Raindrops wet the window glass in Dr. Ariadne's office, being closely watched by the young woman who once again ends the session without writing anything to the psychologist. Ariadne adjusts herself in her chair, observing the profile of the young woman in front of her, trying to imagine the pain that Malú feels and that she hides even from herself. Not just the physical pain shown by the bandages, but the pain inside your heart.
— Malú, we still have ten minutes before the session ends – informs Ariadne, catching the young woman's attention — I would like to make a proposal for you.
Malú turns his face slowly towards the psychologist. Regardless of the proposal, he had stated to himself that he would refuse. She doesn't want to talk about her life, much less her feelings, because for her, Ariadne is just an informant of Thiago's to whom she shared everything that happened in the sessions. She takes a deep breath and faces the psychologist with a closed expression.
— Look, I know exactly what you're going through... It sounds cliché, but cases like yours are very routine and many manage to resume the life they had normally. But for you to have your life back, you need to take the first step. For me to be able to help you, Maria Luisa, you need to open up.
Maria Luísa takes her tablet, turns it on and calmly starts writing, facing Ariadne. Then turn the tablet where it is written:
"How many people you've answered have started talking again?"
— Well... I'll be honest: You're my first case of this type, but I've read about it and follow others like yours and they're having a great recovery – explains Ariadne. —But that's not the proposal. I would like you to participate in a support group for the hearing impaired and also aphonic, which is your case. We meet twice a week and also on weekends.
Malú glares at Ariadne angrily. The psychologist had never had a patient with my problems that hers, how can she guarantee that Malú will speak again? . She turns off her tablet and stands up, looking at the psychologist and then leaves the office. If it were up to Malú, he would never set foot inside again.
— How was the session? – asks Thiago, not receiving any response from his daughter who passes him, heading towards the parking lot. He looks at the doctor who is leaning against the door and asks, —Did something happen? She said?
— No... No results so far – Ariadne replies wearily — Maybe in the next session.
—Time to time, isn't it? – asks Thiago.
—Time to time – says Ariadne, closing the door soon after. However, even she is not so sure.
***
Malú arrives at the mansion and hears the sound of the piano for the first time, then remembers that her first piano lesson is today. She takes a deep breath and goes to the music room where she is startled to see who is playing: Ricardo, the speech therapist who looks at her excitedly. Thiago goes after his daughter and is also surprised by what he sees. Then the speech therapist stops playing and turns to the two saying:
— Welcome to our first speech therapy session. – Plays some keys creating the end of the super Nintendo song that makes Thiago smile — Ready young lady? I hope you enjoy singing as I have a wonderful repertoire here for you. – Finishing with a smile. Malú touches his own throat. Singing, how am I going to sing if I'm literally voiceless?
—Well then, I'll retire. I hope it succeeds, because this young lady has been giving a real dance to the psychologist – reveals Thiago, messing with Malu's hair, who snorts.
—Interesting –exclaims the phono, hitting the grand piano bench —Sit down here and tell me what's been happening to you, Maria Luisa. And speak slowly so I can understand.
Malú remains standing in the same place scratching her arm, nervous. Ricardo continues to stare at the young woman who avoids facing him. She thinks it's all unnecessary and just wants to go back to her room and read a book.
— Maria Luísa, I know this is all very difficult to process, but I want you to understand that life goes on, with or without you. Even standing in the same place, we are moving forward and there's no way you can avoid it. So, do you prefer to stand still and watch your life go by, or do you want to reverse this situation and go back to making your own decisions? Your attitude doesn't affect me, as I'll be paid for this session anyway, even if I'm standing here doing nothing. In fact, I even like it, so I won't need to make any effort and I still win. His attitude doesn't affect his family either, as they're not the ones without a voice. Your attitude only affects you. So will you sit here next to me or will you just stand there at the door? It's your choice. Only you have the power to make your day productive or boring.
Malú takes a deep breath, as much as she doesn't want to admit what Ricardo said is true. She looks at the speech pathologist's hand that is raised towards her and walks slowly towards the bench, where she sits cautiously. He turns towards Malú smiling.
