Tiago
I hadn't heardfrom Fred in a week, two if I was to count the week before when he stood me up at the bar, and I was becoming more and more worried with each day that passed. I didn't want to text him or call if he was in the middle of a case, but the silence was driving me nuts, especially because of his last cryptic text.
Living in a constant seesaw of hopefulness and hopelessness was exhausting. I had to believe my brother was out there somewhere. He would be twenty-one now, so he was no longer the little boy that ran away all those years ago. I'd kept all my social media channels open in case he ever wanted to reach out. I didn't engage much, but my name and photo were available for anyone to see. Equally, I spent hours each day looking through photographs, profiles, and names, anything that could lead me to him.
Some days I woke up in fear that I would walk past him in the street and not recognize my brother as the young man he now was. Today was one of those days, and when I felt like this, I couldn't be at the center. It hurt too much to see the young kids who spent time there because I wanted all of them to be my brother, and none were.
I decided to get in the car and drive south of the Tagus river to Caparica to see David, one of my best friends.
Until last year, David was out only to a few very close friends; that was until his childhood best friend and love of his life came back to Portugal from America and they fell in love. It was beautiful seeing David and Joel together. Much like Isaac and Max, they had the kind of love that happens once in a lifetime, and when it does, it changes everything forever.
David was also a top baker and volunteered his time at the center, running baking workshops. The kids loved it so much that some went as far as enrolling in college to become chefs. It made me so proud to see that life could knock these kids down fiercely but they were still strong enough to stand on their own feet and fight back.
As entrepreneurial as he was charitable, David had taken Bruno, one of the kids we helped at the center, under his wing and given him a job at Café Lima, the business he owned with his aunt and uncle, Teresa and Mário.
They'd worked hard over the years to build up the business David's mom, Paula, had started up, and now that David's talent as a baker was becoming more widely known, they were always featured in some kind of best-kept-secret list.
Every time he added a new video to his blog, it went viral because David was not only very talented and came across as passionate about his craft, he was also very kind and extremely easy on the eye.
The scene I walked into in the café made me want to get my phone out and take a photo. Teresa and Mário were huddled behind the counter working on some kind of paperwork, and Joel was sitting at one of the tables with Filipe, Bruno's five-year-old little brother.
While Teresa and Mário looked up and smiled when I came in, neither Joel nor Filipe saw me, such was their focus on the picture they were coloring in. My guess was that both Bruno and David were in the kitchen working.
"No, you're doing it wrong, Uncle Joel." Filipe huffed. "Let me show you." His tiny hands took hold of Joel's big hand and pen as hehelpedJoel color in properly.
"Tiago, how are you doing, dear?"
Teresa's greeting turned Filipe's attention toward me, and in no time at all, both Joel and the coloring pens were discarded as he ran toward me.
"Uncle Tiago"
"Hey, Pip, shouldn't you be at school?" I asked as I picked him up.
He rolled his eyes, which made me smile. "No, silly. It's Easter break. Do you want to color with us?"
"I'm not sure I'm very good at coloring."
"I'll teach you. I'm teaching Uncle Joel, too." He leaned closer and put his little hands around my ear. "He's not very good at coloring."
I wanted to laugh at his not-very-whispery whisper but managed to keep a straight face.
"I need to speak to Uncle David, but I'll come back after, okay?"
"Okay," he said as he wormed his way down to the floor and back to Joel.
I put my hand out over the counter to shake Mário's hand, but Teresa came around to give me a hug. Considering Teresa didn't have any children of her own, she was the most motherly person I knew.
"Is he in the kitchen?"
"Yes, they're working on an order. Go right in. Do you want a coffee and a custard tart?"
"Is the Pope Catholic?" I replied as I kissed her on the cheek.
David and Bruno were mumbling the words of the song that was playing on the radio as they worked around each other. Bruno was covering the smaller of two cakes with white fondant while David applied small decorations to the larger cake.
"Hey, guys."
I got a collective "Hey" but only David looked my way since Bruno was focusing on rolling the fondant on the cake. The guy really had a lot of talent. Although, to be fair, since I was barely able to put a basic meal together, anyone that could put eggs, flour, and butter together and produce a cake was a genius to my eyes.
