great,” he said, looking me straight in the eye, “because from today onwards he will.” He took my arm again, but I didn’t try to run away. Before dragging me down the hall, he turned to the woman in front of us and asked, “Is what he said true?” She took a while to answer. She seemed lost, looking for any lie to get away with it. “It’s true,” he lowered his head, confessing in a whisper". “I’ll settle accounts with you later.” He looked at her one last time, and we walked back outside. He made me get into his car and drove in silence through the streets of Belo Horizonte. We stopped at an airport for small planes, and I still didn’t understand why Gonzalo had taken me there. “Why did you bring me here?” He got out of the car without answering me. He opened the passenger door and took my arm again." “You’re going to travel,” he said as we walked toward the private plane he had. I tried to pull away when I realized what he wanted to do to me. “It’s easier to get rid of problems, isn’t it Dad?” I smiled in despair, but I didn’t let my fear show. "Where are we going?” “We’re not going” we stopped near the plane “you can go with a one-way ticket”.  “Which is? My eyes watered”. “Don’t you want to be smart?” he said. “Do you think you can live the rest of your life enjoying the sweat of my work and then stab me in the back? Now I’m going to teach you how to be a real man.” “Want to teach me something you haven’t learned?” His jaw locked, and I didn’t like what I saw in his eyes. “You’re going to live in Brasília with your poor aunt” his anger was boiling over. "And I’m going to tell her to get really tough with you.” “You can’t do that” my eyes were wide open, fear, now, transparency. “What are you going to say to my mother, to Natalia, when they ask for me?” “The truth”. He waved his hand, calling the pilot. “Will you tell them about your betrayal, too?” As you said, she already knows. “There was no empathy or remorse in him when he said that. I hated him for doing this to my mom.”He’s going to run out of money, no credit card, and he’s going to stay there until I decide". I didn’t know what to say. In my mind, it should have been the other way around, but I fell into my own trap. Gonzalo started pushing me into the plane. I could re-attack him and run away, but it wouldn’t work. I knew my father so well that in addition to him seeking me to the ends of the earth, he would keep his promise to leave me in the gutter. “You dare not contact your mother or sister” already sitting in the armchair he put his belt on me “you will stand there eating the bread that the devil kneaded to learn never to confront me again”. “It’s not going to stay that way, Dad.” But he didn’t answer. He got off the plane, closing the door and leaving me alone with my fears, my hatred and my uncertainties. Gonzalo was very powerful, and even if I were his son, I wouldn’t have the strength to fight it. I tried to find a way out of the mess I’d just gotten myself into, but it was too late. The plane took off towards Brasília. And I was going without clothes, without hope and alone.

Aurora  It’s a rainy afternoon, when the neighbor next door knocks on the gate, letting me know that there was someone on the phone wanting to talk to me urgently. I hurry and run out into the rain, imagining the worst. When I answer, I hear that familiar voice on the other end of the line: it’s my father. I roll my eyes inevitably. A long sigh before saying anything. “Hi, dad” “Your mother is in the hospital” He says this without me feeling any emotion in his voice. “I need you to come over here, Aurora, to help me take care of her” “Is it serious?” “I don’t know, maybe” “Don’t know?” My voice comes out angrier than it should. “Are you coming or not?” “And how do I do with my work? Or do you think only you work here?” “Put him down” I’m amazed at my father’s arrogance, in not caring one bit about my life. “He left home because he wanted to, so don’t blame me for your failures.” He could only be kidding, I think. “If you are willing to support me while I am taking care of my mother, I will go without any problem.” There’s a silence on the other end of the line that I thought would never end. “Come as fast as you can.” He hangs up the phone without waiting for any response from me. I wonder if he really cares about my mother to the point of calling me six months after I left home, asking me to come back. No questions about how I’m doing, if I need anything, or say I miss you. None of this was said or mentioned. I’m still standing in the middle of my neighbor’s living room, phone in hand, wondering at what point I lost control of my own life. Visibly worried about my mother, I go back to my rented room in the suburbs of Brasília and start packing my things to go home. I was a good girl, and bad things didn’t happen to good people. That’s what my mother told me, that’s what I believed for a long time. But then, high school graduation came, and