Captains of the Sands (7 page)

“It’s about time. I’ve had a mother run of bad luck!”

Big João smiled even wider. Cat won again. Pedro Bala stood up, gathered in the coins he’d won. Cat looked at him with mistrust:

“You’re not going to play anymore?”

“Not this time, I’ve got to piss…” and he went to the rear of the bar.

God’s-Love kept on losing. Big João was laughing and the
capoeira
fighter was going under. Pedro Bala had come back but he didn’t play. He was laughing with Big João. God’s-Love lost everything he’d won. Big João muttered:

“He’s got to go to his pocket…”

“I’m still behind,” Cat said.

He noticed that Pedro had come back:

“Aren’t you going to play anymore? Aren’t you going to bet on the queen?”

“I’m tired of playing…” and Pedro Bala winked at Cat as if saying that he should content himself with God’s-Love.

God’s-Love bet five
milreis
from his pocket. He’d only won twice during the last rounds and he was quite mistrustful. Cat opened the deck on the table. He drew a king and a seven.

“Who’s in?” he asked.

No one moved. Not even God’s-Love, who was looking at the deck suspiciously. Cat asked:

“Do you think they’re marked? You can take a look. I play a clean game…”

Big João let out one of those loud ringing laughs of his. Pedro Bala and God’s-Love laughed too. Cat looked at Big João with rage:

“This black boy is dumb as a donkey in a door. You haven’t seen anything…”

But he didn’t finish the sentence because the two sailors from the bay ship, who’d been watching the game for some time already, came over. One of them, the shorter, who was drunk, spoke to God’s-Love:

“Can anybody join the fun?”

God’s-Love pointed to Cat:

“This boy is the dealer.”

The sailors looked at the boy suspiciously. But the short one nudged the other with his elbow and whispered something in his ear. Cat was laughing inside because he knew he was saying it would be easy to get the money away from the kid. They both anteed up and God’s-Love found it strange that Pedro Bala anteed too. Big João, however, not only didn’t find it strange but anteed up himself too. He knew it was necessary to cover up for the sailors and the people in the gang had to lose too. The sailors, just as had happened with God’s-Love, started winning. But the wind of luck didn’t blow for long and
soon only Cat was winning out of the four of them. Pedro Bala kept making remarks:

“When this guy Cat is lucky he’s got it all…”

“When he loses too, he loses all night long,” Big João answered and that reply of his gave a lot of confidence to the sailors about the honesty of the game and the possibility of their luck’s changing. And they kept on betting and losing. The short one said:

“Our luck has got to change…”

The other one, who had a small mustache, was playing in silence and betting more every time. Pedro Bala was also raising the amount of his bets. At a certain moment the one with the mustache turned to Cat:

“Can the house cover five?”

Cat scratched his head full of cheap Vaseline, putting on a look of indecision that his friends knew he didn’t have:

“O.K. I’ll cover it. Just so you can make up your damage.”

The one with the mustache bet five
milreis
. The short one put up three. They both bet on an ace against a jack for the dealer. Pedro Bala and Big João bet on the ace too. Cat began to deal the cards. The first one was a nine. The short man was drumming with his fingers, the other one was tugging at his mustache. A deuce came next and the short one said:

“Now it’s the ace. A two, then a one…” and he drummed with his fingers.

But a seven turned up and then a ten and after that a jack. Cat cleared the table while Pedro Bala put on a face of great annoyance and said:

“Tomorrow, when bad luck hits you, you’ll see me clean you out.”

The short one confessed that he was cleaned out. The one with the little mustache put his hands in his pockets:

“All I’ve got is some small change to pay for the beers. The kid’s good.”

They got up, nodded to the group, paid for the beer they’d drunk at the other table. Cat invited them to come back another day. The short one answered that their ship was leaving that
night for Caravelas. Only when they got back. And they left arm in arm, talking about their bad luck.

Cat counted his winnings. Not counting the money Pedro Bala had lost, there was a pot of thirty-eight
milreis
. Cat gave Pedro Bala back his money, then Big João, and sat thinking for a moment. He put his hand into his pocket and took out the five
milreis
God’s-Love had lost before:

“Take it, nice guy. It was a trick, I don’t want to pocket your dough…”

God’s-Love kissed the bill with satisfaction, patted Cat on the back:

“You’ll go a long way, kid. You can get rich with those tricks.”

