In Rio's Shadows

Chapter 5 Déja Vu

CHAPTER 5

DÉJA VU

Blanca held her breath until her Uncle Julio opened the door. His smile was priceless when he saw her. Her heart warmed and opened up to a gentle man who had always been kind to her. He wrapped his strong arms around her.

Blanca removed herself from his squeeze. He had aged a lot in seventeen years. The dark circles under his hazel eyes made him look tired and his broad shoulders sagged a little. While he had luxuriously thick hair seventeen years earlier, he was now completely bald.

“I thought you were coming tomorrow,” he said. “I would have picked you up at the airport.” He pointed inside the house. “Come in. Maria will be so excited to see you.” He took her hand. “But she’s still asleep. She hasn’t been feeling well. We’ll surprise her. In the meantime, I’ll show you around the place. I don’t know how much you remember from your last visit, but we haven’t changed it much.”

Julio picked up her suitcase as Blanca stepped over the threshold. “I remember this place, Julio. It still makes me warm and fuzzy inside.”

Julio smiled. He brought her suitcase to a guest bedroom, then showed her the small kitchen, study and bathroom. One of her favourite memories of the apartment was the balcony, from which she could see a path from the apartment complex to the beach. It was only a short walk to the Ipanema beach, which meant living here would be expensive.

When Maria called out to Julio, they went to the bedroom. With the curtains drawn against the strong sunlight, the room was dark. A frail figure lay on the bed, her face gaunt and pale. Light suddenly appeared in Maria’s eyes as she struggled to sit up. Blanca fell into Maria’s arms, struggling to hold back her tears. Maria’s hug was weak.

Maria’s blue-green eyes shone. “Oh, my darling Blanca, you made it. I am so glad to see you, my precious one.” Grey tinged her short brown hair, but her cheeks had a bit of colour. She was an attractive fifty-seven year-old woman, and she displayed a quiet grace and inner strength that made it hard to believe she could ever be sick. Other than the grey in her hair, she hadn’t changed much since she was young.

“I’m so excited to be back here. Julio was saying you weren’t feeling well. Are you okay?” She couldn’t have come at a worse time when her aunt needed rest.

Maria smiled and turned away. “I’m okay, Blanca. A case of the flu, that’s all.”

Blanca sat at the edge of the bed and held her aunt’s hand. “Have you seen a doctor?”

“Of course, dear.” She coughed. “It’s been a long time since you’ve been here. I wanted to come to Spain when that bastard Jorge hurt you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

Blanca pushed back the memories of Jorge’s fists. “Oh, Maria it’s fine. I had support. Besides, you were there in spirit.” She fought down the memories of her neighbour rushing her to hospital.

“Well, at least now he’s in prison and can’t hurt you anymore.” Maria pursed her lips, her eyes peering into the distance.

***

Maria’s energy returned a few hours later. As Julio washed the lunch dishes, she sat on the couch with Blanca. They flipped through an album of photographs from her last trip to Brazil.

“I remember this day at the beach. I spilled ice cream over your shirt.” Seeing her ten year-old, curly-haired self warmed Blanca’s heart. She turned the page and saw a picture of her father standing beside a man she only remembered because of the faint scar across his right cheek.

“Ah, yes, that was your father, Miguel’s friend. They were close back then.”

Blanca tilted her head, studying the friend’s strong presence. This man looked much more powerful as he stood close to her father who had broad shoulders, light green eyes and a black crew cut. “And they’re not close anymore?”

Maria shook her head. “No, they stopped talking after your last trip. I don’t know what happened with Pablo, or whatever his name was.”

Blanco stared at the photo, her hands shaking for no good reason. What was it about this man that sent a chill down her spine? And why did her father stop talking to him after their trip? He’d never mentioned Pablo.

“Do you know why we left early from our trip back then?”

Maria shrugged. “Not a clue.” She swallowed and looked into her lap. “You and your parents came back to the house after something happened, but they never told me much of anything. All they told me was you were staying with your father’s old school friend for a week, and then when you returned here, you left all of a sudden. I believe you did spend a bit of time with Pablo in the beginning.”

“Who were the friends we stayed with?”

Maria put out her hands. “I don’t know. Something your father never told me.”

Blanca was filled with dread, and now she was intrigued to learn more about Pablo. “What did Dad say?”

“Only that he got a call about an urgent matter at work. He was upset about something, but he only said it was about work.”

Blanca shifted in her seat and continued to flip pages, looking at photos of the library and exotic restaurants. “And what about Mum?”

“Nothing. She looked worried about something, and you also looked a bit confused, but quiet. Not your usual self.”

Blanca excused herself and went to the balcony to look at Ipanema beach. She pondered the mystery of her last vacation and found herself drifting into the past. She wondered why her father had never mentioned his friend, Pablo. She sensed a prickle of unease down her spine about their holiday, but her parents had never spoken about it. She wondered why she didn’t remember the last few days of her vacation.

She had a new mission now, in addition to helping reorganize the Felicidade de Negocios magazine’s offices. She had to find out what happened all those years ago. It was becoming clear to her now that her nightmares had something to do with Brazil. It was her chance to get answers.