The little devil

    A single trader named Ferdinando survived by traveling through the neighboring lands to sell his household goods. He was not a wealthy man but had a wealthy life earning enough to live well. He was happy with his work and the kind of life he led, but loneliness bothered him. He dreamed of having a mate and children. He did not understand why he had not been able to marry yet since he was a person of good social standing and stabilized financial situation.

    Once he had met a beautiful young woman at a buyer's shop. Her name was Luma; she was the store owner's daughter. He was enchanted by the girl who had returned with smiles. The sympathy they felt for each other increased until it became such a strong attraction that they wanted to get married as soon as possible. However, the girl's father had other plans for her. He wanted her to marry a wealthy, wealthy man. When Ferdinando asked for the girl's hand in marriage, her father treated him with disdain, saying that he was not worthy of his daughter. Ferdinando was so offended that he told the girl's father before leaving his house:

    --- You're still going to ask me to marry your daughter!

    A few years later, passing through the city where Luma resided, Ferdinando entered a bar to drink something cold and cool off from the heat. At the door of the bar he saw a ragged girl sitting on the floor with a bundle of candles in her hands offering to sell; at his side there was a boy about three years old. Ferdinando looked at the girl well and felt something familiar. He seemed to know her, but he could not remember where. He then came closer. He did not believe what his eyes showed him: it was Luma!

    --- Luma! What happened to you? --- He asked in amazement.

    Luma looked at him with a vacant look, taking a moment to acknowledge.

    --- I'm selling candles to feed my son. --- She spoke in a weak, devitalized voice.

    A few more minutes of conversation and she explained what had happened. Her husband had arranged a mistress who had managed to get him out of her. He, in turn, had driven Luma out of the house with his son. After that, she had never heard of him and never helped raise his own child. His father, very disappointed in his son-in-law, had welcomed his daughter with his son Amancio.

    A few weeks after Ferdinando's last visit to Luma's father's shop, he was vilely betrayed by the partner who had taken everything from her. He lived in a small shack of boards and canvas on the outskirts of the city. After being expelled from the house, it was to this shack that Luma went with her little son. They went hungry and the old man got very weak. From so much cold that passed there, his father became very sick. He was bedridden and feverish. They could not buy medicine to cure him.

    Ferdinando was shocked by the story. It was a mixture of pity and rancor for the offenses that her father had told him. However, he still had great sympathy for the girl and a certain charm for the boy who was very smiling and captivating.

    Ferdinando invited the girl and her son to eat with him. Luma and her son ate as if they had never seen food in their lives. It had probably been days since they had eaten.

    --- I'm going to take you home. It's already late. --- Said Ferdinando at the end of the meal.

    Arriving home, Ferdinando paused in front of the door, thoughtful. He glanced around analyzing everything. It was an urban rubbish dump area of the city. The smell was horrible!

    --- You may come in. There is nothing to fear. --- Luma said.

    Ferdinando remembered the horrible things he had heard from her father the last time they met. However, Luma explained that he was very sick and might not even be able to speak. Ferdinando decided to enter.

    --- Dad! We have visit.

    Her father, who was dozing, woke up.

    --- Who is it? --- He spoke hoarsely and weakly.

    Ferdinando approached, when the patient saw him, his eyes widened in amazement. A tear trickled down her face. Ferdinando did not open his mouth.

    --- Luma, go get some basil leaves to make tea for the visit. --- Said the girl's father.

    --- Sit down! --- Luma said to Ferdinando, placing a chair next to him.

    After Luma left, the old man remembered the tough words he had spoken to Ferdinando in the past. The two of them met each other's eyes. Luma's father conveyed in his eyes great regret and embarrassment mixed with anguish. The silence and the look of Ferdinando was justice.

    After a minute in those looks, the old man said with great regret.

    --- You were right. I was self-willed and futile...

    --- No need to talk about it. --- Interrupted Ferdinando.

   --- And you were right about what you told me when you left my house … --- Another tear came out of his eyes. --- I'm here humiliating myself to you on my deathbed asking you to marry my daughter. Take care of her and that boy. They are not to blame for having had such a characterless husband and such a materialistic grandfather. She is still young and beautiful. She can make you happy. The boy is charming. Any man would like to have such a son.

