Childhood of the Dead (7 page)

“Where is Crystal?”

“Who?”

“Crystal! The guy who plays pool here.”

“I've never seen him.”

Dito didn't take his eyes from the pool table and remembered in detail that day when he'd been there with Smokey and Manguito. Crystal would rub the chalk on the cue, studying his shots cautiously. Each point he made he would mark on the board.

“His name is Crystal.”

“I don't know who you're talking about, boy.”

“The guy, always in white, who plays here. You know him.”

The man smiled. “Get a life!”

Dito stayed, scratching with his nail some dirt from the wooden plank, while his mind worked on a way to squeeze that guy, force him to talk. Two little girls came by, one very black and barely dressed, the other with her hair in braids; they asked for soap, 250 grams of sun-dried meat and half a kilo of rice. The older one asked for the items to be put on account. The shopkeeper gave out the merchandise mumbling; when they left he opened and made notes in a long book. Nearly eleven, the morning was still calm and warm. From where he was Dito could see Encravado and Smokey coming in. He decided he couldn't miss this opportunity. He pulled out the gun, and came closer. With a shocked look the man watched the weapon.

“Let's go to the back room. We can talk better in there.”

Encravado passed to the place behind the counter. If anyone showed up, he'd say the man had gone out for a second and would return soon. Smokey began to play with the billiard balls, rolling them against each other. But both he and Encravado were on the alert. There was no noise coming from the back, and Smokey felt like going there to see what was happening. A little later he thought he heard Dito's voice, some nervous bleats by the shopkeeper and two muffled shots. Then Dito showed up at the door.

“He wanted to grab me, and got fucked.”

“Did he spill it?”

“Of course. Crystal has changed places. He's at Rocinha.

They left the market cautiously, then got down among the bushes; Dito was sure that, for now, they were safe. They sat down just below the
carrapateiro
-tree.

“Crystal is putting the whole police against us,” Dito said.”We gotta fix this guy.”

Dito never felt so emptyheaded. He knew it wouldn't be easy to find the guy and, in the meantime, Manguito would be getting beaten at the police station.

“What if I go to Rocinha and try to find him? I think it's a good idea” Encravado said.

The suggestion cheered Dito.

“That's right. Take some money. When you see him, come tell us. We'll wait around the Glo'ria market.”

Walking again among the bushes, Smokey felt glum because the cave plan would not work out, Dito was concerned that at every turn things were getting more difficult. Encravado didn't show any anxieties. He only complained he hadn't heard any shots, though he was happy the gun had worked so well.

“That son of a bitch deserved that!”

VII

Dito and Smokey sat on the sidewalk, amidst the market's confusion. Some women pulled little carts filled vegetables and flowers, while others put their purchases into baskets carried by boys.

“Look who's there,” said Smokey.

Dito saw Mother's Scourge balancing a basket on his head while he followed an old sour-looking woman. He had a cynical expression on his face.

“Go tell him about Manguito.”

Smokey slipped into the crowd but soon returned.

“Are we gonna do anything?”

“I'm not up for working,” Dito said. “I want to get my hands on that son of a bitch.”

“What if he's skipped town?”

“I don't think he would.”

“What if we go visit Manguito?”

Dito couldn't but smile at Smokey's crazy idea, who laughed and flashed his eyes.

“So, we just walk right into the police station and say we want to see Manguito . . . .”

“No, that's not what I mean, man. I know a woman in Mangue

who can help. She deals with a number of policemen.”

“How come she likes you?”

“Well, I used to hang around there until she got tired of feeding me. She thought I was just like her son who ran away.”

Dito wanted to laugh. But it was a good idea and it could work, while they didn't know of Crystal's whereabouts.

“And when can we see your friend?”

“After lunch.”

“What if she's not there anymore?”

“Get serious, man. She is one of the oldest ones.”

“What's her name?”

“Mother Dolores,” Smokey answered with conviction.

“Why Mother?”