But the sun was already going down and the man wasn’t coming. They ordered another drink. With nightfall the wind coming off the sea grew stronger. God’s-Love began to get impatient. He was smoking cigarette after cigarette. Pedro Bala was looking at the door. Cat was dividing the thirty-eight
milreis
into threes. Big João asked:

“I wonder how Legless made out snatching hats?”

No one answered. They were waiting for the man and now they had the feeling he wasn’t coming. The information had been wrong. They didn’t even hear the song coming in off the sea. The Gate of the Sea was deserted and Mr. Filipe was almost asleep behind the bar. It wouldn’t be long, however, before it would be full and then any deal with the man would be impossible. He wouldn’t want to talk there with the whole place full. They might know him and he didn’t want that. The Captains of the Sands didn’t want it either. Cat really didn’t know what it was all about. And Pedro Bala and Big João didn’t know much more. They knew as much as God’s-Love, to whom the deal had been proposed and who had accepted it for Pedro Bala and the Captains of the Sands. He himself, however, only had vague information and they would learn everything from the man who’d set up a meeting at the Gate of the Sea in the afternoon. But he hadn’t arrived by six o’clock. Instead of him the one who’d spoken to God’s-Love came. He got there just as the group was about to leave. He explained that the man couldn’t
come. But that he was waiting for God’s-Love that night on the street where he lived. He should go around one o’clock in the morning. God’s-Love declared that he couldn’t go but that he was leaving the matter with the Captains of the Sands. The intermediary looked mistrustfully at the boys. God’s-Love asked:

“Haven’t you ever heard of the Captains of the Sands?”

“Yes, maybe. But…”

“In any case, they’re the ones who are going to take care of the business. That’s how it is…”

The intermediary seemed to accept it. They set up a date for one in the morning and went their way. God’s-Love went to his ship, the Captains of the Sands to the warehouse, the intermediary disappeared on the docks.

Legless still hadn’t returned. There was nobody in the warehouse. They must have all been scattered out on the streets of the city, scrounging for their dinner. The three went out again and went to eat in a cheap restaurant in the market. Coming out of the warehouse, Cat, who was very happy with the outcome of the game, tried to trip Pedro Bala up. But the latter avoided it and threw Cat down:

“I’ve been practicing that, dummy.”

They went into the restaurant, making a lot of noise. An old man who was the waiter came over mistrustfully. He knew that the Captains of the Sands didn’t like to pay and that the one with the scar on his face was the one to be most feared of all of them. In spite of there being quite a few people in the restaurant, the old man said:

“We’ve run out. We haven’t got any more grub.”

Pedro Bala replied:

“Don’t spin me a yarn, old man. We want to eat.”

Big João pounded on the table:

“If not we’ll turn this grease pot upside down.”

The old man looked at him indecisively. Then Cat dumped the money on the table:

“Today we’re going to spend.”

It was a convincing argument. The waiter began to bring the dishes: a plate of chitterlings and then black-bean stew. Cat
was the one who paid. Then Pedro Bala suggested that they be on their way to Brotas; since they were walking they had a lot of ground to cover.

“It isn’t worth taking the trolley,” Pedro Bala said. “It’s better if nobody knows we’re going there.”

Then Cat said he’d meet them there later. He had something to do first. He was going to tell Dalva not to expect him that night.

And there they were now at the Pitangueiras stop, waiting for the policeman to go away. Hidden in a doorway, they didn’t speak. They heard the flight of the bats as they attacked the ripe sapodillas at their feet. Finally the policeman left and they stood looking until his form disappeared around the bend in the street. Then they crossed and went into the drive with the villas and hid in a doorway again. The man wasn’t long in coming. He got out of a cab on the corner, paid the driver, and came up the walk. The only thing that could be heard was his steps and the sound of the leaves that the wind was rustling in the trees. When the man drew close Pedro Bala came out of the doorway. The others came behind him and the way they stood they looked like two bodyguards. The man moved closer to the wall he was walking along. Pedro went over to him. When he was in front of him he stopped.

