by M J Dees
“A centavo for your thoughts,” he said
“I was just thinking about what a beautiful view it is,” she said, embarrassed by her true thoughts.
“Yes, it is beautiful isn’t it? Almost as beautiful as the company.”
This took Teresa by surprise, and she didn’t know what to say, so she just laughed and tried to convince herself that he was referring to the gathering as a whole.
“Where’s Mariana?” Teresa asked.
“Not sure,” the doctor answered. “I think she’s in the bathroom.”
There followed an awkward silence which neither party knew how to break.
“I love comfortable silences don’t you?” The doctor said at last.
Teresa mumbled an affirmation when, in reality, the last few moments had been anything but comfortable.
“Here you are,” Mariana said, bursting onto the balcony. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
Teresa sensed a look of disappointment in the doctor’s eyes when Mariana appeared.
“More to drink,” he asked getting to his feet.
“Yes please,” replied Teresa, offering her glass.
“I’ll come and help you,” Mariana said, eyeing Teresa with suspicion.
Teresa returned to looking at the view and decided this next drink should be her last. The energy in the party was starting to flag, and Teresa knew she had to get to the bus station before the last bus left.
“I better go,” she announced to Mariana when she had finished the contents of the next glass.
“Oh no.” Mariana feigned disappointment.
“I need to go too,” said the doctor. “I’ll walk you to the metro.”
Teresa shot a glance at the shocked face of Mariana, then back to the doctor, then back to Mariana.
“Don’t worry,” said Teresa. “The metro station isn’t very far.”
“It’s OK,” said the doctor. “I need to go anyway. My friend will be wondering where I am. “He deposited a polite kiss on Mariana’s cheek and went to get his bag.
“OK then,” Mariana put on a brave face. “I’ll see you at the protest.” She turned to Teresa to give her a polite kiss and whispered in her ear. “Behave yourself.”
Teresa hasn’t been thinking of getting up to anything, but now that he had planted the thought, she watched the doctor in a new light.
“Let’s go?” The doctor asked Teresa light as he returned with his bag. “See you tomorrow,” he said to Mariana and, having already said his other goodbyes, he was limping out of the door, leaving Teresa to wave goodbye to everyone as she left.
“I was beginning to think we would never get out of there.” the doctor confided to Teresa in the lift.
“You seemed to be having a good time,” she suggested.
“Just being polite.”
As they stepped outside, Teresa could feel a light drizzle. The doctor pulled an umbrella from his bag and, putting it up; he pulled Teresa close to share its shelter. Teresa was a little taken aback by the forwardness of the doctor, but his advances weren’t unwelcome, so she enjoyed the moment while it lasted for the short walk to the metro station.
“Where are you going?” The doctor asked.
“Sacoma. I need to get a bus to São Bernardo.”
“Really?” The doctor sounded surprised. “I’m going that way too. Where do you live in São Bernardo?”
“Assuncão.”
“You are kidding.” the doctor continued. “That’s where my friend lives. Whereabouts in Assuncão?”
“Do you know the Joanin supermarket?”
“Yes.”
“Just near there.”
“What a small world my friend lives very close to Joanin too. What is the best bus to get there?”
“Did your friend not say?” Teresa asked.
“No.” the doctor answered.
Teresa looked at him. He looked like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, but she didn’t trust him one bit.
“Where does this friend of yours live?” Teresa asked.
“Near the Joanin supermarket,” he answered.
“On the side near the McDonalds or the Pizza Hut side?” She probed knowing there was no McDonald’s or Pizza Hut in Assuncão.
“There is no McDonald’s near Joanin,” he said without missing a beat.
“On the Pizza Hut side then.” She continued.
“There is no Pizza Hut either,” he replied.
Teresa thought for a moment. Either he was telling the truth, was very good at guessing and therefore very good at poker, or he’d been stalking her, and that was why he knew Assuncão which nobody would choose to go to unless they had to. She thought the final option was unlikely so either he was telling the truth, or he was very good at lying.
An underground train rattled up to the platform, and they took seats in the almost empty carriage. Teresa eyed him.
“So what bus do you think I should get?” He asked again.
“Well,” began Teresa thinking that there was very little she would gain from withholding information about bus routes. “Depends on which comes first. I get the 152 or the 004. Both of them go to Area Verde, and I walk from there. Do you know your way from Area Verde?”
“If you can get me near Joanin I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Teresa was a little bit uncomfortable with the idea of having to be nice and polite to the doctor all the way on the metro and for the entire bus journey and now the walk from Area Verde. She would take him down the main road from Area Verde and then he wouldn’t know where she lived just in case he was a psychopathic stalker.
They changed at Paulista and Teresa led him through the underground corridors, up the escalator and over the moving walkways onto the green line platform at Consolacão which was quite busy. She led him to the platform until a train arrived. The carriage they boarded only had light blue preferential seats available, so they stood.
“Tell me about yourself,” he asked.