I was at a loss for what to do with my own destiny. I watched my old classmates go to college, get a good job, take courses, and I, well, I wanted to be just like them, but all I had in my luggage was talent and a lot of uncertainties. Things were tough. My mom didn’t have the money to pay for college or anything like that, and all I had left was to study on my own. I didn’t complain. Good girls understood when life needed to be tough. I didn’t have any friends anymore, and my fear of being judged drove everyone away. It was  books that I found in my refuge. I remember my writing teacher saying how good I was at writing, that I still needed to be polished, but that I was certainly on the right path to be an important writer. I believed that and started writing my first book. Furthermore, I spent hours in my room, polishing myself, writing, creating my own world and when I was asked what I did so much in front of that laptop, my answer was always the same: I’m studying. Likewise, I kept that secret for a long time, until I shared it with my mother. I might not have the permanent resources every budding writer needs to get their first work published, but I had my mother’s unconditional love. “I should get a job” every time my father saw me studying, he always said the same thing “until you manage to pass a civil service exam, I’m already retired”. “Don’t be exaggerated, Claudio” my mother was the only one who always defended me “she needs incentives”. “And isn’t getting a job a good incentive?” he said. "You need to stop putting your hand on that girl’s head, Desiree. She’s not a kid anymore, and I’m not going to spend the rest of my life supporting her”. Good things don’t always happen to good girls, and my dad was proof of that. Sometimes I got the feeling he hated me, and that was one of the reasons I wanted to leave the house so early. The pressure to find a job was constant and unbearable, and they forced me to give up my dream and obey my father. The fights were intense and painful. That was another reason. I would have to fend for myself. Despite not knowing how to start, taking care of my own existence from that moment on, it would undoubtedly be the best decision I would make in my entire life. It would be, if I really followed the plan I’ve laid out my whole life for a bright future. I should have been happy, though, when I got a job. Twenty-five kilometers away from home, in a town where I didn’t know anyone, on a salary just above the minimum wage. I could call it freedom, but there was something dull about getting something I really needed but didn’t want to have. Being honest with myself, working in a cafeteria, serving people just to satisfy my father’s wishes, was far from my plans and I would pay a high price for it. Living in a room measuring thirty square meters, with only an old mattress donated by the neighbor and with an uncertain future, certainly did not bring me the freedom that I wanted so much, on the contrary, I was living in one of the most dangerous cities in Brasília; the setbacks were constant. Sometimes I regretted leaving home, but the pressure was too great. I was immature and deep down, I just wanted to prove to my father that I could manage without him. It was a sweet illusion. I remember my mother crying to see me go. I remember her calling me whenever she could to see if I was okay or still alive. Now she was in a hospital with God knows what illness, needing me. I would drop whatever it took to take care of her. In any situation, she would have me by her side until the end. I called my boss, letting him know that I’m returning to my city for an indefinite period. That was an unintentional resignation, but he is understandable and in the end he wishes me luck. Not only that, but I return home without guilt, with my head held high. After all, that house only belongs to my mother, who had inherited it when her mother died. Even though my father was the man who supported the house, everything in there was hers. I take the bus that takes me to the Plano Pilot bus station and from there I take another bus that takes me to my hometown. Stepping onto that street again fills me with nostalgia. From childhood, I spent running around there, having fun with the few friends I had. It’s only been six months, I tell myself as I fight back the tears. It hasn’t been that long. There is a gate in front of my old house. I know that my father is not at home, because he would not stop a day of work to take care of my mother, let alone receive me. I remember that I still have the spare keys in my purse. Likewise, I take them, open the door and go inside. The smell is still the same, things are still in the same place, my room is still the same as the last time I was here. A tear runs down my face when I see a picture of me and my mother on the nightstand by my old bed. Oh mother, I pray that this illness is not so serious and that soon you will be with me again. 

