THE WEDGE ON THE DOUGH

Forty-eight minutes separated the notification from authorised entry into the yard. The bar's panel drew a yellow rectangle over the uneven earth and asked the occupants to remove animals, food and items of sentimental value. Valdo read until the rectangle reached the pequi seedling. They're going to take the plant, he said. Nael was sitting on the step with two portions in front of him, Antônio's covered, the other broken in half. He pushed one half towards Valdo. The rain bet had come due without rain, but he had waited two days to collect. Eat. I lost, answered Valdo. That's exactly why. Between them, the seedling was being given spoonfuls. Ilva lifted the screen that fenced in the pequi. The panel recalculated the perimeter on recognising her hand near the plant. Item of sentimental value identified. Voluntary removal available for thirty-nine minutes. Nael brought the portion to his mouth without biting. When he was paid to guide the excavators, he marked the paths with broken branches. He was paid by the metre opened and earned more when an old passage disappeared under the tracks. Antônio's first refrigerator had come out of that money. For three nights, the two of them kept it hidden under the table, waiting for the household access window when the motor ran, so they could listen to it and imagine cold drinks they could not yet buy. Valdo bit into the dough. He left the rest on the step between them. If we take the seedling out, they'll know there's something underneath. If we leave it, they'll take it. The camera on the façade followed the movement of their mouths. They chewed in silence until the panel announced twenty-nine minutes. Ilva brought a deep pan unused since the kitchen was suspended. She measured with her fingers the distance between the stem and the rim. Don't pull it up, said Nael. The yellow rectangle pulsed again. The contractor added a condition. Any alteration of the soil before collection would be treated as interference in the investigation of historical contamination. Twenty-three minutes remained to declare spontaneous preservation. The declaration required keeping the yard free of human presence for six hours. Valdo stood up. The membrane on his index finger paled when he closed his hand, but did not stop him. He picked up the half he had left on the step and placed it on Antônio's portion. Keep the plant, he said. I'll show the short curve again. Nael turned his face to him. You already lost the reservoir over that curve. Valdo brought two fingers to his chest. Sixteen minutes. Nael took the buriti wedge out of his pocket. He pressed the wood into his palm, then placed it on the dough set aside for Antônio. The panel recognised no value in the object. You don't know the whole curve, he said. Ilva lowered the screen around the pequi. She pulled the pan away and cleared a way to the back door. At nine minutes, Valdo offered his face to the camera and declared that he would accompany the collection outside the yard, at the broken stake. The contractor accepted the provisional relocation. If he did not arrive before the team, the original authorisation would be valid again, plus a charge for useless mobilisation. Nael picked up the other half of the portion and pushed it into his hand. The two of them left. At the edge of the street, Valdo set off towards the stake, and Nael walked beside him, half a step behind.