Brazil, 12th September 2001
Francisco and Maria were saying goodbye to their children and grandchildren. They had just buried their youngest son at the back of the house - he had died the day before in the reservoir which surrounded the coupleś farm. The farm was in the interior of the state of São Paulo, in a small town called Assis.
The boy, whose name was Davi and who was only eleven, had gone swimming in the reservoir as he often did, being an excellent swimmer. But on that day, the 11th September 2001, his father found him lifeless, lying on the bank of the reservoir. He had drowned. He usually went swimming alone, late in the afternoon, when dusk was falling. The family was distressed and hadn´t come to terms with the boyś death.
In that part of Brazil, principally in the country areas, it was usual for the wake and the burial to take place on the familyś land.
some of the poorer families weren´t even aware of the requirement to inform the authorities of the death of a relation and to obtain a death certificate; others, in their despair, simply forgot about it.
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After saying their goodbyes to the family members who had come for the wake, the couple took a bath and went to bed.
A few hours later, around two a.m., a car could be heard arriving.
Maria woke up thinking that one of her sons had come back. The car stopped in front of the veranda. Two men in black suits got out and started slowly ascending the steps of the veranda. it was 12th september 2001. The men were tall and blond and they knocked at the door of the Giroto family. Maria was already in the living room.
Without hesitation she went to the door, thinking it was one of her sons. When she opened the door she felt afraid because the men were so tall, and because they looked nothing like her sons. Mariaś husband, hearing sounds of movement, went to the front door with his rusty shotgun in his hands.
‘Be calm, husband, them be pastors from the church.’ Maria thought this was who they were, and that they had heard of the son’s death and come for the wake.
‘What the hell do they want at this hour?’
And then the men explained:
‘Lady, we aren´t pastors, but we´re here to talk about your son.
We heard that he passed away and we´d like to offer our condo-lences,’ said one of the men.
‘We´re here because there is a very delicate matter we have to discuss,’ said the other man, talking quietly and surely, which gave the elderly couple confidence and they asked them in.
‘Sit down, please, gentlemen. I´ll get yer some coffee,’ said Maria with her country accent, typical of that part of Brazil.
‘Lady, that won´t be necessary, we won´t take up much of your time.’
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‘Tell us then, please, how can we be of help?’
‘Lady, we´re Americans, we work for an American agency known as the CiA.’
The man showed them his badge.
‘Ah, I´ve heard of yer, you´re famous, always turning up in the movies. Yer must be very sad at what happened to those buildings, what a terrible thing, for Godś sake.’
‘Yes, lady, we´re all shocked. It was a great loss for humanity.’
‘But we´re here for another reason. My partner will explain.’
‘Lady, a very important American family is being hunted.
Yesterday two members of the family were killed by very bad people. The only one of the family who survived is a boy who, as it happens, has the same name as your late son and almost the same age, just a year’s difference.’
‘But how do yer know about our son? He passed away yesterday and we ain´t even been to the registry office yet,’ said the woman with an astonished look.
‘Didn´t you call your family in Italy yesterday, to tell them? Well, we intercepted your call.’
Francisco leapt out of his chair.
‘You been snooping on us?’ the old man roared.
‘No, sir, please, calm down. All international calls are monitored for security purposes. We have software which identifies certain patterns, records them and sends them to us.’
‘Well, alright then, but just tell us what yer want. Can´t yer see we´re not up to coping with visitors? We´ve only just put our son in his grave.’
‘Right, then, as I was saying, two members of this American family were killed yesterday, and only their son survived. We need 85
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a place to hide the child. he needs a new name and a new family: if they find him he’ll be killed too. We´re here in the name of the American government to ask for your help.’
‘Yer want us to take on a child that isn´t ourn and that on top of that is being hunted? Thatś not just illegal, itś dangerous.
Suppose those bad people find him here and kill us all!’ said the woman fearfully, but at the same time with compassion.
‘You won’t be taking a risk. We’ll watch you twenty-four hours a day and no one will find the boy here in Brazil. These bad people think the boy is dead too, thatś why he needs a new name and a new family.’
‘But what are we goin’ to tell our family and our friends and neighbors?’ asked the man.
‘As far as we know, only your family in Italy was told; your friends and neighbors don´t yet know your son is dead. All you have to do is not say anything more to anyone. Keep the boy hidden for a few years and no one will suspect. They´re not that different.’
‘Can we see the boy?’ asked the woman.
‘Of course! i’ll fetch him.’
The man brought David into the house. His face was all creased with the marks of the car’s upholstery and he was yawning like someone who hadn´t liked being woken like that.
When the couple saw David they felt happy and emotional.
‘Goodness me what a good-looking boy! He looks like an angel,’
said Maria, and began to weep as she remembered her own dead son.
‘Just a moment, sir, I need to talk to me husband, I´ll be right back,’ said the old lady in a fearful tone of voice, as if she had 86
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something very important to say to him. The two of them went into the kitchen.
‘Husband, does yer remember once I told you I saw an angel?’
‘I remember, but that be some thirty years ago.’
‘And does yer remember what I told yer the angel said to me?’
her husband’s face took on a look of amazement as he remembered how, thirty years before, his wife had woken in the middle of the night weeping bitterly, and had told him that she had seen an angel. The angel told her that one day men would come to her door and bring her a child, and that the child should stay with them and they should look after it well. Naturally none of the family believed what Maria said. of course it had been a dream, real though it seemed to Maria. As time went by, she too became convinced that it was just a dream - after all, it was unimaginable.
‘So it weren’t a dream after all!’ exclaimed her husband, still shaken.
‘No, it weren´t. At the time I told yer it was too real to be a dream, but yer all talked me into believing it was a dream and I just kept quiet. It can´t be just coincidence. Letś keep the boy.’
‘Alright, you´re the boss,’ said her husband, knowing that nothing he could do would make her change her mind.
They went back to the living room.
‘Alright, we’ll keep him, for sure,’ said Maria, taking David by the arm and giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek.
‘Thank you, lady, we knew we could count on you.’
‘Hello, David, how yer feeling?’ asked the woman, putting her hand under David’s chin.
David looked at one of the men, not understanding.
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‘Lady, he doesn´t understand your language. But in a few months he’ll be talking fluently. Don´t worry about it.’
‘David, this is your new family. Look after them well and they’ll look after you,’ said the man in English, and said goodbye to David.
‘Goodbye, lady, here are our contact numbers. If thereś anything you need, just call. And as I said, please don’t tell anyone.’
The men went back to their car, started it up and disappeared up the dirt road.
David took over Daviś room, his documents, his clothes and everything else of his. Only they couldn’t send him to the same school, since there they would realize it wasn´t Davi. The family had to put him into a different school in another town.
David became part of the family. only the older sons and the grandchildren knew his story and they all promised to keep the secret. The boy always insisted on being called David, and his wish was respected.
Some days after David arrived at the farm, Francisco went into town to do some shopping and pay some bills at the bank. When he looked at his bank statement he saw that five million Reals had been put into his account. Francisco couldn´t believe it and went home and told his wife. he didn´t understand: could it be that the bank had made a mistake? His wife calmed him down and said it could be to do with the men who brought David. So the man told the bank he had inherited the money, paid off his many debts and never mentioned the matter to anyone again.
A year went by. David was speaking Portuguese fluently, like a native; it had taken him less than six months to become fluent. His facility for learning the language and his above-average intelligence 88
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astonished his adoptive parents and the whole family. David started helping his father in the day-to-day running of the farm, which was a coffee plantation. At last he was safe and happy.
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