 I wipe away the tears, take out my cell phone, and call my dad again. “I’m already home.” A long sigh on the other end of the line, as if he didn’t like hearing my voice. “I admit your mother to the hospital in the city, medical clinic, room 08.” “What’s so important about your job that you can’t leave it for a day to be with your wife?” “I support this house, Aurora.” It’s as if he didn’t need to say anything else, as if that explanation was enough. Maybe my dad thinks I’m foolish enough to believe that if I miss a day of work, we’ll all starve to death. “Or maybe because you don’t care about her.” “Stop talking nonsense, girl, and go to the hospital and stay with your mother. I am waiting for the news.” Then he hangs up, with no worries or remorse. Sometimes I wonder why I expect so much from my father, knowing who he is. I don’t even change clothes. I drop the few things I brought and leave the house in a hurry straight to the hospital. On the way, I can’t focus on anything other than my mother and the illness she probably has. She crossed the road without looking both ways, and I almost got run over. The driver says something very offensive to me, but I don’t pay much attention to what he says, because my heart is pounding so hard in my chest that I’m gasping for air. I shake my head, closing my eyes in an attempt to dispel whatever it was that was clouding my ability to think. I enter the hospital apprehensively; I am released, and I go straight to the room where my mother is. When I get to the door, there she is, standing happily chatting with another patient. My heart calms down. She’s fine. When she sees me, her eyes light up, and she smiles. “Aurora” she walks towards me with open arms, still smiling.  “I miss you so much”. “Hi mom,” I feel like crying, “how are you? Why are you here?” There’s a serum injected into one of her hands, but apparently she’s fine. “I started to feel almost unbearable pain in my arm,” she said, showing the region, “which soon went to my back and I came to see what it was”. “Which is?” I run over the words, apprehensive. “Gallstones” she laments. “I’m going to be hospitalized until the surgery”. “But you look so well”. “Why do you say that?” She questions me with a smile, as if she found my concern amusing. "Did your father say something that made you worried?”  “My father didn’t even say what you had” my words came out harsh “did he at least accompany you to the hospital?” “Your father is very busy, Aurora”. “I don’t believe that, Mother.” the feeling of revolt takes over me. "He wasn’t even able to bring you here?” “It doesn’t matter” I wondered how far this submission in accepting everything my father did would take my mother. "The important thing is that you’re back”. I hug her again, happy to see her well, despite the reports.  “No one could stay with you during those days?”  “I’m not that bad” really not “there’s no need for me to worry the rest of the family about it”. I agree with her and shut up. “I’m sorry you quit your job, so you could be with me”. “Don’t be sorry,” I offer a smile. “I hated that job”. “And how are the books?” her eyes sparkled. "Have you finished writing the one you told me?”  “I’m running out of time” I’m sorry “but after you get out of here and recover, I’ll think about it”. “Negative,” she tells me. “You’re going to take my notebook, and you’re going to bring it to the hospital, and you’re going to write right here. I want this book done before I die”. “Don’t even say that as a joke, mother” a chill runs through my entire body “besides, I’m here to take care of you, not to be distracted”. “Don’t be silly, Aurora”, she continued, “write to me”. I don’t want you to abandon your dream. I look at her thoughtfully and end up nodding my head. The only people who knew what I wrote were my mother, and a friend called Geane. I met Geane precisely because of literature. She was participating in the Baikal de Brasília when we bumped into each other in the corridors full of books. She was a cheerful girl, with a contagious smile and an incredible nose for good books. When he found out that I was also a writer, he almost drove me crazy with the idea of ​​us being literary partners. Geane had a blog, where she wrote about books and promoted other authors. Even though I haven’t published any books yet, I accepted the