The Fourth Door. Maria Tenace

first of these, along the road leading to the centre of the village of Santa Maria, had a wooden door that was very reminiscent of the old Western saloons, in dark wood with two doors.

      Some small tables and chairs in white plastic were placed outside, partially shaded by a light greenish canvas stretched on reeds, like a canopy.

      A skinny gentleman, with a moustache like a musketeer, asked if they would like to sit down.

      - What are we having? - Stefano asked the girl, taking off his hat and putting it on the table.

      - How about an ice-cold beer? I don't usually drink beer at this time of the morning, but it's pretty hot today. There's a nice microbrew. -

      Azuleya nodded with her head and nodded to the bartender to approach their table, while holding on to one of the wooden doors, she dried drops of sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief.

      - Oi, Nestor. Duas cervejas geladas, por favor. -

      -Grandes ou pequenas? -Mm-hmm. - Precisely the hot bartender. He placed two cork coasters on the table and placed the large dark beer mugs on them, observing the foreigner for a few seconds.

      Shortly afterwards they passed in front of the ruins of some houses built by the sea, where it was evident the merciless passage of frequent hurricanes.

      That point in the fishermen's bay was not spared even by the storms.

      The old people of the village told how years before, there had been a violent and gigantic wave of about twenty meters that fell on that part of the coast that swept everything away.

      Azuleya, a little to scare him a little to joke about it, pointed out to him that even if the sea was calm that day, one could not rule out the possibility that such a circumstance might suddenly occur. Anyone who happened to be on the pier at that precise moment would certainly not have been able to save themselves in the face of such violence.

      In fact, many had disappeared for no apparent reason or had lost their lives due to the fury of the waters.

      - Unfortunately, the government no longer finances the renovation of old buildings in this area and denies permission to build new ones. -

      Her eyes glistened betraying a visceral love for that portion of the bay.

      They continued until they reached the pretty and cozy little house of Azuleya, on an esplanade overlooking limestone cliffs.

      Traditional music came down the sand dunes.

      - Carmen was widowed at the age of twenty-five. Her husband, Antonio, died of illness, two years after they were married. She was already a widow when she found me on those rocks, covered only by a blue sheet, the colour of Yemaya. That's why I'm called Azuleya.

      She's convinced that I came from the sea, a concession from the goddess who answered her prayer not to be alone. My birth mother never knew who she was, she certainly wasn't local, since everyone knows everything about everyone here. -

      - A strong, brave woman, raising you alone won't have been easy. -

      After making the ritual introductions and a few pleasant chats, Carmen decided it was time to give her guest a taste of the local cuisine.

      Pan fried eggs, crushed fried bananas, white rice accompanied by beans and meat sauce, apart from fish and vegetables for her.

      Her inquisitive gaze often reviewed the various attitudes of man, with the precise intention of finding something that didn't fit into her skin in Europe.

      Among the girls of the village, in fact, were not few to have been deluded by some tourist who, once the holiday was over, abandoned them seduced and with a child.

      And since she had memory of it, these kind of acquaintances were not well seen by the people of the village.

      Carmen thought that her daughter was about to make the same mistake as many others and promised herself that at the end of the evening she would talk to her, to let her know how she felt about it.

      She had always been a girl who was very careful with men's deceptions.

      She often made friends with tourists because of the work she did, but she never took any of them to the village.