THE BLUE STRIP

If I talk slowly, he comes back before dark, Luzia asked. Ilva set aside three measures of water in the metal bowl. The girl had arrived with her hair tied in a band of dust and dry leaves, carrying under her arm the clean blouse she kept for the day of the census drone. She wanted to climb onto the roof when the machine passed over the village, so she would fit whole into the official image. Sit here. Luzia sat on the kitchen step. The heat of the ground rose through her legs. Ilva wet the nape of her neck first, then split the soap in two with the blade built into the stove. She soaped the ends, worked the knots loose slowly, rinsed with the second measure. The third was left for the ears and the parting. It won't be enough, said Luzia, looking at the nearly empty bowl. It won't. Ilva wrung out the girl's blouse without enough strength to dry it. Hanging clothes there took a long time because the yard air carried mineral dust and the damp clung to the fabric like a second skin. Luzia opened her arms, waiting for the blouse to come back to her body. Not yet. First listen. On the bar's panel, the offer of the rings shrank until it fitted in a single green line. The condition followed below it. Less water passage, continuous reading of the house, partial reduction of the debt. Ilva pulled the reading strip down and the green line vanished. Luzia went up to Antônio's presence point. The white light recognised her face, but did not open the family route. A child could leave a message, the panel said. A child could not alter occupancy, consumption or a holder's decision. Better that way, Ilva said. Luzia put her mouth against the capture field. The first attempt came out too fast. Antônio, the pequi died. She stopped. The panel asked for additional context. Plant death. Approximate date. Party responsible for the diversion. Luzia looked at Ilva, who stayed by the bowl, her fingers closed over the rim. Say what you saw. On the second attempt, the girl told of the shrunken leaves, the dry root, the water used on the soil and the hole dug in the yard. She did not say the visitor's name. She did not speak of the rings. When she finished, the panel offered a summarised version, suited to the comprehension of the absent holder. Luzia drew her face back. I talked about the whole pequi. The whole message required transmission priority. In the corner of the panel, six voice marks went out one by one. Ilva read the loss on the screen. Then she placed her iris before the blue strip. The message went out without a summary. Luzia put on the still damp blouse and ran to the porch. The water used on her hair had left a dark half-moon on the step. Ilva picked up the bowl and found, on the panel, the confirmation of deferred delivery. Antônio would receive the audio when he crossed a recognised passage zone. Below the confirmation there was a new question for him. Do you accept maintaining the provisional occupancy until your return to the address. Luzia climbed onto the yard bench to reach the edge of the roof. Her clean hair shone for a few minutes, before the dust began to settle again.