partnership and gained a friend as a gift. My mother, on the other hand, was born with a love for books. Because of her I learned to like reading, when I saw her reading around the house, sighing, smiling, crying. I asked myself many times what I wrote there that made my mother enjoy reading so much. And little by little, she showed it to me, reading to me and offering me books for me to read. And without a doubt, in every phase of the earth, there was no one more of a fan of mine than my mother. The nurses entered the room, and she proudly said that she had a daughter who was a writer. She was the one who pushed me forward with that dream. Even if no one ever read my writing, even if I never received recognition, if my mom was there holding my hand and supporting me, it would all be worth it. The day passes quickly, when I realize it’s already night. I watch my mother sleeping, when the cell phone rings. “Hi dad” “How is your mom?” “Why don’t you call her and ask her yourself?” “Just answer the question, Aurora.” I want to curse him, but I know God would send me to hell. “She is going to have surgery. He has gallstones.” There is not even a sigh of lamentation. Not a hint of concern, nothing. “Tomorrow I’ll talk to her.” And when are you going to see her? “Whenever.” I close my eyes to banish any urge to yell at my own father. He has no regard for the woman he has been married to for over twenty years. “Are you coming home today?” Strange question, because surely he should have known better. Then I hear a female voice on the other end of the line, too. “Not. Who is there with you?” There is silence on the other end of the line. “I’m still at work, Aurora.” I don’t believe his excuses. I look at the clock. It’s past eight o’clock at night. “Tomorrow we’ll talk.” He hangs up, and I get a flea behind my ear with Claudio’s suspicious attitude. I hope it’s not what I’m thinking. I try to rest, but I can’t. That female voice on the other end of the line keeps me awake at night. I only ask God not to make me hate my father even more.

Luke Fagundes   A lump formed in my throat as the plane took off towards Brasília, but I didn’t cry. I will never cry because my father decided to be a son of a bitch with me. I got used to your disdain, your lack of empathy. Likewise, I might even be going to hell, but I would come back stronger than before and be ready for my revenge. An hour later, the plane landed on the runway. I went down and came across an unknown man, standing waiting for me. Gonzalo thought of everything, every detail, to make sure that the punishment would be strictly imposed against me. The man, in silence, directed me to a car, stopped a few meters away. Someone pushed unceremoniously from me into the backseat. Half an hour later he stopped on a street, without asphalt, with mud puddles and boys running barefoot. The place stank worse than the building where he was hiding with his mistress. The man opened the door and pulled me out. “Your aunt is waiting for you,” he said, pushing me into the middle of the street, causing me to bump into a boy who was running with a kite in his hand. “You don’t look where you’re going, do you, Uncle?” He looked at me and then turned his back and walked away. The man got back into the car, pointing his finger at a house far ahead, indicating that was where I should go. Then he left. For the last five hours, they had tossed me around like I was something nobody wanted. At that moment, I felt like garbage, thrown in the middle of a dirty place, with strange people, at the mercy of my own luck. Who knew my own father would do this to me? I walked towards the house. It was actually a shed, where the wood was being eaten by termites. The roof was old; the sewer ran in the open sky, there was garbage scattered in the middle of the yard. How could anyone live in conditions like that? Even worse, like my father, being rich left a relative as close as his own sister to live in inhumane conditions just like that. As I thought about all this, I watched a fat woman come out. His hair was disheveled, and his sandals were old and worn out. “Luke?” his face was so fat that they pressed his eyes in with the surrounding fat. At least she wasn’t hungry, I thought. “It’s me”, I replied. “I thought so” she said it wrong. "You look a lot like your bastard