THE OTHER PART OF THE WORLD
by Andrej Koymasky (C) 2009
written on January 12, 2002
translated by the author
English text kindly revised by Bert Carley
USUAL DISCLAIMER
"THE OTHER PART OF THE WORLD" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed guest.
Part IV - Chapter 16 - Receiving from the left and giving to the right
Manoel ended to put in order his registers and books, then went to the classroom that Girolamo was ending to clean. The boy didn't hear him enter, so he went on to clean the room with his usual care.
Manoel at his back looked at him, and felt sharp the pleasure to admire his slender and lithe body and the desire to have him in his arms. He took out of his pocket the small parcel he had prepared as a present for his beloved and beautiful Italian boy - in fact that was the day of Girolamo's twenty-fourth birthday. He bought for him a turnip, an elegant model imported from Switzerland.
He silently drew nearer to Girolamo and from his back he girdled him in a tender embrace. The boy gave a start and turned surprised, but when he saw the smiling face of Manoel, he opened in a wide and fresh smile.
"Ah, it's you! You almost scared me!" he exclaimed in a low voice.
"Why, who could it be besides me? Do you have so many suitors, in here? I agree that you are so beautiful to make the head spin to whoever has the luck to just look at you, but I thought I was the only one who could dare to take you in his arms!" the young teacher said, jokingly.
"Of course you are the only one, you well know it! I wouldn't allow to do it with any other besides you, my beloved one!" the boy whispered lightly blushing, but his eyes were bright like stars.
"Happy birthday, my love!" Manoel said to him, leaning a kiss on his beautiful, soft and warm lips.
"Did you remember it?" the boy said after returning his kiss.
"Of course! Did you doubt it? Here, take this... it's for you." Manoel said handing him the small parcel wrapped in a beautiful white paper and closed with a red ribbon and a nice bow.
"White and red, like love..." Girolamo sighed, unwrapping it.
Inside there was a box of polished wood. He opened it and, on a padding of light blue velvet, he saw the beautiful chiselled silver turnip. He opened its lid and inside it he saw engraved the motto "I will mark only the good time" and under it the writing "To my GB from MB with love".
"My god how beautiful it is! But you have paid it a fortune!" Girolamo said, moved.
"Not enough to express all the love I have for you, my sweet lover, no, not enough," Manoel murmured, moved at his turn for the emotion of his delightful boy.
Girolamo on impulse took in his turn his friend in his arms and kissed him on the mouth with passion, taking him tight against himself.
But, as Manoel entered in the classroom without being heard by his boyfriend, unhappily another person meanwhile entered, made curious hearing the light sound of two voices at that time when the school had to be already almost deserted - the institute director.
The man remained in the threshold, hit by the scene that was happening before him, his cigar that he just took off his lips between the fingers of his hand, still at mid air, unbelieving, and the man also heard the last words of the young teacher, as well the answer of Girolamo.
"Take me fast back home, I'm dying to make love with you..."
At that point the man, feeling highly indignant, sickened, almost betrayed discovering the "sordid affair" uniting those two men, and that was even manifesting itself inside his institute, decided it was time to make stop that "shameful exhibition".
"I am surprised at you two! And mainly at you, Manoel Branco!" he exclaimed with a stentorian voice.
The two lovers released themselves from their embrace and turned, freezing, towards that sudden, unexpected and inauspicious apparition.
"How come, aren't you two ashamed? Aren't you ashamed, you an educator of innocent young boys, to lower yourself to commit such meanness? Don't you feel the disgrace of betraying the trust I placed on you, the families who entrusted us their offspring placed on us? Ha, what a beautiful example, what a good educator you are!"
"Sir, director..." Manoel started to say trying to shake from the confusion in which he had suddenly fallen, "if you allow me..."
"I don't allow you anything at all! I saw and heard enough! What would you tell me? What could you tell me, anyway? Deny possibly what my eyes clearly saw, what my ears distinctly heard, what my intelligence at once understood?"
"No... not deny, of course... But explain..." Manoel ventured.