—I knew I would make the right choice. Now, I will give you the exercises that you will have to do for the day and in the order that I will do them. – Explains Ricardo — First raise your right hand at the height of your ear and repeat after me: I will not laugh at Ricardo doing the exercises.
Malú looks at him confused, how would she say that if she has no voice? She believes he's just making fun of her.
— I know you don't speak – Ricardo answering Malú's mental question — But he can move his lips and I'm good with lip reading – so Malú slowly swears the oath — Great. Now let's get to the exercises. First: the articulations are ten exercises that you'll do until the next session, so I'll add a few more. Exercise one, I want you to repeat the following orders: LA–A, LA–O, LA–U ten times and then LA–A, LA–E LA–I, ten times. I will do it and you repeat it right away – Ricardo does the series calmly being watched by Malú who notices that the doctor’s tongue goes up to the roof of the mouth touching behind the tooth and the tip of the tongue touches the teeth below, sliding and going up again — Now it’s the your turn.
Malú takes a deep breath, facing the speech therapist, she is afraid that he will laugh at her doing the exercises, but she gets it into her head that he is a professional and knows what he is doing. She slowly opens her lips and starts doing the sets and no sound comes out of her mouth, so she pushes harder on the third rep, which causes Ricardo to grab her shoulder and say:
—No need to force it, do it as if you were speaking normally.
Malú returns to do the series being accompanied by Ricardo who smiles satisfied with the discipline of the young woman. He arranges himself on the bench:
— Now we will do the second exercise, but first I need to ask you: Do you speak whales?
Malú takes the tablet and writes:
“Whales? Dory whales from Finding Nemo?”
— Exactly. Now we're going to talk like Dory from the movie. We will yawn exaggeratedly with each of the vowels – explains Ricardo — Don't laugh – He prepares himself — AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. NOOOOOOWWWW IIIIIT'S YOOOOOUUUURRRR TUUUUURRRNNNNN TEEEEEEENNNNN TIIIIIMMMEEEESSS. – Malú safe laughter to see Ricardo doing exercise, really seemed to Dory in front talking baleiês.
Malú starts doing it, trying to hold back her laughter, who would have thought that one day she would learn to speak whales. She finishes and then Ricardo continues saying:
— Third exercise: Total and wide opening of the mouth ten times – Ricardo opens his mouth in front of Malú as if he is going to swallow the young woman and then closes it — If you hear a popping sound near your ear and you feel pain, stop doing the exercise. – The doctor finishes watching Malú do the exercise.
— Fourth Exercise: Total and wide opening of the mouth with slow jaw movements to the right and to the left ten times as well –Ricardo does the movement being accompanied by Malú, then he holds the young woman's head and says — Your head will not move , just the Jaw, same as the T–Rex. Count right and left once.
— Fifth exercise: Ruminant–style chewing. – Ricardo comments, who receives a confused look from Malú — Imagine a cow eating grass, that's what you're going to do... Be the cow... MIUUUU. For a minute MUUUUU – explains Ricardo, imitating a cow chewing, it is almost impossible for Malú to hold back his laughter.
— Sixth exercise: Lip vibration. We will leave the cow aside and now we will imitate the snorting horse. Ten times, filly – orders Ricardo making Malú finally laugh — You are breaking our oath.
— Seventh exercise: Inflate the cheeks and hold the air for ten seconds and ten times. I know that you are an expert in this one, in fact, every teenager is, because they love to snort at their parents. –Ricardo comments, receiving a withering look from Malú.
— Eighth exercise: You will need a cork– warns Ricardo, taking one out of his pocket and handing it to Maria Luísa who looks at the object raising her eyebrow — You will introduce the cork in your mouth, slightly after your teeth, like this– explains Ricardo putting another stopper in mouth. So he takes it off — Just the tip... Just like that – says Ricardo, looking at Malú — Now I want you to answer the following questions: What is your full name? Where were you born? How old are you? And I want you to respond by exaggerating the articulation and paying close attention to where your tongue touches. So – Ricardo puts the cork in his mouth — Mueu nuomei e Ricaldo... Nashi en Curichiba e tienho forty–doch anoch. Chua see. – Malú puts the cork in his mouth and does the exercise with the same difficulty as Ricardo.
