Tales from Éden - Who is Edmundo Montenegro?

Chapter 18 - Playing with Zé Maria

Jack placed the target even further away and returned to Zé Maria, ordering:

- Come on kid, the way I showed you three shots in the center.

-Yes, daddy – said the boy, aiming and firing three shots.

Jack walked to the target and noticed that the boy accurately hit two of the three shots and the third was not that far from the center.

It might be a good result for an ordinary child, but not for a boy with clown training.

When the whites started to appear more frequently, Jack came to the conclusion that it was time to start training Zé Maria.

Edmundo and he couldn't always be there to help Jennifer defend the girls and a man had to learn his responsibilities from an early age.

Jack knew that in this matter he couldn't count on Edmundo, he might be good as a doctor, father or lover, but he was definitely a disaster with a gun. He was nowhere near the teacher he wanted for his son.

That's why he had to convince Edmundo to let him train the boy, which he accepted for the safety of his family, whenever possible he took the boy to a field next to the woods where Jack trained him while Jennifer thought they were hunting, camping or playing a stupid game called football.

The need to lie was one of the conditions imposed by Edmundo, who had also convinced his son to go along with the deception, all so as not to worry his sweet Jennifer.

Sometimes Jack felt like vomiting at the sheer devotion, but he ended up agreeing for two reasons. Firstly because it would be good for Zé Maria to exercise his natural pretense and secondly because Edmundo was the father and no one should intervene in the way a father educates his children.

-Two out of three, it would have been nice if I hadn't asked for three out of three - said Jack, removing the target and replacing it with another.

He held out five more targets and walked towards the boy.

-Put this silencer right, I can hear the bullet ringing and we don't want unwanted attention.

The boy didn't respond, he just started to remove and then replace the silencer on the gun.

-Very well, the question is this, every time you shoot, the recoil causes your arm to reduce the accuracy angle - assessed Jack - So use the other arm to give firmness to the shots, try until you hit all three, if get tired, change hands.

While the boy was doing his best to carry out his orders, Jack lay down against the trunk of a tree and thought about taking a nap.

After Zé Maria's third unsuccessful shot, an exaggerated bang made him jump up and run towards the road. The earth shook beneath his feet.

-The boy followed him scared asking:

-What happened dad?

In the distance, Edmundo could see an immense flame that shot into the sky, raising a huge cloud of dust.

-I think the game has to stop for today, son-he said without looking away from the explosion-get things together we need to go and check on mom and the girls.

The two crossed the field to return to the road when a group of demons came out to meet them, probably attracted by the explosion.

-Stay close to me, Zé Maria – ordered the father, pulling out his gun – There are many.

Zé didn't appear to be scared, it was normal for him to meet white people in the woods. But those were different, observed Edmundo.

They didn't approach, they just stood there in front of them as if they wanted to stop them from passing, they still had hair and wore clothes, something unusual as most used to lose both in their transformation process, which was something violent and quick.