The Fabulous & The Ancient Artifact

Part 3: Kangelus: The Writing of the Angels

"RETURN YOUR BOTTLES. RETURN YOUR BOTTLES." The head of the school cafeteria, Mr. Nélson, droned on. The man was chubby, with gray hair parted sideways over a large head. He always reminded the students to return the small glass soda bottles to the cafeteria counter. However, many bottles were constantly being left around the school.

A scrawny boy wearing big glasses with thick lenses approached the cafeteria, watching the students coming and going with their snacks and sodas. He didn't even get in line because he didn't have any money. Even though he had already eaten the snack he had brought from home, but he was still hungry. Besides, the lunchroom meal was never a good option, especially when runny corn meal mush with collard greens was on the menu.

His name was Cauã Nascimento Travassos, and his afro hairdo was his trademark. It caught even more attention because he had a reddish curl just above the center of his forehead.

"Get out of the way, Sarará," a boy with blond hair and bangs grunted to Cauã, as he veered off to the left.

Sarará is a term for people who don't fit into the most common racial characteristics, including a dark-skinned person with red hair. Regardless, not everyone likes being called by it, and especially no by people they don't know. Cauã first got that nickname back in first grade when his frizzy, dark red hair started really coming in. At the time, Cauã tried shaving his head several times in an attempt to make the reddish color disappear, but hair always grows back. And when it did, the curl always came back in full force. Now, he was in the fourth grade and he didn't really mind the nickname anymore. Only a few people called him that anyway. Nicknames fade, and Cauã is sure that eventually everyone will forget it. One of the few people who still insisted on calling him Sarará was Lucca Cincinato Fernandes, the boy with the blond bangs.

Luquinha, as everyone called him, was a kind of Cauã's archenemy. They had been in the same classroom since first grade, every year. Cauã had not gotten along with Luquinha ever since the first time they met, when Luquinha opened his mouth to brag about the fact that his father was a government diplomat who was always traveling. This made Cauã feel bad about his father, who was a humble mechanic and always dirty with grease.

Luquinha was the kind of person who had a list of things to hate. And it always seemed that the next item on the list was Cauã Travassos. For example, Cauã never received an invitation to any of Luquinha's birthday parties. The most recent one was some weeks ago when Luquinha turned eleven. Of course, that meant that he would have a new list of toys that he received to brag about, but clearly, he would never let anyone else play with.

To make things worse, Luquinha was the most brilliant student in class; therefore, he was the class representative. No wonder Cauã's name was always reported to the teacher.

But what kept Cauã's spirits up was the fact that the school year was about to end, and he could not wait to start fifth grade. Luquinha was transferring to another school—a private one—which, according to his diplomat father, only accepted "fabulous kids like him".

However, this would not rid Cauã of Luquinha once and for all, because they both lived in the same neighborhood, and on the same street: a quiet little road named after Brigadier Luís Antônio, or more popularly, 17th Street. This didn't even include the fact that Cauã's mother, Mrs. Bernadete Travassos, was paid hourly to work as a housekeeper for the Cincinato Fernandes family three times a week at 66, 17th Street.

Break period had just started, and Cauã stood still next to the cafeteria at Monteiro Lobato, his school. His mouth was watering as he looked at the options. His stomach rumbled when he got closer, but he was pushed back by the excited children who were leaving the cafeteria, hands full of delicious snacks. "You again, Sarará!" he heard. It was Luquinha.