— Now the last two exercises are for working on the language, which is also very important in our treatment. Ninth exercise: we are going to play froggy. You will draw your tongue quickly and then slowly, just like music... The frog does is a... It's uuuummm... The frog does is a... It's uuuummm. Will do ten times.
— And the last exercise: You will do a north–south, east–west movement with your tongue. Without moving your head. You will also do it ten times – says Ricardo, watching Malú do the last exercise. Then he smiles — And we're done for today. I want you to do it every day, twice until your next session.
“Are we done?” asks Malú, who didn't even notice the time passing.
— We still have a few minutes – Ricardo claims, looking at his watch — In the speech therapy sessions I will also introduce singing exercises so that you always exercise your vocal cords, in addition to music being good food for a soul, like yours... you know with a good song you don't let go and release the voice that is inside you. Today I'm just going to give you a little bit of what I programmed for you, I'm sure you'll like it – He turns to the piano — If you know, follow me... – A song known to Malú begins to play.
♫ Who wants to do what he does...
And imitate all the way of ummmm cat viveeer... ♫
Malú smiles, that song remembers when she asked her mother and Aline for a cat as a gift.
♫It's an animal, it comes with the momentum that a cat has
Otherwise it's not convenient♫
Unfortunately, her mother was allergic and couldn't make her daughter's dream come true, who was sad that she couldn't have a cat.
So Aline and Anna had the idea of buying the Aristogatas DVD for Malú. And not only that, they learned this song and introduced themselves to Malú who laughed at their clumsy performance.
To Anna's delight, she had been trying for days to make her daughter smile again. Aristogatas became Malú's favorite cartoon and it was amazing how the speech therapist could have chosen that song . Is this a sign from my mother?
— Whoever wants to have a good sound… – sings the female voice from the door, drawing their attention. A young woman with curly dyed red hair approaches with her brown briefcase. She puts the folder on the table and walks towards them — Hear the notes of the piston that give the song its feeling...
— I'm even going to change the key... – sings Ricardo, playing the piano again — I've already felt that this is good... To make an improvisation... The others will gather... The session will start...
—In your case, it's over. – corrects the redhead, approaching the piano. She smiles at Malú and continues — Now it's my turn to show Maria Luísa how it's done.
— As you wish, ma'am – agrees Ricardo, getting up from the piano. He raises his hand to his wife — Pleasure, Ricardo, I'm Maria Luísa's speech therapist.
— Jaqueline – answers the redhead, shaking the doctor's hand — Nice to meet you. Now allow me to touch this wonderful and rare Essenfelder.
— All right. – Accepts Ricardo walking away. He smiles at Malú — Until the next session.
Malú smiles back at the doctor who leaves humming the rest of the song. She turns to Jaqueline, who passes her hand appreciating the piano with a huge smile on her face, her eyes filled with tears, as if the gesture touched her. She turns to Malú and wipes her tears:
— I'm sorry, you don't know how exciting it is to see one of these in perfect condition – explains Jaqueline, playing the carved details on the varnished wooden upright piano. — Essenfelder, this type of piano was manufactured here in Curitiba and they are renowned around the world for their quality. This must be around 1940, 1950...
—That piano is from the thirties. – corrects the matriarch of the family standing at the door. She grabs the doorknob and continues — I kindly ask you to finish the class within the scheduled time, because we have a schedule to follow in this house, especially Maria Luísa.
— All right, agrees the young woman, arranging the sheet music on the piano. She stands up and takes hold of the young woman's shoulders and adjusts the young woman's posture — First of all, have a correct posture, this will protect you from future injuries and will even improve your execution.
Jaqueline sits next to Malú who faces all those keys, she had never really been so close to a piano, much less played on one.
