The Savage of Porto Velho

Saturday, November 13

Big drops of rain started to batter the streets of Porto Velho. Flashes of light tore out the clouds and zigzagged downward a few miles away from the quiet city . Soon enough, the night sky roared in loud protest throughout the eastern shore of Madeira river, one of Amazon river’s many tributaries and of which the city is humbly seated on its side.

Upon hearing the wrath of the sky, people walking in the main streets took shelter to some uninteresting shops lined beside the walking paths. What was supposed to be uninteresting places to buy turned out to be a lively hangout for the stuck citizens of Porto Velho. As always, the rain that night was a blessing in disguise for store owners as sales boosted every time people step inside their shops.  It seemed that for the people of Porto Velho, socializing with others in unexpected situations was better than bringing umbrellas with them. After all, it was November and the weather had been like that for weeks or so.

The biggest sales for the night went to a night club discreetly situated in an alley along the main street of Porto Velho. Ramon Melo, the Spanish owner of La Jungla (The Jungle) club had come into conclusion that for the last five days, the boost in their sales  was not because of the cold and rainy season but because of the new comer, Natalia. Their usual sales tripled since Natalia came. The woman was a wonder and where this Natalia came from intrigued Ramon more than anything. When Natalia stepped into La Jungla a week before, her eyes seemed to tell Ramon that this woman could kill had not for her seductive beauty. But what Natalia showed Ramon on the small stage made him decide to take the woman in even before knowing her origins.

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Tracing her full lips with a heavy finishing of red matte lipstick, Daniela looked at herself with pleasure at the vanity mirror before talking with Sofia who was also seated beside her. Their light brown skin glowed in the dimness of the room. Their long black straight hair were damp by the room’s humidity. Each sported different styles of costumes but of which both revealed a lot of skin. They were almost stripped before they could do so on the stage of La Jungla.

“That woman thinks she knows better than us. Wait until I’ll tell Ramon what she’s been up to,” Daniela said.

“What are you talking about?” Sofia asked as she finishes curling her eyelashes.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know how she looks at Rafael every time she performs,” Daniela answered. She took a sip of whiskey from a glass that had been sitting there before putting her make up on.

“You know too well that Rafael doesn’t settle for just any woman.”

“But this is not just any woman Sofia. She can take us both out of business anytime soon.”

“She can’t do that. We have Ramon for ourselves. Just continue pleasing him and he will not throw us away.”

“That’s the problem. I think he is already fond with that woman. I will tell Ramon that Rafael is sleeping with that Natalia. He will kick that woman out of here before she’ll know it.”

“You’re a bad girl, Daniela.”

“I thought you already knew that,” Daniela said and gave Sofia a devilish smile.

Before Sofia could answer, a stout man in a blue Hawaiian shirt and brown trousers emerged from the beaded curtains of the dressing room. Some white locks of his dark curly hair suggested that he was in his early fifties. It was Ramon Melo, who seemed to be unusually happy that night. Ramon went in the room and glanced over at his two strippers before looking for his new favourite girl.