"FROM CHICO BUARQUE'S NOVEL" "I'm dizzy." "FIRST DAY" "It must be something important." "I heard the doorbell ring several times." "It's too early for me." "It was light when Iwent to bed." "I think I know that face... from some distant and confusing time way back... when It still belonged to a dream." "But I don't understand." "It's useless." "I'm definitely not opening up." "I'd be capable of dying here in silence..." "Become a standing skeleton, facing his skeleton." "I'll go back to bed." "I think he will eventually give up... convinced that no one is home." "Now It looks clearto me, that he's been seeing me all along." "Disregarding the distortion of the peephole..." "It's still someone familiar, but difficult to recognize." "It's someone, who shook his head,scratched his nose... and withdrew from my field of vision." "I know It's someone who was with me a long time ago... but whom I shouldn't have seen... whom I didn't need to see ever again." "I knew he'd be back." "What's up, man?" "I got away this time, but he won't stopchasing me." "God knows why." "Number 6?" "A fellow here says he's madam's brother." "All right, fine." "You're the first pedestrian allowed." "Lowdown bum!" "They're pictures of my trip." "Have you seen mom?" "Mother has been lonely." "She won't have servants." "There's a cleaning woman on Tuesdays and Thursdays." "But mom hardly considers daily help companionship." "A nurse would be best for mom." "But mom thinks nurses become too intimate." "Mom might fall and break something." "She can't see a thing beyond her nose." "It's amazing how old someone can get overnight." "When father died we thought she would collapse." "What nonsense!" "She continued riding horses at that ranch she loved." "Last year mom was still riding!" "The best thing for mom would be a nurse." "But mom thinks nurses become too intimate." "It's time I got ready to go out." "Don't forget mother." "It's not such a dissembled body... one which hands are most eagerto touch... not to seek out the flesh, but to grasp the movement Itself?" "Mother?" "Don't worry, mother." "I'm just fine." "I GO TO THE STATION WITH TWO PACKS OF BILLS..." "WHICH THE BANK CASHIER GAVE FOR THE CHECK." "Brialuz." "Brialuz!" "NOW I SEE THE HANDS BELONG TO THE MAN..." "IN THE CHECKED SHIRT AT THE BUS STATION." "When I left the ranch forthe last time... five years ago,I must have left the gate open... and no one everclosed It." "That disturbs me." "For a moment this wide open gate... seems so impenetrable to me." "I'm not entering a place... but leaving all the others." "As if the valley surrounded the world and I came from the outside." "God bless you, my boy." "God bless you!" "If your father were here now... he'd come in laughing... he'd strike my hair... kick the stool... and say:" ""Get up, you rascal!"" "Your father shouted at the servants... cursed them, sent them away... took them back in, fired them again... but at his funeral they all showed up!" "Excuse me." "My wife died two years ago." "I'm very sick myself." "My children are gone in the world." "Only the small ones stayed with me." "The others left." "Strangers started taking over everything... the barn, the caretaker's house... the guest house." "And they hired outsiders." "They pulled down the stables... and ate the horses." "The strangers are just waiting for me to die... before taking over the house." "That's why I sleep in the storeroom... the grandchildren spread around the living room and bedrooms." "I'm going to stay here for a while." "What's that for, boy?" "What's that for?" "I'll go and get the children out of your room." "They don't bother me." "SECOND DAY" "Get out!" "Out!" "I told you to get out!" "Who are you?" "What are you doing here?" "You have five minutes to scram." "Ever since I came down from the mountains,something said..." "I'd end up looking for my ex-wife." "Not here." "Let's go to the café." "I'll be right back." "Don't you get varicose standing in a boutique all day?" "What do you want?" "I think I'll have a pizza." "What do you want from me?" " I'm in real trouble." " I see." "Some people are following me." "So what?" "They might kill me." "For four and a half years I lived with this woman." "I shut myself away with her." "Breakfast in bed." "Telephone off the hook, ignoring the outside world." "I took some jobs she arranged... fell sick on the second week and stayed at home." "During the last year she was the one to go out to work." "I'm pregnant." "You've sunken lower than I thought." "I'm sorry but I can't see how I can help you." "As time went by I got used to the idea of a son." "Betterstill,a daughter... who they say is more attached to the father." "I even thought of giving the girl my sister's name." "I got rid of the baby." "Are you satisfied?" "Are you?" "Are you satisfied?" "Are you satisfied?" "Are you?" "Are you?" "Are you satisfied?" "Are you?" "Are you?" "Are you satisfied?" "Are you?" "Are you?" "Are you satisfied?" "Are you?" "Are You?" "That was when she stopped 'loving me more than anything'... as she used to say." "I need to find somewhere to hide." "I