Chapter 2

Darkness was already licking the walls and concessions when the old Titi gate, made of a few planks and an old sheet of metal, slammed shut after an intermittent few seconds. In the courtyard of the house, a young woman had just appeared, carrying on her head a basin laden with a few sticks of sugar cane.

A few centimetres from the entrance sat an old woman with a fist to her chin.

- Mom, why the hand on the chin?" remarked the newcomer, looking surprised.

The fifty-something, faced with this question, didn't answer immediately. Instead of an answer, two drops of tears beaded her eyelids.

- Mom, can you please tell me what's wrong?" said the new arrival, gently placing her basin on the floor and bending her knees between her mother's legs.

The old woman, worried and saddened, replied that she was tired of life.

- What?" cried Florencia even more loudly. What are you tired of doing? And who are you going to leave me to? Who are you going to leave my two brothers and two sisters to? Mom, do you take the time to listen to yourself when you talk?

- My daughter, you can't understand!

- I can't understand what? What can't I understand, Mom? The sick who lie in hospitals dream of good health, a free privilege that your God has granted you without any price and you dare to tell me that you're tired of it? Oh Mom, you're hurting me, really!

Florencia stood up, furious.

- Before the next few seconds, you're going to have to wipe those tears from your face!

At her suggestion, the mother apologized and wiped away the tears.

- Okay, you're forgiven, Mom! But let that be the first and last time I hear you utter such nonsense!

- All right, darling.

- Thank you, dear! Now I'd like to tell you about my favorite book of the day, one that I'd like you to give me your opinion on.

- Okay, take the stool and tell me about it!

Mama Florencia repositioned herself on her tara as Florencia fetched a stool to sit opposite her.

- I'm listening now, girl!

- Thanks, Mom! First of all, where's Daddy?

Suddenly, the old gate's wrist gesticulated, and with difficulty, mother and daughter were able to make out who was entering the courtyard from the distance, in spite of the darkness in full swing.

- Mommy, where's Fidelia? She's got to come and light the lantern.

- I don't even know where she'd be. I think it was your father who just opened the gate.

- Welcome, my daughter," said the newcomer.

- Thank you, Daddy," replied the greeted girl.

- How was the market today?

- As usual, Dad! I sold a lot of rods.

- That's great to hear, you'll be fine one day, darling.

- Thanks, Dad! Here, I brought you some doughnuts on my way back from town.

- Thanks, sweetie! You are blessed forever. You'll miss nothing as long as you live. Nature will always be grateful to you. You won't have to search long to find it. All the happiness in the world will smile on you, God willing.

- Thank you, Daddy! All your prayers have already been answered by the Lord God of hosts.

- Yes, already answered, I tell you. You'll be the light of this family. Wherever you go, you'll want for nothing. You're the eldest of the family. You're only twenty-three, but you think beyond your years. God will help you even more.

- Thank you, Dad, thank you! May God give you longevity too, so that you can enjoy your fruits more!

- My daughter, until you become great executives in this house, I won't die!

- Amen and thank you, Dad.

Mother, silent and silent, observed father and daughter in their conversation. She had a small smile that encircled her lips, even though a few seconds earlier she had been crying. She was attracted by the amusement of her husband and eldest daughter and looked at them with admiration.

After his conversation with his daughter, the sixty-year-old disappeared from the courtyard, having snatched the black bag from her hand.

- Mom, you can have your share too," said the young girl, handing her mother another small, tied bag.

The lady, with a more cheerful air, took hold of the black sachet and immediately untied it, as if she was already anticipating the offer of this gift. She took out a doughnut and, with her jaws, bit into the dish with prayers of blessings that she graced Florencia with.

- Good, Mom! On my way back from the Wando market this evening, a man hailed me. At first, I thought he wanted to buy my fruit, so I walked towards him and greeted him respectfully. To my amazement, he began with his stories of "you're beautiful; has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful? What do they call you and where do you live...". You already know what I mean, Mom! After recounting his trivia, he went on to suggest that I was his better half. From what he said, I got the impression he was serious.

After this last sentence, the young girl fell silent and stared straight into her mother's eyes, as if waiting for an answer or opinion from her. The mother listened carefully, coughed and said:

- Daughter, I've listened to you. So, what do you think you're going to do?

- Mom, if I knew what I had to do, I wouldn't ask you for help!

- I see! Have you met before?

- No, Mom, this is the first time we've met!

- Very well, then! Despite everything the suitor said, did your heart give you a sign?

- What do you mean, Mom?

- Yes! When a man makes a pass at a woman, it's the heart that emits an action, and it's this action that, after all, allows the young woman approached to say either "yes" or "no". So, what did your heart tell you to do?

To this question, the Titi girl smiled a little and replied:

- Mum, to be honest, my heart didn't tell me anything. On the contrary, I remembered some advice you had given me the day you told me never to minimize the man in case he called me, and that it was only after the call that I could give my opinion and...

- Thank you for remembering that. And after that advice went through your head, what did you do?

- What did you think I should do? I just told him I didn't want to go home to my parents at nightfall, and as soon as I'd said that, I gave him the slip.

- Thank you, darling! You played your cards right! Was he on foot or horseback?

- On horseback! He was in his carriage.

- Cool! Girl, I congratulate you so much! You're to be congratulated. Despite your condition, you paid no attention to his car. You'll always be blessed, I tell you. The grown-ups will be chasing you like flies after an orange.