    Ferdinando rose and went to the window thinking of everything that had happened.

    --- You can swear at me. You can vent. Tell me what you want because I know I deserve it. I do not ask you to forgive me, but take care of my daughter and my grandson. They should not pay for my stupidity.

    Luma came in, the conversation ceased. She made tea for them. They were all silent. After drinking the tea, Ferdinando said good-bye and left.

    The next day he returned to Luma's house and found her crying with her son. Her father had been dead. He had died sleeping.

    Ferdinando decided to marry Luma and adopt the boy as his son.

    Some years passed and Ferdinando had developed a great affection for the boy who called him father. It was as if he were really his biological child. However, Ferdinando wanted to have a legitimate son. He was wailing about it and made Luma very sad that she could not get pregnant. Luma had come to see a doctor to see if there was anything wrong with her. The doctor had said that she was in good health and ready to have children. Ferdinando then understood that the problem was him. He reflected on how good he was with the people, with everyone he had ever helped, the love he gave the boy who was not his son. I did not think I deserved that.

    One night, very sorry for the sadness of not being a father, Ferdinando went to the back of the yard and leaned on the trunk of the flowering lemon tree. He wrapped a branch of the tree near his face and looked at a flower; he smelled it and stared at its beauty.

    --- How beautiful should a baby be born, fruit of my own flesh. Oh! Why cannot I have this happiness?! God! --- He cried angrily. --- That's not fair!

    At that moment, he heard footsteps approaching. It was a man in black pants and a red shirt. A thin man, tall, handsome and very elegant, he exuded the scent of lemon tree blossoms.

    --- Who are you? What do you want on my property? --- Asked Ferdinando.

    The man smiled at Ferdinando without answering. He walked around the lemon tree, silent and smiling. After some time he turned to Ferdinando and said:

    --- I can give you what you want.

    --- What do I desire?

    The man took a small leaf of the lemon tree with three flowers; he drew near his mouth and blew; then passed it over his head in a circle and handed it to Ferdinando.

    --- Whenever you have love with your wife, put this bough with flowers behind your own left ear. In a moon you will have the result.

    The mysterious man was leaving and Ferdinando said:

     --- Wait!

  --- And do not tell anyone. Much less your wife! --- With that, he walked and disappeared into the orchard trees.

    Ferdinando was thoughtful of everything that had happened. He took with him the branch of lemon tree and decided to follow the instructions of the mysterious man even without understanding, because he had nothing to lose.

    Less than a month later, Luma told Ferdinando that she was pregnant. Such happiness in Ferdinando's heart was not measurable. He treated his wife like a crystal bib, fearing that his child would have trouble if his mother's health was shaken.

    At last, the baby was born. He was strong as a bull and ate a lot, and everything. He had never had any kind of illness or malaise. Ferdinando had named him Cyprian.

    Once, when the boy was three years old, he played with scribble in a notebook on the floor of the room. His older brother was sitting on the couch watching a book. Suddenly, Cipriano pressed the pencil firmly into Amancio's calf. Mysteriously he had the strength to stick the pencil deep into the muscle. The boy cried out in pain. Luma came running to see what had happened. Amancio crying in pain, pointed his finger at his little brother.

    --- Go to your room and do not leave until I tell you! --- She yelled at Cyprian.

    Luma told Ferdinando what Cyprian had done with his brother. She was surprised to see that Ferdinando had not been very surprised.

    Sometime later, Cipriano was taking a buggy ride with the neighbor who was his little friend. When the boy was coming down from the cart, Cyprian frightened the horse that was running wild. With the pull of the cart, the boy fell and broke his leg.

    Time passed and Cyprian continued to do his wickedness. As he grew, so did his evil deeds. From school, there were constant complaints about the pieces that the boy was preparing with his classmates and teachers. He would put his foot in front of children who ran only so that they would fall and get hurt; he would pee in a plastic bag and play in his colleagues' snacks; spit in the eyes of younger children; etc. Luma always told Ferdinando about his son's behavior, but he always wore warm cloths: "That's normal. Child at that age does the wrong thing! With time, it passes and he gets better." He said.