“Have you got a light, sir?” He held a snuffed-out cigarette in his hand.

The man didn’t say anything. He took out a box of matches, handed it to the boy. Pedro struck one and while he was lighting the cigarette he looked at the man. Then he gave back the box and asked:

“Is your name Joel?”

“Why?” the man wanted to know.

“God’s-Love sent us.”

Big João and Cat had come over. The man looked at the three of them with surprise:

“But you’re just kids. This isn’t any business for kids.”

“Just say what it is; we know how to do things right,” Pedro Bala shot back as the other two approached.

“But it’s something that maybe not even men…” and the
man put his hand to his mouth as if he’d said more than he should have.

“We know how to keep a secret as good as under lock and key. And the Captains of the Sands always, always do a good job…”

“The Captains of the Sands? That gang the newspapers are talking about? Abandoned kids? That’s who you are?”

“It sure is. And people who get things done.”

The man seemed to be thinking. Then he finally decided:

“I’d rather turn this business over to men. But since it’s got to be tonight…The way things are…”

“You’ll see how we work. Don’t be afraid.”

“Come with me. But let me go ahead. You stay a few steps behind me.”

The boys obeyed. At one doorway the man stopped, opened, and waited on the inside. From inside came a big dog who licked his hands. The man had the three of them come in; they crossed a drive with trees; the man opened the door to the house. They went into a small parlor, the man put his hat and coat on a chair and sat down. The three remained standing. The man signaled for them to sit down and at first they looked suspiciously at the broad and comfortable easy chairs. Pedro Bala and João sat down, with Big João sitting only on the edge of the chair, as if afraid he would dirty it. The man looked as though he were going to laugh. Suddenly he got up and spoke, looking at Pedro, whom he recognized as the leader:

“What you people are going to do is hard and at the same time easy. What you have to know now is that it’s something nobody must know about.”

“It won’t go beyond these four walls,” Pedro Bala said.

The man took out his pocket watch:

“It’s a quarter after one. He won’t be back until two-thirty…” He was still looking at the Captains of the Sands with indecision.

“Then there’s not much time,” Pedro spoke. “If you want us to go you’d better spit it out right away…”

The man decided:

“Two streets up from here. It’s the next to the last villa on the right. You’ll have
to watch out for a dog that must be loose already. He’s ugly.”

Big João interrupted:

“Have you got a piece of meat?”

“What for?”

“For the dog. One piece should be enough.”

“I’ll take a look later.” He was looking at the boys. He seemed to be wondering if he could trust them. “You’ll go in the back way. Next to the kitchen, on the outside of the house, there’s a room over the garage. It belongs to the servant, who must be in the house now waiting for his master. You’ll go in through his room. You’ve got to look for a package like this one, exactly like this…” He went to the pocket in his coat and brought out a package tied with a pink ribbon. “Just like this. I don’t know if it’s still in his room. It might be that the servant has it in his pocket. If that’s how it is nothing more can be done about it.” And a sudden despair seemed to come over him. “If I’d only been able to have gone this afternoon…It certainly must have been in the room then. But now, who knows?” and he covered his face with his hands.

“Even if the servant’s got it, we can bring it back…” Pedro said.

“No. It’s essential that no one know how that package was stolen. What you’re going to do is exchange packages, if the other one is in the room.”

“What if the servant’s got it?”

“Then…” and the man’s expression became upset again. Big João thought he heard a name that sounded like Elisa. But maybe it was an illusion on the part of Big João, who sometimes heard things nobody else did. The black boy was a big liar.

“Then we’ll swap the packages just the same. You can rest easy. You don’t know the Captains of the Sands.”

In spite of his despair the man smiled at Pedro Bala’s boldness:

“Then you can go. Afterwards, it has to be before two o’clock, come back here. But only if the street’s deserted. I’ll wait for you. Then we’ll settle our accounts. But I want to tell you something in all frankness. If you’re caught and arrested don’t get
me involved in the case. I won’t do anything for you because my name can’t be mixed up in this at all. Try to get rid of this package and don’t call me for any reason. It’s a case of win or lose…”