“Not much to tell,” Teresa began. “I’m a teaching assistant at the same school as Mariana. I live in Assuncão. I have two cats. Not enough money. How about you?”
“I’m sure there’s more to you than that.” he protested.
“What about you? I’ve told you a bit about myself now you need to tell me a bit about yourself. That’s fair don’t you think?”
“OK,” he acknowledged. “Well, I’m a doctor. I live in Praia Grande. I have no cats, no dogs, no pets at all. And I have more money than I can spend.”
This last point seemed the most interesting to Teresa.
“Is that it?” She asked.
“My turn,” he said. “Just cats, no romantic interest?”
Teresa laughed.
“No romantic interest, no,” she said. “How about you?”
“Nothing at the moment, although I’m working on it,” he said. “So it’s my turn right?”
Teresa nodded.
“What is a beautiful girl like you doing being single? You’re not a lesbian are you?”
“No.” Teresa laughed.
“Then why?” The doctor persisted.
“I guess I just haven’t found the right man yet.” the old cliché leapt to her aid.
“Is the male population of São Paulo that bad?”
Teresa thought about it for a moment and then nodded.
“Oh dear, well we’ll have to do something about that then won’t we.”
Teresa imagined he was trying to be suggestive.
“My turn,” she said. “Why did you agree to come and meet Mariana this weekend? Do you always travel halfway across the state to meet women you’ve just met?”
Teresa could tell by his expression that he had been waiting for this question and was ready for it.
“To be honest with you Teresa,” he said. “I didn’t come all this way to see Mariana. I came to see you.”
“What?” Teresa blurted. “Me? So you travel halfway across the state to meet someone you’ve met onc
e, and that was when you were sewing her head up, and you had no idea whether she was attached or not. Are you mad?”
“Never say that,” the doctor snapped and then, on seeing the surprise on Teresa’s face, he laughed. “I hope not.”
“I don’t even know what your name is.”
“It’s Felipe.” the doctor said, being more sensitive now to the clear agitation in Teresa’s voice.
The train arrived at Sacoma station, and they got off. Felipe began to follow Teresa towards the escalator when she turned around to face him.
“You don’t even have a friend in Assuncão do you?” She confronted him.
“I hope I do,” he said.
“Ok then,” she challenged him. “What’s the name of your friend in Assuncão?”
“Teresa?” He said.
“Oh no,” she replied. “You don’t think I’m going to invite you into my home, you crazy lunatic.”
“Don’t say that,” he said, a little annoyed, and then softened again. “Why not?”
“Why not? You think I’m going to take you home and let you fuck me just because you sewed up my fucking head?”
“Who said anything about fucking anyone?”
“I don’t know you from Adam you crazy… Do you think I’m going to let a nut like you in my house?”
“I’m not a nut.” he insisted and then reached out to her.
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped. “Do you find following women home often works?”
“I don’t know; I’ve never tried it before,” he admitted.
Teresa looked around for some answer and found none.
“Look, I’ve got to go, or I’ll miss my bus. I’m not sure what you’re going to do, but you can’t come with me. OK?”
She turned and began to walk away.
“OK. I’m sorry.” Felipe said and watched Teresa leave.
She got as far as the foot of the escalator before she turned and stomped back to him.
“What are you going to do now then?” She asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Find somewhere to sleep I guess.”
“You know Mariana would have been happy for you to stay at her’s. Would you like me to call her? I’m sure it’s not too late to get back there.”
“No thanks.”
“OK then.” Teresa turned to leave again, Felipe just stood there looking sorry. Like one of her cats when she’d just caught it doing something naughty.
Teresa sighed in frustration.
“Look. It’s not my fault you decided to follow me here. You could have been fucking Mariana right now if you’d wanted.” she said.
“I know, I’m sorry,” he said. “Don’t worry; I’ll be fine.”
Teresa sighed a very large sigh.
“I can’t believe this,” she said to herself. “OK, come on then. You can sleep on the sofa. But try anything, and I’m calling the police. Got it?”
“You don’t have to Teresa. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
“I know I don’t have to but what are you going to do? Sleep on the street? Come on. Let’s go, or we’ll miss the bus.”
Teresa turned once more and headed for the escalator. Felipe followed like one of her naughty kittens.
The bus was on the platform, about to leave by the time they reached the terminal, so they had to run to get in the doors before the driver closed them. Teresa placed her travel card on the reader, and with a click, it unlocked the huge turnstile in the centre of the bus, and she pushed her way through to the rear. Felipe, however, was struggling to convince the driver to accept a R$20 note, so Teresa got out her travel card again and released the barrier for Felipe.
“I can’t believe that not only am I letting a stalker into my house,” she said as they sat down. “but I have to pay for their bus ticket too.”
“Sorry.” said an embarrassed Felipe.
“What have I done to deserve all this?” She asked aloud.
Felipe said nothing but just stared at his trousers. Teresa simmered for a while and then began to cool down.
“You have to admit that this is not normal,” she said at last.
