THE CRYSTAL CUP - Chapter Thirty

 THE CRYSTAL CUP

Chapter Thirty

Roseli was thoughtful. It had been almost two months since she had moved in with Ricardo, but things were not going as she had hoped. Life together was proving to be very different from what she had imagined. Definitely, her partner was not the person she expected. Okay, they had a daughter together. And that was something to take into account. But other than that, the love that seemed so strong between the two, showed itself as a fabric that frayed every day... the fights started out light, at first... just discussions. But as the days went by, aggression against each other began. And they have already reached the stage where they come to blows. In the last fight, even, she left a wound on her companion's shoulder. He didn't fight back, but she knew that if they continued down this path, at some point something would happen that would have no turning back...

Two months was a short time to evaluate a relationship… but there was nothing to evaluate in their situation. She hadn't worked out, that was all. The only thing that bound them…sex…wasn't something strong enough to hold them together. She was resolved to return to her former solitary life. As her mother always said, better alone than in bad company. And she's been in pretty bad shape lately...

Of course, living with Ricardo had her advantages. Not paying rent, for example, was one of them. And not having to worry about little Leticia was another good thing. After all, Ricardo's mother adored the child and stayed with her all the time when the little one wasn't at daycare... but that wasn't enough for them to stay together. And she began to look for a new house to live in. She hadn't talked to Ricardo, yet…but she would as soon as she found a place to stay.

Lunch break was ending and she had to get back to work. Suzana, a colleague of hers, had told her about a house close to where she lived that was for rent. From what the friend said, it would be perfect for Roseli and her daughter. But she would have to see the place first. And she intended to do that right after her shift ended. There would be no problems, since Ricardo would arrive late from work, daily routine. He never got home before eleven at night. As for little Letícia, her grandmother would take care of her until Roseli arrived… and she didn't intend to be late to pick up the girl.

One of the things that drove Roseli seriously was the time her husband got home every day... as he used the so-called "direct car", where he worked a twelve-hour day, she knew that his workday should end at seven o'clock at the latest... but it was rare for him to get home before ten-thirty, eleven o'clock. Of course, this behavior only started after the couple's first fights. It was like he was running away from her presence. And she just hated her attitude. Another thing that bothered her a lot was the fact that he always came home smelling like alcohol. She also drank, but she couldn't stand the smell of cachaça on other people... she felt her stomach turn.

When the two moved in together, they would rush home as soon as they left their jobs. She would arrive home around five o'clock, he usually between seven and a half and eight o'clock... it was all as if they were in paradise on earth... until the first arguments began, over banal things, without any sense. A dish out of place, a shoe out of the shoe rack... little things that weren't worth a heated discussion, but that served as a trigger for it. And little by little they grew in their... shall we say... importance. One day, Ricardo forgot his glass on the arm of the sofa... it was the kind of thing that Cecília didn't care about, she simply picked up the object and put it in its correct place. But not Roseli... maybe because she was used to living alone and having all things kept in their proper place, she just couldn't stand the idea of anything scattered around the house... she didn't like what she called a mess.

The clock finally struck two in the afternoon... her shift ended at that moment. Roseli waited for Suzana to join her, because as she had promised, she would show her the house they had for rent. At first, what displeased Roseli was the distance... it was too far from her place of work... but if the rent paid off... well, there was only one way to find out, right? The trick was to go there and find out... ask the landlord how much he wanted for rent and assess whether it would really be worth it... the closer they got to the destination, the less Rose felt attracted to what could be her new home for some time. time. The place was not at all what she expected. They had been on the journey for more than an hour and it had been a long time since they had been driving along bumpy, unpaved streets. Roseli wondered how the place should look on a rainy day...

They finally arrived at their destination, and Suzana accompanied her to the place where the property was for rent. More and more she liked the place less and less... the street was dirt, all holes and the house in question was on a land below the level of this one. Roseli thought back to rainy days... to go down to the land itself, there was a rudimentary wooden ladder. Roseli has already found herself in trouble with little Letícia on her lap, going up and down that way... she definitely didn't like the place. But, since she had gone there, the thing was to see what the real conditions of the house in question were. The land was large, and behind the houses there was an orchard and a chicken coop. My God, thought Roseli, I'm in the countryside and I didn't know it!

The little house was cozy... One bedroom, one living room, kitchen and bathroom inside the house... the floor was made of burnt red cement. The walls painted white and the door and windows green... yeah, the little house was kind of cute. Behind his house was the orchard, where the landlady told him he could pick fruit as he pleased... in the orchard there was a persimmon tree, an orange tree, a plum tree (yellow plums, not red ones) and a few banana trees. .. and other fruits that Roseli couldn't identify at first. In addition to the orchard there was a vegetable garden, with lettuce, cabbage and other greens and vegetables... besides, of course, a garden where camellias, daisies, roses, palms, glasses of milk sprouted... and Roseli ended up falling in love with that property ... but when he thought about going down those wooden stairs with his little daughter in his arms.... all charm for the property disappeared like the mist dissolves with the sun...