Nowhere People

Henrique turns up at the encampment. He is alone. As soon as Donato sees him he runs over towards him. Maína finds it funny, this little three-year-old doll who is so receptive to the presence of a guy who just four months ago was a stranger. Henrique is downcast, he says he stopped by because he was missing the boy so much he couldn’t bear it. He has brought some little books, the kind you give children under four, he brought a box of tabletop games for Maína’s sisters. He asks if he can stay for lunch and hands her a bag with a roast chicken and polenta. Maína hugs him and says thank you. It is a while before she asks about Luisa, and he replies that they have decided to separate. Luisa has gone back to Rio, she will do her doctorate there, because from one moment to the next she had decided that she had been far away from her parents for too long and, yes, just because she is wilful and impulsive. Maína leaves him playing with Donato and prepares a pot of rice; her sisters entertain themselves with the Chinese chess, whose rules he tries to explain while Donato uses him as a human climbing frame. Maína’s mother says she is going to prepare a sweetcorn porridge for Henrique to have for dessert and to take away in a jar for later, it will help to perk you up, she assures him. While the rice is cooking, Maína hands Henrique a package, says that there are two envelopes inside, one with his name on and the other with Luisa’s, they’re a couple of things she would like them to have as gifts. She only asks that his not be opened until after they have eaten the porridge and that hers is only delivered to her when the two of them have made their peace. Henrique takes the package, saying he isn’t sure he will be talking to Luisa again all that soon. Maína says she’s sure they will get back together before long, she says Luisa loves him too much, that she has never seen anyone love somebody so much. Henrique leaves the package next to the bench where he is sitting, goes back to playing with Donato. It’s a lovely day, with a breeze that couldn’t be more pleasant. Maína asks her mother to help her take the table from inside the tent to under the tree on the northern side of the encampment. She tells Henrique (who tries to get up when he sees the women carrying the table) not to move, today he’s the guest of honour. They fix the legs of the table so that they aren’t wonky and cover it with a flannel tablecloth with a Christmas pattern that her mother has kept for years, something they use only on special occasions. The lunch has taken on a festive atmosphere. Henrique has left the van radio on loud, the girls asked him to, they are as noisy as ever. Maína proposes a toast, saying she never learned so much in so little time from anyone and that she will miss them. They clink glasses. Her sisters don’t really understand why they do it. Henrique jokes that Maína really did learn: she learned the dramatic touch that Luisa used to bring to even the simplest occasion. They laugh. Maína says she is going out to fetch some leaves and herbs and make some tea while they wait for her mother’s porridge. Henrique says he has plenty of time. Maína takes the basket (which is a bit large for someone who is going to gather leaves and herbs but nobody notices). It’s a lovely day. She goes into that small bit of forest that grows on the north side of the tent, walks maybe thirty metres, climbs the tree, reaches the branch she selected years earlier, ties four good, strong knots, waits for a series of lorries that always scream past to add to the loud sounds from Henrique’s van. (She thinks of the time she talked to Luisa about God, and perhaps because of all that studying, Luisa said proudly that she would rather not believe in the possibility of there being a God. She asks Him for Paulo’s disappearance, his total disappearance, for many years.) She puts the rope around her neck and jumps.

spring Donato