father,  please come in”. I also noticed that she didn’t like Gonzalo very much. But if that were true, why then did she agree to keep me there? “Your father took it hard on you” he walked behind her, while crossing a wooden gate and heading towards the entrance of the house. “What did you do this time?” If I told her, would it help me escape this hell? Hardly, no. “I had enough evidence that he cheated on my mother”. “You see,” the woman let out a loud and satisfying laugh, “I feel sorry for Olivia, who has to live with a man like him”. We entered the house. Apparently clean, had a torn and dirty couch. A small TV rested on top of an old, rusty table. And that was all there was. “How do you know my family so well?” I asked, while she turned to me and looked at me “because I didn’t know you”. “I left Belo Horizonte before you were born,” he replied. “I never got along with Gonzalo because he always refused to help me financially”. It was just the way he was. “And why did you agree to keep me here?” “You see, Luke boy,” she began to confess,  “I have nothing against you, you understand? But your father promised me a large sum of money to help him punish you. Surely with this money I will get out of this misery”. But what a motherfucker. Apparently, bad cretism came from the genetics of the Gonzalo family. “Oh, of course!” Once more I looked around the environment “​​I turned to currency exchange for your own interests”. She looked at me, confused, certainly not understanding what I was saying. ‘We don’t have a bedroom at home, apart from mine and my husband’s” she probably didn’t have any children, I presume, “so you can sleep anywhere.’ I’ll get you a mattress”. We walked to the other room, the kitchen of the house. There was a pot on a small wood stove. A rusty refrigerator and chickens walking in the middle of the room. Looking at that whole situation, I even understood why she had accepted my father’s proposal. “I’m going to get some clothes for you,” he kept saying while stirring what was cooking in the pot. "You can call me Magdalena, Luke boy. For today, I will take it easy on you and let you rest. But be up at six o’clock in the morning, because you’re going to work at the grocery store I have right around the corner”. And left the kitchen. Magdalena walked with difficulty, and I even felt sorry for her. Imagining the suffering life that woman lived for years might even break my heart, but her chalice would also be mine from that moment on. I needed to find a way to escape from here and make Gonzalo pay for all the evil he was doing. The next day, I went to the little market that looked more like a bar. In fact, it belonged to Geraldo, my aunt’s husband. He was a nice and hardworking man. He started to teach me what I had to do, but I was completely out of the mood for that. Magdalena appeared in the afternoon and handed me a package. “Your father told me to give you this” he held the thing out to me “and he said there’s a note inside that you should read”. I took the object and started to open it. It was a cell phone. I was surprised. What kind of punishment would that be, where I could communicate with the rest of the world and be able to tell everyone what I knew? I also took that note and read it “Pay close attention to what I’m about to tell you. Don’t use that phone to do your crazy things, because I’ve certainly proven what I can do. If you disobey me, I will send you out of the country and there you will live real hell for the rest of your life. In six months, on condition of good behavior, I will send you a small amount of money every month to support you. In a year, I’ll bring you back. Until then, you’ll be working just to pay for your stay at Magdalena’s. Do as I command, and soon this hell will end. And when you return home, you will return as a man.” I crumpled up the paper immediately. Gonzalo would keep me in a prison, with inhuman and even slave conditions, just to hide from the rest of the world how much of a petty and unscrupulous traitor he was. I wanted to find a way out of it all, but there wasn’t. I would have to endure and dance in the footsteps of my dear father. Once again, my throat closed up, and I refused to cry. Absorbing all the chaos, promising myself to make it my strength. I would get out of it, and Gonzalo would experience hell itself.