“What is normal?” Felipe asked.
“I don’t know,” Teresa admitted. “But not this.”
Silence resumed as much as it can on what must be one of the noisiest models of bus in the world. Without much traffic, the bus sped as fast as it could, and its engine screamed with effort. Teresa looked out the window at cars weaving in and out of lanes, their drivers full of beer, or worse.
“I came because you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met,” Felipe said at last.
“Oh shut up.”
“And I had to take whatever opportunity I could,” he said, not shutting up. “To spend time with you. However, I could. And if that meant being a little economical with the truth with Mariana and not being straightforward with you …”
“Straightforward?” Teresa interrupted. “Is that what you call following someone home? Downright creepy is what I call it.”
“OK, I admit,” he continued. “I might not have handled things the right way.”
“You can say that again.”
“I might not have handled things in the right way,” he examined her for a smile, but she was not in the right mood. “But I want you to know that I’ve never done this before and that I was so afraid of not getting another opportunity that I couldn’t let it go. I just had to take the chance. And OK, maybe that chance backfired but at least I gave it a go, and you can’t blame me for trying.”
Teresa wasn’t quite sure how to answer this. It was probably just another load of bullshit, but he looked, and sounded, genuine.
“Couldn’t you have just got my email or something?”
“Would you have answered it?”
“Maybe.”
“Would Mariana have given it to me?”
“Maybe not?”
Teresa thought of Mariana and then screwed up her face in mock pain.
“Oh God, Mariana,” she said. “She’s going to kill me when she finds out you stayed at my place. She’ll never believe that nothing happened. “
“Well if she’s not going to believe…”
“Nothing is going to happen.”
“Right.”
Teresa fixed Felipe with the kind of stare reserved for the cats or for children at school she had identified as being at risk of imminent naughtiness.
“Don’t tell her,” he said, trying his best to avoid her imminent naughtiness prevention stare.
“I can’t do that. Mariana’s my friend.”
“Then tell her my accommodation fell through last minute and so you offered to let me use your sofa.”
“She’ll never believe me.”
“She will if she’s your friend. And besides, it’s almost the truth.”
“Except that you had no accommodation in the first place.”
“OK, but that’s not your fault. I could have lied and said it fell through.”
“You were going to, right?”
“No, I never planned to lie to you.”
“But you would lie to Mariana?”
“For you, yes.”
“Hang on a minute,” said Teresa remembering something. “You said you had more money than you could spend. Why don’t you just check into a hotel?”
“I can do that if you want. Know any good hotels?”
“The kind you pay for by the hour.”
“That’s OK.”
Teresa looked at him to see if he was serious. He appeared to be.
“If it makes you feel more comfortable,” he added.
‘Ooh, that was clever,’ she thought. Now if Felipe stayed alone in a love hotel it would be her choice. He was trying to make her feel guilty.
“OK. I’ll show you where there’s a hotel.” Teresa bluffed.
“OK,” he said.
Now what? The bus turned off the main road onto a side road at a pace so terrifying that Teresa wondered why
the buses didn’t turn over more often. The centrifugal force shoved her into Filipe.
“Sorry.”
Felipe didn’t appear to mind at all.
The bus careered up a side road.
“Come on, we’ll have to get off in a minute,” Teresa warned him.
The bus shot past a bus stop, and Teresa struggled to stay upright and press the request stop button. As the bus tore along the road, Teresa moved from pole to pole, like a monkey reaching from branch to branch on a forest inundated with torrents of flood water. As the bus approached the stop, it halted with such force that Teresa was able to traverse the last five metres to the door with ease, grabbing a pole to stop herself from being catapulted back through the turnstile. Felipe seemed to be faring rather better, more like a hiker negotiating a hurricane. The bus arrived at a complete and abrupt standstill, and the two of them jumped down to the pavement to gather their bearings as the bus sped off again into the night.
“This way,” Teresa instructed Filipe who was looking around at the combination of building sites, slums and government-funded housing which lined the road.
He followed her across the road and into a side street which divided building site from the slum. Closed shops lined the street, except a pizza delivery place, outside of which a group of motorcycles stood. The owners were inside talking about something that neither Teresa or Felipe could discern because the language was so thick with slang and expletives. They may well have just been practising their swear words because Teresa couldn’t make out a single noun or verb in any of their sentences. Teresa thought she would find few of the adjectives the owners used in a standard dictionary.
The road climbed a steep hill, and Teresa walked upward with Felipe limping as fast as he could to keep up until they reached a small green area with steps leading up to a dark looking street at the top of the hill.
“Are you sure it’s safe around here?” Felipe asked.
“Are you having second thoughts?”
“Of course not.”
They climbed the stairs and once at the top, to Felipe’s apparent relief, the street looked quite respectable if a little dark.
They negotiated the multilevel pavement, being, in reality, a series of entrances to garages rather than a pavement as such. Then they rounded the corner into another street at the other end of which a group of young men were gathered chatting and joking.