Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 22:22:18 -0400 From: Tom Cup <tom_cup@hotmail.com> Subject: The Innocents by Richard Dean - Part 3 Chapter 3 Gay - A/Y Copyright 2000, 2001, 2002 by the Paratwa Partnership: A Colorado Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, except in the case of reviews, without written permission from the Paratwa Partnership, Inc, 354 Plateau Drive, Florissant, CO 80816 This is a fictional story involving alternative sexual relationships. If this type of material offends you, please do not read any further. This material is intended for mature adult audiences. Names, characters, locations and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. ************************************************************************ This story is part of the Tom Cup Library. Visit us at http://www.tomcup.com ************************************************************************ The Innocents By Richard Dean Part 3 Chapter 3 Still A Dream Elena and Julio took care of all the arrangements as we, three, were in shock, depression and grief. We could not care for ourselves let alone make funeral arrangements. That Christmas Day seemed like a nightmare. The presents piled under the Christmas tree remained unopened. Sometime during the afternoon, Toninho, slowly arose from the sofa and trod up the staircase, went into our Lady's suite, closed the door, locking it behind him. We neither saw nor heard from him for 2 days. I believe he had neither drank nor eaten during that period. Paulo and I tried to get him to come out, but there was no response other than the sound of his continual crying. When 48 hours had passed with no response, and the time for final respects to our Duchess neared, I got the passkey and entered Miss Flavia's suite. I found him sitting with his knees drawn to his chest. Wrapped in his hands was the dress she had worn at the Christmas Eve party. Rocking back and forth he held the dress to his face while inhaling the odor of her essence. I talked with him as soothingly as I could. He did not look at me or speak to me. Paulo collapsed onto the floor next to him and laid his head in the valley of his knees and chest, but Toninho did not respond. He continued his rocking motion. His clothing smelled soiled with perspiration and tears, as he had not bathed the entire time. It took all of my strength to pry him from that position in order to carry him to our room. After struggling to remove his grip from Miss Flavia's dress, I undressed him. Once naked I carried him into the shower and placed him on the floor. I turned the shower to face him and turned it on. I undressed and joined him in the shower. I pulled him to a standing position. I soaped and scrubbed him thoroughly. I shampooed his hair, rinsed him and propelled him out of the shower to stand in front of me while I toweled him dry. Once dry, I walked him to the bed, turned the covers down and had him lie down. I went back to the bathroom and finished my shower. Once dried, I went to the bed and lay next to him, holding him as tightly as I could. He spoke finally in a thin pitiful wail, "I want my avo back, Pae." "We all want her back, Ton. We can't have her back, its not in God's plan. We've got to rise now, Son. It's time to dress to stand next to her. Hundreds of people are waiting out there to see her for the last time. You are her blood; you must stand up and present yourself so others will take heart. She died, Ton, working for your dream. She's passed the torch on to you. Paulo and I will be at your side all the way. If you feel you can't handle it, Paulo or myself, will take over for you." After dressing we went down stairs and met Julio and Elena, who embraced my despondent and lost Toninho. Paulo was stationed at the front door ready to open our home for the viewing. I looked out the window and a long line of people stood waiting for entry. "Are you ready, Son?" as I positioned him between Elena and Julio who were ready to grab him if he felt faint or became ill. He had not eaten anything for a long period and I had suggested he might become ill because of it to our friends. "I think so, Pae." He uttered as he inhaled deeply to lessen his nervousness. "Paulo, don't allow too many in at one time, please. I want this to be orderly with as little confusion as possible, OK?" Paulo nodded his understanding and then opened the door. He spoke in a quiet respectful manner to the first of the throng as they entered to view the body and pay respects to our Lady, the Duchesa Flavia Carpazetti d'Souza. Dear God, let this Lady be held in your arms. A very personal piece of our life has been surrendered to your care. Love her as we have loved her. May your blessings shine upon her. Throughout the afternoon and early evening they came. Most carried a flower, which was laid at the base of her catafalque. The pile grew by singular additions until they reached the base of her casket. We had to separate the pile into two smaller ones at each end of coffin so as not to preclude interfering with the viewers as they filed past, stopped, and