CHAPTER 31 – BRAZIL

I thought about moving back to Brazil. I wanted to see my son, my wife and my plantation. After some longer thinking, I decided to go to Brazil but only for a visit. I wanted to see if I could live there again. I wrote to my wife. I asked her if it was OK to visit them for some days. With the letter, I sent nice presents to her and her father’s family.

After some time, I got a letter from my wife. She wrote that I was welcome to visit them. Her invitation made me happy. I started to plan another journey by sea. I bought nice presents for them. Two weeks later I was ready to go.

When we arrived to Brazil, I met with my wife and my son. She changed a lot. But she was still very beautiful. My son was a big man now. He was very intelligent. He had his own family too. He had also big responsibility. He managed plantations of all the family and he was responsible for a big land.

My son spoke only Portuguese and a little Spanish. My Portuguese wasn’t very good after so many years. I forgot many words. I remembered only some basic phrases. But with practice I started to remember the words fast.

After two weeks I could have a basic conversation on many topics. And one month later I was able to speak fluently and automatically. I was very happy that I could speak with my wife and my son. We had so many things for a conversation.

Soon after arriving to Brazil, we had a big party. It was a celebration of my son’s birthday and also my arrival to Brazil.

Brazil also changed a lot. Many things were different from what was in my memory. Plantations were much bigger. Many people worked on them.

I was with my family for three months. I knew I wasn’t very far from my island. I started thinking about visiting the island again. I wanted to see the island for some days. Friday also wanted to see the island again.

My son also wanted to go. I thought it wasn’t a good idea. I knew how dangerous the sea could be. But he wanted to see the place that he knew only from my stories.

We planned our journey. Two weeks later we left Brazil. We went on a ship which went to Havana. We had an agreement with the captain to stop at my island on the way there.

When I arrived at my island, we met with Friday’s people. They now lived on the island.

I asked them, “What happened to the prisoners? Did you eat them?”

They told me they didn’t eat Europeans. They ate only their enemies from other islands. They told me that when they came to the island, the prisoners were dead. They probably killed each other.

I wanted to stay on the island and my son too. I asked the captain if he could pick us up on the way back. He agreed.

I saw many children who ran around. It was interesting to see many people on the island where I lived alone for so many years.

I saw that the people on the island were very happy. Friday was happy there too. He met a woman who he liked very much.

Friday asked me what I thought about his staying on the island. He knew that I saved his life in the past. He didn’t want to leave me without asking me.

I agreed. I saved him but he didn’t have to stay with me all his life. It was time for Friday to start his own family. I was happy he found a good woman. I was happy when I saw they were in love. I respected Friday’s decision to stay on the island with his woman.

I walked around the island a lot. I wanted to visit all the places I knew from my life on the island. I had some favourite places, for example the fruit valley. I spent a lot of time there. I liked this place very much. My son liked the island too. He often walked around the island with me. I told him many other stories about my life here.

We stayed on the island for twenty days. Then the ship from Havana came. It was time to leave. We said goodbye to Friday and his people.

When we left the island, I had a strange feeling. I also felt tears in my eyes. I liked this place very much. It was my home for a long time. I thought, “I will never see this place again.”

WORDS FROM CHAPTER 31