"Explain? What can there be to explain? Nothing, nothing of nothing! And if you want to explain yourself, you will have all the ease to explain to the judges, to the court, not to me." The man retorted in a despising tone.
"Do you intend to report us, then?" Manoel asked, crestfallen.
"This is simply my duty. You two infringed all the laws with your abominable behaviour - the state laws, the church laws, the moral laws, the social conventions laws... all, all of them!" the worthy director proclaimed, growing fervent.
"You decided to ruin us..." Girolamo commented in a low voice.
"No, eh no! YOU decided to ruin yourselves, my dear young men. And now it is just fair you pay the consequences of your depravity! Out of this honoured school, immediately! And don't ever dare to show again in this institute. About me, I will as soon as possible go and present the regular report about your immoral behaviour!"
"Let's go..." Manoel said to his boy and, together, they left the institute.
"Will we end in prison?" Girolamo asked him along the street.
"It's not excluded..." Manoel answered in a low voice.
"But it is only his word against ours, isn't it? We can deny, we can say it's only defamation..." Girolamo proposed.
"There would anyway be a trial, the voice would be spread... the fact that we are living together, that notoriously neither of us has ever been seen around with a girl... even if we were acquitted for lack of proof, and I anyway doubt about that, we will have all the city against us... starting from our neighbours, to the shopkeepers who will refuse to serve us... and anyway we are now both without jobs..."
"Then let's go away from S‰o Paulo, run away..."
"Running away we admit our guilt... end we could be sentenced by default... and wanted all over the state..."
"Let's go to Argentina, then... or to the United States... or else even to Italy."
"We don't have enough money..."
"I came here without a coin, didn't I? We can try to restart from the beginning... Don't you feel like?"
"Yes... you can possibly be right... We have to well think about it, anyway, not now under the shock of the emotion..."
Back home, both searched relief and shelter in each other arms and made love, a little to feel that their bond was strong, that they would overcome any difficulty, and a little not to think, at least for some time, to their situation that so suddenly became so precarious and in very grave danger.
They had just ended making love, when they heard the doorbell ring.
"My god!" Girolamo exclaimed turning pale, "Can this already be the guards? Have they already come to arrest us?"
"If it is so, I am glad we could at least made love... because afterwards, who knows when we would be able to do it again. Anyway let's get up. I will put on a dressing gown, and while I go to open the door, you dress." Manoel answered trying not to betray his anxiety.
When he opened the door, almost with his heart in his mouth, he saw in front of him Castro with his Silvio, smiling.
"Ah, it's you, luckily! Come in." Manoel said, relieved, with a sigh.
Castro at once noticed the extremely tense expression of his ancient student and friend, and asked himself what could trouble him so much.
Manoel, turning towards the bedroom, said aloud, "Girolamo, it's Castro with Silvio!"
"Ah, thank goodness!" the boy voice answered from behind the door.
Castro then asked him, "What's happening, Manoel? Who were you waiting? Who did you fear it could be?"
Manoel had them take a seat and decided to tell everything to his friend. Meanwhile also Girolamo came to join them.
At the end of his account, Castro said, "My poor friends, I understand you are scared, you are really in a bad predicament... But... Silvio, can you wait me here? I am going immediately to see the institute director and talk with him, to try and convince him not to report the fact... I will do all that is possible to help you boys..."
"Don't you risk, doing so, to expose yourself?" Silvio asked.
"For my friends... it's worth doing it. I will anyway be very diplomatic don't worry. In any case I am a superior of the director, I am in a position to exert some pressure on him... Along the way I will think how to deal with the subject. I will come back and tell you what I accomplished." the man said and hurriedly went out.
He was back in a little more than two hours.
"Your master the director is a though nut to crack. But I made him reflect that, reporting you, the good name of his institute would suffer loss and in consequence also his position would suffer. Therefore at the end he renounced to make public the matter. He anyway imposed a condition - you, Manoel have also to give up your lessons at the Dominican fathers' convent, and you both have to leave as soon as possible S‰o Paulo..."
