SOMEWHERE - over the rainbow

And, after many hours actually walking along this country road, no cars passing by, at long last, some kind of thing finally appears, down there, coming from my back, this is, first I can’t really understand what it may be, but then, just then, as it slowly approaches, I can eventually understand that’s not really a car but, some kind of three-wheeled motorcycle, that, in the meanwhile, as it actually gets closer and closer, here it is, say, its driver actually flailing his arms about in my direction, meaning, without letting it come to a complete stop there I go, already jumping over some kind of grill actually installed on the back of this strange vehicle, driven by this guy with a hollowed out face just now throwing some elliptical smiles in my direction, eventually blabbing something like, “I know I know… not many vehicles riding through this road at this time, so, yeah, you are having the luck with my appearing here… obrrrgh!” he somehow says as he’s actually turning the steering wheel knob, and, as he does that, he’s actually staring from the road to me and from me to the road, his body squirming a bit, and me, probably showing some puzzling smiles on the go… and thus, then, here he is again, already asking, “so so so, may I know now from where you actually coming and what’s your destination?!”; “hum, no matter from where coming from, no matter the destination… I just wanna go!” I eventually say while actually pointing further, and he, well, “I see, I see…so, I’m actually making your destination… all good, all good, no worries, let’s just go!” he says, and as it goes, say, after some curbs, as the road is actually descending, here he is again “I may say that… I myself, also, I do not know from where coming from, also… so, yeah, we are some sort of brothers, it can be said, thus, I should take your point…”, he just says while actually turning the radio volume up... and so, there we go, uphill downhill, listening to some sort of symphonic music.... and therefore, time goes by and at some point this motor thing is actually emitting some sort of wretched noise, even liberating some quaint black clouds of smoke, and so, in this fashion we keep advancing, actually zigzagging along some sort of provincial road, this is, going through a hillside filled with shrubs, thickets, and then, some fields of cultivation. And, well, as we actually go through all this, he’s even waving his arms around, pointing at some locations here and there, say, some groves in the middle of the forest, actually a pine tree forest, and at some point, here he is already disclosing, now, “you see that boulders over there… I used to live there and there and there… this is, I used to be a resin man… yes, do you know what that is?”; and...“for sure!” I would say, and so, he would then just continue like this, “thus, from pinewood to pinewood I used to go, yeah picking the sap of the trucks… I mean… I also had no family or proper house to rest... probably like you, so, actually, I would sleep here and there, in the middle of these pine forests, inside some kind of crags…” and again, here he’s pointing around while actually saying these things, “I mean, these trees… these pines-trees… they have actually been my best friends through the times... specially the female ones…” he now says, and as he’s actually saying that, I’m actually smiling at these same pines, and then just then he would eventually continue like this “I mean, I was not afraid of anything or anyone... because, yes, while inhabiting these caves, these crags, I had a ranch of dogs that would protect me during the night and during the day, this is, some of them are still around, I can even tell you their names, I mean, there was Galvão… and, there was Pintas, Caçoulo, Xibanga, Cabrita, Magana and… a few more... I mean, some are still around, others, are gone… but, yeah, you know, moving through these thickets at night may have its dangers, coz, there are ravines, there are hidden wells, slops, mine-shafts, and… thus, I may tell you, coz I see, you want to know, this is, one day, I mean, one night, at a devil hour, when I was coming back from the tavern, filthy drunk… well, it happened that I collapsed… and so, down some kind of cliff I went, into a dark hole... result... I broke my legs on several sides, made a few holes in my head... and… I became injured for life, this is, now, I can't move any more without the help of this shit…” he says now, while pointing to some crutches actually stuck in between his seat itself and the mudguard of one of the wells, something that I had already noticed, and so, then, he continues, “well, well, you see, God punished me, I don't know why... I do not know why me, that was already miserable... he decided to punish me, instead of torturing the liar, the abuser, the greedy... or maybe it was the devil that came into my body through these girls... yes, these girls from that night house I used to visit… but… now… ohu, fuck that girls... fuck the devils... this is, as you see, I still do my life... I mean, people brought me this machine and so, I still can keep moving… this is, I have many friends out there, I mean, everybody knows me, and so… I continue to run all the taverns… I mean… I take the news from here to there, and when there is no news, I create it... I mean, that's my job now... I’m some kind of messenger…you see…” he says, and as he finish with that, he just turns up the volume of the auto-radio, and so, there we go, uphill downhill, actually listening to some symphonic music, this is, some “gnossiennes”, some “nocturnes”, some “fugues”, all this punctuated by a pleasant southeast wind dripping against our faces and imagination. And then, at some point, as we pass some field of cultivation, the paesants actually working on these fields all raise their hands, as if, greeting us, and my driver, also does the same, and then me, also waving back to them. And so, as these fields of cultivation are gone, we are actually getting close to some kind of village, and then, after having actually passed some cottages, we are already entering some kind of village, and so, by now, we are already parking in front of some kind of commercial house, I mean, I can already understand from here, it’s a tavern, and so, as we get off from this kind of motorized-tricycle, I even try to help my driver, by passing him this crouches that were actually, as said before, stuck on the gap between the his seat and the mudguard, and thus, after having fit them his armpits with expertise, there he goes, actually dragging himself in the direction of the tavern’s door, and me, somehow following on his side, and then on his back, looking around, this is, studying the nuances of this village. And, well, already on the door, as I look inside, I can actually see that there aren't many people still around, I can even tell you their names, I mean, there was Galvão… and, there was Pintas, Caçoulo, Xibanga, Cabrita, Magana and… a few more... I mean, some are still around, others, are gone… but, yeah, you know, moving through these thickets at night may have its dangers, coz, there are ravines, there are hidden wells, slops, mine-shafts, and… thus, I may tell you, coz I see, you want to know, this is, one day, I mean, one night, at a devil hour, when I was coming back from the tavern, filthy drunk… well, it happened that… I collapsed… and down some kind of cliff I went… into a dark hole... so, result... I broke my legs on several sides, made a few holes in my head... and… I became injured for life, this is, now, I can't move any more without the help of this shit…” he says now, while pointing to some crutches actually stuck in between his seat itself and the mudguard of one of the wells, something that I had already noticed, and so, then, he continues, “well, well, you see, God punished me, I don't know why... I do not know why me, that was already miserable... he decided to punish me, instead of torturing the liar, the abuser, the greedy... or maybe it was the devil that came into my body through these girls… yes, these girls from that night house I used to visit… but… now… ohu, fuck that girls... fuck the devils... this is, as you see, I still do my life... I mean, people brought me this machine and so, I still can keep moving… this is, I have many friends out there, I mean, everybody knows me, therefore… I continue to run all the taverns… I mean… I take the news from here to there, and when there is no news, I create them... I mean, that's my job now... I’m some kind of messenger…you see…” he says, and as he finish with that, he just turns up the volume of the auto-radio again, and so, there we go again, listening some symphonic music while actually going down along some sort of valley, eventually reaching whats seems to be some fields of cultivation, and say, as we go by in the middle of this crop, the paesans working on these lands all raise their heads, some even raise their hands, as if, greeting us, and me and my driver, well, we also wave back to them, this is, as we go trough my driver even utters some boos and uuhs, and then, as these fields of cultivation are gone, some kind of gale is actually raising, the radio goes off, and then, we are are already passing some cottages some mossy one floor houses, this is, we are apparently reaching some sort of village now, already advancing through this parallel stone streets, say, streets with stone buildings covered in moss on both side, and this is, after passing some closed down shops, we just stop at the next crossroad by some sort of old fountain, this is, as I instantly descend from this motorized thing, I even try to help my driver by passing him the crouches that, as said before, were actually stuck on on the gap between the seat and the mudguard... and thus, after he has actually, with some expertise, fit them on his armpits, here he comes, dragging himself, and there we go, already advancing, side by side, in the direction of the tavern’s door, say, me looking around, studying the nuances of this village as we go through. And then, when we are already on the door of the said tavern, as I look inside, I can actually see that there aren't many people there, this is, I see only a couple of men by the bar seated, and… thus, said and done, as we are actually getting in, the barman, say, a man with sideburns and a mustache, is already saluting effusively my friend, this is, his name seems to be Albino, just now I get to know, and then, the barman also looks in my direction, still here by the door, eventually giving me some kind of tricky but welcoming smile. And, well, further, as we actually plant ourselves in front of the bar, a couple of wine glasses are already being dragged to our front, and so, yeah yeah, as we drink, eventually I come to understand that some of men from that small group installed down there at the bottom of this den, they are actually staring at me now, and me, also staring to them, this is, paying special attention to one of them actually holding some kind of small accordion on the front of his chest, actually the so called concertina, and so, in the following time, around him I see some of the man actually raising