looked down upon her face as if she were sleeping. They then went to the receiving line and whispered endearing messages to Toninho, of the beauty and courage this Lady had shown the Country of Brazil. Toninho thanked them and would gently touch them on their arm as they passed on to myself, Paulo, Elena and Julio before leaving through the library door as they departed in quiet respectful movement. For those who broke down entirely, as often mourners do, Toninho would pull their arm up to assist them to move down the line, saying things like, "She knows, she understands you. Thank you for coming, you ease my pain." How the boy did it, I haven't a clue, but he stood calmly to outward appearance, tears would flow from his cheeks, but he made no unnecessary movements to wipe them away. After the first hour Elena took his arm and led him into the kitchen to get him to drink something and take a morsel of food. They quietly returned and resumed their place into the receiving line and continued greeting mourner after mourner. At 10:30 that evening we pulled away from the receiving line, and others of Miss Flavia's friends took our place. We went into the kitchen for a small bite to eat, and then ascended the stairs to our bedrooms. Elena and Julio left through the patio door and walked to their home. The mourners continued to enter all through the night, we awakened the next morning and -- after our showers, dressing and taking sustenance in the kitchen -- moved out to the receiving line, to spell those that had endured throughout the night. By 4:00 that early evening the line had come to an end. The doors were closed, and we departed with a funeral cortege to bury our Lady of the Candles as the newspapers had so declared her. Uncharacteristically, the news media placed her death notice and biography on the front pages. Television newscasters and readers wore noticeable black bands on their upper arms to indicate they were in mourning as they commented on the loss to Rio de Janeiro and the Country of Brazil. The media gave her a respectful departure, which is a bit uncommon with the yellow press in these days. It took Elena's reminder to us that our Miss Flavia would not be happy if all work for the cause stopped because of the loss of her life. Slowly but steadily we began to put our strength and commitment to the opening of Our Brothers Keepers. I talked to Beto Perreira and asked him to take over the Directorship of OBK as we called it. Only by sending Paulo to Fortaleza did he accede to change jobs in the middle of his life. We met Beto and Paulo at the airport. Beto and Paulo moved into the empty suite. Our family had taken on a new member and we quickly got back to the work of making the dream become a reality. We placed a sign over the front entry, which in simple but tasteful type said: Our Brothers Keepers with a side picture of a young man, which looked remarkably like Toninho, lifting a younger boy off the street. Throughout the difficult week while we were home in mourning, work was being done at break neck speed, which is quite unusual as the Latin American byword for rapid work is: It can also be done tomorrow. Our building was painted in Gray with white trim; all the windows were re-glazed. The roof was good for another four years before replacement needed consideration. The interior of the building showed much progress. The kitchen and cafeteria-style dining room was near ready. Administrative offices had been built and dry walled. The far back area of the building contained the auto and engine repair shop, machine and woodworking shop and an outstanding supply room with laundry facilities that were fully operational. The second floor contained a boys' dorm and a separate girls' dorm with separate shower, sink, and toilet areas at the end of the dorms. The third floor contained classrooms for the basic subjects plus a large technical center for data entry, computer repair, bicycle repair, small appliance repair, and last but not least a combination barbershop/beauty shop. Volunteer teachers and instructors were given a stipend to help cover their transportation costs. The only paid employees were the Director (Beto), Principal (Paulo), Nurse, accountant/bookkeeper, and librarian (costs of books, encyclopedias, were underwritten by the Halliburton Companies and Petrobras). We felt that music and art played such a prominent role in Brazil that it would be foolish to neglect education in those fields. Once proficiency was proven the students were tested and then sent on to public schools so as to be assimilated back into a productive and talented society. All of the students wore identical uniforms/clothing. During daylight hours the students were assigned jobs as helpers to janitors, groundskeepers, bakers, cooks, painters and any other person willing to have a helper assigned so they could teach a student a trade. Any student who was not assigned with a tradesman was assigned to the kitchen duties until a position could be found. After dinner from 6-9pm all students attended school in language, reading/writing and mathematics, art, and