Aurora The betrayal I woke up scared. My mother is sitting up in bed, her eyes closed, moaning softly in pain. I jump to my feet, and I know my eyes are wide. I’m worried, visibly lost, not knowing what to do. “Mom, is everything okay?” “I’m in a lot of pain, Aurora” I can see that she’s crying “it’s almost unbearable”. “What do I do?” I look away, lost in the room. I look at the clock, and it’s almost six. "Wait just a minute, Mom, I’m going to call for help”. I hurried down the hall, not knowing exactly where to look. Furthermore, I remember how well she was yesterday, smiling, happy. She didn’t even look sick, and now, she’s lying there crying in pain. I spot a nurse a few feet away and run towards her. “My mother is in a lot of pain” I can hardly pronounce these words “please help her”. “Calm down,” she’s kind, drops what she’s doing to talk to me “what’s your mother’s name and what room is she in?” “Desiree, room 08,” I try to calm down, but I can’t. The nurse goes there, and I follow her. It is inevitable not to feel this way. My heart pounds in my chest so hard, my breathing gets heavy. I wonder if it’s possible for gallstones to turn into a more serious condition. I watch as the nurse administers morphine to her and asks her to lie down and try to relax, promising that the pains will soon stop. My heart ached to see my mother like this. “She’s going to be fine,” the nurse says, smiling at me, but that doesn’t reassure me. I stayed for several minutes, sitting and motionless, watching my mother. The expression on her face gradually relaxed, and a few minutes later the moans ceased, turning into sighs of relief. “Are you all right now?” I get up, approaching the bed. “It was like taking it with the hand,” she smiles, and now I know she’s fine “go home and rest a little and when it’s time to change, you’ll come back”. “I don’t want to leave you here alone,” I balk at the idea. “I’m not alone, Aurora” she holds one of my hands. "Anything, I’ll call you”. I gave some thought to the idea of ​​leaving her for a few hours, but the headache I’m feeling right now makes me accept the idea. “Okay” I turn around, pick up my bag and look back at her. "Maybe I can convince my father to come see you”. “Do it,” she agrees, “but avoid unnecessary discussions with him”. “Don’t worry”. I kiss her forehead and leave the hospital. The sun had barely risen; the morning was cold, and my stomach was groaning with hunger. I walk home, because I don’t think the distance between the two places is too far. When I arrived, it was after eight o’clock. I opened the gate and found the women’s shoes at the entrance to the house strange. “These aren’t my mother’s shoes” I Whisper, as I lean over, pick up one foot and realize that in addition to a terrible taste in shoes, their owner has a pretty big shape. I make a face of disgust at the same time that the little warning light goes on inside me. There’s something wrong. The door is unlocked, which is strange at first. My father left very early to work. He wouldn’t be home at that time. Then I think about the possibility of being an invader, a thief, a stranger in my house. I open the door cautiously and survey the room. Nothing out of place. Absolute silence. I entered slowly to make as little noise as possible, and I immediately remembered the female voice on the other end of the line as she spoke to my father. My heart races. I try to think that this is crazy in my head. But the shoes on the front door, the unlocked door, make me pretty sure maybe I’m not that crazy. I don’t realize the minutes pass, because I’m too focused on trying to unravel this mystery, when I hear voices and footsteps coming towards me. It was Claudio and a woman. They were hugging each other and smiling, but that same smile disappeared like smoke as soon as they both laid eyes on mine. The woman was in her nightgown and barefoot. I wasn’t that crazy.

