- Ditinha*
Ditinha stared at her employer's jewels and her eyes sparkled more than the precious stones. She kept cleaning the room, sweeping under the bed, looking at the ceiling in search of cobwebs. How beautiful was the spider's web! Carefully woven. A single sun ray ran through the fine interwoven threads, making the web sparkle like the jewels. Ditinha stared at the web, the spider, and the jewels. She wiped the dust from the closet, put the shoes away in the rack, and made the bed. She opened the drawer searching for the golden yellow bedspread. She thought about the jewels. "Would I like to own one of those pieces?" Even if she did, she would not have any dresses or shoes to go with it. "What if I did have dresses and shoes to go with the jewelry, still I would not know how to fix my hair."
She looked at herself in the mirror and felt ugly, uglier than she usually felt. "What if I had dresses, shoes, and knew how to fix my hair?" (Ditinha hated her own hair). "Even then I would not go well with the jewels." Once again she looked at the jewels. Glittering, glittering. She approached the box with her hands down. There was a beautiful green stone, so smooth that it looked soft. "Down with those hands," she thought, "one sees with the eyes, not with the hands. Even if I owned a jewel like this, where would I go? I only go out to work, to mass, to the praying circle meetings, to the soccer league games, and to community parties at the favela. How and where would I wear this fine piece of jewelry? Well, of course if I did own jewels, I would be rich like Doña Laura. I wouldn't be myself," she laughed. She wanted to feel the jewel for a few minutes. It scared her. She backed off.
She moved very carefully and wiped away the spider's web. The spider tried to run up the wall. She swiftly swept the spider onto the floor and, with a fast move, stepped heavily on the poor animal—pressing hard—as if the bug were a monster that could erupt from under her feet. Biting her lips, she stepped on the spider while keeping her eyes fixed on the jewels.
Doña Laura walked into the bedroom, picked up the jewels, and put on a necklace. She tried a ring and a bracelet. Just trying out for now, the party would be later in the evening. Ditinha swept the floor again, sweeping up the remains of the spider. She wanted to look at her employer, who admired herself and posed with the jewelry in front of the mirror. It was not possible; the cleaning business was complete. She bent over, picked up the trash, the dust pan and the broom. She left, closing the door behind herself, and started cleaning the hallway. [End Page 929]
Having finished the daily tasks, Ditinha took off her apron, jumped in the shower, quickly ate, and found her way back home. Before leaving, she went around the whole house accompanied by her employer as they checked her work. Everything spic span! The household was sparkling. The lady praised Ditinha's efforts, she liked the way the young woman worked. She was great and knew how to follow directions. There was not a speck of dirt in the air. Tonight, the party would be beautiful! The guests would have a great time. The cook was still working on some delicacies. Ditinha stared at her employer and saw the look of approval in her face. How gorgeous Doña Laura was! Tall, blonde, with eyes of the same color of that precious stone. Ditinha really liked Doña Laura, and Doña Laura really liked Ditinha's work. Staring at and admiring Doña Laura's beauty, Ditinha felt even uglier. She lowered her eyes, ashamed of herself. It was with relief that Ditinha heard Doña Laura's voice saying:
"You may go, but do not fail to come tomorrow...