see." "I think I'll go to a hotel." " Sounds good." "My clothes are at your place." "I've already packed them." "I'll have it delivered later." "I can't check in with no luggage." "Get your suitcase and... and leave the keys under the mat." "My only friend used to live there, in the Continental Building." "If Iwent up,I'm not even sure he'd talk to me." "It's a surprise to find him unchanged." "The same shirt outside his trousers... the same coffee stain below his collar... the same tic of biting the tongue when he dislikes something." "IT WOULDN'T BE MY FRIEND, BUT A COPY, WHICH ANNOYS ME..." "Excuse me!" " My son!" " Excuse me, coming through." " What time was the body found?" " Did he use to receive young men?" " Say that you recognize my son!" " Live at the Continental Building." "Where's the TV?" "Aren't I going to be interviewed?" "What was the suspect doing at the crime scene?" "What do you mean suspect?" "What crime scene?" "My son came to see me." "He was arrested when he entered." "If he were the suspect he'd have run away." "Why would a suspect run towards the crime scene?" " How long have you worked here?" "15 years at apartment 204." "Everyone knows who I am." "That bastard knows my son... but won't defend him because he's a racist." " Get the stretcher." " Excuse me." "Live for you." "Stay tuned." "Do you have anything to declare... about what happened last night at the Continental Building?" " Was the victim homosexual?" " I don't know." " I never saw anything." " They arrested my son... because he didn't have his papers." "My son was coming back from the beach." "Going to the beach isn't a crime." "No one goes to the beach with his ID in his trunks." " Was the fag an artist?" " Who knows?" " I think he was a gym teacher." " This is the suspect's mother." "He's not a criminal!" "My son's a decent boy!" " I didn't get it, battery's out." " Damn!" "I can't believe I missed that." "Change the battery quickly!" "Imagine my son, so weak, strangling a gym teacher." "Could you please repeat the previous sentence?" "It was very strong." "He's not a criminal!" "My son's a decent boy!" "He's honest and hard-working." "The criminal!" "He's coming!" "Quick!" " Bastard!" " Kill him!" "Murderer!" " Junkie!" " Murderer!" "Fat fuck!" " I'll kick your ass!" " Fat bastard!" " Junky monkey!" " Piece of shit!" " Fuck you!" " Excuse me, coming through." " Fag!" " Don't push." "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "COULD THOSE HUGE FEET BE MY FRIEND'S?" "IF I COULD, I'D SPEND MY LIFE IN STEAM." "Get out of here!" "Well-rested and bathed..." "I could wander around until tomorrow." "But a man with no commitment, carrying a suitcase... is committed to the suitcase's destiny." "It forces me to walk askew and in a hurry." " Just a minute." " Name." " He's not on the list." " Nor on mine." " Excuse me." " What list are you talking about?" "I just want to leave the case at number 6." "What's in the suitcase?" "Certainly." "Let him in, he's with madam." "I'm very grateful." "The suitcase found Its destiny... and I finally got rid of It." "Don't you recognize me?" "Your sister's friend." "You were a boy." "Do you like it straight?" "No?" "You can't trust your brother-in-law's drink." "Shit!" "IF I'D KNOWN THERE WAS A PARTY, I'D HAVE SHAVED." "Man, you were right." "Absolutely right!" "Amazing!" "What time is it?" "If Iwent into my sister's bedroom now,no one would see me." "like no one saw me the first time." "It was Sunday." "I'd come to pay my sister a surprise visit." " We need an armored car." " Especially in Brazil." " And these kidnappings?" " It's not so bad." "I'll do a plastic surgery, you won't recognize me." "Passion fruit, mango, tropical fruits." "I can't believe you don't have lemon." "I don't know why, It occurred to me... that my sisterwanted me to look in her bedroom." "I saw myself climbing the large staircase." "I came,not on my free will, but almost being pushed... as if she had removed from my path... family, friends,servants..." "On that Sunday, the messy bed disgusted me." "I had seen enough." "I WAVED TO THE PEOPLE AT THE POOL..." "BUT I DON'T THINK MY SISTER EVEN NOTICED." "That's him!" "That's the one we were talking about." "Always the same." "In every respectable family there's a nut case." " He's a bit of an artist." "Aren't you, brother-in-law?" "He has a house near our ranch... but he won't go there, because the neighborhood's gone downhill." "They say you've let it become a den for bums." "Go and see for yourself." "I've never been there." "My wife hates the ranch." "If you allow me a confidence:" "she's interested in selling it... which is impracticable, due to the present irregularities." "I'm tired of complaining..." "EVERYTHING LIGHTS UP." "NO ONE IS IN THE ROOM." "I GO STRAIGHT TO THE CLOSET." "Hi!" "Shit!" "Trouble!" "So excited?" "Look!" "Look!" "Don't you know me?" "I'm very loving!" "I'm very loving!" "I'm crazy!" "Come here, come here!" "I'm very crazy!" "I'm really crazy!" "I'm very crazy!" "Very crazy!" "THIRD DAY" "They look just like wax." "Like my father's crossed hands in the coffin." "It