This sum would be enough to pay Joaquim’s debt, restore the quinta and allow him to hold on for years.
But Joaquim didn’t know how to fight. He was old, weakened, with no real luck.
He then told Benedita what he had seen in her: not a useless woman, but a fighter. A force that no one had been able to understand, because no one had ever given her the opportunity to use it for herself.
Every day, Benedita trained for five hours, then returned to work at the fazenda to keep up appearances. The months passed. His body strengthened, his movements became clearer, his posture more secure.
In September, three months before the tournament, Joaquim decided to test it. He stood in front of her for a simulation.
She knocked him to the ground in ten seconds.
Joaquim got up laughing, despite the blood in his mouth, and told him she was ready
