Thirty-Eight: The Last Picnic

Gathering what little strength he had left, he got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. With great difficulty, he managed to get ready in time to find something to eat in the kitchen.

Her kitten was there, watching her and she soon remembered that she hadn't given it a name in all the time she'd had it.

So she went to her room and took out her notebook, where she had written down some names, with the help of some people at school and the internet. There were a few names in there:

-Miado;

-O' Maley;

-Baguera;

-Sushi;

-Temaki;

-Zola;

-Lila;

-Lola;

-Suzi;

-Tufinho;

-Rajada;

First she needed to know if it was male or female. Taking the feline on her lap, she took a good look at it and realized that it was a male, which ruled out some names. She crossed some names off the list and saw what was left:

Miado, Sushi, O' Maley, Baguera, Temaki, Tufinho and Rajada.

With some difficulty, she managed to make up her mind and would now call him Rajada, as he ran around so quickly that she didn't even notice.

The car horn in front of her house woke her up and reminded her that she had to get to class. So she just grabbed a strawberry yogurt from the fridge and a packet of cookies and left the house, getting into Lucas' car, which was already waiting for her. The boy automatically gave Marina a gentle nudge, leaving her with rosy cheeks and a beating heart. Together they gave each other a beautiful smile and headed off to school. The weather had already changed, forming some dark clouds in the sky that had recently been clear with beautiful sunshine.

***

Class had been over for about forty minutes and the two of them were in the car, thinking about what to do about the results of the DNA test. The test indicated that the boy was not Lucas's son, which shook him to the core, even though part of his brain had already realized this. Marina stroked his hair, trying to reassure him, but he remained silent. Before she could say anything, he opened his eyes and said:

-"Shall we do something now? Walk around town, spend some time together.

-But... -He interrupted her.

-Please, I need this and only you can calm me down. Otherwise I'll end up in trouble.

-All right, let's go out. I just need to tell my dad.

With a message, she let him know that she would be walking around the city for a while. And after Miguel's reply telling her to be careful, the two of them set off across town, heading for the other side of town, where there's a beautiful lawn and a great place to spend time.

The garden was very beautiful and somewhat hidden from the city. There was also a beautiful house made of wood, but painted white, a small fence with flowers on the sides and some trees around it.

Marina was delighted with the house, but was a little suspicious, as it was unusual for her to have a house in the middle of a garden.

Guessing her thoughts, he told her that his parents had built this place to be his refuge, something that would make him feel good, and whenever he felt exhausted, he would go there and read various books, listen to music and meditate on life.

He also told her that he had never taken anyone there, not even Milena, which made the girl feel relieved. Their gazes met for a moment, but then they pulled themselves together and entered the small house.

He took some supplies and they went to sit on the lawn. They put a blanket on the grass and placed some fruit, cake, juice and cookies there.

The two of them spent a long time there, until Lucas decided it was time to sing her a song. So he got up and went into the small house to get an old guitar. He tuned the strings of the instrument and began a few chords of the song Piquenique by the singer Dilsinho.

With each lyric, they felt that the song seemed to express their feelings for each other and, letting the last notes come out on their own, they gave each other a passionate kiss that contained love and also goodbye, since she wouldn't be staying with him but would follow the path that had always belonged to her since the beginning: Living in Sete Lagoas.

And as much as she had strong feelings for him, she knew that the most important thing was her family, because even if the world sometimes turned us upside down, she knew that her brothers would never let her down, because she loved them more than anything, and even though he was sad to let her go, he was happy with her beautiful attitude, of putting her family above her heart's desires.

The two went home at dusk, hugged each other tightly and each went their separate ways, knowing that now the days would pass more quickly and their destiny would come to an end.