can't have rained so much during my childhood." "I see myself as a boy and there's the rain." "I rememberwhen we went to the ranch by carwlth my parents... and there's the rain." "I can smell your head." "It's the smell of my hair." "It's the smell of your head." "It's the smell of my hair." "It's your head, because you're always changing shampoo... and the smell is always the same." "You're just a child and get everything muddled." "It's your head, I know." "So what does it smell like, then?" "You see?" "I told you." "But the truth is, I've never forgotten." "I've smelled the heads of many women... and never felt anything like that." "NO ONE SEEMS TO MIND SEEING A DEAD MAN THERE." "This time I knew I'd be well received." "It's as if the cow were asking me:" "'So?" "What do you think?" "'" "Great merchandise!" "It's as if time has stood still... maybe because I've waited in the cow's time." "We don't deal with this stuff." "It's good merchandise." "We can do business." "Come back another day." "Did you hurt yourself?" "Watch out, boy!" "You must be careful with these people." "Your mother hasn't been back... but when she does, there'll be a lot of trouble." "FOURTH DAY" "The alcohol stings my cheeks." "I can't help thinking about my friend five years ago." "Probably feeling he's being remembered... he turns with a glint in his eye, disturbing me again." "You're useless!" "You should give up the land... even if you have to face up to your own family... which is also totally useless." "I imagine my friend receiving boys at the apartment." "I imagine my friend reading Rimbaud,and the boy on the sofa." "All laws are useless!" "All governments are useless!" "The endless poetry, the boy going mad... fetching a knife from the kitchen..." "The land belongs to the peasants!" "The land belongs to the peasants!" "But from that point on... my imagination loses the thread." "When Redhead sells the jewels... my cut should be enough for several months." "Maybe I could travel." "Get to know Egypt..." "Morocco... go to Europe." "THE GIRL DISAPPEARS SO SUDDENLY I ALMOST FEEL CHEATED" "Even so,I hope Redhead takes his time." "I don't mind being suspended in time." "The finest stuff..." "home-made." "The boss took to you." "My brother, who knows the market best, told the boss... this suitcase is worth twice the jewels." "But my brother, who knows the boss better... thinks that if you get more of that quality... next time the boss may pay you two suitcases." "But I, who know the boss still better, can guarantee... that if you don't want your ass kicked... you'd better not show up here." "FIFTH DAY" "Watch out!" "Watch the suitcase!" "My goodness!" "I must get rid of this suitcase." " This suitcase isn't yours." " Junkie!" "In the storeroom of my mother's apartment... there's a closet with my father's things." "If I stuff the case in, mom won't even notice." "Young master!" "Young master!" "Good sons always come home!" "Let me carry it, young master." "Let me carry it." "Do you remember your father, young master?" ""Why would niggers listen to horoscope programs?"" ""Niggers don't have star signs!"" ""Niggers don't have star signs!"" "Let's suppose mother won't answertoday." "She is probably reading a fashion magazine." "I could leave the suitcase right here." "Sooneror later mom will have to open the door." "Let's suppose mom gets a letter from Spain tomorrow." "Suspicious, the doorman may call the cops, the firemen." "It's gas, careful with matches!" "I need help." "Help me here!" "Go!" "Quick!" "We have to break the door down!" "The tools!" "The door is locked." "The suitcase would be opened in front of the inspector." "The doorman would mention my visit, which would indict me." "All I can do is leave the suitcase at my friend's door... and get down before he sees me." "After I married, my friend used to look me up... but I never knew what he wanted." "Hello!" "Hello!" "Hello!" "One thing that really annoys me is when I answer the phone... and no one speaks on the other end." " Could be mother." " No." "It's always him, it's his silence!" "When he opens the case... my friend will know It was me and he'llwant to thank me." "But he'll never find me." "Caretaker!" "Caretaker!" "Caretaker!" "You'll see!" " How did it get here?" " No idea." " It fell from the sky?" " From up there." " Up where?" " I didn't see." "What do you mean?" "I may be seeing things." "I may be seeing things... more clearly than they really are." "I'm starting to get used to this silent company." "It's like beingwlth someone in the family." "A younger uncle." "THE DOOR'S GONE, BUT I DON'T FEEL LIKE GOING IN" "You, wait!" "Stop!" " Let him go." " You can let him go." "I'm not going to my sister's house." "Quiet!" "Faster!" "Turn on the air-conditioning full blast!" "Maybe she remembered the other night... when she grabbed me as I got out of the closet... and then,abandoned her in the darkness." "I feel that when we go in she will tell my sister:" "Your brother stole the jewels!" "At the party,she couldn't have seen the jewels in my pockets." "Maybe she didn't realize who she