Carioca Fletch Read Online Free

kisses and rapid talk in Brazilian Portuguese.
    Wordlessly, Otavia then shook Fletch’s hand.
    “
Boa noite
,” Fletch said.
    “Otavio has come here to meet with his publisher,” Laura said. “He is staying nearby, with Alfredo and Gloria. Have you met them? Alfredo is a marvelous man, true Brazilian, so full of life, generous to a fault. Gloria is a marvelous woman, truly bright, so charming, with a large feminine soul.”
    “Are they here?”
    Laura looked around at the other people on the terrace. “I don’t see them.”
    “They are preparing for the Canecao Ball tomorrow night.” Otavio said. “I do not need to prepare. Poets are born in disguise.”
    “And your mother?” Fletch asked Laura. “She did not come from Bahia?”
    “My mother,” said Laura. “Orchids you can never leave.”
    “They are worse than children,” agreed Otavio.
    “Worse than I was, anyway,” Laura said.
    Teodomiro da Costa came across the terrace to them. He was a tall man of sixty with the head of a bald eagle. “Fletcher, it is good to have you back. Did you enjoy Bahia?”
    “Of course.”
    “Good. For dinner we are having
vatapa
, a typical dish from Bahia.”
    Fletch smiled and took Laura’s free hand. “I made friends there.”
    “But Cavalcanti is my friend.” Teo kissed Laura on the cheek. “And Laura too.”
    Otavio said, “We are all friends.”
    Teo took Fletch’s
cachaça
and placed it on the tray of a passing houseman. He said something to the housewoman. “I have ordered you a screwdriver,” he said to Fletch.
    “Is it called a screwdriver in Portuguese?”
    Teo laughed. “I called it orange juice, vodka, and ice.”
    “I must figure out the words for it.”
    “Not hard.”
    “To say it rapidly. With firmness.”
    “Come. I want you to meet da Silva.” Slowly Teo guided Fletch by the elbow across the terrace. “Is Laura with you, or with her father?”
    “With me.”
    “Ah! You are so lucky.” Teo then introduced Fletch to another sixty-year-old businessman, Aloisio da Silva.
    Immediately, da Silva said, “You must come to my office. Ihave a new computer system. The very latest. Digital. From your country.”
    “I would be very interested in it.”
    “Yes, You must come tell me what you think.”
    The houseman brought Fletch his screwdriver.
    “Also, perhaps you have noticed my new building going up. How long have you been in Rio?”
    “I was here for three weeks, then I was in Bahia for two weeks. I am back three days.”
    “Then perhaps you have not noticed my building?”
    “Rio is so vibrant.”
    “Of course. It is in the Centro. Near Avenida Rio Branco.”
    “I did notice a new building going up there. Very big.”
    “Very big. You must come and see it with me. You’d be very interested.”
    “I’d like that.”
    “It is amazing what a difference computers make when it comes to building a building.”
    Marilia Diniz appeared with her glass of
cachaça
. She kissed Aloisio and Fletch on their cheeks.
    “Are you well, Aloisio?”
    “Of course.”
    “Rich?”
    “Of course.”
    Marilia forever remained a surprise to Fletch. She had to be the only person in Rio with no sun-color in her face. She saw people from a different perspective.
    “Marilia,” Fletch said. “Something happened to us after we left you.”
    “Something always happens in Rio.” She sipped her
cachaça
. “Listen. Teo has some new paintings. He has promised to show us them after dinner.”
    “Otavio, perhaps you would help me to understand something.”
    “Yes?”
    Fletch and Otavio Cavalcanti stood alone at the edge of theterrace, looking at the moonlight on the lagoon. Otavio was drinking Scotch and water.
    In Brazil, even distinguished scholars and poets are to be called by their first names.
    “Does the name ‘Idalina Barreto’ mean anything to you?”
    “No.”
    “She is not a famous eccentric?”
    “Not that I know.”
    Laura was across the terrace talking with the Vianas.
    “I wonder