"Yes, we too though that it would be better to leave the city. I only regret for the lessons at the Dominicans', but I don't see what else I can do..."
"I will take care of that, I will find somebody to carry on your lessons there... But rather, do you have an idea about where to go, what to do? Another condition that the director imposed not to report you, Manoel, is that you anyway give up the teaching."
"Good lord what a son of a bitch and a bastard!" Silvio exclaimed. "He really wants to destroy them, that man!"
"It doesn't exist in the world a worst pack than the moralist-minded persons, my dear Silvio. It seems that the gospel motto - let the one without sin cast the first stone - has been erased from the sacred book and from the people's hearts. So, then, what do you think to do, now?"
"We sincerely have no idea. Besides the fact that we didn't yet have the time to think about it... if I can't teach any more... what can I do?"
Castro thought for a while, then said, "Listen, Manoel. I have a really dear friend, a person with whom I attended the university here in S‰o Paulo, even though he studied medicine and I history. He lives in Curitiba and is a doctor there. At those times, it happened that he and I paid a boy to have sex with him. In fact he too prefers men to women, like me, even though we never had sex together, he and I. He is a really good hearted and available person. I am sure he will give you a hand. I will write him a letter that you will give him personally, where I will explain you in great lines your problem asking him, in the name of our old friendship, to help you."
"Thank you... Curitiba is far enough, I could even restart teaching there, don't you think?" Manoel asked.
"If you really don't find anything else... But if I were in your shoes I wouldn't risk, as that man, the director, seemed really determined to harm you, if you just give him the occasion... Anyway you will talk about that with my friend Afonso De Fonseca Fernandes. When do you think you can go?"
"Also at once... but all our belongings are here, what can we do with it?"
"Silvio can package everything after you leave, and as soon as you are settled, you will let me know your address so I can send you everything where you are. What do you think?"
"You are really good friends! So I think we will best, tomorrow morning, withdraw all our savings at the bank and start the journey to Curitiba. We will leave the apartment's keys with Silvio."
Agreed on that, the two lovers the following morning, all their savings in their pockets and with just two suitcases each, went to Santos, boarded the ship for Guaratuba and from there went to Curitiba on the omnibus. The travel was long and uncomfortable, but they finally got to the city. Once there they asked where was the surgery of doctor Dom Afonso De Fonseca Fernandes and after some inquiries, they learned that for some time now, he moved to Rio de Janeiro.
The two lovers decided it was worth going to Rio, but unhappily it seemed that nobody had the new address of marquis Afonso. But one of the persons to whom they asked for information, told them that the marquis' family was still living in Curitiba, therefore they decided to go at their mansion to get the Rio address. The marquis' father received them and had no problems to give them his doctor son's address in Rio.
They rested one only night in a Curitiba hotel then the day after they took again the omnibus to Guaratuba, and from there they again took a ship to reach Rio de Janeiro. The sea, differently from the first time, was rather rough and, even though none of them were seasick, they got to Rio totally worn out.
As they landed at evening, they went to a hotel, took a room, asked to have a bath to refresh themselves, and spent there the night. In those times it was common for two not rich travellers to share a room, therefore they could sleep together without raising any suspicion.
The following morning, asking the direction, they reached Afonso's clinic. They sat in the waiting room, queuing with the doctor's patients. When it was their turn, they went in the surgery.
"Good morning, gentlemen. Who of you has health problems?" Afonso asked, seeing two people go in instead than just one.
Manoel answered, "Forgive us, doctor, thanks to heaven none of us is ill, but we are bringing you a message of mister Castro Correia De Negreiros, one of your former university companions..."
Afonso smiled, "Ah, my good friend Castro! What is he doing now? Is he in good health?"
"Yes, he is deputy-minister for the Public Education in S‰o Paulo state and he is in very good health. Anyway, here is the letter he entrusted us. This letter concerns us two, if you would kindly read it..." Manoel said handing him the sealed envelope.
"Yes, I recognise the two intertwined C on the sealing wax..." Afonso said with a smile and at once opened the envelope.
