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The death of Teresa’s mother, though not unexpected was no less of a trauma for the family. Even though their relationships had not been what most would have considered functional, they were a family and were determined to behave like one.
By the end of the funeral, their collective willpower evaporated, and they were all relieved to say their goodbyes and retreat to their respective places of abode to complain about the rest of the family.
Geraldo, who received a hard time from Selma the whole day gave Teresa a weak hug and told her to get in touch if there was anything she needed. Selma’s offer of help was much more convincing due to the forcefulness of its delivery.
Teresa’s sister, Tatiana, gave her a perfunctory embrace and left explaining that she must meet the husband that the family never saw because he was always working, although Tatiana always changed the subject when anyone asked what he did.
Goodbyes over, Teresa left the crematorium and caught the bus back to her flat. She told herself that she didn’t mind that no-one had offered her a lift but made a mental note not to contact any of her family soon.
Teresa had been working as a teaching assistant in an international school in the centre of Sao Paulo and had started her teacher training course so that, one day, she might become a full-time teacher and earn more money.
One advantage of working in a school was the holidays and Teresa wouldn’t have to go back to work until the end of January. She was glad she wouldn’t have to get up early and share the crowded metro trains with the rest of the sweating populace of lower middle class and working-class Brazil. She had no money and couldn’t afford to travel anywhere during the holidays. She was still struggling to pay off the debt from her hasty credit card purchase of a single ticket from England to Brazil and could see no sign on the horizon of the possibility of saving enough for a trip to England to visit her daughter whom she missed more than she ever imagined.
She diminished her prospects of paying off her credit card and saving for a flight with the regular purchases of bottles of gin and cans of tonic, which, in her view, were the things keeping her sane.
As she opened the security gate, she was aware that her self-imposed solitude from her family would be short-lived. The day after tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and Teresa realised she would not have the mental constitution to spend it alone.