I did not understood very well what he was talking about terrorist. The important thing, in my point of view, was leaving him at the hotel and going straight to João’s bar. A beer in this heat would be nice.
I got into the bar and my hand against the cracked glass counter and the owner was already giving me a hard time.
— Are you trying to break my counter?
— No, I am not. But I am certain that if you don’t buy a new glass for it, one day someone will get hurt here. And it will be your fault!
— I already ordered the new glass, and the guilty for this is the one that never came back; not even to pay his tab!
— You should know better! And bring me a cold one, it was a long day for me.
João brought the beer while I was thinking about the shepherd Rafael strategy and of the attorney Baltazar against the felon dating Josias ex-wife.
All of a sudden, I remembered an interesting fact: João, the owner of the bar, and Judith also dated for a while. So, my curiosity raised.
— You almost married the deceased, right, João? Today you would be the most unhappy widower in face of Earth. Have you thought of that?
— God forbid! I am happy being single, despite of my age. It was like Judith had a little demon inside her body. We dated two years and eight months and she cheated me with the entire Rio Vermelho and surroundings! I do not miss at all my past with her. We broke up about five years ago and I am traumatized up to this date. God bless her.
— There is no God! She must be in hell!
— Do not talk about her poor soul like that.
— I do too! Or do you think that, after that horrifying rite at the parish house yard, her soul left her body and went to the Heavens? No way. Remember, further, that she cheated everyone with no regret.
— But deep down she was a nice person, Isaías. Of this I am sure.
I started laughing.
— Look, João, everyone is nice when they are dead. Regardless of how bad, people always become angels. It was always like that. I agree that we may cheat sometimes, but there is a limit to everything. If insist on doing bad things, we will go to hell.
— These “cheats” you said are as impure as any other sin in the world.
— Don’t worry, João, God is forgiving. Or are you going to tell me you never cheated?
— I'd rather keep quiet. — He said while the veins around his neck popped up, as if I had just hit the spot.
— I bet you have a lover hidden in the dark of night, when the gossip’s eyes are in the deep sleep.
— I am happy the way I am — he replied in an obscure manner. — More than you think!
At this moment something odd happened: the owner of the bar pulled an angry face when he saw Abel passing by on the other side of the street. I looked to Abel and noticed that he also stared at João. There was some hatred there — it was like they were about to kill each other.
— One day Abel will see what I am capable of — I said.
— I hope he does! — grunted João, cranky and tense. He went to the kitchen, as if he had something to do. Maybe he really did and I was getting in his way.
However, that eye contact stayed in my mind as a mystery that I should solve. But, at the time what I needed was to leave.