He carefully read the three sheets it contained, at times throwing a glance towards Manoel and Girolamo. They were studying his serene and smiling expression, that didn't change while he was reading, and this made their hope strengthen. In fact, as he ended reading the long message, Afonso put the sheets on his desk and looked at them with a wider smile.
"My old friend Castro did well turning to me. He writes very good things about you two, with really flattering terms, he explains me the problem you have, and asks me, in the name of our old friendship and of the shared adventures, to give you a hand. Well, I will do it more than willingly."
"Thank you, marquis..." Manoel and Girolamo said almost as one voice.
"As he wrote me about you two, I guess that he also told you about the fact that I share your... inclinations, am I right?"
"Yes... he also hinted to your old adventures..." Manoel answered returning the doctor's smile.
"Of course. What he doesn't know is that I too finally had the luck to have found a dear and devote lover, who is now working here with me, and whose name is Paulo. If you please, I will now call him and ask him to see you upstairs and to give you the guests room - as long as we will not find a good job and accommodations for you both, I would be honoured to have you here as my guests..."
"You are really kind, marquis, offering us your hospitality without even knowing us..."
"Castro asks me to treat you how I would treat him, and as he stands surety for you, I could not treat you in any different way. I have now unhappily to carry on my visits, therefore I pray you to set yourselves in the room upstairs that my Paulo will show you, and to have patience until lunch time. We will have lunch all four together and we will have a talk at our ease."
Afonso called Paulo, shortly explained him the situation handing him Castro's letter so he could read it. He then said to inform Jo‰o to set the table for four people from that day lunch on. Paulo took the two lovers upstairs, showed them the room, informed Jo‰o and Tome, then excused himself and went back to the clinic to carry on his work with Afonso.
Tome, according to the instruction he was given, showed them the apartment and explained to them how they could enter and go out without passing through the clinic. He also told them that if they desired to go in town, he could accompany them with the masters' gig. Manoel and Girolamo said they preferred to withdraw in the guest room.
When they met again for lunch, Afonso, who meantime had thought bout their problem and discussed it with Paulo, told them what he intended to do - he would talk about them with his brother Idelfonso, who more than him had means and acquaintances. He explained them how Idelfonso knew and accepted without the lesser problem his relationship with Paulo. He also told them Tome and Jo‰o's story and the role that his sister in law, Graca Maria, had had in protecting the relationship of the two black boys and former slaves.
The day after Afonso, together with Manoel and Girolamo, went to visit his brother and his sister in law, made them read the letter of his friend Castro and exposed them the problem of the two young men.
"I can possibly have at hand a solution." Idelfonso said at once. "I read in the letter of mister Correia De Negreiros that both of you have a good literary preparation... What do you think if I hired you both as members of the editorial staff at the Gazeta of Rio de Janeiro? If, as I hope, you would be able to carry on a good work, I could give you a good pay and possibly a day, according to your merits and skills, also a salary increase..."
"It would be really beautiful, marquis, besides also very generous on your side..." Girolamo said with a little, shy smile, with a nuance of happiness and gratitude.
"About your accommodation here in Rio," Graca Maria added, "what do you think, dear Idefonso, if we let them use them that apartment we own near the botanical park?"
"Yes, it is a really good idea, dear Graca Maria. Also because that apartment, that is now empty, has two different entrances, one on Rua Padre Antonio and the other on Rua Da Costa. Each of you could therefore use a different entrance, although living together, and be so sheltered from gossip and malice - also Rio, even being the capital city and a wide town, is filled with se so called right-minded persons who love nosing in other people's business and amuse themselves in arising scandals in the name of hypocritical morals..." Idelfonso said readily.
"We thank you wholeheartedly, sir, madam. We are really confounded by such a generous availability..." Manoel said. Then he added, "But... will be able to pay you the right price for that apartment?"
"Certainly yes, as we don't need that income in our budget, therefore we will agree on a reasonable price, surely at your reach. I will deduct it from your monthly salary in small instalments." Idelfonso said. "The only one problem is that the apartment is totally empty, you will have to furnish it, to equip it..."
