April 2, Monday

We are up early so Michael can drive me and Kai to Recife to get our flight to São Paulo. It’s a rainy day as we drive south to the airport, the view of the ocean obscured by clouds. I hold the package tightly in my lap, lost in my thoughts.

Michael breaks the silence. “Carlos will pick you up at the airport?”

“Yes, he’s taking a few days off. It will be good to see him.” I look at Kai in the back seat, who is very quiet.

“That’s good, Eva. I wish I could go with you but I’ll stay here and keep things humming at Jaxi and make sure we’re ready to open Meia-Lua.”

“Thank you, querido.”

Everything goes smoothly and the flight leaves on time, touching down at Guarulhos Airport a little bit early. Kai and I only have carry-on bags so we go straight to the main concourse to meet Carlos.

“It’s so good to see you guys.” Carlos hugs us both at once. He drives us across the city to his apartment, and we sit in his living room in silence, all of us staring at the package on the coffee table.

Kai looks at Carlos. “I haven’t looked at the papers, have you?”

Carlos shakes his head. “No, Mãe said I could when I was older but I’ve decided not to. I don’t need details on what Papai went through, it haunts me enough already.”

I look at Kai. “I won’t be keeping any copies once we give them to the commission. They have thousands of pages of documents like this, and their report will be published next year. So many people suffered, and the book on the report, Brazil Never Again, will be a document for posterity.”

We have a quiet dinner, and afterward we sit together remembering Luiz, their Papai.

“The most important things for you to remember about your Papai are how much he loved us, and how much he loved Brazil. He gave his life fighting for what he believed was right. When we have direct elections and Brazil is a democracy again, and I think that will happen soon, remember that your Papai was one of the people who made that possible.”