— Let's start by knowing the piano keyboard, knowing how to find the notes on the keyboard is essential to study piano. So let's get to know the keyboard. – Suggests Jaque, who immediately holds Malú's hand and places it in the middle of the keyboard. — The musical notes are only twelve and go from C to B, what happens is that if we go higher than the last note and we repeat the first note again, but this time a higher version. We call this distance an octave and it repeats across the entire keyboard. The white keys represent the notes of the C major scale and they are C–D–Mi–F–G–A–B. The black keys represent the intermediate notes, which we call accidentals. These notes can have two names, either sharp or flat. This will depend on whether we are moving up the scale or down. If we go up the scale from C to B, the first black key will be called C sharp, the second D sharp and so on. This indicates that the note is a half–step raised version of the previous one. If we go down the scale, then these same notes will be D flat and E flat, which indicates that the note is a half–step lowered version of the previous one. – Explains the teacher, receiving a lost look from Malú – Well, theory is better in practice... I want you to take your right hand, your thumb, the indicative and the smallest finger and put it on these three keys always skipping one... That's right. ... –Jaqueline receiving a low tone from the piano — This chord we call C major... Play it twice... That... Now throw your thumb and index finger to the left side, skipping a key... That... Twice too... Now the left three... That... Four times... That's right... Now I want you to continue playing this exact sequence and I will sing along with you. One... Two... Three... Four... And go...
Jaqueline claps her hands to Malú, who is amazed that she was able to reproduce it with ease, then smiles at the redhead who returns to the piano.
—Now let's play the song together... One, two, three, four and go...
— Malú is very reminiscent of the lady on the piano – whispers Adelaide behind Maria Luísa, who is startled by the maid. She finishes closing the door through which she was watching her granddaughter.
—Is that any way to call people, Adelaide? – asks Maria, irritated by the audacity of the maid.
— Excuse me, I didn't realize that you were distracted... You know, it's very good to hear the sound of the piano again.–comments the maid, leaning against the wall next to Maria. .. What is the name of that song that you played at your engagement with Mr. Alexandre? It was something Eliza... I know it was from Mozart, because you always liked to play Mozart.
— First, the name of the song is Bagatella In La Minore "Per Elisa". According to the musician it is Beethoven. And third, I remember very well how humiliated I was for having played that day, Alexandre's laughter, the guests and I promised never to play again. Now that you've managed to make me remember the worst day of my life, go back to the kitchen and hurry up dinner, otherwise we'll end up drinking coffee with your sluggishness. – orders Maria, annoyed.
— Excuse me – asks Adelaide walking away towards the kitchen.
Maria Luísa opens the door a crack again and observes Malú playing excitedly with the teacher, automatically, the matriarch puts a slight smile on her lips, because that first class of her granddaughter also remembered how hers was... Then she touches her lips and notices her smile disarming him and closing the door. All of that is too silly for her.
***
Dinner is almost exactly like every day, Graziela and Vera filling the table with their futile conversations, Thiago calmly waving towards the two of them, Adelaide waiting for any sign to serve someone else and Maria Luísa watching everyone without saying anything, but today she observes her granddaughter who plays an imaginary piano at the table, surreptitiously. Malú can still feel the keys under her fingers ready to release all her deepest feelings, if she could go back to any moment in her day, it would be to piano lessons. She raises her head and is met with the curious look of her grandmother who quickly turns to her daughter–in–law.
As soon as dinner is over, Malú practically runs towards the music room, but is stopped by Maria Luísa, who stops in front of the door with her arms crossed:
—Now it's time for sleep. You have a long day tomorrow.
“But tomorrow is Saturday” explains Malú on the tablet.
—And you have to go to school to learn German, then there's painting and then there's an etiquette class. I guess I don't need to remind you of your obligations, right? Good evening, Maria Luisa.
Malú turns around without writing good night to her grandmother. Your face burns like embers, how dare your grandmother take away the only joy you had in that house? He enters the room and lies on the bed, huffing. She turns this way and that, she's too excited to sleep, so she looks towards the secret door and gets out of bed heading towards it. Open the door and walk to the library. He turns on the light and smiles as he faces the shelves: On each one there is a book highlighted and on one of them a note:
“These are my favorites... Read them and tell me what you think is the best”
Malú removes one by one from the shelves and carries them to her room, indicating that her night will be long.
