The Rediscovery of Eden - Josefa discovers that fate takes turns (chapter 5)
This is the fifth chapter of The Rediscovery of the Eden. To read the first chapter, please click here
Josefa was born on her employer's farm in Tupanciretã, from the womb of a freed slave. From an early age, she got used to the housework, helping her mother to do her chores. When, at the age of 16, her mistress offered to take her, her brother Tonico and their children to Rio de Janeiro to help with the housework, she had no doubts. It was only when she said goodbye to the farm staff that she realized she might never see her mother again, who was already a little worn out due to her age and the heavy workload.
The sadness of saying goodbye and the fear of traveling above the clouds, higher than a bird, meant that Josefa cried non-stop during the flight and was unable to enjoy the splendid view that Ana Clara, Arthur and Bruna never tired of admiring through the plane's small windows. But when the plane tilted to the left as it approached the runway at Santos Dumont Airport, and all the passengers started screaming with excitement at the sight of Sugar Loaf Mountain, Josefa wiped away her tears and, staring at the runway just below her feet, thanked God for her freedom.
Yes, because the feeling of freedom was the most present feeling in everyone's head at that moment. They had finally freed themselves from the yoke of their boss, who managed the family and the farm workers as if they were still in slavery and corporal punishment was necessary to keep them in line. Her mistress dna. Nazinha and her son Arthur suffered the most. The mistress, poor thing, spent most of her time dressed in long-sleeved blouses with high collars to cover up her purple bruises. Josefa loved her almost like a mother, and she was sorry to see this beautiful and talented woman live her life like a wilted rose. But the arrival in Rio and the discovery of new interests made everyone recover quickly and smile again.
Although they always repeated that Josefa was like family, she didn't have a room, study or get new clothes like the others. To tell the truth, she didn't even earn a wage. She only received an allowance to cover her Sunday outings with her new friends. As for her studies, Arthur had fortunately discovered that she had a mind eager for new knowledge and, in no time at all, had been able to make her literate. Now she could read O Cruzeiro and Fon-fon magazines like everyone else in the house. The only thing that really bothered her was the fact that she slept on a wooden cot against one of the kitchen walls, in front of the stove. Her life seemed to be restricted to those four walls!
Shortly after moving into the house in Santa Tereza, Josefa had already become friends with the maids from the neighboring houses and together they explored the nearby neighborhoods and the samba circles on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. Her best friend was called Gracinda. She was a brunette about the same age as her, very vain and a bit absent-minded. Every day at three in the afternoon, when her boss left the house, Gracinda would put aside her household chores and turn on the radio, sing and dance in front of the mirror while admiring herself intently. "Do you know anyone more beautiful and in tune than me, Josefa? Don't you think I was born to be the next queen of radio?". Josefa, who came to visit her friend at this time every day, laughed with gusto as she admired her friend sambaing.
One Saturday when the two went out together, Gracinda asked Josefa to accompany her to a meeting with a famous palmist who used to advertise in the classifieds of O Cruzeiro magazine. The predictions couldn't have been better for Gracinda, who heard from the chiromancer everything she had always dreamed of: she would be very famous, have a legion of fans and a son at a very young age. As the two were getting ready to leave, the fortune-teller said to Josefa: "Give me your hand, dear, and I'll read it for you for free. Ah, I see here that your heart already has an owner and he's a handsome young man. I see you with a son in your arms, by his side. You will live long and your son will be crowned king!". "What?" the two shouted in unison and burst into laughter. The chiromancer, annoyed, shrugged her shoulders and signaled to them with her hands that it was time to leave.
Later that day, after they had finally managed to contain their laughter, they daydreamed about the predictions they had just heard, while they sipped coconut water and ate a pastel de carne leaning on the counter of the bar two blocks from their house. When she closed her eyes at bedtime that night, Josefa saw Arthur's smiling face, for whom she had a passion that she didn't dare confess even to her best friend.
Shortly afterwards, Gracinda was offered a job as a chorus girl by the owner of the Royal Pigalle cabaret. Dressed in shimmering clothes and wearing feathered headdresses, heavily made up and with an uninhibited manner and a softness cultivated at the foot of her boss's radio, Gracinda would soon become famous and courted. Arthur was soon bewitched by the beautiful mulatta who worked in his favorite cabaret and they soon became lovers.
Josefa found out about Arthur and Gracinda's flirtation in the worst possible way: when she came to collect her young boss's dirty clothes from the bedroom while he was still asleep, even though it was almost midday, Josefa discovered some autographed photos of Gracinda that he kept clutched in his hand next to his pillow. Shaking his shoulder in a vain attempt to wake him up so that he would be ready in time for lunch with the others, Arthur turned over in bed, still half-drunk, mumbling "Gracinda, my love". Josefa, standing in the middle of the room, paralyzed as if struck by lightning, began to cry softly as she saw her hopes of youth dashed. But how could this be, when the fortune-teller had assured her that she would be the mother of Arthur's child?
Although there was no indication that Arthur had any interest in her, Josefa had not yet given up all hope. And to ensure that her dream came true, she followed the path adopted by her other friends: the path of the macumba yards. Over the next few months, Josefa worked to ensure that the lovers would separate and that she would become the mother of his children. Because of this, the street corners of Santa Tereza multiplied with offerings of corn, wine, candles and dead chickens, while she continued to dedicate herself to washing and ironing her lover's clothes and cooking his favorite foods. The day Josefa found out that Arthur and Gracinda had had a child, despite not going public with their relationship, she thought she was going to go mad. From that day on, she could never bear to listen to the drumming of the macumba yards at night.
But fate takes unexpected turns. A few months after the birth of her son Nanico, Arthur was murdered in a bar fight and Gracinda soon went to her best friend for help, from whom she had been drifting apart, although she didn't understand why. Seeing her best friend in despair because she didn't know how to reconcile motherhood and her job as a chorus girl, Josefa ended up resigning from her employer and moving in with Gracinda to help look after her son. Josefa did this partly to ease the pain in her conscience, as she believed deep down that she was to blame for all the misfortunes that had befallen the couple. Since a chorus girl generally doesn't have the time or inclination to change diapers or put up with manners, Nanico had no doubts about who he should call mother. Josefa turned out to be a loving and devoted mother, although she was famous for the bouts of hatred that the beating of the drums aroused in her, causing terror in anyone nearby.
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