WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIAS Chapter Nineteen

WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIAS

Chapter Nineteen

The city was in an uproar. And it was not for less. After all, tonight would have been the inauguration of Theatro Sant'Anna, with a presentation by the Clara Weiss Operetta Company... Graça decided to honor the presentation with his presence. Of course, he wouldn't be able to return home that day, so he booked a hotel room. He could not fail to please his faithful squire, Cidinha, so when he went to the city to do his business, he brought his maid with him. As he told her, it would be his "day off", where all he needed to do was forget about the household chores and enjoy some relaxation.

The Theater was really luxurious... big, spacious... the presentation that night would be with the Italian Operetta Company Clara Weiss... it was a different program, after all, when I lived there in the Valley, my fun was listening to folkloric songs... country music, as people from the Capital used to say. She didn't quite understand why these uptight people from the big city despised the culture of the countryside, so she decided to take a closer look at what these people called "culture"...

It is not possible to say that she was impressed... she was, of course, fascinated by the structure of the place and by the clothes of the ladies who were there... in fact, this vision gave her new ideas for working in her atelier... Yes , a profusion of colors and models popped into his mind... he would have material to work on for months... and that gave him the perception that he should participate more in the social life of the city, since new ideas would emerge, for sure... as for the presentation? She commented to her maid that the cats that kept disturbing her sleep at night were much more interesting than the screams, which for her made no sense, emitted by the actors/singers on stage. At the end of the group's presentation she applauded like everyone else, not because she liked what she saw and heard... but because everyone else did the same.

After the presentation, they went to the nearby Hotel Coroa D'Italia. you couldn't tell it was "the hotel", but the rooms were clean... they changed the bedding... and there was no danger of getting fleas or bedbugs. The hotel had a dubious reputation, it was said that women of "easy living" stayed there and offered their "services" to anyone willing to pay for them. But, as Graça always said... to be bad-mouthed, it was enough to be a woman in this male-dominated world... she had some friends who lived in the hotel, and she never saw anything that discredited them. And, anyway, she had nothing to do with other people's lives, as she used to say ... in her words, "each one survives as he can ...."

It dawned. Cidinha wanted to go home so that she could leave it in order for her boss when night came. Grace didn't allow it. On the contrary. She handed her maid a sum of money, and told her to walk around the center and buy some things for her personal use... Of course, Cidinha was happy... after all... that was the good side of working with Graça ... sometimes she gave her maids a surprise, a surprise that made them literally happy. For example, the show at the theater, dinner at the restaurant... the money to spend on whatever she wanted... these were treats that the woman would never dream of getting from any employer other than the current one. Before working for Graça, she took care of another family... and the experience was not at all pleasant... so much so that she almost gave up working as a maid for anyone... but the need ended up putting her in home of his current boss. And she felt like she had hit the jackpot... after all, after a long time, she was treated as an equal, and not as someone inferior...

The day went by normally until around lunchtime... that was when Cidinha entered the store, all overwhelmed... When she saw her assistant like that, Graça tried to question her. The woman didn't want to say anything at first, but in the end she said that a pickpocket had taken all the money that her boss had given her as a gift. Graça asked her if she had filed a complaint with the police, who said no, as she didn't even know how to do such a thing. Then Graça asked him how the situation had occurred, which could have taken away his good... Cidinha responded to everything, with that air of dismay. Having the description of the element that would have stolen her maid, Graça decided to take a walk around the center, looking for it. She already had an idea of who she might have been. She gave some instructions to her seamstresses, asked Cidinha to stay there until she returned and went out through the city streets, hunting for whoever might have attacked her friend...

It didn't take long and she spotted her suspiciously... she began to follow him discreetly, always watching her actions. Soon the pickpocket chose a victim... he had two accomplices who were nearby to provide cover for him. Graça had noticed them, too... when the thief tried to attack his new prey, the girl intervened, giving him a kick so well placed that the boy rolled for almost two meters in front of her. When they saw their companion being attacked by a woman, their companions tried to attack her... what they couldn't imagine was that they were facing a hunter of men, much tougher than them... and the three of them were beaten in such a way, who soon surrendered to her. Graça recovered the money stolen from her maid, and tried to leave the place as quickly as possible... after all, she didn't want any trouble with the police...

She returned to the shop and calmed her aide. It was almost four o'clock in the afternoon. She dismissed the seamstresses, closed the store and went with Cidinha towards the tram stop. It was time to go home... after all, her maid was still nervous about everything that had happened to her... which was absolutely normal... after all, who doesn't get shocked when they're the victim of violence, right? Graça had taken care of the other people's friends who had attacked Cidinha... but until she got over the trauma, she certainly wouldn't want to return to the Center... good thing her house was in a quiet area...