Chapter 17

The priest man looked at the people. A deep feeling of religiosity surrounded him. It was his flock. They were his gang . Full of fervor he spoke to them.

--The devil stalks us. The devil fouls our minds with false offerings. We must make the flesh strong. We must strengthen the spirit. We cannot be less than our Lord , who suffered for all of us on his cross, we repay him with blasphemies, desires, filthy sins and deceit.

I look at the girl.

--Kneel down Margaret. Kneel down and tell us,--he said, which was readily accomplished by the young woman and her sisters .

--Father, I have sinned,--said the teenager, kneeling, then placing her face to the ground.

--Tell us the extent of your sin.

--I went to Spring Rock. A young man smiled at me from the door of the bar and I smiled back.

--The demon's attack. The cursed serpent is attempting to corrode my daughter's purity.. But I will save you,---exclaimed the man, crying out to God with fervor.

The Man said to him.

--Repent!,-- he said, reading psalms from the bible.

--Yes, father-- said the young woman, closing her eyes in fervent prayer, --Get out Satan!

--Get out Satan!, do not bite my daughter's flesh in her purity,-- said the man, while praying aloud, still extending his arms to heaven, with the same religious fervor.

--We have won. We have exorcised this innocent body and saved her from the clutches of the beast,-- reported the man with tears in his eyes....

The group, full of pious religiosity, silently kissed the bible presented by the man. The right thing had been done. Margaret's body and soul had been saved.

4.

Darzinda, aware of the glares, took her shorts off and stayed in her tight swimsuit. She knew the impact she was provoking and enjoyed it.

The pond was quite big and she could swim; It was a natural formation on the only river in the cattle town. Nothing like the waterfalls and rivers of her native Brazil... This river was laughable, and even the crocodiles that calmly bathed in the sun seemed no better than the huge black caimans of (her) native region, back in Boa Vista; everyone was proud of the Polish Krystina Pawlowski ,who had just killed a crocodile of 8.5 m on the Norman River. ...bah!, it was probably a story to depreciate the Brazilian caimans...

... She knew that down there on the sandy river beach was Lionel Sullivan. That fool. Let him see what a well-formed 16-year-old girl had. He was missing out. His stupid racism. She did have the legs,the hips and the beauty of body that the faded ones didn't have. She knew the boy was melted. She liked to make him suffer. Aha. There she was.

--Look at me,-- the girl whispered. She couldn't compete with the white girls in education and social status. She competed where she was unbeatable; in body, in sensuality and in desire to love passionately --We Brazilians do have what it takes...we do have shapely legs, and the brown color is much more beautiful than the leukemic Anglos, with nothing in front, nothing in back....

-- I'll go to Sydney and be a famous swimsuit model-- she kept daydreaming, waving her legs and raising foam, to attract attention. She knew it was there and she was wallowing with desire. She was in love. He was in love. But the prejudices of the Anglos.

5.-

She was the daughter of Brazilian immigrants, day laborers on the farms, blacks, Catholics.

Him. Lionel Sullivan...White, son of the owner of one of the farms, Anglican, blond and with money...It wouldn't be hers, but she would make him suffer....

--You miss it baby,--she said, pulling on her jean shorts, "I'd decided to give it all to that gorgeous blond. She would definitely have to dump him ...For a moment she laughed. She understood. He was afraid. He was afraid of being alone with a beautiful, hot girl.

--Yes. Definitely. I'm going to Sydney to The Big Smoke,--the young woman murmured, walking down the track.

Unexpectedly the hand covered her mouth.

--Aha, you fool, she thought, this body will set you on fire. You couldn't stand it.

--Bitch, filthy, you provoke children with your body. You are possessed by the devil. We must save your soul, save young Christians from becoming a slave of Satan,--said the voice, breathing heavily.

Darzinda understood that it was not the beautiful blond boy. She had pushed another button. And not the right one.

The blow on her head knocked her out of consciousness.

She collapsed to the ground.