Josias and Wallace return in the first one's car to Lagoon City. Wallace's sights strange the landscape. Nine years without seeing the outside was too much for him.“Different landscape?” Josias asks casually.“Yeah, man, a lot has changed,” Wallace responds in a low tone.“Wait until we get to town.” Josias smiles slightly, “New neighborhoods have appeared and old ones have undergone a renovation. Even Happiness Slum is not as unpleasant as it is in our time.”Josias reaches for the radio and turns it on. Wet Wet Wet's song “Goodnight Girl” was good for Wallace's spirits.He was back in the world of the living.“Josias, how are we now?” Wallace tried to return to his old intonation and constantly cleared his throat.“I didn’t understand the question.” Josias raises one eyebrow.“Are we going to be friends this time?” Wallace fears being more explicit.But Josias got what he was getting at, “Wallace, you know Melissa is married to another guy.”“And I'll never understand why you let a
The answer is no. Vernon and Maggie didn't drop a footnote in either the LCN paper or the Maggiezine about Wallace Freire's return to Lagoon City.Vernon is explaining to Elza in her office at Rocha Hotel, “Honey, we know that bitch Pamela is going to read my column and find out that poor young man will come back here. It's a matter of seconds before she shows up here with the biggest gall, pretending she didn't know anything.”Elza feels her blood boiling, “I can't believe it. Will this so-and-so ever leave us alone?”Jane appears, “Madam, Mrs. Barbosa wishes to address you.”Elza understands that this is Cristina and nods, “Let her in, Jane. Thanks.”Jane gestures and makes room for Cristina to pass, “Good morning, everyone. Ah, Vernon, I thought I would find you here.”Vernon smiles, “And I'll tell you right now: no, I didn't publish anything in the paper about Wallace Freire. I managed to convince all my colleagues to keep silent.”“Do you think the news might leak in another news
Alan is wearing his school uniform. He answers the door for someone else when the doorbell rings.“Who is it?”“It's Josias, son!”“Daddy!” Alan opens the door quickly, “How nice to see you here. Do you want to talk to my mother? She's in the office with Uncle Will and Kelvin.”Josias frowns, but strokes his son's hair, “And do you know why?”“I don't know.” Alan mimics his father's frown, “Mom and Kelvin were dating when Uncle Will just came over. Even the radio was turned off.”Josias and Alan enter the living room. The former penthouse owner turns on the radio and Tina Arena's song “Chains” reminds Josias of Wallace.With that, Josias has a mental snap. He's come to talk to Melissa about Wallace, but has William gotten ahead of himself and is running the conversation hysterically and irrationally?“Who will take you to school, son?”“Kelvin took care of that, but he's still in there.”“Call your little sister while I go see what's going on.” Josias goes to his former office.When h
William is outraged to be told by Daryl that Pamela wants to know about Wallace at all costs.“That viper can't still the fire, eh? And her father is close by, but it's still useless. Roberto Reis, my manager, says she wants to take their daughter to the capital.”Daryl wiggles, “And Mr. Reis has his two children?”“Yeah. I'm with Caio and Miguel Damascene has Little Theo.” William scratches his head, “Jeez, that's a lot of babies this woman has given birth to!”Daryl gets lost in the math, counting Pamela's children on his fingers, “Four total. That is if it no longer appears more babies in the capital.”“For sure, she must already be sleeping with other guys there.” William looks at the clock on the restaurant wall, “I need to go to work. Thanks for the info, Daryl.”“I thank you for reporting on Melissa and Kelvin.” Daryl smiles.William, however, continues with a straight face, “Daryl, warn your brother to watch out for Josias. The imbecile got into the penthouse very easily, I th
In Gustavo's apartment, he is afraid to go to work in a role other than that of a stocker or packer at the supermarket. After he was released from the police station and William fulfilled his promise to withdraw the complaint, Angela told him about the condition.Now he's walking into the apartment with the bag of bread and the new issue of Maggiezine. His fear doubled with the cover of the magazine. The radio is playing the song “Scream”, by Michael and Janet Jackson.But Angela doesn't care about fearful men, “You can stop with that fearful face. You'll do just fine in the supermarket store. Who knows, maybe this will help you become more muscular and attractive...” She bites her lower lip, imagining a ripped and naked Gustavo.Gustavo gets angry, “Do you only think about immoralities, woman? Something tells me I'm walking into a trap just trying to protect you.”“I didn't ask you to lie about the car theft!” Angela picks up the bag of bread, “You were supposed to deny everything.”
Wallace realizes that he has something wrong with asking about Uélton when he sees everyone upset.“Did I drop the ball?” he asks fearfully.“Not you, son.” Isabel replies, annoyed, “Your brother decided to be the prodigal's brother in reverse.”“Why doesn't he want to forgive me?” Wallace narrows his eyes, “He wasn't directly affected by my crimes.”“I think Uélton, as a father, fears that Reuben could be misled,” Josias answers wisely.“This is nonsense.” Wallace defends himself, “I won’t teach my son to violate his wife on their honeymoon! In fact, I hope I never have to touch this subject again. I...” Wallace feels a lump in his throat, “I need to talk seriously with my little brother.”Isabel's eyes were watery, “It's amazing, Wally. Someone else would have expressed hatred and rancor, but you willingly want to clear up the misunderstanding.”“This is how it has to be, Mom.” Wallace answers determinedly, “I wasted nine years of my life away from you guys. I need to make up for th
Gustavo enters Beto's office. His little radio is playing “Secret Garden” by Bruce Springsteen. Beto is sitting, leaning back against the back of the chair, with his eyes closed, enjoying the song.For a moment, Gustavo didn't think his situation would be so drastic, but Beto noticed his presence and opened his eyes, “Hello, Gustavo! Do you want some water, some coffee?”“No, Mr. Reis. Thank you very much.” Gustavo closes the door and approaches him, “Well, here I am.”“That's great.” Beto straightens up in his chair, “Shall we go to your new job? Orders from Mr. Ramos. He was very upset by the news of your arrest...”Gustavo feels his heart sink, “If Mr. Ramos wishes, I can explain to him—”Beto gestures with a mischievous smile, “No, let's not bother Mr. Ramos. He assigned me a manager to take care of the dirty work.”Gustavo understood that the ‘dirty work’ would mean taking care of his situation and clenched his fists in anger.Beto gets up, goes to the door, opens it, and calls s
Hours later, Harold and Wallace are waiting for their test results at the General Hospital.“Wallace, are you okay with your mother calling you by the forbidden nickname?” Harold takes a risk while they are helping themselves to coffee in the lounge.“Who said calling me Wally was forbidden?” Wallace chuckles.“Uélton.” Harold takes a sip, “He said we can't remind you of the bitches who called you that name.”“That's true, but I don't want to be a coward.” Wallace helps himself too, “I need to remember the past from time to time so I don't repeat the mistakes in my future.”“That's nice.” Harold smiles, “So if all goes well, will you take the job Josias offers?”“Looks like we’ll have spots on Uélton’s team, right?” Wallace takes a sip, “Melissa's uncle is moving to Victoria, and Seu Simeon is approaching retirement age. Yes, I think I will.”Harold nods, but he doesn't want to say that Josias will probably put Wallace on another team, not the same one as Uélton, so there's no Indian