THE RED BAND

The light stone still weighed on the lid of the reservoir when Valdo came back before dawn. He carried the strap folded in his hand and a red band running along his forearm, opened by the rental panel that followed his body. He stopped by the porch, without calling. Nael appeared at the door with his mouth full of cold dough. He chewed slowly, looked at the band, looked at the street. Ilva was at the stove, scraping the bottom of the pot with the wooden spoon. The seed in the bowl remained covered with dry earth. Valdo held out his arm. The band projected onto the adobe a short route, two nameless bends and an order from the mining operation. Delivery confirmed by first light. Location by body image. Failure to arrive meant retention of the reservoir and the load charged to the transport balance. Who paid, asked Ilva. Valdo lowered his arm. Whoever pays doesn't put a name on the freight. The mining operation only passes on the order. The load left the cooling yard of the datacenter consortium. The panel switched off the route and left the consequence lit. The reservoir would be held by the rental company for twenty days. Without it, Valdo would lose the village deliveries and the families who still had his name on the list would move to bigger trucks, contracted by the utility company, with prices calculated by distance and by thirst. Nael wiped his fingers on his trousers. You know the bend. I know two. The first is under the licensed polygon, said Nael. The other is where the field sank. Valdo turned his face to the high road. The concentrate trucks were already passing along it without headlights, guided by the optical strip fixed to their mudguards. Behind them, the Cerrado began in low thickets, broken by clearings of turned earth. The dry buritis kept their drooping fronds, made of hard strips. A lizard came out from under the empty tank, crossed the whitewashed wall and stopped on the duct that carried heat from the tracking cameras. Nael pointed at it. That one eats ants or eats cable. It eats whatever fits in its mouth, replied Valdo. The lizard opened and closed its eyes. Nael let out a short laugh, almost without sound. Ilva pushed the scraped bowl towards the two of them. At the bottom were three burnt grains, dark as river stones. Valdo took one. This is rich people's coffee. You've never had rich people's coffee, said Nael. That's how I know it's bad. The three of them stayed a moment in front of the bowl. The red warning kept moving down Valdo's arm, marking the approach of the light. The load he would carry held thermal boxes for a provisional datacenter station. The boxes would drink the water drawn from the same pipes that had already reduced Valdo's beds to buried hoses. Vapour came out through the cracks in the boxes and clung to the adobe before vanishing in the brightness. Ilva raised the spoon to her mouth and ate the last grain. Then she asked Nael whether he had given the whole location. He answered without looking at her. I gave enough for him not to fall on the road. Valdo heard. His hand closed on the strap. If I come back without the reservoir, my mother goes without delivery. I already sell water to those who dig. The sentence stayed by the stove. Nael pulled the bowl with the seed closer to the wall. The earth had opened in a thin line. He touched the rim, removed a small ant and left it on the floor. The first light reached the front of the house. The sensors fixed above the door recognised Valdo and opened the exit confirmation. The mining operation required his face and the volume of the load. The route remained reduced to two bends. Nael crossed the threshold. Ilva raised her head. You're going. Only as far as the old road. The confirmation refused his presence in the vehicle. Body without delivery link, the surface reported. Valdo would have to go on alone or request inclusion from the rental company. The request would cost a unit of travel he did not have. Nael picked up a stone from the yard, light on one side, dark on the other. He scratched two short lines on the ground with its tip. The first pointed to the licensed polygon. The second pointed to the old field. At the upper bend, you'll see a wall of cut earth, he said. If you see a crooked post before it, you've come back too far. Valdo crouched to look at the marks. The red band rose to his wrist. And if I find both. Nael covered the first line with his foot. The second stayed exposed in the dust. The reservoir was strapped to Valdo's back. He left without thanking him. Nael stayed on the threshold, watching the strap disappear among the adobe houses, the ducts and the brittle leaves of the pequi. Ilva covered the bowl with her hand and left the seed in the crack.