their glasses of wine in the air, some pulling them against their mouths, thus, let's go for some quick description about them, say, one of them is actually presenting some sort of aquiline nose, other some sort of moon face, and other, actually displaying some kind of funny beret on his head, is now making some sort of comments I can’t really understand, this is, it may be some mockery about us here… and so, after some giggling, some boos, say, the accordion man eventually is already distending the bellows of his instrument, say, slowly opening it, injecting some air on it, and, as he actually does this, he’s even throwing some glances in our direction, and then, just then, he really starts playing, I mean, in the beginning only the bass notes (on the right hand), making some kind of bouncy rhythm, and then, after some more salutations by the beret man, he also starts singing, I mean, not really singing, but something half way between talking and singing, buffoon opera style, this is, something like this can be understood now, "…and so and so and sooooo, here we are and here I gooooo… by now actually singing to all the stepsisters and stepbrothers of the this and that unfathomable world... and so and so and so, as a start, before all, I may welcome the newcomers… soooo, I may say hell-ouh hell-ouh hell-ouh to you there…” he sings, and then, and after a small reviega (bridge) on the instrument, the one seated on his side, I mean, this one displaying that kind of aquiline nose is already entering on the parody like this “hell-ouh, hell-ouh, hell ouh, and so and so and so… here we are and here gooooo… say, inside this hole inside this bow… here we are, attending this nefarious life with no fife no vow… ” he just sings, also in that buffone light opera style, and then, after another revienga by the concertina man, and after some more comments by the beret man, the other one on the opposite side, I mean, the one with that kind of moon face, also enters in the ditty like this “and so and so and so, this is, also, I give my salutations to the newcomers, and also my salutations to the ones that did not come… so yes oh Joshua… nowa, we should canvass whatta are we actually doing here... and who to blame after all... uhall uhall uhall, and where should we go uwo uwo uwo…” and then, after one more revienga by concertina man, I mean, now a bigger one; more like a solo, the bartender is actually laying some more wine glasses of wine on our front, and also porting some others to that back table where the men were actually singing and playing. And, as it goes, I mean, as the men drink, by the end of the said revienga, they are actually staring here, in our direction, showing some inquisitive looks, and so, Albino, that is still here on my side, actually leaning against the bar, now, just straights a bit and beats his empty glass of wine against the bar, and so, after another revienga by the concertina man, here he goes, already intoning “and so and so and so, my friend and fiends, here we are and here we go… this is, one more time one more dime… I know I know I know… I’m the one that should bring you the news, but today… I will pass that to the newcomer here on my side… I mean, I have just picked him on the fold… from the roadsides, and so, therefore, he’s traveling the world… or at least, that’s what he says, and so and so and so, he may have something to say hei hei hei”, and then, after another revienga by the concertina player, everybody is actually looking to me again, and so, I just can’t escape now, thus, here I go, this is, in the meanwhile I just start hissing, I make a bunch of throat noises, things like moaning and groaning words with no meaning, expressing onomatopoeias with some squeals in between, and, and as it goes, in the middle of all this hullabaloo, I end up being expelled from that place, then, already going through the narrow streets of this sort of village with small houses made of granite, facades covered with verdigris and moss, and, as I go through, I actually come to pass some convenience stores with windows covered by large brown papers and newspapers with news written in languages I can’t really understand, and also, there is this hairdresser with posters containing very strange haircuts, portraying like, some kind of old-style star-wars heroes, and also, some gift shops with broken windows, this is, shattered glass actually covering some kind of futuristic out-of-date gadgets, and, eventually, as I keep going through, I actually do not see people in the streets, this is, I just envision a few heads appearing and disappearing out of the windows up there, from time to time, like spying me, and then, I also come to spot some shadows actually moving through some inner gardens here and there, and well, as I keep advancing, I also pass this ready-to-wear boutique shop actually displaying dismembered mannequins on the vitrine, and, well, to my surprise, as I look inside, I instantly see this real girl with a fringe actually handling some of that mannequins, this is, arranging them, and, well, as I look at it, this vision kinda remember me some sort of dream I had days ago, and accordingly, I even throw her a kiss through the musty glass, and well, as she actually gets aware of my presence here, there she stays, this is, paralyzed, staring at me, and so, in the meanwhile I just wave at her some more kisses, I make some figures, and then, just then, there I go, running the streets of this quaint village, actually beating my palm on the mouth, emitting this kind of sound like the Indians used to do on the western movies, and