Chapter 12
The sound, that beat. It couldn't be, it was too loud and sounded... live.
"I can't believe it." She exclaimed, turning her face in various directions.
"My god, miss, what's going on?"
She headed towards a place in front of the row of riverside restaurants called the artisan's house.
On weekends, it was very common for the place to always be filled with people for events, performances, or the launch of some artist.
She wasn't running anymore, but jumping rhythmically. With serious eyes and hand in his pocket, Vinicius turned the corner following her and understood everything.
The shoulder movements, the sway of scoliosis in the hips. He couldn't see anything beyond teenagers forcing an Asian sensuality.
It was all very cute in a chaotic world. He couldn't. He couldn't at all accept that kind of thing in modernity.
The group was starting their presentation with jumps full of faces and expressions, while Lumíria was imitating them right at the front, with an insane frenzy that Vinicius couldn't help but observe at that rare moment.
Glancing briefly at the group, he grimaced.
What was that movement? It seemed like they were trying to expel someone by tossing salt back and forth, maybe to get rid of snails, and stomping their feet in a tantrum. He chuckled mockingly.
He remembered her mentioning liking K-pop choreographies, but it seemed to have gone in one ear and out the other.
The music seemed to enter some vortex, accelerating the beats enough to make anyone dizzy, abruptly changing, with their arched bodies returning to an upright position. It was almost a capoeira bridge movement, but their arms didn't touch the ground, only arching their torso backwards like someone in need of exorcism before the demon caused a fatal hemorrhage in the host...
Maybe at that moment, Lumíria would have stopped his world around him.
Because when she came back, she was mastering human magic without magic, and vibrating everyone around.
But when Lumíria did the little step expelling the snail, the ground trembled invoking thunder from the surface. When she imitated those steps, he had another perception, completely enchanted by that human femininity in which she was involved.
The crane-like arm movements, the bust undulations like a snake, a dance with skills from various beings of nature, and her eyes sharper and more deified than before.
Everything filled with colors, the beats not only vibrated but undulated around those who saw, like organic silks spiraling through the air, spraying their smoke full of frequency onto people and then returning to a single center, Lumíria, spinning her hair and making her body a visual sound of the agitation reverberating through all the adrenaline ends of the weekend.
At the climax of the music, they walked with attitude, shifting their limbs before deafening beats and slow, sensual movements warmed you up.
Vinicius had to sigh for a long time, feeling a crazy heat.
She was clapping, very happy, along with the group, receiving compliments, but not more than she exalted by giving a hug to each one of them.
Vinicius even tilted his head at that moment, surprised by that social and warm gesture from the girl, perhaps nurtured by her experiences in the human world, it emerged at that moment.
There, from a distance, he could see something else, an 18-year-old girl passionate about something and rejoicing with other people, merging part of her energy with others.
A passionate girl who left those who saw her, also passionate about her beauty, her passion, and her charisma.
That was so intriguing to Vinicius. For a moment he wanted to know a little more about her past, her companions, her reflections, her passages in solitary moments. Or even her probable unconscious pains.
He almost didn't notice her running towards him, taking a restrained leap of joy between them.
"I wonder about the absurd amount of escape to the land to learn these steps," he said, joking.
She was still lively, red with her hair standing on end. He adjusted it, with her still panting and smiling.
"Did you like it?"
"Yes, a true artist."
"Can I dance just for you?"
He arched his eyebrows, licking his lips, finding the proposal quite interesting.
Wow, he had avoided so many carnal desires and their endless possibilities that he seemed to want to experience everything, but he took it easy, planned everything calmly that day.
They remained in that way for long seconds, her smile fading slowly, as if she wanted to read something very important in his mind.
Thinking of all the sensations of that day, she relaunched around, like the attempt of an insight of all the wonderful sensations, the churros, Vinicius and his presence, the Ferris wheel, the dance, he contemplating her dance.
It was all incredibly stunning, Macapá on the weekend at night, the people, their dreams, what moves them, their... pleasures.
"It's very good, isn't it?" he asked.
Lumíria nodded eagerly. It seemed like another world within the same one. Surreal, electric, smoky, and wonderfully delirious. For a moment, the energy of all those people together made her feel on a beautiful stage.
"We can go to the gym now." He warned, and when he issued this warning, she wondered, "What did this human do to me?" and how a simple sentence suddenly accelerated her blood circulation launching drums to her ears, to her chest, and burning various parts of her body like a flamethrower reactor. He closed his hand on hers and she was no longer paying attention to her surroundings, as if trained by a human.
Already on the motorcycle, they slid between the buildings, then through a dark shadowy valley surrounded by trees that she imagined no one truly feared inside their transportation machines. Soon they were in Vinicius's city. It was getting closer and bigger... like their anxiety. God, he hoped he hadn't disappointed Lumíria. He feared she would consider him insufficient in some way. Damn, he thought, that's why he hated getting close to someone for so long. He regretted not following Kairo's advice and borrowing one of his blonde bootie clothes, but he liked the choice of the black dress shirt, dark jeans, and leather objects. It seemed presentable enough.
He squeezed the motorcycle handlebar tighter and tighter. He could do this. He could do this. He repeated this mantra as a fork appeared below them. He went straight, nearing his house.
The motorcycle slowed down and Vinicius parked it next to an alley near his house. His heart was in his mouth. He couldn't decide if it was due to nervous anticipation, relief at having arrived alive, or fear of failing in some way. He turned off the engine and the sound of the wind became the only noise he heard. Vinicius took off their helmets.
"We're here," he said softly.
His gaze was so intense, half in shadow and half in the bright white light of the dim lights. Part of humanity and part of his imaginary self in a soldier's armor from hell. He seemed tense. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were squinted. He removed Lumíria's helmet.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. You know that, don't you?" her tone was so sincere, perhaps the most sincere coming from her even, despite containing a hint of desperation, her clear eyes against his impassive ones. She caught him off guard.
"I would never do something I didn't want to, Lumíria." And as he said the words, she didn't feel entirely convinced of them because at that moment, she would probably do anything for this man by her side. But it worked. He was placated.
He looked at her suspiciously for a moment and somehow, even traces of nervousness emerging in his body, managed to gracefully move to the motorcycle and dismount it, waiting for her to follow him, and took her hand as she descended into the alley. It was very windy at that time of night, and she was nervous about the fact that Vinicius was treating her completely differently. Vinicius wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her firmly against him.
"Let's go," he spoke above the noise of the wind. He dragged her to a little door next to the gym, and after some weird lock technique, the door opened. It was cold inside, thankfully, thought Lumíria, but the place seemed differently organized than last time. Lumíria could see Vinicius to infinity in any direction she looked, and the wonderful thing was that he was holding her to infinity too. He left the helmets on the table and went to the fridge.
As Lumíria walked around, slightly agape. And somehow, that made her nervous.
The only thing she thought at that moment, containing a graceful internal laugh.
"I'll finally squeeze those big boobs and that little butt of Davi"