Ana Oliveira Part 2

Since that night, Luana started becoming more involved in our group. She always initiated conversations with me about sexuality, trying to give me tips and advice. I loved her carefree outlook on life, her sense of freedom, and the way she saw beauty in things. Sometimes, we would stay up all night talking—I would share my fears about sex, and she would tell me about her adventures, making me blush. She gave me advice on how to protect myself, and even scheduled an appointment for me to see a gynecologist for the first time.
I know she was only a couple of years older than me, but I trusted Luana so much. She was so kind… It was also her who mediated my relationship with Marta. Josiah’s mother treated me well but was somewhat distant. There was a certain caution in her eyes, but the way Luana gradually included her in our conversations gave me space to break down Marta's barriers. We started talking about various things while I helped her prepare food daily. She would tell me about her previous marriage, her children, her ex-husband, and her hopes of finding a new partner.
That morning, I was rolling codfish cakes for Christmas Eve dinner. Marta had a maid who cleaned the house, but she insisted on doing the cooking herself and never let the maid touch her kitchen. She would occasionally ask me and Luana to help with simple tasks like chopping or peeling vegetables, but she never let anyone touch the pots. I knew my mother-in-law called us to be closer to us, and I loved the bond I was forming with both of them. It was as if I had a family—as if Josiah had given me that, which made me love him even more.
I clearly remember our first “I love you.” It was at the very beginning of our relationship when he insisted on drawing me, saying I was his Rose and that he would draw me like "one of those French girls." I remember a song playing on the radio that repeated the phrase “Coisa Linda” several times, and it was the first time he saw me in just my black lace bra and panties. I let him draw me, feeling very shy under his fascinated gaze, and when he finished, he said he would make a painting of the art. Josiah then jumped on me on the bed, showered me with kisses, and whispered between them that he loved me. We exchanged multiple “I love yous,” and he said I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, that one day he would make thousands of little beautiful things with me, and that he prayed they would have the dimples he loved so much on my face. God! I was in love with that boy…
“I think Lucah will come for dinner,” Marta said, causing me to tense up. “After that fight between the two at the beginning of the year, he hasn’t been back here…”
I sensed the sadness in her voice as she opened the stainless steel oven and used a silicone spoon to baste the turkey with the herb-infused oil from the bottom. The aroma filling the kitchen was wonderful, but not enough to distract me from my thoughts. Josiah always refused to tell me what his brother did that led to the need for a promise—a promise that I would stay away from him.
“Lucah is a great guy, Ana! I don’t believe in Josiah’s crazy theories about my boy…” she lamented, sitting down at the round, white-topped kitchen table where I was leaning over, doing my work. “I love my little, rebellious Jow so much, but the way he pushed his brother away with his constant bickering made me deeply sad.”
“What happened between them?” I asked, sitting down on one of the white chairs where I had only been resting one knee before.
“Don’t tell anyone this, okay?” she asked, her face filled with sorrow and tears streaming down. “I don’t know exactly how my son came to these conclusions about his brother, but he said he saw photos of naked children on Lucah’s computer. Josiah was thirteen at the time and started accusing Lucah, but even before that, he would accuse his older brother of playing pranks on him.”
“So Josiah thinks Lucah is a pedophile?” I asked, a lump forming in my throat.
“Yes! He showed a flash drive with the alleged photos he supposedly copied from Lucah’s laptop. I didn’t believe it, nor did Cristian. My eldest son is a good man, sensitive—he didn’t even accept his father’s money, accusing it of being illicit. He earns his own money from his job and helps many people; he transferred the shares I gave him back to my name because he always refused to live well off his father’s schemes.” My mother-in-law took a deep breath. “Josiah also says Lucah dressed up in a bate-bola costume and strangled him when he was six. Josiah has always had an overactive imagination, and as he grew up, he started lashing out at his older brother.”
“Is that why Lucah left home?” I asked, trying to control myself and not question where Josiah would have gotten pictures of children just to incriminate him. It didn’t make sense, and I knew my boyfriend well enough to know he wasn’t a liar.
“Yes! You can check his Instagram—he has all the organizations he works with and the NGO he founded for drug addicts. Lucah loves his brother, and it makes me very sad to see how this ‘feud’ with my youngest has driven him away from me.”
“Why do you think these things Josiah says are just his imagination? Josiah doesn’t seem like someone prone to that...”

"He always resented the way his father was so hard on him. And I don't blame him; that was the main reason for our divorce. Cristian was obsessed with Jow, saying he saw a fearless person in him who could continue his legacy. He was a narcissist, hitting my boy with a belt, impatient with Josiah, saying he broke everything he touched. If the boy dropped a glass, it was reason enough for a beating," Marta explained, her hand trembling as she took a sip of water. "I could have tolerated the mistresses if he had been a decent father, but he wasn't. He mistreated my son, and that was too much. I asked for a divorce, and since he was already with his mistress, who is now his current wife, he didn’t care. But he still tried to prevent me from living with Josiah. However, my little rebel was always untamable; he ran away so many times that my ex eventually resigned himself and let him live with me."
"You said Cristian only treated Jow that way… why did Lucah always stay out of that hostility?" I felt guilty for encouraging her to keep telling me things, but I was so curious that I couldn't help it. "It doesn’t make sense."
"Lucah was always too calm! His father would say he had a 'sissy' soul and that he would bring shame both in the military and in politics. Josiah never understood that Cristian’s hostility towards the older son was different. It wasn’t violent—it was full of contempt."
I kept thinking about everything Marta had said while I finished helping with dinner, setting the table, and later, while getting ready with Luana. I wore a long red jumpsuit with an open neckline in the front, accentuating my chest just to tease my boyfriend. I left my hair down as Josiah loved, allowed my friend to do my makeup, but I was terrified of what might happen between the brothers during dinner.
Marta and I decorated the huge rectangular wooden table in the backyard, laying a white cloth with thousands of shimmering red reindeer printed on it. We set everything up, with each place having a red charger plate, a white ceramic dinner plate, gold fabric napkins, and crystal glasses with red arabesque designs on the rims. There was a large Christmas tree under the wooden pergola in the backyard, all decked out in red, white, and gold.
I had never participated in such a fancy gathering before. I was excited about the amount of food we had prepared, and Marta had promised to let us drink a little wine during dinner. The only thing dampening the moment was the fear that there might be some trouble between Lucah and Josiah. Also, my aunt refused to participate and told me she wanted to be alone. I didn’t even want to argue; she had been acting very strange with me lately...