***
The Almeida Mansion is finally dominated by darkness... All the rooms have their lights off, except for Malú, where a light light comes out of the lamp... On the ground floor, all the employees are already in their dormitories and the rooms with their lights off. However, it is possible to hear footsteps coming from the stairs and heading towards the music room. The door is opened slowly and then closed carefully. The lamp next to the piano is turned on.
Maria Luísa sits opposite her old friend whom she rarely visited since that fateful night. She opens the piano that shows its preserved keys and so appreciated by her when she was younger. She places her long, delicate fingers over the keys, letting out a slight moan of satisfaction at finally being able to play on her piano without having to listen to her husband's complaints and teasing.
“What good is a woman who can play the piano? I need a woman who knows how to give me pleasure,” Alexandre said that night. She goes to the drawer, where she kept all her sheet music. He carefully analyzes the ones he would like to play and takes them to the piano.
“I'm glad you're rich, because it's only useful for the rich” Maria Luísa begins by playing Beethoven's “Imperatore”, the first song she learned to play. Even though she rarely played, even before her son was born, she still remembered it by heart and showed it by divinely playing the song. Close your eyes and let your fingers do their part...
It's transported back to the first time you met your teacher. She was sixteen years old and her mother thought she was very undisciplined, she was afraid of what others would say about her daughter. He was a few years older and disciplined, serious and forced her to repeat the same chord over and over until he reached perfection. She wanted to skip classes, sometimes she managed to, hiding out in her private library. But in the others she was tortured to stand in front of that piano with him. When they finally finished Imperatore she was already bewitched by the music, but not just by her...
Allegretto starts playing, playing in full without a single mistake... Her teacher sitting next to her, playing the music along with her... Her perfume floods her nostrils like that day... The almond eyes of her teacher meeting hers. .. Sneaky smiles... Light touch of hands while changing chords...
Maria skips to the next score without looking, the next one is by Debussy... Claire De Lune... Her lips touch his in the middle of the song. He leads her through the most beautiful music she's ever heard in her life. It was he, with all the confidence of Maria Luísa's parents, who went to pick her up at school, taking her straight home, but with time they were getting more and more delayed, oblivious to the love they felt for each other... each song... Maria Luisa's desire grew more and more... She needed to see him all the time.
He opens his eyes and changes the score... Al Chiaro Di Luna, his fingers find the notes carefully, saddened... His last music lesson with him... His mother was suspicious of the two of them and it was unacceptable for her to get involved with him. a man without titles, or possession... No, she was not bred to marry a servant, but a man of society... The sad cold chords she played that day for her dear teacher... It was the end... Remember him closing the door to the music room without listening to the music until the end... She couldn't get away from the piano and run to him, declare herself... Nor could she... It wasn't right. That shouldn't have happened...
Tears run down Maria Luísa's face towards the piano, her fingers touch the keys colder and more precise... You have to be strong.
She hears the creak of the door that makes her quickly remove her fingers from the piano, while her eyes look into the blue eyes of Malú, who did not expect to find her grandmother playing the piano. He listened to the sweet melodies of the room and came to find out who it was, but she was the last person he expected to find. The two stare at each other paralyzed. Then Maria Luísa turns to the piano and continues playing as if Malú was not there. The young woman approaches and sits next to her grandmother, watching the matriarch's agile fingers playing the keyboard as if she was born for it, pouring out all the pain from her soul. She finishes the song, leaving her hands on the piano for a few moments while her eyes remain closed. Then she opens and closes the piano lovingly, slipping her hand. She looks at her granddaughter who is watching her curiously.
— It's time to go to sleep — says Maria, who gets up, walking to the door — Tomorrow will be a long day.
Malú hears the door close while she looks at the score with Beethoven's name, she already knows what the teacher will ask for in her next class .