Childhood of the Dead (17 page)

VIII

They gathered in the early morning, under the
oiti
-trees. Mothers' Scourge had the VW bus's keys. To keep the bus out of sight from the police, he'd moved its parking spot several times. It was now parked on a side street, not far away. Meanwhile, Dito explained to them, once again, each one's positions:

“First I get out, and make the gate open.”

Pin was eager, Encravado had lots of questions, Mother's Scourge didn't appear to have any doubts.

“No one needs to be rushed. If things get tough, I'll take prisoner one of the guys and he will leave with us.”

“This rain doesn't help!” Mothers' Scourge observed.

“What's the problem?”

“It's more difficult to speed up in the rain. Mainly in a shitty VW bus!”

“We don't need to go far. In the first deserted place we get out and run away,” Dito explained.

They walked towards the van: Encravado and Dito next to Mother's Scourge. Dito noticed they were all nervous, as soon as the car was in motion. Even Pin stopped to joke around.

Several traffic policemen were at an intersection, when the light turned red. Mother's Scourge stopped the car, eyes fixed on the policemen. Anxiously Dito waited for them to get moving. Encravado, on the other hand, had been so nervous he couldn't talk. When the light turned green the car ahead of them did not move. One of the policemen approached it while the cars behind honked their horns. Mother's Scourge backed up a little and then drove away. Dito and the others felt a great sense of relief.

“Glad to see you kept your wits,” Dito said, leaving his friend proud.

“One mistake and we would be in the cage.”

Encravado said he wasn't nervous, “I am always like this, before I begin anything. I warm up later on.”

Pin just smiled, while Figurinha kept quiet, until the bus went around an island covered in full blossom flowers, passed by a street heavily shaded by centuries old trees, ending up in an avenue with a canal in the middle:

“It's there!” he said.

The VW bus continued on, went around the supermarket, avoiding crowded parking, went up a side street, approaching the gate. Dito got out and pushed the button. He returned to the bus. Before he sat down the gates slid sideways, slowly. Mother's Scourge accelerated. It was a large warehouse filled with crates and bags. They chose to park close to a stairway. Before the gates closed back up, Figurinha and Pin ran to escape to the outside.

Dito and Encravado checked their weapons one last time, and quickly climbed the stairs, stopping at the office level. Dito was the first one in. He passed through the hallway until the large room. He noticed that the cashier was not in and that there were fewer employees this time around. He feared everything would go to waste with that change of circumstances, but he knew that one way or another the supermarket had to have money. He leaned against the counter when a young man asked him if he could help him. As the guy approached him, Dito pulled his gun. Encravado jumped over the counter and two other employees were caught by surprise.

“I want money!”

“There's no money here.”

Dito didn't let that bother him. He didn't flinch. He just cocked his gun.

“Too bad!”

The man got scared and raised his arms.

“Money, only downstairs, at the cash registers.”

“Let's first look around here.” Dito said, pushing the man into the screened cage.

“Open the drawers. I wanna see it. If you make any suspicious move, I'll burn you,” he ordered.

The man pulled out the first drawer: there they were, rolls and rolls of bills. Dito couldn't refrain his anger, at the man's lies and gave him a blow in the head. Seeing the guy had lost his balance Dito then kicked the man in the stomach with his knee. Then, he was upset with himself for not having brought a bag. He picked up a towel hanging on the back of a chair, and began putting the rolls of bills in it. He emptied the first drawer, then the others. Those were clean. He saw there was a safe in the room, but believed there was no time to open it, for he didn't think it a good idea to stay much longer. He went back to the table where Encravado had kept two employees under the gun, and told them to open the drawers. One of them obeyed. It uncovered a little more money. Dito thought of insisting they open the safe, but he was worried that time was escaping him and that the third man might recover from his beating any time soon.

“Let's go to the bathroom!”

Dito gave this order but he wasn't sure if he should go along or if he should ask the man lying on the floor to open the safe. He believed that to be the manager, therefore the keys would be with him. He told Encravado to keep control over the others while he went back to the man on the floor and began shaking him.

