“Oh vó1, oh vó,” screams the old parrot Loro2 again. “Your vó isn’t here,” I tell Loro. Say “Amen” instead, say “Amen,” Loro!
It’s been over a month since Lorena, the granddaughter of dona Sandra, left me in charge of the house next door. She said that she had received a phone call, that her grandma and aunt were waiting for her in Bahia, and that she had to leave quickly but they would all be back soon.
Ever since that day, my sons and I have been taking care of the neighbor’s parrot, the jabuti3, the dog, the plants and the house. Every day I send one of my sons, Fernando or Reginaldo, to look after everything. I am already old, so old that I lost count. My I.D. says that I am 61 but I made up my age back in the day to be able to travel to Sao Paulo and get married. I added a few years because I was too young. I do feel like 61 now, some days I feel even older. I haven’t told anyone yet about my sickness, but I am very sick. This sickness will be the end of me.
“REGINALDO, go turn on the lights at the neighbor’s house, it’s getting dark!” I shout at my younger son. He grunts and jumps over the tall wall, into the courtyard. It’s quicker that way, otherwise he would need to go downstairs, open our gate, and go back upstairs through the neighbor’s garage and courtyard. We want to give the impression that someone is home – the lights help. We do not want strangers in the house, gang members, drug addicts, thieves. It would not be good for us next door either.
I don’t know if the neighbors will ever be back. People in the neighborhood are talking. Some are saying that they were killed, maybe by the gang. Some say the granddaughter did it and then fled. I find it hard to believe, although that last encounter with Lorena was strange. I saw her the day before her departure. She was cleaning the house frantically and throwing away a bunch of stuff. The next day she made herself all pretty and said that she had to leave in a hurry. I did inspect the house and didn’t see anything suspect. In fact, many corners were not swept properly, and she certainly didn’t wipe down the doors and doorknobs. I’m not a professional detective, but I seriously doubt that a murder took place there. And I sure hope that they are well, hopefully all together in Bahia. We are being neighborly and helping them with the house and pets.
Reginaldo gingerly climbs back to our own courtyard, holding a bottle of beer under his chin. “My son, what if they come back?” I ask him. But he shrugs and tosses down the pair of sandals that he was holding in his left hand. “Mãe4, they’re your size, try them on!” They fit nicely, so I decide to keep them. I can always give them back if the neighbors end up returning.
I put them in the armário5 together with my other shoes and go to my room where I turn on the TV. In the old days, I didn’t have a TV in my room. I actually got this one from the neighbor’s living room. I lay in bed, trying to get comfortable. My entire body aches. Loro comes running into the room, screaming and making a fuss as always. This parrot has never been happier. Now that we cut his wings, he is finally free. He spent his entire life in a tiny cage, sometimes sticking his foot down his throat out of boredom. Depending on where they placed his cage, I was able to see him from my front yard. But now he can race around the house; he loves being around us. We have to wear socks now, since he will bite right at the back of our ankle, but we don’t mind. Somehow this little guy brings me joy, and a good distraction from all my problems, which come rushing into my head all at once as soon as I think of the word “problems”:
• My sickness;
• Reginaldo who is almost 38 and has still not gotten married, on top of not working and hanging out with some shady people;
• Fernando, who got married to a nice lady from church, but now has a little girl and his wife to take care of;
• My husband, who at this stage of our lives decided to leave me for a younger woman. She’s 51, also from the church.
The last thought brings even more issues than the heartache and shame. My genius husband married that old chick without a separation of goods6. And she has 4 children from a previous marriage, plus the 2 children my husband had before we got married. All these people are going to want a part of our house when we are gone. My sons will be left with next to nothing.
(…to be continued…)
Footnotes
1. Short for “avó” (grandmother)
2. “Loro” is the most common name for parrots in Brazil
3. Pet turtle
4. Mother
5. Armoire, wardrobe cabinet (closets are unusual in Brazil)
6. Without a prenup
Transadaptation Volume 7 – Via Ellipsis – Continuation of Uncertainty, Instability and Extremes Transadapted
January: An Unexpected Trip Down Memory Lane – Sarah-Leah Pimentel (South Africa)
February: Blow-up – Veronika Groke (Austria)
March: Futuros Murguistas – Alejandra Baccino Uberti (Uruguay)
April: The Nomenclature Man – Paulius Limantas (Lithuania)
May: Amanecerá y veremos – Adriana Uribe (Colombia)
June: Finding Light in Yerevan – Armine Asryan (Armenia)
July: The Last Judgement – Nadia Silva Castro (Brazil)
August: Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Worm? – Narantsogt (Natso) Baatarkhuu (Mongolia)
September: Second Steps – Jonay Quintero Hernandez (Spain)
October: New Normality – Svetlana Molchanova (Russia)
November: Pandemic Love – Li Xiakun (China)
December: Beyond Comprehension – Rahaf Konbaz (Syria)
Background – Context
Transadaptation Volume 6: Meaning? – Uncertainty, Instability and Extremes Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2025)
Transadaptation Volume 5: Of Flowing Vicissitudes – Life Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2024)
Transadaptation Volume 4: Material Dissent – Adulthood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2023)
Transadaptation Volume 3: Evanescent – Young Adulthood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2022)
Transadaptation Volume 2: Conceived – Childhood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2021)
Transadaptation Volume 1: In the Middle – Prelude to a Contemporary Transadaptation, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2020)
Peripatetic Alterity: A Philosophical Treatise on the Spectrum of Being – Romantics and Pragmatists by Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)
La Syncrétion of Polarization and Extremes Transposée, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)
The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2018)
L’anthologie of Global Instability Transpuesta, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2017)
From Wahnsinnig to the Loony Bin: German and Russian Stories Transposed to Modern-day America, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2013)
Emblems and stories on the international community
Perception by country – Transposing emblems, articles, short stories and reports from around the world
Credits
Top row (left to right): 1. Santa Cruz Cabralia, Brazil – Roofs – Iryna Shpulak (Shutterstock); 2. Atins, Brazil – Village life – Rudi Ernst (Shutterstock); 3. São Miguel do Gostoso, Brazil – The fishing village – Christiano Diehl Neto (Shutterstock)
Bottom row (left to right): 1. Paraty, Brazil – In the village – JKSZ Photography (Shutterstock); 2. Alagoas, Brazil – The village – Joel Brandao (Shutterstock)