THE CRYSTAL CUP - Chapter Thirty Nine

 

THE CRYSTAL CUP

Chapter Thirty Nine

 

- Helena, wake up!

It was Cecilia, trying to wake her sister... who was screaming, lying in her bed. Cecilia, terrified, turned on the light and did what she could to wake Helena. Finally, she opened her eyes. For a few seconds she stared at the bedroom ceiling, eyes lost in nothingness. She didn't seem to recognize where she was. Finally, she paid attention to her sister ... she sat down on the bed, put her face in her hands and stayed like that for a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity to Cecília.

- Everything is fine with you?

- Yes, it is... don't worry!

- Girl, you scared me! What happened? Why...

- Ceci, I don't want to talk about this...

- Okay... but you scared me...

Helena got up, and went towards the kitchen...

-I'm going to make some tea for myself... do you want one too?

Cecilia followed her sister...

- For sure. I need!

In a few minutes, the two were sipping their tea, in silence. Cecilia even wanted to ask what had terrified her sister in her sleep, but she thought better of keeping quiet. And so the two returned to their room...

- Do you mind if I sleep with you?

- Of course not, Helena... you know I don't care!

And the two sisters slept together, as if they were two children embracing.

Ricardo had left work at eight in the evening. The clock showed almost midnight, and he was still at the bar, downing every glass that appeared in front of him. He was already pretty drunk. His friends tried to convince him to go home, since in a few hours he would have to go on duty, but nothing could convince him to go rest. Until he ended up sleeping on the bar table anyway. The owner, as he already knew him, decided to leave him there... at least he was resting. And the time the boy would have to wake up was the time he would open the bar, even... then there would be no problem... at least, not for the bar owner.

Janete was still inconsolable over the fact that Cecilia did not want to go back to live with her husband. What do you mean, she kept asking herself... would she rather live in sin? In Janete's view, her daughter was wrong not to accept her husband back. So what, that he had betrayed her? After all, this is part of life. Anyway, she learned not to express her idea anymore, because the last time Mario almost fought with her. Almost, because Mario only lost his temper after being tested a lot. And Janete knew her husband's limit.

Estela went down to the living room... little Selene was sleeping, and the girl decided to take a few minutes off from "maternal care". She really was tired. Even more so because her mother was always bothering her ears saying that they would have to baptize the child as soon as possible...

Estela sat down on the sofa, took a cup of hot chocolate and sipped it calmly. After a few minutes, her Mario also came down, and started talking to her daughter. Low, so as not to wake the rest of the family.

- And then, Estela? How are things?

- It could be worse, Daddy... it could be worse.

- The little one...

-She is sleeping. So I went down a bit...

- Have you been talking to Dona Isabel and Seu Geremias?

- Yes... fortunately Seu Geremias is already recovered...

- Well, an accident like that always leaves sequels...

- I know... but your Geremias is always up... no one would say he stayed in bed for...

- His son is missing...

- And my daughter's father, too...

- I know, Stella. But that's life. The good ones always leave early...

- So it doesn't pay to be good...

- Shhhh! Don't let your mother hear you say that....

The clock read five o'clock in the morning. The bar doors were opening. Ricardo blinked... he was still under the influence of alcohol... he got up from his chair, paid the expense to the bar owner, who served him a very strong coffee... and went ahead, towards the garage of bus. He was switching legs at first but as he advanced, he managed to keep himself upright. After some time, he was already walking normally... He took his stopover car... his conductor looked at him out of the corner of his eye... he smelled alcohol on his partner, and he wasn't sure if he really wanted to work with him. ... in the end, he decided to let go. After all, Ricardo has never been involved in any accident since he has been with the company for so long. And there went his car, gaining road, towards the starting point. Ricardo had a tiny bit of hope of seeing his ex again... after all, the line he was assigned to that day was right next to his sister-in-law's house... and Cecilia should probably be living with her. By the time, he should get his car to go to work. Was she working? Where would your new job be? He had no idea. But he had to find her. He was so obsessed with his ex that it had been more than a month since he'd gone to visit his daughter. Since Roseli hadn't had any days off in the last forty days, the girl became more and more attached to her grandmother...

- Ready for another day of work, Ceci?

- Yeah... give me a ride?

- As always... you don't want to take any chances with the bus, do you?

- Yeah... well...

  -I understand you. And don't worry... I'll catch you back in the afternoon...

- Thanks...

- But you're aware that you won't be able to run away from him forever, aren't you?

- Yes, I know that... but the longer this meeting takes, the better...

- So let's go...

In fact, Helena was more concerned with the possibility of Cecília meeting her ex than Cecília herself. The last nightmares that tormented her always had the couple as protagonists... and in her vision, Ricardo murdered Cecília... and Helena never managed to arrive in time to avoid the crime... this nightmare tormented her, and she didn't have the courage to tell her sister... she even thought she should, because maybe that way Cecília could better protect herself from an eventual encounter... but what about the courage to tell her that? How could she tell her sister that, night after night, she watched her murder? ...