THE AWL IN THE SOLE

The awl went into the sole with a short crack. Nael held Antônio's sandal between his knees, found the old hole by touch and pushed the point two millimetres further. The rubber, dried out by the white dust, opened a line to the edge. It's gone, said Antônio. It was already gone. Nael withdrew the tool, heated the point on the stove in the yard and pressed the split until its edges softened. He did this sitting on the low bench, after nobody's shift, under the surveillance duct fixed to the eaves of the house. His bad knee tolerated the sandal for a few minutes, then began to tremble. He shifted the pressure without stopping the work. Antônio waited by the outside table. He had gone to find company for the sampling and had arrived in footwear that would not survive the bodily queue at the next boarding. He had shown the sole. Nael had fetched the awl. Last time, this held with a blade, said Antônio. Blades ran out. Ran out where? Nael pointed with his chin at a small broken clip on the table. It was a piece of light alloy, light enough not to cut the rubber while walking. For years it had come built into work shoes and cost less than a plate served at the bar. For six days now, the valley's repairers had received only units locked by licence. Two foreign buyers were disputing the purification technique for the magnesium used in the alloy. While the legal panels calculated ownership, the simple clip reached Buritaçu at the price of three suspended meals. I have a used one, said Nael. I'm not taking it out of yours. It doesn't fit me any more. He brought out from inside a wide sandal, its strap eaten by sweat and sand. He turned the sole over. The clip remained whole under two layers of melted rubber. That footwear knew paths that now pulsed in blue. Nael had worn it when he was paid by the metre to guide probes between the Lajes and the dry heights. Antônio remembered him arriving at the bar with his feet covered in dark mud, before the mud got a mineral label and an export price. The first refrigerator had stayed hidden for three nights under the kitchen table, paid for with one of those walks. Nael slid a thin spatula under the clip. The old glue resisted. He heated the metal from below, waited for the rubber to give and lifted one end without twisting it. The burnt smell made Antônio step back. If it warps, that's the end, said Nael. How much do you want? What time? The tracking cameras turned on the eaves. The two of them followed the movement and fell silent until the lens pointed at the street. Antônio brought his face close to the table. I need someone in the kitchen while Divina and I do the sampling. To watch? Until the result comes out. Nael went on lifting the clip. One millimetre, then another. The tremor passed from his knee to the spatula. He stopped, set his foot on the ground and breathed six times. The tip finally came loose. Nael dipped the piece into a mug with two fingers of water used for washing tools. A black film rose and stayed on the surface. He scraped off the residue with the side of the awl, dried the metal on the hem of his shirt and fitted it into the split in Antônio's sandal. The clip was larger than the groove. Nael cut two recesses in the rubber, equal in depth, and pressed the heated alloy until it disappeared. He passed a synthetic cord through the holes, crossed it inside and pulled with pliers. His hand closed twice. On the third, the skin of his fingers lost colour. Antônio tried to take the tool. If you pull it crooked, it tears. Nael fastened the cord with three turns, burned off the excess and crushed the still soft knot into the sole. Then he set the sandal on the ground. Put it on. Antônio slid his foot in and walked to the gate. The clip did not creak. He came back, flexed the sole and felt the metal follow the bend. The medical debt had grown by another fraction during the repair. The panel in Nael's house projected settlement offers onto the tabletop, since it had recognised Antônio by his face when he came in. One of them took the rest of the travel reserve and released the kitchen for priority analysis. The clinic would be paid before the sampling. His son would stay four days ahead. Nael put away the awl. I'm going with you, he said. Afterwards you take me to the licensed polygon. What for? I want to see where they buried the path to the field. Antônio tested the sandal once more, opened the gate and walked off in the direction of the bar.