Forced Truce
Ulisses, once informed of what had happened, offered to mediate the situation, since Rachel, perhaps, wouldn’t be able to do it on her own. She, however, refused the offer. Respecting the definition of boundaries was of fundamental importance to maintaining cordiality. She valued respect in order to spare Leônidas from the suffering that, by staying in that house, would pressure him. The sensitivity of the moment revealed itself as the unease of realizing that adults, too, are governed by emotion, and that the obvious rationality applied to the situation had failed to keep her away from that scoundrel, which was deeply embarrassing. Power, however, was not in her hands.
Wisdom allowed her to handle the situation with greater care, with the hope that Phillipe would suffice, at first, as someone she could vent to. He took on the task of distracting the boy while he was there, to better manage his anxieties, if that was within his reach. Compared to that age, when the lack of reference points amplifies rebellion, he was just as likely to lash out in anger as he was to sink into melancholy. His expressions revealed the symptoms of that absence of strength; his smile, consequently, was no longer so bright.
Phillipe tried to do what he could to serve as a distraction. Ulisses, however, foresaw that the tears shed wouldn’t be enough to ease the tension. He had prepared a delicious dinner, from which Leônidas ate very little. He took advantage of the quiet moment to try to comfort him. He anticipated that, although the context was no longer the same, that didn’t mean it would resemble the hell he had faced before arriving there. And, above all, this time he wouldn’t be alone.
Ulisses went to bed with a heavy heart, knowing no one was immune to being burdened by worries during the night. He was used to lively boys, incapable of ending a conversation. He had never seen them so quiet. Morning came, however, and Leônidas seemed to have momentarily forgotten the matter that tormented him. He asked to be allowed time to do its work until things returned to their proper place. It was a kindness he offered himself. As best he could, he followed the advice.
They started the morning with video game matches, which was a good sign. He called, within Leônidas’s earshot, to Rachel, so the boy could hear that everything was fine. That helped ease his doubts and let the day unfold with more serenity. Bartolomeu would be leaving at sunset.
The outcome of the conversation that had taken place between them wasn’t discussed during that call. However, the news of his departure changed Leônidas’s mood, which nurtured a thread of hope that his mother would be strong enough to set clear limits on that renewed closeness. He knew Bartolomeu wouldn’t easily accept hearing “no” as an answer. Faced with the difficulty of explaining the reason for his discomfort, he chose to remain silent. After all, Bartolomeu had always been a man of aggressive behavior; his greatest fear was what he might do when the woman insisted they should no longer be together.
Everything was far too strange to settle for the usual response, since ignoring the situation was the only way to protect himself from being hurt even more. He wasn’t ready to have Bartolomeu so close to him, despite knowing that he might return home and hear from his mother that they needed to pack up and move again— to somewhere the man couldn’t find them.
Ulisses kindly placed his and Phillipe’s bikes in the back of the car to take them to the coast. Leônidas couldn’t remember another time when he had had so much fun. Not just because of the long trail he and the boy walked, but also because they had gone into the salty water.
He took off his prosthesis while Phillipe supported him. The waves seemed weak and barely challenging; given the flat terrain, they felt compelled to walk further out. Distracted, a wave crashed over their bodies, knocking them to the ground and covering them in sand. The last time he had been there, Leônidas had done nothing but stand still, watching the horizon.
On Sunday morning, Ulisses told him that his mother had called while they were at the park. He reassured him that everything was fine, without saying more. He knew that by the end of the afternoon, he would be returning home and then would be told everything that had been said while he was away. He believed there was nothing left that could surprise him — but on the other hand, his intuition told him that the days of peace had been left behind for good.