“That's what she told me to call her. I think she's the owner of one of the cat-houses.”

“Is she a foxy?”

Smokey smiled, tried to express his answer in gestures, threw a stone at a dog going by and said: “She's worn out. She takes care of the young ones.”

“Okay, then, I want to meet this Mother Dolores.”

Pin showed up, sweating, with a dirty face and an empty basket.

“Where is the money?”

“There ain't none. Today it was shitty. I carried this basket for half an hour for some slut and when I was finally going to her home, some guy showed up and gave her a ride. Can you believe that?”

“She didn't give you any tip?” Pin was so resentful he only shrugged his shoulders with indifference.

“Well, if it was me, she would have to,” Dito said. “I'm not nice to these assholes.”

“Did Scourge leave?”

“I saw him going around after a woman beggar who was driving him crazy.”

Pin fired up a cigarette, gave another to Dito; Smokey gestured eagerly for one too, but was refused. “You're too young to smoke.”

“I'm a man, Bro': I know a thing or two.”

Eventually he got one and lit it off Pin's cigarette.

He amused Pin, this little black boy so full of sassy talk and brass. Then, Pin sat down on the curb too.

“I think this work in the market is no good,” Pin said to Dito.

“Let's try it for a little while longer. But we can't make no mistakes, right now. If we find out that Crystal is in a deal with the police, then we'll have a bloodbath.”

“How so?”

“We'll make our move and fill our pockets with money.”

“Do you think Manguito can hold out that long?” Pin wanted to know.

“If they send him to the detention home, he might. If they discover he's involved in the Sao Paulo case, we're fucked!” said Dito.

“Which case?”

“We did in two bitches who fingered us.”

“Phffff!” said Pin, considering this a grave situation. “So, John Law is out in full force!”

“When have they not been after us?”

Pin didn't know what to say.

“It's a one way street. Find yourself a rich daddy to take care of you or you'll always be their target. The thing is, you just got to know what to do and when to do it.”

Pin tapped the ash from his cigarette while Smokey sat on the asphalt facing them watching what was said.

“Just yesterday a dirty cop came to me and sang his tune. If I didn't give him one half of what I was getting as a carrier, he would put me in detention for vagrancy. I left him waiting for me there and ran away. Today, there was another one after Scourge. He said that without some kind of permit we can't do the toting.”

“There's a whole gang of them. What they want is money,” Dito said, angrily.

“If they keep hassling us I'm gonna do something else,” Pin said.

“What else?”

“Zebra's deal. The only problem was he rushed it,” Pin explained.

“And what did he do?”

“Rolling Johns. He got two girls and was getting some good money. Then he wanted to show he had balls and just fucked himself.”

“Another good scam is to get tourists at Corcovado and at Vista Chinesa,” Smokey reminded them.

“You need to know Rio very well to do well,” said Pin.

“I think the most important thing is to try to live in peace,” Dito said.

“You think they'll let us? Get off it, man. Wherever we turn up they'll be after us. When it's not the police, it's the guys from the Juvenile Division or even that bunch from the Salvation Army.”

“There were days Zebra made up to five hundred, after paying the girls. Easy,” said Smokey.

“What girls are we talking about?”

“I dunno,” said Pin. “When we decide, we just need to find other girls.”

“I think we should first try to do the market.”

“Around here, the way things are, they'll end up putting their hands on us. We'll go to some detention home. And we won't get out easy.”

They talked a while longer, until Mother's Scourge showed up. He frowned from afar. Taking the basketfrom his shoulder, he threw it to the ground.

“Shit! I am retiring today. I can't do it, man. I walked for two hours after that old bitch and do you know how much she wanted to give me? A deuce. Then I said: what's your problem, grandma, I ‘m sweating like a pig, the least I want is ten. She haggled, looked into her purse, and couldn't find the dough. So, you know what I did?”

Smokey and Pin chuckled as they imagined Scourge's decision.

“Snatched her purse and shook everything out of it. She wanted to grab me so I shoved her aside, and she fell over her groceries. Then I got me a hundred note.”