“What are you doing here?” Claudio widens his eyes in fright as he walks away from the woman. “Who is this woman, Father?” I’m amazed, incredulous. “You didn’t answer what I asked you, Aurora”. “Stop running away from things,” I shout. "Who is this woman and what is she doing in my mother’s house?” “This house isn’t just your mother’s”. “Enough, father” I shout again and a tear runs down my face “at least once in your life be a man, and answer what I asked you”. “I demand that you respect me, Aurora.” He points his finger at me. “Respect you?” I face him without fear. "You bring your lover inside my mother’s house, while she is in the hospital, and you want me to respect you?” “You’re confusing things” he justifies, he’s more nervous now than before “don’t you dare tell your mother that”. “Or what?” I get very close to him, looking right into his eyes “I’m not afraid of you anymore, dad”. “Should have” he’s furious now. “Take your mistress out of my mother’s house now”. I watch the woman, who doesn’t seem scared or regretful about being caught in the act. Then I look at my father, who has apparently let his guard down. “Get ready, so we can go, Rebeca,” he orders the woman, who turns her back and goes back to the room”. “And you cheated on my mother, in her bed?” I continued the conversation. "Couldn’t you at least wait for her to leave the hospital?” “You have to swear to me, Aurora, that you won’t tell your mother anything”. “Just out of consideration for her, Father.” I felt disgusted with him. "If she weren’t so sick, I wouldn’t think twice about telling you everything I saw here”. He is silent for a few moments. He turns his back and seems to think it over, but I can’t see any trace of remorse or regret in his expression. “You could at least confess what you did, “I mean, with a revolt stuck in your throat”. “How is she?” you mean my mother, but I know you’re only asking that to change the course of the conversation. “Don’t pretend to care about her”. “Just answer what I asked you”. “If you’re really interested in knowing,” I grab my bag again, ready to leave him talking to himself, “go to the hospital and ask yourself. If you have time to cheat on her, you should make time to see her, too”. I turned my back and walked towards my room. I push the door behind me so hard that the noise it makes reflects the scream lodged in my throat. He sat on the bed and let the cry that, minutes ago, I held, flow. I wonder how long Claudio has been doing this. How long has he been cheating on my mom? I remembered her moaning in pain, while he moaned with pleasure inside her house. It was absurd. Inadmissible, unforgivable. The revolt was increasing every second I thought about it. My mother deserved to know this, but I couldn’t count on it now, not with her in a hospital. I had no right to divert her focus from just taking care of her own health and recovering. And only later, who knows, reveal the whole truth to her. My head now aches uncontrollably when my cell phone rings again. It’s Gene. “You come back and not even text me?” I let out a smile as I wiped away the tears. “I missed you too”. “Is Aunt Desiree okay?” She always referred to my mother that way. “You have a crying voice, Aurora. Did something happen?” “My mother is fine.” I answer, but I don’t tell the rest. “Are you sure everything is okay?” I try to control the emotion. I swallow hard, take a deep breath before I continue talking. “We can meet today. Before I have to go back to the hospital. “We must. I have a lot of news to tell you, people to introduce.” I find her excitement amusing. “At two o’clock, in the same square as always” “Combined.” “I really need to talk to someone, but now I have a horrible migraine.” “We’ll talk later, then. Rest up and see you later. The call ends. Geane has always been understanding. Perhaps this is her most outstanding quality. If I said I wasn’t fine, she didn’t question it. Glad to know I’d see you in a few hours. I feel relieved to be able to get out of the chaos my life has become in the last twenty-four hours. I take an aspirin and lie down, trying to sleep. Not only that, but I don’t dare go outside, so I don’t have to find those two together again. I try to push those thoughts back, somewhere they can’t disturb me. My father’s time to pay for everything he’s doing to my mother will come, but that time is not now, and I myself will make sure that happens.  

Almost a month later, I started to feel severe pain in my back, and I had pneumonia. If I died, I certainly wouldn’t miss my father, who didn’t care about me or worry about me. Magdalena, who wasn’t the worst of women, bought me a new mattress when she realized that the situation could get a lot worse. I was the source of her wealth. If I died, how would she survive? From caviar to fried egg, there were days when we didn’t even have an egg to eat. It was only after the second month that things started to change. Magdalena rescues all the money she earned from my father and bought clothes, furniture, food. The woman seemed to live in the clouds, but I saw absolutely no advantage in any of that. I was literally eating the bread that the devil had kneaded. When it rained, it leaked on top of me. There were days when the storm was so big that it flooded the whole house and I had to find a way to sleep on the small, worn sofa in the house. There was no running water, and I had to learn to live in cold showers. That was hell itself. While I enjoyed twenty-five years of my life living in luxury without ever having worked, these people lived like pigs in a sty, struggling daily to survive. I was feeling it on my skin, and it was way more unpleasant than anything I imagined going through in my entire life.   