The Circus Freak - and the boy who was afraid of clowns

Eleventh chapter

ELEVENTH   CHAPTER 

RENATO LEFT THE CANDELÁRIA POLICE STATION at 2 am. Relieved, he breathed in the clean air of the night, at one of the highest points in the city. He felt the pulse of the living city, full of sins and movement.

The marshal had asked one of the agents to take Renato back to his apartment. Renato declined and called a cab. He asked the driver to turn in the opposite direction of his condo. He wanted to go to Ponta Negra beach. He asked him to drive by the sea coast; he watched the waves lick the loose sand, pressing it wet, leaving its surface too even. He remembered Lucinalva, and the magic night they had. He felt like meeting her, but the operator from the motel had fatally lost the piece of paper where he had written Iemanjá’s daughter's phone number.

Renato got out of the cab for a few minutes, took his flip-flops off, folded his pants up to right under his knees, and ran towards the beautiful Atlantic, bathing his legs, and washed his arms with salty water. Renato washed his face, and tasted something many men take for granted: freedom. Because many men don't know what it means to be deprived from freedom. He wet his hair, pulling it all to the back.

He then went back to the parked cab – the engine was on and the driver watched attentively, showing that the area could have bad people around, and that it seemed worse than Renato's neighborhood.

Renato saw four prostitutes on the sidewalk; they had dark skin and large hips. They were negotiating the true love within their corrupted souls with a tall dark man, that Renato heard one of them call Luigi.

He asked the taxi driver to take him to the Cidade Jardim district. The taxi parked by a house that people called a disco, but it truly was a meeting place, where the prostitutes had a pass, and, whenever they were picked up by a client, they would leave the place. The popular manager waved from inside the place, he was sitting in one of the tables, surrounded by extremely pretty ladies. When he passed through the turnstile on the entrance of the  Casa Grande Club, Renato smelled what he identified as freedom...

Women’s perfume.

Renato woke up at nine, freaking out, but he remembered that he didn't have to work until the following day. He relaxed again. He hugged the sculptured brunette that had consumed his remaining energy. He was exhausted, but happy. He was free.

He called Bernard, and said they needed to talk. His friend woke up. “Not on the phone,” he restricted.

"The biggest problem is Stellinha. She talks too much," Bernard complained, lighting up a cigarette with another cigarette. "She’s a risk. It just seems like every time she is on something, she starts to say shit, like it is all just a big joke. She’ll end up bad.

“Whatever’s the trouble, I'm out. Go ahead and solve it your own way! Renato's candy factory closed down!”

"Hey, wait up, dude! That's not how things work. We have a business together remember? And there's also a tiny detail you seem not to remember: Pablo.

“What about him? It won't hurt him," Renato said, taking the cigarette, he had already drawn twice, from Bernard. Renato did not like filter cigarettes, but he compulsively tried to grab it from his friend's hand, which showed how anxious he was.

"There’s a lot of stuff, man! He thinks we’re small-time dealers... But we’re bigger than he thinks The big problem is that some time ago this whistle-blower award thing became trendy, you know? The guy sells the drug, makes money like hell, then the police plan a sting operation, and bang! The dude ends up being run over by a car, or electrocuted at home, all wet, holding a hair drier, like in the American movies!" Bernard showed a forced nervous smile. “But let me talk to Pablo, I can buy the minimum quantity, give it out to the girls, for just for consumption, really... After a while, the police will forget it... Their memory is as limited as their bank account!" And he smiled once more. This time more spontaneously, confident. Renato also smiled, he felt good fooling the police. He felt more powerful, and he got excited with power. And said, "Collective vacation for everyone in the factory, then!