58 - NOT EVERYTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS...

 58 - NOT EVERYTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS...

 

- I don't understand why you called me here, Mr. Zacarias...

- It's just that I need to talk to you, Mrs. Alice...

- About what?...

- That's the problem, isn't it? About what a country backwoodsman wants to talk to the teacher....

- That's not what I meant... I didn't mean to offend...

- Don't worry, Miss Alice... I understand you...

- But...

- But there are some things we need to talk about....

- Why is it that I have the impression that I will not like this conversation?...

- I think it's because you won't like it, really...

- Mr. Zacarias, could you be more clear, please?

- I'll try... how long have you been in our bosom?

- About two, three years... but you know that...

- Yes, I know... you came to take over the school, in place of Marta, may God rest her soul...

- Yes, that's right... I worked in the Capital and there came a time when I needed the peace that the countryside gives us...

- But he discovered that the countryside is not so peaceful, so...

- Sincerely? Even with the latest mishaps we are going through, life here is still better than in the Capital...

- The Rio de Janeiro?

- I'm not talking about the Capital of the Country, but the State...

- I understand...

- But why these questions, Mr. Zacarias?

- Miss Alice, you know that I, like you, tend to research everything that happens around us...

- I know... ox-tatá, headless mule...

- The best way for you to go unnoticed in a place is to make people not believe in your existence, Miss Alice...

- I didn't understand...

- I'll explain... of course you have no way of knowing, but before your arrival in this camp, life here was calm and peaceful. There were almost no paranormal manifestations...

- For what?

- I know you understood me... your surprise is a countryman talking like that...

- Yes, I confess that I'm surprised... but... so what?

- So it's been a while since I've noticed some unusual behavior from you...

- AND...?

- And I went to investigate... I'm a nosy bitch... if something seems strange to me, I'll check...

- Did you discover anything... strange?

- For now, no... but I just want you to know that I'm investigating you. Because I don't really like it when I can't understand what's going on around me...

- Why is it that I have the impression that you are not exactly who people think you are, in fact?

- Because that's exactly how I feel about you...

Alice sighs deeply, with an air of boredom...

- Mr. Zacarias, if you don't mind, I have to go to school... in a little while I have to give my classes....

- A mŕtvi chodia medzi živými, akoby boli tiež....

Alice turns, like lightning, towards Zacarias.

- What did you say?

- Well, I'm sure you understood me perfectly...

Alice's face was livid, and her eyes, that quiet blue like a spring sky, turned black as a moonless night. With an icy voice, the girl addressed Zacarias one last time, by way of farewell...

- Be careful what you say and think, my dear... sometimes we end up biting something that is not for our teeth...

And she went out into the lane, without turning again. Zacarias remained still, sitting on the bench in the square where he had had that conversation with the teacher. Yes, Juvêncio was right, something about that girl was strange... and he had to find out what it was... he hopes he was wrong, but her reaction when she heard him say the phrase about the dead walking among the living, as if if they were too, it made him more certain that his suspicions might be correct... he wanted to be wrong... but everything indicated that the teacher was an upír... she was probably the Woman in White who had been terrorizing the school lately. region... but it was still too early to come to these conclusions...

Alice walked down the street, still nervous about the conversation... who did that ignorant countryman think he was, to speak to him in that tone? He was an illiterate, ignorant fellow... how dare he talk to her like that? But... the way he carried himself was not befitting a man from the backlands... in fact, he looked more like a person who had traveled the world, a person who had studied in some great center... and that's what she I didn't understand... his pronunciation, when he spoke to her in Slovak, was perfect, it was as if he had lived in that land for some time... how could that be possible? And how could he know that she came from that region? Yes, she was Slovak, but she had never told anyone about her origins... not even Doctor Alberto, with whom she had a quasi-dating relationship... she had never said yes to the young man, only hinted at him and, at "h" time, he would jump out, leaving him baffled by his actions... not even he had any idea of his origins... and that backwoodsman... how did he find out?

Alice stopped at Dona Monica's inn and ordered a coffee with milk, accompanied by cornbread. She needed to calm down, and she could only do that by eating... the funny thing is, she could eat as much food as she wanted and it didn't put on even an ounce of her weight. She was slender. Well, as she consumed her request, her anger dissipated. After a few moments, he no longer remembered the conversation he had had with Mr. Zacarias... his only thought now was his students and the lessons he would teach them, to prepare them for the future, because all that mattered to his students was learn as much as possible so that one day, who knows, they can leave that endless world and grow socially in the Big City...

She paid her bill, packed her things and headed towards the school. Everything she had talked about with Zacarias just disappeared from her mind. All she knew now was that she had her students to take care of and her class to teach... and later, after completing her chores, she had an appointment with Doctor Alberto, who had invited her to take a walk along the riverbank, to enjoy the sunset together...