"There is no problem about that, as our friend Castro will send us all our furniture and belongings from S‰o Paulo as soon as we will inform him about our new address."
"It would be good if he does two different shipping at your two names and the two different addresses, for a bigger prudence, so that you would not give occasion to gossips not even from your neighbours." Graca Maria said.
"Ah, you women know one more than the devil!" Afonso jokingly exclaimed, "I would never have thought to such a suggestion. Well, then, dear friends, are you happy?"
"More than happy and deeply grateful. We hope one day to be able to pay back our gratitude debt to you all..."
"Life is nothing but a continuous giving and receiving; we receive with our left hand and give with our right hand, from different people and to different people." Graca Maria said with a light smile.
"Yes, it is exactly as you say..." Manoel assented, "and we two will certainly give to who is in the need, to return what we received when we were in the need."
So the two lovers settled themselves and soon started to work at the Gazeta. Idelfonso was very glad with them and after a few months he gave them the promised salary raise. So Girolamo was able to send to his family, in the Piedmont and Sardinia kingdom, even more money than before.
As Manoel was able to write in a really correct and elegant Portuguese, and Girolamo has a remarkable disposition for colour articles, Idelfonso decided to make them write two hands articles, and to have them sign them with a pseudonym that soon became famous in all the capital city - "bosque branco", that is "white wood", so uniting their two family names.
Some more months later, it was already April 1847, Idelfonso proposed to send them on a six months journey through the Italian nations, from the Piedmont and Sardinia kingdom, to the Austrian's Lombardy-Venetia, the Tuscany Grand-duchy, the Papal States and above all the Two Sicilies kingdom from where the Empress came, to write colour articles about those far lands on the other part of the world.
They accepted with real enthusiasm, because so Girolamo could see again his land and his family and also to make his lover see it, and also because Manoel always desired to be able to visit Italy, since Nicolau started to teach him the Italian language.
They went back from their long and beautiful journey in October, full of souvenirs and of documentation, so they at once started to write the requested set of articles, and also these got a great success - all the elegant Rio milieus read and commented them, and the Empress in person sent them a note thanking them for having been able to so well understand and nicely present the land where she was born.
Manoel and Girolamo were happy, famous even though under a pseudonym, and also well to do, thank to the very good salary they were earning.
One late afternoon, while they were going back home after they did some shopping, a white boy of about fifteen, miserably dressed and bare feet, drew near them and with a humble and imploring air, asked them for alms.
"I'm hungry..." he justified himself.
Girolamo immediately took out of one of the shopping sack a piece of bread and one of cheese and gave them to the boy. Manoel at his turn took in his sack a fruit and added it to what his lover gave to the kid.
"Thank you!" the boy said and ran away.
They looked at him going away, feeling moved. The saw him stop near another boy, a black one who was more or less of his same age, making two parts of what he received and they both started to voraciously eat.
The fact that a white boy begged also for the black boy, made the two friends curious, so they decided to go and talk with the two boys. When they saw the two men stop in front of them, they stopped eating and looked at them with an interrogative and somewhat worried expression.
Girolamo asked the white boy, "Why did you ask alms also for him?"
"You see, sir, a black boy almost never gets alms, while a white boy receives them a lot easier, therefore I came and asked you..."
"But what is he for you?" Manoel asked - in fact it was totally unusual that a white and a black begged in the same place and even less that they shared the little they had.
"Vidal is my brother." the white kid answered.
"Come on! It is not even possible you are just half-brothers!" Manoel objected, "Don't tell me lies, there is no reason, is there?"
"No... it's that Martim and I are both orphans and we grew up together therefore we really feel like being brothers... but we were chased away from the orphanage, and so..." the black kid answered.
"Ah, chased from the orphanage? But why, were you two too unruly?" Manoel asked with a smile.
"One can even say so..." Martim answered.
"And what were you up so much bad to be chased away?" Girolamo then gently asked.
"Bah, nothing... they didn't like we were always together..." the white boy said.
