Chapter 10 Welcome to Brazil

Matt and Mark finally landed in Brazil. They pulled their bags on the airport floor as they made their way to the exit. A crowd of people holding up signs with names on them came to view. People embraced their loved ones with so much happiness. Their fluent Portuguese filled the air as they chuckled amongst themselves.

A short man waved his straw hat at Matt. He bore a wide smile across his face. His bulging muscles stuck out through his tight white shirt. He had sunglasses on and half of his face was covered in tattoos.

His large hands were decorated in sleeve tattoos. Hanging on his neck was a rosary. He ran his fingers in his rich coffee brown exotic hair when Matt drew closer and slapped a handshake with him.

"I bet you thought that I didn't see your WhatsApp text, now didn't you amigo?" he asked in a Mexican accent and ended with a laugh.

"Why wouldn't I, Alejandro? You have a habit of ignoring messages." Matt admitted with a grin.

"You know that I am not into social media and shit. You're lucky one of my girls saw it when she was snooping around in my phone." Alejandro caught sight of Mark. "And how are you doing?" he greeted him.

"I'm good, thanks." Mark quickly answered.

"He is... my brother, Mark." Matt introduced Mark. "Alejandro is a close friend of mine. We go way back. He saved my life in prison when a gang attacked me in the shower." he briefly explained and Alejandro proudly nodded his head in confirmation.

"Come on; let's get you guys somewhere more comfortable." Alejandro laughed softly.

Alejandro enthusiastically led Matt and Mark through the airport's parking lot. His majestic and pompous walk amused Mark. It was as though he owned the place. So much confidence in such a little man was always an interesting sight to see. Alejandro pulled out his keys and hit the button. A red Mustang beeped.

"This here, is my one and only love; Rosalina." Alejandro mischievously waved his eyebrows up and down.

"Your taste in cars never fades, my friend." Matt remarked in awe.

"Believe that." Alejandro winked, he pulled open a door. "Don't just stand there, get in."

Alejandro and Matt chatted throughout the drive while Mark maintained his silence. It was his first time in Brazil, so he couldn't stop himself from looking out the window. The streets were amazing and the women were glorious. Their curvy child bearing hips and full behinds were what caught Mark's attention the most.

Alejandro took a turn into a different place. It had colorful flats on hills. The streets were filled with people. Mark took notice of men playing cards outside. Beautiful women in revealing clothes squeaked as they chatted. Little kids ran around playing football while others feasted on exotic fruits.

"Where are we?" Mark broke his silence.

"We are in Rocinha, the largest hill favela in Rio de Janeiro, amigo." Alejandro excitedly replied.

He parked his Mustang in the driveway of a light blue up-stair flat. They banged the doors closed when they got out. A woman strutted towards Alejandro like a black cat on a wall fence. Her hips swayed from side to side in a jean bum short that exposed her blessed behind. Mark almost swore that he heard Spanish guitars playing in the background while she walked.

Her full chest was firmly held in her white vest. The sun hit her smooth cocoa skin with her curly hair bouncing in the wind. She stood before Alejandro and put her hand on her waist; looking at him through her rose colored glasses with her thick lips stretched out in disgust.

Alejandro raised his hands to hold her, but he was met with a tight slap. She slurred at him in Portuguese and whipped her hair back before finally walking away. Matt shook his head but Mark looked on with his jaw down.

"I still love you baby! I'll call you!" Alejandro shouted after her but she kept on walking. He turned to face Matt and Mark with a childish grin, "That was my future wife, Julia." he laughed. "Come in," he ushered them into the flat.

They were met with thick clouds of smoke the moment they stepped into the kitchen. They coughed and instinctively covered their noses and mouths. A tall fat man stood panicking by the stove. He was holding a frying pan that emitted the foul scent of burnt fish. He jumped backwards when he saw Alejandro glaring at him.

"Damn it, Diego, who let you in the kitchen?" Alejandro scolded him.

"I was hungry, boss. No one was in the mood to cook, so I thought that I'd –"

"Just turn off the stove already before you burn my fucking house down." Alejandro ordered him. "This way," he gestured to Matt and Mark.

They got to a small living room. Their eyes first set on a man puffing out smoke from his nostrils. He delicately held a lit marijuana roll on in his slender fingers that had tattoos of Roman numerals. His greasy dark hair was tied in a bun. The upper part of his forehead had a tattoo in Chinese characters. He wore a black and white truck-suit and on his feet were white converse.

"Don't hog the joint Jose." a feminine voice hissed.

She was the only woman in the room. She freely exposed her long legs in her black bum short. It was nearly completely covered by a white T. Shirt with Neymar Jr's face on it. Her face was oval with soft features and pink lips.