- Amen, Mom!

- My advice to you will be this: Ignore him for now. If this man really is the one for you and the one for you, you'll see each other again soon. But if your fates aren't right for each other, oops, you'll never see each other again.

- Thanks, Mom! That's why I call you the best mother ever. May God bless you.

- Amen!

- And where are Fidélia and Fidéliana?

- Those twin girls, I don't know where they've gone.

- Are you serious? They keep leaving the house without permission? They'll come and see me today.

As soon as she'd said that, Florencia got up and slipped into the living room. She was positioning her basin when her twin sisters suddenly appeared.

- Where have you been?" exclaimed Florencia to the newcomers.

- And what's your problem if we tell you we went for a walk?

- Is that your answer, Fidelia?

Annoyed, the elder sister moved towards the provocateur and slapped her across the face with a loud slap.

The second twin, immediately furious in her turn, pounced on the older sister and started pulling her hair. At this point, the first twin who had received the slap joined forces with her sister, and the two of them began to hit their elder sister. All the scenes took place in the living room, while mother and father sat in the courtyard, discussing a private matter. Suddenly alerted by the older sister's scream, the parents entered the room to rescue the screamer.

- What's going on here?" cried the mother.

As for the father, he asked no questions and calmly locked the door. He then went into one of the bedrooms and returned a few seconds later with a chicote made from beef hide.

- Come on! You Fidélia, come here and you Fidéliana too, come over here! Get undressed! Today, you're going to hit me too," said the father furiously and, without further ado, began ploughing the bodies of the twin sisters with his riding crop.

The father hit them well, and it was only when he had wounded each of them that he abandoned them.

- There, that'll teach you that an elder is always an elder, those idiots. Wait until I die first before you rot in your rudeness. Or do you think that because you're nineteen, I no longer have authority over you? Even if you get married, I'll hit you in front of your children if you act offensively.

It was six o'clock in the morning. Daylight was already gradually returning to the landscape. Florencia, despite the petty quarrels between herself and her sisters the day before, had called her two sisters and given them their usual breakfast before leaving for the small village where she was going to buy her fruit. Then she walked over to her father and mother and greeted them.

- Dad, Mom, hello! I'm off already. I'll see you in the evening. My sisters will heat up last night's crumbs for you, and here are three hundred-franc coins to buy something in case you need it.

- Don't worry!" exclaimed the mother, "you have our blessing which will follow you throughout the day.

- Thanks, Mom. Daddy, don't you have a prayer for me?

- Yes, daughter! You have my blessing too. Go and come back! The angels who watch over you will be with you.

The young woman took leave of her parents and left the courtyard. A few hours after Florencia's departure, the twin sisters came and sat down in front of their mother, who was sitting on a small sofa, and said in chorus:

- Mom, we want to talk to you.

The mother, stunned, asked them what they wanted to tell her. The two sisters glanced at each other discreetly and choked with laughter.

- Mom, you can call our words useless. But you know, I, Fidelia, won't be afraid to tell you the truth that's eating my heart out. So, can you tell me why you ended up hating us in this house?

The mother's amazement grew even greater.

- How many people do you include in your personal pronoun "us"?" inquired the mother, calmly.

- It's my sister and me!

- Right! And why do you ask?

- Mom, don't tell us you're naive! You know what I mean.

- No, I don't!

- You don't?

- Parbleu!

- Oh, right! Why do you care more about our big sister than about us? Is it because she brings you money in this house?

- Fidélia, do you know what we call what you're trying to do?

- Yes, Mama! Isn't that rude?

- Good guess! You know, a well-educated child doesn't talk to his mother or father like that. You lack education.

- If we're lacking in education, then whose fault is it?" said the second twin.

- Fideliana, I don't know how to answer you, but you need to know one thing: everything you do today will catch up with you in the future.

- We're screwing up!" exclaimed Fidélia.

- You're cursing us, aren't you?" questioned Fidéliana.

- I'm not cursing you because I don't have your time! Now I have to get back to your first question. You know, you're all my children and no mother can ever hate her own child. If you respect yourselves, there's no point in envying each other! I know why you've come to ask me this question. Isn't it because I let you get beaten up by your father last night?

- Exactly!" agrees Fidélia.

- Right! Even if your father didn't react, I'd do exactly what he did, because an elder is always an elder. Regardless of her size and build, you owe her eternal respect. As for the second question, if I like your sister more than you, it's because she respects and understands me at all times. So it's not because she's the financial backbone of the house that I love her more than you. You weren't born before her to start disrespecting her, no matter what your size or build! Who do you think you are? For twins? Are you the first twins on this earth? Or don't you know that it's what you do that your little brothers will imitate? I thank God they're not with us right now. Otherwise, what image will you give them? You join forces to sow nothing but disorder. You forget that one day, you'll separate and each of you will move in with your man.

- You think so, Mom? We'll marry the same man; if he doesn't agree to put up with us, then he goes his own way," Fidélia was quick to reply.

- Is that so? Have you ever seen anything like this?

- This is going to sound strange, Mom.

The mother, finding her daughters ridiculous, laughed out loud.

- You do that, I'll see," she concluded.

The twin sisters winked at each other, laughed loudly and finally shook hands before retreating from in front of their mother.