Gold for the Good - Page 6

On a Sunday, a few days before the event, Susi had had to spend the afternoon with her group, Women with God for Family and Freedom, volunteering for their church’s charity program on behalf of economically disadvantaged priests, and preparing for the Gold for the Good of Our Country campaign. Joel had agreed to babysit Leona, and had invited his new friend, Douglas, to join them. Joel had mentioned Douglas a couple of times to Susi and Leona. He had just started working at the same factory as Joel. Leona was very curious about him. When the three of them met, she could see right away that he and her uncle were very good friends because they hugged each other for a long time. They also hugged each other many times throughout the afternoon and early evening, although only when there was no one around but Leona. Because Joel liked Douglas so much, Leona also took a serious liking to Douglas. She too started to hug him. Before long, she was hugging him frequently. She could also sense when Joel was about to hug him, and she would throw herself into Douglas’ arms before Joel had a chance to do it. In the beginning of her hugging spree, the men were amused. Douglas, particularly, chuckled and hugged her back. It was exhilarating, as far as she was concerned. Eventually, however, the men had to ask her to stop. They said that they loved hugging her, but they wanted to hug each other only, and nobody else, because they couldn’t afford much time together. She nodded.

The three of them went to the matinee to watch a dubbed animated cartoon, The Sword in the Stone, Walt Disney’s most recent production. The theater was packed but they were lucky to find three seats next to each other. Before the movie began, Joel took a seat next to Douglas, between him and Leona. Then Leona asked Joel to buy some popcorn. As soon as he left his seat, she took it over and stuck to it for the duration of the animation; she cozied up, Douglas on her left side, Joel on her right.

After the movie, Joel bought some bottles of guarana soda, Leona’s favorite drink, saying that she’d be allowed as much as she wanted that day, just to do something different. He also bought some beer. The three of them went to Joel’s place, which was also Leona’s, technically. Joel was embarrassed about living in a room that was available to him just on Sundays, holidays, and weeknights. But Douglas was ecstatic to see that Joel’s place was actually a hair salon.

“It’s perfect, I love it!” he said to Joel and gave him a big hug.

Joel opened some bottles of soda and beer, then turned the radio on. The DJ was playing contemporary hits, starting with the joyful, catchy “Mas, que Nada!” Leona, Joel and Douglas knew the lyrics by heart. They danced and sang along, “Obah obah obah… I just want to dance the samba.”