Mai-chan is in the third grade of elementary school. Her father, Lucas, came to Japan from Brazil when he was nine years old with his father, Takeshi. Her mother, Ayumi, was born and raised in Japan, where her parents came to Japan from Brazil on dekasegi.
Mai-chan was born in Japan, goes to a Japanese school, and all her friends are Japanese children. Also, many of her mother's relatives have lived in Japan for a long time, so they all speak Japanese. Therefore, Mai-chan has almost no opportunities to use Portuguese.
Mai-chan, who loves to read, chose "Fairy Tales of the World" as her summer vacation homework. When she told her parents, Ayumi said, "If it's a Brazilian fairy tale, Dad might know it. He lived in Brazil until he was in the second grade of elementary school."
"Hmm, I don't remember anything. But maybe my dad has some books," Lucas replied nonchalantly, as he had no fond memories of Brazil. But for his daughter's sake, they decided to visit their grandpa on the weekend.
When Grandpa lived in Brazil, he was a photographer for a newspaper. His bookshelf was lined with a mountain of books and magazines about cameras and photography. Mai-chan and Lucas began searching desperately for a fairy tale book buried among them.
Then, Mai-chan noticed a thick book with a black cover on the bottom shelf. It was an album. Lucas was surprised. "I thought I had thrown away all the photos."
As I leafed through the photo albums, I remembered what my father said to me when he was preparing to come to Japan: "Leave your old things behind! You're going to start a new life here."
Ayumi, who was about to peek into the photo album that Mai-chan and Lucas were looking at, suddenly noticed something. "Oh, Dad looks like he's about to cry. What's wrong?" she asked, gently placing her hand on Lucas' shoulder. Then, Lucas pointed to the only photo in the middle of the page.
It showed a woman in a floral dress holding a baby, with a girl of about 5 years old leaning next to her, looking like she was about to cry.
"Dad, who is this?" Mai-chan asked, full of curiosity.
Lucas, controlling his emotions, revealed that the baby was his and the woman was his mother.
"Eh? Is this woman your grandmother? A Brazilian grandmother? Wow, she looks just like a foreign actress!" Mai-chan was so happy that she went to call her grandfather, who was in the garden.
My parents looked at each other, not knowing how to explain why my grandparents were not with us.
"Now, now. What is Mai-chan's 'discovery'?" asked Grandpa, coming in.
Then, when Mai-chan showed her the photo, she began talking with a smile.
"Grandpa was a cool Mosso No. 1 back then. Madalena fell in love with him at first sight! Yes, that was at the festival held in Caluaru in June. Of course, Madalena was also a Bonita No. 2 ," Takeshi said nostalgically.
But even as time passes, Lucas is unable to forget the time he spent in Brazil, because his mother abandoned him.
Madalena married Takeshi and brought her four-year-old daughter with her. After that, Lucas was born and they got used to life in São Paulo and lived happily. However, after about three years, her daughter started having asthma attacks. So Madalena took only her daughter and returned to Calaru, where the air was cleaner than São Paulo. She never returned to São Paulo again.
Takeshi often went on business trips to various places for reporting, so young Lucas was often left in the care of his parents or his aunt. When he returned from a business trip, Lucas would always have tears in his eyes and hug Takeshi tightly. Takeshi felt that he would feel bad for his son if things continued like this, so he decided to quit the newspaper company he had worked for since he was young and come to Japan with his son.
Lucas had intended to tell Mai-chan everything someday, but he wasn't ready yet.
"Mai, you must be hungry. Shall we eat?" I said out loud. I wanted to hide the sadness I felt every time I thought of my mother.
"Dad, do you know what Mai's dream is?"
"Well. What is it?"
"Mai's dream is to go to Brazil. I want to meet my Brazilian grandma, talk to her a lot, have lots of fun, and eat lots of delicious food! I promise."
"Yes."
Lucas was deeply moved by Mai-chan's innocence and her dreams.
Note
1. Young people
2. Beautiful
© 2024 Laura Honda-Hasegawa