The guy didn't understand what Dito said, or he made as if he didn't. Dito slapped his face. The man stood up trying to attack. Dito showed him the weapon.

“Open the safe. I won't say it again.”

The man took some keys out oh his pocket, then he unlocked the safe, opening up the heavy door.

“Now, let's go to the bathroom.”

Dito saw that there was more money there than he could have imagined. He had never seen so much money in all his life. They pushed the workers to the bathroom, and tried to lock them there. The key didn't appear to work. Encravado got the key from another door, the lock turned and locked. They go back running to the safe. Noticing Encravado's nervousness, Dito felt hurried. It appeared as if they had taken too much time. Dito's ears burned and the scar above his eye hurt.

Encravado opened the safe's door slided with his foot. Dito immediately put the rolls of bills on the towel. They lifted the towel by its corners, and tied them as a sack. They went down the stairs and got into the VW bus. They didn't perceive anything different in the warehouse. Mother's Scourge turned the key in the ignition and the engine didn't turn over. He tried, quickly again, with the same result.

“Shit!”

Dito tried to be calm. The gate had begun to open, just as they had agreed with Pin and Figurinha. Now, they were all nervous. They thought of running away before the gate closed back again. But Dito was afraid of crossing the warehouse's entire extension, without protection. Encravado believed they should leave the bus behind. Mother's Scourge turned on the key again. The engine turned, euphoria took over.

“Quick! The gate is closing!” Encravado shouted.

Dito had noticed it closing, but had not wanted to scare Mother's Scourge. The VW bus went by as fast as possible, however, the gap left by at the closing gate was narrow. Mother's Scourge decided maybe the car could pass anyway. Then, they heard the machine guns fire on the VW bus body. Mother's Scourge turned the wheel to change the direction of the car, as they collided the gate stopped but left the car caught in between and one of the doors could not be opened. Mother's Scourge broke the windshield with his foot, jumping immediately through its opening. Dito saw him receive the machine gun's fire on his chest. The police had also placed themselves on the other side of the street. Encravado also tried to escape and he was hit in the head.

The police got close to the car, weapons in hand. Dito saw so many things in those few seconds: Pichote falling and trying to stand up in the cemetery; Caramel pushing him towards the other prisoners; Mother Dolores crying for Smokey's death; Beth's dreaming of a life they would never have. He also saw the face of the man he had just beaten. He appeared disturbed. His shirt was blood-stained and he headed a group of people. The supermarket's security service opened the gate, and pushed back the bus. One of the men pulled Dito from his seat, while the man with a stained shirt approached. He was biting his lips with rage and gave Dito a blow, then a second, and a third. Others beat on Dito's back and stomach, someone gave him a blow in the forehead with the machine gan barrel. For Dito, the warehouse began to turn around. Dito felt a profound sleep take him over as if he had dived into a deep lake. Everything around him became cold, he no longer saw his friends. He only retained the image of Mother's Scourge holding his belly, as the machinegun fire began.

IX

Dito woke up some days later, on a rainy morning, staring at the burning lights. He tried to find out where he was. He saw men and women in white uniforms moving about. They called in some visitors whom Dito could hardly see. When they got closer, he recognized them: Big Purple and Caramel, from Sao Paulo.

“Can he come with us, doctor?”

The doctor told them to wait a minute while he looked over the charts. Dito imagined the waste of all that. He knew what would happen to him. All the treatment he had received there would be for nothing. Before he got out of the bed, he felt the adhesive tape on his head, the chest wounds, the cut on the right side of his ribs. He stepped with difficulty while Big Purple watched him, his eyes mocking him.

“Let's put some clothes on,” said the male nurse.

Dito dragged himself to the space behind the screen, Caramel followed him. He could hardly slip on his pants and shirt, then he asked for his shoes.

“That's silly, you won't be needing them,” Caramel said.