was groping." "In any case,I could throw myself on her,suck her lips... and give her a kiss." "I could stick my hand under her skirt... and do It all quickly, right here." " Did she call?" " No." " She should call today." " I don't think so." "She was really nervous at the airport." "But in Paris she'll soon recover." " Fifteen-love." " Shit!" " Out!" " Fuck!" "Come on, let's go!" "Good ball." "Shit!" "Here!" "Game!" "Break ball!" "Break point!" "Thirty all." "Game!" "Dinner is served." "Excuse me." "Poor devil!" " Hidrólio!" " Madam?" " Nothing, nothing!" " Excuse me." " I thought Hidrólio had gone deaf." " He lost his sense of smell." "They don't know if it was caused by the gun blows... or by the psychological trauma." "Super effective." "Vodka makes it stronger." "I FOLLOW THEM, BUT THEY GO IN THE SAUNA..." "AND QUICKLY CLOSE THE DOOR TO KEEP THE STEAM." "Serve the girl first." "I had two interviews with the girl's psychologist." "She advised me to speak with her frankly." "Even asleep, she somehow registered... all the events on the night of the robbery." "The girl needs to work her fantasies out." "I can still taste steel in the roof of my mouth." "With the time difference, your wife must be at the hotel." "She needs to relax." "Did you read what the papers invented about the dollars?" "The newspapers need to pad out the news." "No fun saying the thieves left here empty-handed." "No one keeps a million dollars at home." "Actually, no one uses safes anymore." "But, the next robbery... better welcome the thieves with a million dollars." "You're right." "Better than spending 3 hours with a gun in your mouth." "And your wife wouldn't have to search for jewels in the closet." "Do you prefer prune, chocolate, strawberry... or a ball of each?" "Did you know your sister told the thieves to take all the jewelry?" "This wasn't in the papers." "The whole town is talking about it." "Did you know the jewels had disappeared?" "Do you know what the criminals did to your sister in the closet?" "The sheriff has just arrived." "Serve coffee in the living room." "There he is." "Sit down." "In short, this is how things stand." "As soon as I heard, I came here in a car with a siren." "It was a break-in, with blood on the floor, stained doors... in short, signs of a crime committed by amateurs." "The sheriff didn't say so, but my brother-in-law... took the chance to ask for help concerning the ranch." "The ranch case is more serious than I imagined." "The trespassers are protected by the local police... and curiously, appear to be involved in the jewelry theft." "I'll personally lead an investigation tonight." "I'll give you a call tomorrow morning." "Let's go?" "THE SHERIFF CALLS THE DRIVER..." "WHO RUNS HOPPING ON ONE LEG." "Go fetch the local sheriff." "My leg." "Easy now!" "Come with me." "How are you?" "This is the plaintiff, the owner of the ranch." "The local sheriff will accompany you from now on." "Anyone copy?" "I recognize him as the man who looked like an ex-boxer... who was with the criminals in the trailer." "THE EX-BOXER BREATHES ALL MY OXYGEN." "Redhead!" "Redhead!" "Shit!" " Where is it?" " What?" "Where's the jewelry?" "I never gave a damn about this guy!" "I thought he was a cheap crook, a swindler, a nobody." "And now..." "I found out... he owns this ranch." "Anyway, he's not here to evict anyone... on the contrary... he's brought an interesting proposal for all of us." "He introduced me to the members of a big organization tonight." "Are you kidding me?" "I took the liberty of inviting them for a chat." "Do you recognize your sister's jewelry?" "The idiots tried to get away." "Wait!" "Wait!" "Come on!" "You come with me!" "Set fire to the whole place!" "Come on!" "Let's go." "Enough!" "My sister and I used to climb the rock in the late afternoons." " Wait for me on the rock!" " I'd spend the night there... learning that the night is greaterthan the day... and that dawn is not the day being born on the horizon... but the night withdrawing into the depths of the valley." "LAST DAY" "That rumble following me must be distant thunder." "But It could also be the truck... the taxi, the fleet of private cars... him." "If they get to me, they'll think I'm trying to run away." "Seeing the man in the checked shirt there... fills me with gratitude, I don't know why." "I'm no longer sure I know him." "In fact,I only know him by the checked shirt." "They surely won't deny me... a telephone call at the bus station." "I'll call... my mother." "I need to take... a bath... wash my hair." "When my sister... gets back from hertrip... she'll pay me... six months... rent... of an apartment." "If my mother... doesn't answer..." "I'llwalk to... my friend's... place." "He... won't... mind putting me up... until my sister... gets back." "If... my friend... has... died..." "I'll have to knock... on my ex-wife's... door." "She... might... open... the door a crack... and stick... her foot... behind It." "But when she sees... the blood... stain on my shirt... she might... let me in." "Let me in." "I see nothing." "Elther It's the tunnel..." "OR I'M DEAD."