"Come on! I too, do you know, grew up in an orphanage... and there were no problem to be always with a friend, whatever colour he could be." Manoel said, crouching before the two boys.
"But they didn't like how and why we were always together..." Vidal, the black boy giggled.
Martim threw him a bad look to make him shut up and this made Manoel guess which could have been the reason why the two friends were put at the door so pitilessly.
"I bet that you two, when you desired to be together, were going to look for an hidden place, is it not so? I too did it before running away from my orphanage..." Martin said with an accomplice smile.
"You too did it?" Martim asked scanning his face, "And what did you do, you too, in an hidden place?"
"What I guess you too did, isn't it so? All the boys at a certain age, sooner or later, like to do... such things." Manoel answered.
"And I bet that you still like doing them, don't you? And possibly right with him!" Vidal said in a challenging tone, pointing to Girolamo.
"Well, if you really bet, you would have won some coins." Girolamo answered with a giggle and winked to the two boys.
Vidal studied them for a while, than elbowed Martim looking at him with an interrogative glance. The white boy had a short assent nod.
"And how much coins will you give us, to do those things with you two?" the black boy then asked.
"Not even one, because we like to do those things only between us two, not with the others. Girolamo and I are lovers, we really love each other, and therefore we are faithful to each other."
"You two love each other?" Martim asked widening his eyes, "You mean like... like husband and wife?"
"Well, I would rather say like... husband and husband!" Girolamo merrily answered.
Then Martim said to Vidal, "You see! We are not so wrong, you and I! You see that it was not true that two boy cannot be in love? Father Abelardo was dead wrong, you see?"
"But you two, boys, did those things only to amuse yourselves, or... or because you love each other?"
"First of all, we still do those things. And then... of course it is also amusing, but he and I decided we will never part from each other, may the world fall, because we really are more than brothers. Because I love him so much than more is not possible, and so he does with me..." Vidal said all in a breath.
"Therefore you love each other, you are lovers exactly like he and I..." Manoel then said.
"I feel funny to say we are lovers, to tell the truth, but... yes, also we two want to be like... husband and husband! Forever." Martim said in a low voice, and blushed.
"Or at least until one of us snuffs it." Vidal corrected him.
Manoel and Girolamo looked at each other and at once they understood they were thinking about the same thing.
"Listen, boys, what do you think about coming to work for us, keeping our apartment clean, prepare our meals, go to do our shopping, in exchange of a bed, your meals, and decent clothes?" Manoel then said.
"Ha, so you want to screw our arses as I thought! Bah, why not, after all I think it is a profitable exchange, at least as long as you don't become fed up with us..." Vidal said.
"No, no, boys, sex between us and you has nothing to do with our offer, we will never do it, as I already told you. We are offering you a job, a roof, and nothing else. Are you game, yes or not?"
"And we two can go on to make love between just us two, each time we want?" Martim asked then.
"Of course, in your room."
The two boys looked at each other, then Vidal answered, "Well... we can give it a try... and if you are happy with us, and we with you... why not?"
Martim then asked, "But why will you do it?"
"You see, Martim, this is your name, isn't it? As I told you, I ran away from my orphanage when I was thirteen, and I well know what it means being an orphan and being alone, and with nobody helping and protecting you. He, whose name is Girolamo, emigrated from Italy, but here he was almost starving... Both he and I got, and more than just once, somebody who helped us in our time of need. Thus now, both of us feel the duty to help somebody else. Girolamo and I also lost our job right because out boss discovered we are lovers, but other people helped us again, so we could find another job, and go on living together. Therefore we would really like helping a couple of lovers like us, so that they can live together, safe and happy. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand..." Martim answered.
"Yes, I do too." Vidal added.
"So, then, do you accept our offer, will you come and work for us, live with us in our place?" Manoel asked.
"Yes, sure thing!" Vidal said standing up.
"Thank you, thank you really." Martim said standing in his turn,
"Ah, yes, that's right - thanks a lot, I meant!" Vidal added with an apology smile.
THE END
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