He put his hand in his pocket and showed the bill.

“With this bunch it has to be by force. Or we turn into beasts of burden, with lots of police and inspectors around to take half of what we make.”

And a little less angrily, as if speaking only to Dito, he said, “It's over, man. We're risking ourselves to get some honest money and everyone laughs at us. We can't be honest. No one believes us. It's a waste of time. It's like beating a dead horse.”

“What else is there to do?”

“What Zebra was doing. Without his clowning around. With a half a dozen good girls. Some young ass to make the old men desperate. Just any girl won't do.”

“Later on when we go over to Mangue we can talk to Mother Dolores,” Smokey said.

“What is this all about?” Mother's Scourge wanted to know.

“A way to help Manguito.”

VIII

The sun was hot. In the wide, dirty street, groups of men stood around. The women were only in panties, seated at the windows and on the front steps of the run down houses. They talked loudly, laughed, told jokes. Smokey leaned against a doorway and one of them was disturbed by the boy's presence.

“What do you want, nosey?”

The little black boy wasn't intimidated. A woman with droopy breasts told Dito to come closer.

“This one can come in.”

“I wanna see Mother Dolores,” Smokey said.

“Are you her son?”

Smokey didn't answer. He shook his head. The woman shouted for Mother Dolores. Getting no answer, she told Smokey to go on in. He signaled to Dito, and they passed by a dark woman with exposed breasts and thick thighs, and entered a corridor where there were bedrooms separated by wooden planks. In bedroom with an open door, a woman was being humped and groaned. The corridor ended in a kind of open terrace, beside which was a veranda. They saw refrigerators, a broken radio, tables, empty and full bottles. In a wide backed wicker chair sat Mother Dolores. She was fixing some clothes. She took off her glasses when she saw the boys. She recognized Smokey. “It's been such a long time! Where have you been?”

“All over.”

“Why don't you ever show up around here?”

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

“This here is my friend. From Sao Paulo.” And poking his buddy, he said, “Give her your name, man!”

While Smokey continued to talk, Dito had a chance to observe the woman, her grey hair, the blue shadows under her eyes. She was at least 55. She was black, with a serene face. She must have been pretty when young.

“And what do you need from Mother Dolores?”

“That you help us,” said Dito. “The police put their hands on a friend of ours. They will kill him.”

“And how can I help, God's child?”

“Smokey said you know a bunch of people.”

The woman smiled, her eyes becoming happier. “Where did they take him?”

“To the Mem de Sa' station,” Smokey said as if he were sure of it.

“I'm gonna ask around. Come looking for me on Thursday.”

They were leaving when she asked if they'd eaten. Smokey grimaced and she understood they hadn't. She called them to the kitchen. Two women worked over pans there. One of them, whom Mother Dolores called Zefa, set out the the plates and the spoons. Dito was a bit shy, but he served himself some meat, rice and beans. When they finished, the black woman insisted they eat more. Smokey had more but Dito accepted only a little dessert with cheese.They followed the corridor out past the rooms, where Dito tried to spot the woman who'd been groaning, but he couldn't find her.

At the front steps there were now three or four women. A beautiful blond who kept staring at Dito, a dark one with large breasts and a tall thin one, with black stockings and high heels. In the street, he recalled Pin's comments. And, while he walked, among groups of men who had considerably increased in number, he began to admit that Pin might be right. With rolling johns they could earn much more money without so many difficulties. He needed only to find the women — two of them who looked like the dark one with stockings and the blond one with heavy make up.

Below the trees, in Campo de Santana, Dito sat down and counted his money. He saw that it was dwindling fast. Two more weeks and it would be gone, and without money things would be much worse. He would have to spend hours and hours washing cars, or work with the vendor at the open market. The problem was that at the end of the day, they'd only pay one half what they'd promised. Even so, it was better than nothing. As if he had read his thoughts Smokey said, “Pin knows some good girls who are willing to play.”