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27 fter mas s the following day , he did indeed take a detour fro m his usual route home. He struck ou t in the direction o f th e Rampa dos Artilheiros, by descending the steps of the Calcada de Sao Lazaro. He was more determined tha n ever, and was still chewin g over Florencio's affront . H e answered hi s wife's puzzle d curiosit y wit h a mysterious curl of his lips. When they got there, he pointed to the house. It was even more gracefu l at that hour of the morning, with the sunlight on its freshly painte d walls . Although it wasn't a new building, it had a welcoming facade. At that point he told her he planned to rent it, given that it was unoccupied, and assuming that she liked it and the owner agreed. His first task was to find out who this might be. A-Leng was grateful for such a pleasant surprise, and in her excitement, took her husband's ar m and asked : 'Have we got enough money for this?' 'I've been thinking about it all night. We can do it, and I'll work all the harder fo r There was a resoluteness i n his voice and she believed him. Besides, she was taken wit h the house. It had a yard, a well, a papaya tree, it wa s exposed to a south westerly breeze, and the air was free of dust. The children could play happily in the street, for apart from the sporadic traffic u p to the Monte Fort, few passers-by used the road. The area had the peace and quiet of a village, with Portuguese-style paving and good neighbours. A suitable area for bringing up children. A question here, an inquiry there, followed by a perusal of the records in the Registry Office , an d he managed t o identify th e proprietor, Don a Capitolina, a lady of property an d means, a widow and eminent figure no t only in the quarter but among the parishioners of the church of Santo Antonio, and resident in a large town house on the Rua de Sao Paulo. Adozindo's enthusiasm faded. She was a friend o f his mother, aunt and ^ 160HENRIQU EDESENNAFERNANDES grandmother, an d would have heard all manner of poisonous storie s abou t his marriage. Apart fro m this , in the more distant past, D. Capitolina ha d wanted him as a son-in-law, and had tried to lay siege to him on behalf o f her ugly daughter, Evelina. He had managed to dodge her skilfully, withou t offending anyone , but had left bot h mother an d daughter disappointe d a t their shattered dream . He thought o f givin g up, but then how would he explain t o A-Leng ? She was delighted with the house and had told Tina, the Queen-Bee and ASoi about it. The four o f them had even gone to take a look at it from th e outside. They were unanimous in their favourable opinion . The Queen-Be e declared that the house was bathed in goodfeng shui. He decided to go and talk to D. Capitolina's son , Big Fist Joaquim, an employee o f th e Englis h concessionary , th e Maca o Electri c Compan y (Melco), whose offices wer e halfway u p the Rua Central. He was a huge, burly man, with a contrastingly piping , feminine voice . His nickname came from his monumental knockout punch in an amateur boxing match, then very much in fashion, against another monster, a Filipino who went by the nom-de-guerre o f 'Killer Jack'. It happened about a minute from th e end of the second round. The Filipino, who had entered th e ring with a lot o f threats an d much bravado, convince d h e was goin g t o win , made th e mistak e o f lowerin g hi s guard , a t whic h poin t Joaquim' s ferroconcrete fis t smashe d int o his squar e jaw. Legend ha s it that he wa s unconscious for a good two hours. The winner, amid the tumultuous applause of his fans, shouted at the top of his womanly voice: 'Fuck of f ou t of here, Killer Jack! .. . No one can sto p this big...
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