    Luma did not swallow this elusive behavior of her husband. Until one day he went too far: he had stuck a metal pen around a boy's neck at school, nearly killing him. Luma gave a press to her husband:

    --- There's something you're hiding from me! I'm sure about that. And you're going to tell me what it is. And it will be now! --- She said furious.

    Ferdinando, seeing that he had no way out, decided to tell him everything. He said that he did not think it would have consequences, and that he did not take the mysterious man's proposal very seriously.

    --- I wanted to fool myself into thinking it was not going to have consequences. I was so charmed by the idea of being a biological father that I closed my eyes to the risks. Now I see the result. --- Ferdinando explained.

    --- Any day he can kill us! I'm afraid of him! --- Luma explained.

    --- So am I! --- Said Ferdinando in tears. --- You know how important it was for me to have a child.

    Luma hugged him.

    That night Ferdinando went to the lemon tree. He laid beneath it leaning on the log calling for the mysterious man, but he did not succeed. The lemon tree was not in bloom so Ferdinando thought that maybe that was why the mysterious man did not show up for him.

    A few weeks later the lemon tree blossomed. Ferdinando repeated the procedure. After a few minutes, he called again and nothing. When he was about to give up, with no hope at all, he decided to call for him one last time before he left. It was then that when he was walking back home, he heard footsteps coming from the back of the yard. Ferdinando's eye quickly to see, it was him!

    Ferdinando was disgusted. He started to dump his anger but was interrupted by the man.

    --- Ah! Do not come and complain about something you've done yourself. You wanted a biological child and I gave you. That's all I promised. If it behaves like that or roast I have nothing to do with it.

    --- But he is very cruel. He attacks people... even his own brother. I fear for my life and for my family. --- Ferdinando laments his head.

     --- You already had a beautiful son who came to your company. It was not biological, but it was an excellent boy that any man would like to have as his son. You had this grace even if not for your seed. You were not content, though. It did not make love between you something so important to overcome this and wished you had a biological child.

    Ferdinando lowered his head without words. He felt sorry. He had been ungrateful to life.

    The next day, the city's deputy knocked on Ferdinando's door:

       --- Please accompany me to the police station. --- Said the mandatory delegate.

       --- What happened? --- Ferdinand asked, startled.

    --- Your son put rat poison in Ignatius's snack. He is hospitalized and has little chance of surviving. --- Explained the delegate.

    Ignatius was the son of Mrs. Jandira, the gentlest and most charitable girl in the city. She was a very wealthy young woman who had only been able to marry at the age of forty. This son for her was the reason she lived. She had had three miscarriages before she was born, and he no longer had any hope of being a mother when Ignatius was born healthy. Mrs. Jandira had always been a very caring woman helping all the disadvantaged residents of the city, so when the boy was born, everyone was very happy for her.

    Ferdinando and Luma accompanied the delegate. Ferdinando was analyzing what was happening. I felt I should put an end to that situation.

    A few hours later, Ignatius was already better at home. The doctors were able to remove the venom from his stomach. Mrs. Jandira decided to forgive and not proceed with the case, so that Cipriano’s family could return home.

    On that night, Ferdinando returned to the lemon tree to speak to the mysterious man. This time Ferdinando did not need to call him.

    --- I know I should not have complained about not having a biological child, but what about now? What do I do with this boy? People will soon die by his hands. I do not want to be guilty of it.

    --- Yes, that has a solution. But the cost is very high. You will have to go over your father's love to restore the happiness you had before the baby was born.

    --- I... I'm ready. --- Answered Ferdinando knowing that he would have a difficult time in his life.

    --- Next Monday, before the sun sets, make a hole a meter deep and half a meter wide right there. --- He pointed to the lemon tree about three meters from the trunk. --- When it is midnight sharp, place the boy in that hole leaving only the chest upwards out of the ground. Bury the rest of his body firmly so he cannot get out. Wait for it to rain heavily. There will be strong thunder and thunderous thunder. Leave the boy buried. He can scream, cry, or beg... do not dig him out. --- When the explanation was over, the man moved away.