music (instrument & choir) We felt we could house a maximum of 300 students limit, but would start with 100 students until we could ascertain and work out problem areas during our first several months of operation. If any student proved to be disruptive, recalcitrant or uncooperative they would be expelled from the program. We didn't want to get into discipline issues with children. Ford Motors and Chevrolet Motors each offered us the use of three used passenger vans for the lease cost of $1.00 (2.32 Reais) per vehicle, which suited our transportation budget very well. Almost all of the equipment and supplies were donated to us in used but serviceable condition. During the transition period Beto and Paulo were busy keeping Toninho involved with crash courses in subjects which became troublesome to him, Math and English. Paulo insisted that Toninho brought his C grades in these subjects up to a B at minimum. Toninho was working very hard, and had little time for himself or me. I had complained to both Beto and Paulo about this, but was told in so many words, it was none of my business and they had Toninho's best interests at heart. What could I say? All Toninho and I could do was roll our eyes in exasperation. There was no defensive argument, which would win the day. The Marches of Silence were cut back to the first Friday of each month. This proved to be more successful as more people could manage to join each march than with weekly marches. And so it went. Money, supplies and volunteers continued to pour in. We could now afford to bank our largest asset: money into negotiable government bonds, which paid a higher rate of interest, and the money earned was reinvested to increase our net balance, after expenses were paid. The time of our opening would soon be upon us if things progressed with such success as we saw it becoming more of a reality. Within a matter of two weeks as we neared the first of February, we scheduled the Grand Opening of OBK, Toninho's examination for A levels, and Toninho's 16th Birthday. We also celebrated my second month of leave of absence. Julio and Elena had offered the use of their cottage in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina State whenever we wished to use it as long as it didn't conflict with their scheduled vacation period. Living in the Southern Hemisphere presents us with opposite seasons of those living in the Northern Hemisphere. When it's winter in the United States it's summer in Brazil. When it's fall in the north, it's spring in the south. February is the start of the fall season in Brazil. I thought that it would be a good idea for the four members of our family to take a week vacation for rest, recuperation; and a good time for personal relationship enrichment for both couples. Toninho had finally learned to add "y" rather than "I" for words such as Daddy. He had progressed slowly from using first person singular sentences, and was having less difficulty in speaking English, as he heard it more often as three out of the four, spoke it more often. For self-preservation he had to learn it, much as I had done when I first encountered Fortaleza in my early years of discovery of Brazil. He felt less exasperated when he spoke English to us, since he could slip in a Portuguese word in place of an English one that he didn't know or had forgotten. The day before we left for our vacation we went to the gravesite of our lady Duchesa Flavia Carpazetti d'Souza. For ten minutes I lay on my back next to her grave and talked with her, while semi-hypnotized by staring up into the sky blue bright light. I told her how well her Antonio was progressing, of our relationship, our trials, and the hopeful opening of OBK, a dream that would soon become a reality. I believe she was pleased and gave us her blessing. Next Toninho approached her gravesite and knelt beside her and kissed the ground. He placed his presentation of flowers at her headstone and stroked the stone for as long as he talked with her. I haven't a clue what he said or what they talked about. It's too personal to inquire. He returned to my position with tears streaming from his face and a brave adult smile with his lower lip trembling in a spasm one gets at the point of crying aloud. Paulo and Beto approached her grave from opposite sides facing each other and knelt down with heads bowed. We saw them reach across and hold hands as Paulo asked for her blessing, I presumed. They had to have been there nearly 15 minutes, before they kissed her headstone and returned to us silent, deeply moved. We recited the Lord's Prayer in chorus sotto voce as we stood by her grave once again. We were somber, but felt at peace and in accord with her that day. That day without her physical presence, we were secure in the knowledge that she was deeply engraved within our minds and etched in our hearts: this Lady of the Candles, our Mother, our friend, and our life companion. ************************************************************************ This story is part of the Tom Cup Library. 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