Before six months passed, I met a girl called Geane. She was a beautiful brunette and completely fell for me. Lying to her about completely everything in my life. He said that I was a civil servant, and that I was here, living with my aunt, to fulfill a dream. There was something about my story that almost nobody knew. I was also a writer, and that’s why we met. I had two novels kept in a drawer which I never dared show to anyone. In fact, I kept this secret under lock and key and Geane was the first to know. During the months we met, she introduced me to Naldo and Anne. I liked the fact that I was making new friends. Those people were able to pull me out of the reality my father had forced me into and around them. I could be whoever I wanted. I bullied Geane for four long months, because I still wasn’t able to sustain my own lies. I wore old rags, and I didn’t have a presentable shoe to go out with. In fact, my appearance was detestable. My hair was long and my beard showed how careless I was. I had lost weight. I was thinner than usual. Every time I looked in the mirror, I hated Gonzalo even more for doing that to me. But I had to behave if I wanted to win anything from him again, and when the six months had finally passed, he remembered me again and sent what he had promised. When Magdalena handed me the card, saying that was where he would deposit my money, I almost set off fireworks. When I pulled it out, there were only five hundred reals. “Who can survive on five hundred reads?” I questioned Magdalena. “You can’t do it,” she answered me,” but you’ll survive. He has no home to maintain, no children to support”. Thinking about it that way, she was absolutely right. When Magdalena offered me a day off, I went to the city’s shops and bought a pair of new clothes, some sneakers from the market and a pair of prescription glasses. In fact, it was counterfeit, but I needed to make a good impression on Geane on our first date. I paid to have my hair cut and shaved. There was almost no real left. I knew her, but I didn’t have the money to buy any candy on our first date. He remembered the bath he had taken in the open air, while the thermometer had read fifteen degrees. I’ve never shaken so much in my life. I left under a strong wind and met her in the central square of the city. Not only that, but I had already walked through those streets so much that I knew that city like the back of my hand. It was a paradise compared to the chaos of Rio de Janeiro. Geane really was beautiful and smart, but the chemistry didn’t happen. Maybe because she offered too much and broke the spell of conquest.   “I have a friend to introduce you to.” She kept talking. “Aurora has just returned to the city and needs to meet new people. What do you say? Another date, I thought. “Of course, “I replied, even without knowing how I could manage to do that, ” but I can only do it in another week”. “Oh, of course,” she answered. “Aurora is also a writer. You will like her a lot”. “Certainly”, I replied. “You just can’t like it better than me.” I let out a fake smile, pretending to enjoy the conversation. “I need to go, Geane” I said goodbye “I have an appointment with my aunt later, you understand, don’t you?” “Of course,” he replied smiling, “we talked via messages”. I hugged her and managed to get out of there as quickly as possible. I wasn’t the type of guy who didn’t want to go on a date, even more so with a woman as beautiful as Geane, but I was so focused on getting revenge on my own father that nothing else could hold my attention. Furthermore, I went back to Magdalena’s house thinking about it. The six months had already passed and from that moment on, whatever I earned from Gonzalo, I would need to save a part and put it together to return to Rio de Janeiro. How long would that take? Two years, three, five, ten years? With the little he sent, I might never get out of there, but I needed to find a solution, any solution, to get more money. I didn’t graduate from anything other than high school. He could speak a little English, but that was all. My biggest stupidity, perhaps, was believing that I would never need to study, because I was rich. My father supported me. I also never imagined that Gonzalo would be able to do that to me. Throw me through hell and walk away without looking back. If there was anyone I missed deeply, it was my mother. How would Olivia be? What was Gonzalo up to with her? I could call just to say hi, but I’d rather keep my distance to focus solely on the revenge plan. Certainly Olivia was in better shape than I was, that I wouldn’t doubt. While thinking about my escape plan that cold night, I received a message from Geane. “See you tomorrow? At the same place and at the same time as the last meeting. I look forward to meeting Aurora.” I just hoped that Aurora would make a difference in my life. Because deep down, that’s exactly what I needed.