Nowhere People

In Tramandaí, counting on finding one of his friends who might offer them shelter for a night; at the first attempt Paulo finds Leonardo, who moved to the coast to prepare for the exam to be a public prosecutor. Sitting on the porch of his parents’ bungalow, engrossed in a book on criminal procedure, Leonardo is startled when the car comes up his drive. ‘Hi, Leo,’ Paulo greets him. ‘Paulo Guevara and his surprises,’ says Leonardo. ‘I figured you’d have committed body and soul to the Lula campaign by now,’ he teases. ‘Some things have changed in the last few months.’ Leonardo looks at Maína suspiciously. ‘Evening, miss,’ he said. ‘Good evening,’ comes Maína’s intimidated reply. He gets straight to the point, ‘I need somewhere to stay tonight, Leo. Any chance of staying here in the guest room?’ ‘Of course, make yourself at home. You know the way, take your things and sort yourselves out up there … If you need an extra bed, there’s a fold-up there in the … ’ And Paulo interrupts him. ‘No, no need.’ Leonardo picks up his book again. ‘Right. I’ve got to finish up a few pages here now. We’ll catch up on news at dinner time … We can go to a really cool pizza place that opened recently.’ Paulo takes Maína’s things, leaves the car just where it is. They go in by the back door. In the bedroom there’s no sheet on the mattress. Paulo looks in the cupboards and doesn’t find anything. Maína looks under the bed; Paulo, laughing, says they’re not likely to be there. He’ll leave it, they can ask later, he doesn’t want to bother Leonardo any more, he knows how much he’s been devoting himself to passing these exams since the start of the year. They go down to the kitchen, Paulo pours out two glasses of milk, takes the packet of Tip Top biscuits from the basket on the table. Straight afterwards he washes up what they’ve dirtied (one of the reasons he’s welcomed by Leonardo is that he has never taken advantage of his position as a guest). They go out for a walk along the beach. Though it’s nearly five in the afternoon, the sun is still strong, with that punishing north-easterly wind. There are two boys flying kites on the walkway which was damaged by some recent rough seas; there’s a big plastic bag, opaque but quite see-through, with seven others inside it and a piece of paper on the outside announcing that the kites are for sale. One is blue and the other is red, they are the same size and design but it’s the red that has completely caught Maína’s attention, she no longer has eyes for anything else around her. Having expected her to be thrilled by the sight of the sea, Paulo notices this and is annoyed; up till now her only question has been about the fishing platform: she wanted to know what that thing was that was going into the sea. He explained, she said nothing. They walk over to the boys. Maína asks if Paulo can buy the red one that’s flying (it’s the first time Maína has asked him to buy anything; Paulo thinks, something has changed). Paulo fulfils her wishes. Maína reels in the kite and stows it under her arm. They stay till after it gets dark. On the way back, Paulo asks her if she liked the sea. ‘The sound of the waves and also the waves,’ she says, and they turn right onto Leonardo’s street.