    --- But then? --- Ferdinando asked.

    --- Then nothing. Do this and it will never cause any kind of problem anymore. --- The man almost disappeared through the trees.

    When Monday arrived, Ferdinando dug the hole exactly as ordered. He told his sons and his wife that he was going to plant a seedling of jequitiba he had gotten from a friend and that the hole needed to be deep. Luma had said nothing but knew the hole was not for that.

    At night it was a lonely gale. The weather was dreadful. Luma cried but was trying to be strong by remembering how many children were harmed by her son. Amancio asked why she cried so much. She had said she missed her father.

    Ferdinando suspected that Luma knew what he was about to do. She told him that she did not know for sure, but that it would put an end to Cyprian's reign of terror. They agreed that Luma would stay in the room with Amancio while Ferdinando would take Cipriano to the back of the yard. So it was done. When it was midnight, he went to his son's room. She looked at him sleeping tenderly as a little angel. It was very difficult for him to do that with his own blood. Your rightful son, so desired! He was about to destroy his greatest happiness in life. He was going to kill a piece of himself, but he was determined. He lifted the blanket and took the boy by the arm. Cyprian woke up. Ferdinando said:

    --- Come with me.

    --- Where are we going? --- Asked the frightened boy.

    --- To the yard.

    --- Do what?

    --- You'll see.

    --- Let me go! I do not want to go. --- It was as if the boy was already suspicious that something would happen that would not be good for him. He began to try to break free and want to run away. In one of the wriggled arm he managed to get free, but ran only five meters and Ferdinando managed to capture him. This time, he decided to hold him on his lap with both arms by the trunk. The boy squealed, screamed, begged his father to let him go. Ferdinando was a very strong man but nevertheless had great difficulty in dominating the boy. His strength was overwhelming for a boy of that age. When he really felt that his father wanted to get rid of him, he became very angry and even said that he would kill him, but Ferdinando did not soften and continued to hold him tightly.

    Before putting him in the hole, Ferdinando, still holding him tightly, could not stand it. He began to cry with deep anguish.

    --- My son! Why did you have to be like this? I wanted so much to have you, to give you so much love! --- Weeping, Ferdinando pressed the boy to his chest. He was very distressed, even though he was punched in the back. For a moment he thought about going back but he knew he could not. With great pain in his soul, he put the boy in the hole.

    Ferdinando was throwing dirt into the hole with one hand and holding it with the other. The boy cried, said that he loved his father and that he would behave better from that moment on. He made all sorts of sentimental blackmail and proposal imaginable, always screaming and trying to get out of the hole.

    When Ferdinando buried him to the chest, Cyprian began to howl with hatred. His eyes turned blood red and sparked with fire. He took on a grave, grown-up voice and swore to Ferdinand that one day he would kill him. His vocabulary was of the level of an educated adult and no more than a child, finished the service, the rain started stormy. Ferdinando looked at his son in that state and fell to his knees on the floor crying desolate. All the love he gave to that boy since he was a baby, since he was in the womb of his wife... flesh of his flesh, blood of his blood!

    At that moment, Luma arrived and took Ferdinando by the arm.

    --- It's over. Let's go inside. --- She said.

    --- Dad! Do not leave me here! I'm cold! The land is icy. Please, Dad! Take me Home! -- Begged Cipriano, the voice of a child again in a last attempt to reverse his condition.

    Ferdinando looked back, seeing his son in that situation and almost softened. Luma turned her face forward and they continued toward the house.

    Arriving home, Ferdinand went to the bedroom and hugged his son Amancio heavily and wept disconsolately. They all slept together that night.

    The next day, they all went into the yard to see what had happened. In the place where Cipriano had been buried, there was a small lemon tree of five feet. It was very lush and green. Every year this lime tree yielded the most luxuriant and great fruit, but no one in that house ever harvested any. Only the neighbors who knew nothing went there to ask for lemons and the family never denied.

    Two years later, Luma gave birth to a beautiful, healthy couple of twins, this time, natural and divine work. Ferdinando was the happiest father in the world!

The end