Dito didn't insist, unsure if the nurse had heard him anyway. He, Caramel and Big Purple walked in the ample passage between the beds, from one side of the room to the other, away from the big window in the back wall that let the light in that silent room of white walls and uniforms. Close to the door Big Purple slipped him into handcuffs. They went down a stairway, out on a patio where there were only tree stumps and a pile of trash, and pushed Dito into the police wagon.

Dito held on the edge of the seat when the car moved, going fast in the turns, speeding up only to brake suddenly and then speeding up again. He knew he was being taken again to the police station in Sao Paulo, where he would see Dr. Mauro one more time. That's where his end would come. He remembered Mother's Scourge holding on to his belly while his legs weakened; remembered Encravado fainting, the blood going down his back; and he envied them for having died so quickly. He closed his eyes, opened them again and saw Beth hugging him; the dark woman at Pichote's wake; saints at Mother Dolores' and her praying to Yemanja.

Dito was neither revolted nor afraid. At the first chance he would kill himself. That would be the only way to escape. Before that he would like to surprise Dr. Mauro, just as he had done with Crystal, Crystal and his soft talk, his games, his unreasonable plans. He remembered the hair tufts on his back, his promises and lies. What a liar he had been! Even at the very end he still found the energy to muster up lies. With the police chief it wouldn't be any different, Crystal and Dr. Mauro were alike in everything.

After several hours travelling they arrived in Sao Paulo. The doors were opened and Big Purple told him to get out. When he jumped out of the car, he received the first blow and fell down. Caramel then stepped on the wound he had in his ribs.”Stand up, big boy. Don't act so weak, because no one will fall for it here.”

Policemen at the entrance to the building laughed. Big Purple caught him by the waistband and dragged him, while Dito tried to stand up, lost his balance, and fell.

“What has he being doing?” One of the policemen at the door asked.

“Bunch of little things.” Caramel said.

They pushed Dito onto the bench, Big Purple went to the other side of the counter and, sitting in front of a type writer, began to fill out a form, which after typing he took to another room. After Caramel told Dito to stand up, they walked through a dark hallway, up to a large room, filled with piles of old newspapers in one corner and in the other some cleaning material. Caramel disappeared for a minute, only to show up carrying two chairs saying,” Dr. Mauro is coming.”

Big Purple shut the window and turned on the light. “It won't be easy, big boy. The man is dying to put his hands on you.”

Caramel looked for something behind the newspaper pile and brought out some nylon cords which he threw in Dito's direction. The door opened and the big man with a mustache came in. He had on a long overcoat and appeared irritated, as he stood in front of Dito.

“Take his clothes off and tie him up to the chair.”

Big Purple followed the orders.

“The doctor said he must take it easy.” They laughed when Big Purple said that.

“We'll see.”

Dito was naked. The wound at his ribs was covered with gauze and adhesive tape. The police chief held with his thick fingers the edge of the adhesive strip and pulled it all out with a single move.

“Let's start here. You won't need to get better.”

Dito howled and bent over.

“Break the stitches, Big Purple.”

The black man said he would look for a pair of scissors.

“Fuck the scissors, man! This we push with the fingers.”

And to set the example, he held one stich pulling it with his nail. Dito's body shook. He shouted and tried to stand up.

“Stop the scene, this doesn't hurt that much.”

The stitches were pulled and blood came out of the wound.

“You finish it off, Big Purple.”

Caramel brought a handkertchief and gagged Dito.

“I want to see this wound open again.”

Dito's ribs and legs were covered in blood. Caramel picked up the adhesive on Dito's forehead, and pulled it off. The boy didn't know what hurt the most but he couldn't move, his shouts he was sure were not being heard. The floor around his chair was slowly being covered with pieces of gauze, cotton and adhesive beyond the blood drops.

When the undressing of the wounds was almost completed, Dr. Mauro told Caramel to take off the gag.

“Who told you to end with
Dona
Deborah? Speak, because this time I ‘ll end with you. You won't escape.”Two black men came in with a table and the type writer. The police chief asked them to leave everything close to the pile of newspapers, where the light was stronger. Caramel rushed to take one of the chairs to the table.