Amazing Grace
The stripper, the Pope and the bucket
Rio de Janeiro, 2015
“So, what do you want for your birthday?” asked Nina with a smile, hands hidden behind her back.
“Uh, a new life maybe?” Grace replied, while absentmindedly counting the cash she earned the previous night. “Oh wait, that doesn’t come as a present, right? You have to
study, earn a degree, work hard. I should have listened to Mum and Dad.”
Nina’s smile faded away. “Don’t worry Grace, we’ll find a way”. She put one hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Lots of tourists are coming for the Olympics. We’re already fully booked at the agency!
Here’s your present, anyway.”
She handed out a white envelope but Grace just tossed it on the coffee table with a snort.
It landed on a pile of banknotes that had become barely sufficient to pay the bills.
Rome, 2016
She told me how delicious the pasta was. “I always wanted to visit Italy, especially Rome. Churches, history…I’ll fly back as another person!”
I smiled. The person she was right now, was already good for me.
It was surprising that a woman so pretty would date a guy like me. “I’ll have to keep up with the Italian Latin Lover thing!” I joked.
She laughed and darted back, “I’m only interested because you work for film productions. Definitely not because you’re so hilarious and kind.”
Silence.
All I managed to blurt out to embrace the compliment, was my grandpa’s favorite pickup line: “You know,
a handsome man with no sense of humor is like a bucket with a hole. Looks good but works awful.”
It wasn’t the funniest joke, but certainly I wasn’t expecting her to get upset.
Before I could ask what I did wrong, she put her hand on mine, as if our contact could dismiss bad mood. “So, what’s this special place we’re going to?”
Rio de Janeiro, 2015
“I don’t care about the damn tourists, Nina. You know what? It’s them that touch me every night, their dirty hairy hands with expensive rings. For them
I’m pushing dignity to the back of my mind, in the hope to provide enough for us and my daughter.
I’m sick of that!”
She’d had continued the resentful rant, had not her lil’ sweet beast come running from the backyard. “Mommy, look what I found!”
She proudly raised a small plastic bucket, with a hole in it. Shameless and adventurous, this kid was one of few people able to shift Grace’s mood instantly.
“Hey my precious, what’s that? Give it to mommy, it might be dirty. What did I tell you about picking up things from the street?”
The child pouted and climbed on the sofa. “I just want to play, mommy. You’re never here to make me play.”
That hurt like a bullet shot directly into Grace’s chest.
It was the truth, but she was going to change it.
Nina noticed sorrow rising on her sister’s pretty face. “Alright Sweetie, come with Auntie to the garden, show me what else you found.”
Grace didn’t even see them leave the room.
Rome, 2016
She made the videocall from a cafe by the river. “We earned how much?! That’s awesome, Nina! Now I despise tourists in Rio a bit less, haha.”
Some customers were watching the Olympics closing ceremony on a big screen in front of Grace. But she was too excited to pay attention.
“I also have big news. Ready? I’ll be an actress! Well, a small background role, but that’s a start. For a TV series about the Pope…”
As she unraveled more details about the upcoming shooting, a man entered the cafe and sat next to Grace.
He smiled, as if he guessed exactly what she was talking about.
Grace ended the call and kissed the man. “I’ll never thank you enough for this opportunity!
It means the world to me and my daughter. Can’t wait to hug her and make her play…”
His phone buzzed with a new message. “Paolo is here. Would you like to say goodbye before flying back to Brazil? It’ll be long before you’re here again for the final shooting…”
A few hours later, Grace waved goodbye to the director and to the man who would possibly change her life. Someone who made her feel amazing inside, not just touch her body.
Before joining the security line, Grace breathed in once more the magic atmosphere of the Eternal City, that had saved a wretch like her.
She did fly back as another person — who would soon fix that hole in the bucket.
Original draft created during a Writers’ meetup.
Despite writing is often seen as a solo activity, participating in community events makes a difference. Definitely recommend!
I’m happy to explain you the narration technique I used.