as it goes, in the meanwhile, I even come to pass in front of some kind of abandoned church, some kind of abandoned Town Hall, and as I go out this village, say, already walking in the middle of farmlands with scarecrows staring at me, actually passing some potato fields, some pumpkin fields, some “magic beans” fields… when is already night, I just jump into some inner yard on the back of some farm house, and so, there I go, through some sort of orchard, eventually climbing onto this tree with fruits lit by the moon, and guess what, I haven't eaten anything for days, so, this fruits lit by the moon are actually tasting amazing... and, as I stay here, ingesting these gifts from the moon, from the cosmos, eventually, there, on the upper side of the yards, I come to see some lights blinking, and even some shouting, and then, there is this noise of a guns shouting, something like that, and, as I hear that, in fact, I just have time to save some of this fruits on my pockets and down I go, already jumping the fences of this kind of yard, coming back to the road, and then, despairing into the darkness... this is, I think I did run all night through some dirt paths illuminated by the moon, by the stars, and then, at dawn, when I'm actually stopped at some crossroad, resting, thinking, I actually come to see this bicycle approaching, and, well, as it gets here, it’s driver, say, this guy with tattooed face, is already pulling his body forward, this is, actually making space on the upper bar for me to seat… and, well, as I go for it, I decide not to ask him questions... this is, as we go down some this dirt road, here he is, already asking me what was I thinking about while stopped there, in that groove, before he had come, and so, I... well, “Home” I just say as we keep going down this dirt road surrounded by eucalyptus and some kind of bare pine trees, and eventually, he, after some period of silence, he also revels that he had left his home long time ago, “... I mean, through the times I have actually been doing the silk route, the cedar route, the route of the coal etc.” he says, and then, I also tell him about the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle and... actually, after dismounting this bicycle, he even shows me this tattoos he actually got printed in his arms and chest. And so, what I see, is actually, a few piranhas, a few curved swords, and also... some kind of flaccid monsters with multiple eyes, this is, “I was just released from the pokey...” he says, “I mean, all those tattoos were actually made by my inmates!” he explains, “this is, the piranhas were actually made by this or that killer, the swords by this or that rapist, the anchor by this or that drug dealer, and this flaccid monsters, were actually made by a certain preacher man, unjustly condemned, I may say...”, and then, after this revelations, this new friend also wants to know about my travels, this is, in which kind of adventures have I been... and so, on the going, I kinda tell him that I have also been in many places, “but, my memory is actually no good no more, even so, I can still remembered about the Dharavi Dharavi, the Khayelitsha and the Heliopolis, say, the city of the dead, I mean, this is...” as he seems particularly interested in the last name I have just said, I explain, “so, the Heliopolis is actually one of the biggest slum in the world… I mean... the original profession of the city of the dead was actually the guardian of tombs, this is, the guardian of treasures... but then, foreigners fleeing from distant wars also came to take refuge there, and so… this is”, then he also begins to tell me about his life in the Barbados, the facts that have led to the happening of being arrested, and then, he also starts to tell things about his life while imprisoned. This is, to open it, he just tells me that actually, he had been sexually abused several times, “but I have already done my revenge!” he says. And then, let’s say, on the following, he also revels how he had actually been ordained to do forced labor… about his addiction... and then, about his family that, “didn't care about me at all”, he says, this is, when they came to know, he says, that he had been arrested for drug trafficking “they didn't even consider that a bail could have been paid and so, actually, I could have spent much less time inside that inferno... although, not everything was bad, this is, while there, I actually got secret information on how to escape state control... and plus, I also got a mastering on locks, this is…” ; “looks or locks!?” I eventually ask. and “Locks” he repeats, “built-in locks, tubular locks, magnetic, telescopic...” and so, as he continues on this mattering bout locks, he even explains that there is also the possibility of using remote control gazes capable of miracles. And, well, as it goes, I just listen carefully everything he says until the point that he actually starts to confide that his future project would be “to rob a big bank… this is, by now I know how to do it in a totally clean way!” he adds. And then, as we are reaching some kind of clearing, he even invites me to assist him in his future project, this is, in the meanwhile he even starts to explain how we could do it, everything in detail… And then, to finish, as he starts to talk about what he actually would like to do with the money, I just say “well, actually, I myself, I wouldn't know what to do with that money, this because, in fact, I don't want this thing, money, to disturb my life” I say, and so, as I say this, on the next crossroad, we would follow different directions.