She tied her long red hair in a ponytail and flashed a look at Mark. Her eyes were fixed on him as she took a pull on the joint. The woman let out a clumsy laugh when the smoke left her mouth that had a piercing on it. She scratched her pierced nose, eyeing Matt and Mark.

"Alejandro, who are these men you have brought here?" she asked him and passed the joint to Jose who was impatiently reaching out for it.

"I will tell you as soon as you put out that blunt. You know how much I hate it when you smoke weed in my house. Go do that shit outside." Alejandro grunted in anger.

Jose sucked so much of it before finally putting it out on an ash tray that really needed to be emptied.

"Where's Paulo?" Alejandro asked the woman.

"He is up in his room." she answered, uninterested.

"Well, call him down here." Alejandro demanded, annoyed.

She rolled her eyes. "Yo, Paulo! Get your ass down here!" she exclaimed.

The sound of grumbling was heard. "What the fuck Adrianna? I told you that I needed my rest." Paulo combed his long dark hair behind with his fingers.

Paulo was evidently the youngest in the room. He could have been at least 18 or 21. His thin frame was covered in a black vest and black pajama pants. His caramel bare feet with toes that were spread apart made direct contact with the white tiled floors.

"Shut up and sit down, boy." Alejandro told him. "I'd like to introduce you all to my buddy Matthew Daka and his brother Mark." Alejandro focused his eyes on Matt. "Tell us why you are here."

There was silence as everyone listened to Matt narrate everything to them in detail. Shudders and tensed looks were expressed as the silence was maintained. Matt paused and Mark placed his hand on his shoulder. It was his way of giving him the strength to continue. When Matt was finally done, Alejandro stroked his bead with a distant look on his face.

"That's why I need you guys to help me save her." Matt said in a low tone.

"Wow, hold on, let me get this straight," Jose sat up and locked his fingers together. "You want us to help you save your girlfriend from a demon?" he asked and Matt nodded his head. "Man, fuck out of here with that bullshit."

"If what you are saying is true then she must be in the evil forest." Adrianna added, completely ignoring Jose's snappy remark.

"Evil forest?" Matt asked, confused.

"It is the dark part of the Amazon forest. A lot of creepy shit happens there – things that you don't want to imagine." Alejandro explained instead and shivers were sent across the room.

"That place is cursed, man. You are out of your mind if you are thinking of going there." Jose leaned back and spread his arms on the armrests. Everyone looked at him blankly. "What?" he lifted his shoulders in defense, "I'm not lying."

"I don't care how cursed it is. I have to get to Ruth at all costs." Matt said with determination.

"I don't know about you guys but there's no way I'm going there." Paulo added and heads nodded in agreement.

"I mean it's too risky." Adrianna shrugged her shoulders.

"I'll pay you fifty grand." Matt blurted out.

Jose leaned forward and tilted his head at Matt surprised. "$50 000 dollars?" he muttered.

Matt lifted his bag and threw it on the coffee table. He unzipped it and spread the bag open for everyone to see. Their eyes stretched at the stacks of money in it. They looked back at Matt with jaws dropped.

"That's like ten grand each." Paulo greedily envisioned.

Jose slapped Matt a handshake. "Man, you've got yourself a deal."

Alejandro stood up and picked the bag up whilst the others carried on celebrating. He nodded his head at Matt who got up leaving Mark behind. Matt followed Alejandro into a room down across the hall.

Matt's eyes immediately fell on the vast collection of guns. A good number of pistols and revolvers were spread across the glass table at the center. Matt took a liking to the AK47s, snipers and shotguns on the walls. There was even a neat collection of blades.

"The blades are Adrianna's." Alejandro remarked after noticing Matt looking at them intrigued.

Matt picked up a shotgun and marveled at it. "It's been a while since a held a gun." he confessed.

"What a boring life you live nowadays." Alejandro teased.

Matt picked up a sniper and positioned it. Holding it took him back to the days when he served his country. He was one of the best sniper shooters in the troop. He gently set it back on the wall and looked back at Alejandro who seemed to be lost in thought.

"At least I can say that we are safe in terms of gun power." Matt said, disregarding Alejandro's mood shift.

"Yes, you are right on that one, however, they will not be enough." Alejandro remarked with seriousness.

Matt jerked his eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?' he asked.

"Matt, I know that you are atheist. You have this strong dislike for God and I don't know why but I'm not going to ask. What I need you to do is to hear me out."

Matt crossed his arms, "Shoot,"

Alejandro cleared his throat. "We are going to be dealing with a sadistic demon. We can't fight it with guns only." he began and Matt raised his eyebrow. "We need someone on a higher spiritual standing to come with us. You know, a powerful servant of God."

Matt breathed out loudly through his nose. "Okay, who do you have in mind?"

Alejandro's lips curled into a smile. "Come with me and you'll find out."