Tabula Rasa

He would sit at the window table and have a café con leche with a sweet almond pastry, while reading the day's newspaper. He would then pay, always in exact change left on the corner of the table, tipping his hat to the waitresses on the way out. One of those girls was Maria. She had been working at the cafe for most of the summer and she liked the funny old man. He was kind, and sweet and reminded her of her own grandfather. She would always choose him the best pastry from the cabinet and make sure his coffee was brewed extra strong, just as he liked it. Much to Maria's dismay, he didn't show up last Tuesday. The other girls told her he was probably ill or perhaps he had gone to another cafe, but she was worried. When he didn't show up again today Maria felt an uneasiness build in the pit of her stomach - something was wrong, she just knew it. At the end of her shift she wrapped up three of the leftover pastries in a napkin and walked to his house. He had ordered cakes for a party last year, so they had his address in their order book. The old man's house was not far from the cafe and so shortly she was standing on his doorstep feeling foolish. She looked up and down the cobbled street to see if she could ask a neighbour or a passer by if they had seen him, but it was deserted. It was Friday evening so everyone would be down at the piazza drinking wine, eating tapas and generally not skulking on doorsteps. Her stomach rumbled and she steeled herself to knock on the door. I must interject here dear reader, and let you know a little more about Señor Raol Ferreira. While the elderly gentleman was indeed kindly he was also a criminal, quite a good one. On the other side of the door on which Maria will imminently knock there are three men, with guns, waiting for the elderly man to return home. As it is when dealing with most men with guns, he owed them money. Now you are better acquainted with him, it is my duty to tell you that presently Señor Ferreira was rounding the corner at the end of the street. Three things then happened almost simultaneously. First, Raol, distracted by the girl on the doorstep, stood on the tail of a cat, which screeched violently. Second, the sound of the cat startled one of men inside who squeezed the trigger of his gun, blasting a hole in the ceiling. Third and most egregiously, Maria, startled by both the shot and the cat, dropped her pastries. They did not know it then, but this bundle of pastries on the floor would inextricably tie the lives of Maria and Raol together and lead them on an adventure around the world. That, however, is a tale for another day.