Synopsis:

Carol, a 19-year-old girl, kind and friendly, lives with her grandmother and uncle, who used to be the right-hand man of the local kingpin but was killed during a raid. Since then, Carol has been working odd jobs – waitressing at a diner on the hill at night and cleaning apartments in the city by day. She finds herself at a loss when she discovers that her grandmother has an incurable disease, and the treatment to make her life more comfortable is prohibitively expensive – something she can't afford.

Gael is a 30-year-old man who’s grown out of his boyish ways and matured into a man with a closed heart when it comes to love. For him, women are only for pleasure and afterward disposable. As the ruler of Paraisopolis hill, he is a feared and respected figure who doesn’t let anything slide. He's been with many women and money is no issue for him. He becomes obsessed with Carol the first time he sees her at the diner. Although he tries to make a move, she ignores him, which drives him crazy, and since then, he has forbidden anyone from approaching Carol. Later, Gael is incarcerated but continues to monitor Carol's life from behind bars. Upon learning of her grandmother's illness, he decides to make her an offer.

Will Carol accept the proposal from a trafficker and go against her principles?

Carol (narrating)

Well, first, let me introduce myself. My name is Caroline, but everyone calls me Carol. I'm 19 years old, fair-skinned with sea-green eyes, and naturally, I have a pretty figure because genetics blessed me, never really took care of it though. My hair is long, straight, and chestnut-colored, and I've got a rose tattoo on my arm. I live with my grandma, Dona Maria. I work in the city doing day shifts, and at night, I serve at Seu Mane's diner. This lets me keep a serene life for my grandma. Up till now, I’m still a virgin. I've never actually had a boyfriend, although I've hooked up with some city guys back in my school days, but never anyone from the hill – that’s a no-go area for me. The thought of becoming a gangster's girl and ending up mistreated terrifies me.

Morning:

I woke up early, took a shower, slipped on black leggings, a gray shirt, and black sneakers. Tied my hair in a loose bun and spritzed on my perfume. Heading to the kitchen, the smell of coffee hit me instantly.

"Good morning, granny," I greeted with a kiss for my grandmother.

"Morning, dear. I've prepared your sandwich," she responded, handing me a ham and cheese sandwich.

I gulped down my coffee in a hurry and grabbed my bag to leave.

"Carol, you barely ate," my grandmother commented.

"I'm late, granny. Got to go," I replied, rushing out the door.

I hastened down the hill to catch the bus when suddenly I heard a motorcycle approaching. It was the local kingpin stopping by the blockade. I'm not sure why, but he gives me the shivers. He's a good-looking guy, but he frightens me – I've heard terrible stories about him.

I walked past the blockade, pretending not to notice his gaze upon me, and made it to the bus stop in time for my bus.

The ride took me to Barra, where I disembarked and headed to the apartment where I would work on my cleaning shift. I'm employed by a cleaning agency that sends me to different homes each day. I get the addresses on my phone and just show up, even though some days I feel like running away.

Nobody was home when I arrived at the apartment, so I started cleaning right away. After spending the entire day tidying up, I finished around four in the afternoon, utterly exhausted. Heading back home, I trudged up the hill when I heard:

"Carol, wait up, girl." I turned to see Dani, my best and only friend.

"Where have you been, Dani?" I asked, greeting her with a kiss.

"Just paying some bills for my mom," she explained.

"Are you working tonight?" she inquired.

"Of course, it’s a samba night, and it's going to be packed. I'll be busy," I said with a sigh.

"My God, girl, you work too hard. You need to find a boy and go out," she exclaimed, full of excitement.

"Are you crazy? I have no time for that," I dismissed her idea as we continued our slow walk.

"I didn't tell you, but I'm seeing someone," she suddenly exclaimed.

"Who is it?" I asked, already concerned.

"It's Magrinho," she said, beaming.

"Oh my God, Dani, he's the kingpin's second in command! Are you out of your mind? You want to end up bald?" I replied, worried.

"Stop it, girl. He's different with me," she claimed.

"Well, you know what’s best for you," I said, thinking about her craziness.

We reached her house, she entered, and I walked a bit further to mine, where I saw my grandmother in the living room watching TV dramas.

"Hi, granny," I said, giving her a kiss.

"Hello, dear. I left your meal in the microwave," she stated, continuing her crochet work.

"I'm not hungry, granny. I'll take a shower and rest a bit; I'll eat later," I said, heading to my room. After showering, I just threw on a large shirt and underwear, lay down, and fell asleep.

My phone alarm woke me up, and it was already 6:00 PM. I showered again, put on jeans, a white tank top, white sneakers, and tied my hair in a ponytail. I applied subtle makeup, wore my perfume, and I was ready. In the kitchen, I heated my meal, quickly ate, and went to brush my teeth. After slipping on some lipstick, I bid my grandmother goodbye and made my way to Seu Mane's diner, right on time for my shift.

Carol's Photo 👆

Gael, commonly known as Tiger (narrating**)

Hey folks, let me introduce myself here, my name is Gael Henrique, but everyone calls me (Tiger), I'm 30 years old and I've lived a lot in this life, I'm light-skinned, with brown hair and eyes, I'm pretty well-built and have a lot of tattoos because I really like them. I took over the hill when I was 21, after my old man was killed in an ambush, naturally, I killed all those involved, got my revenge on everyone. I live with my mother, Mrs. Lidia, she's beyond words, and I have a brother named Gabriel who’s my deputy on the hill, everyone calls him Skinny 'cause he's always been slender, though nowadays he's put on some muscle. Then there’s my right-hand man, Popcorn.

They've been with me since I took over the hill, they're tight with me.

To this day, I've never been in a serious relationship because on this hill we only have girls throwing themselves at me, and sure, I get with them but I let it be known nothing more than sex is gonna happen with me, and I don't do kissing either, 'cause who knows where they've been with their mouth before coming to me.

If it were up to my mother, I would be married by now, she adores Carine, a girl from the hill who keeps sucking up to my mother; her mom is really good friends with mine, and for them, I'd have already been in a serious relationship. Not that the girl isn't pretty, 'cause she is, but she's just not my type, bro—the girl's way too forward. I've been with her a couple of times, and she acts as if she's my loyal girl; it's about time I clip her wings.

Picture of Gael, known as (Tiger) 👆

I wake up to my phone's alarm, get up early, take a quick shower, slip into some comfortable clothes but still stylish, slap on a cap, my sneakers, grab my rifle, sling it over my shoulder, and head out the door.

"Gael, you're skipping breakfast again?" My mother yells from the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry, I'll have breakfast later."

I hop on my bike and head to the checkpoint; today a drug shipment is arriving, and I want to check it myself. When I reach the checkpoint, I see a hot girl walking down the hill on foot.

"Hey," I greet Popcorn and the Kid, who are on the checkpoint.

"Hey boss," the Kid says.

"Up with the sun, huh?" Popcorn teases.

But I barely hear them, I'm distracted by the girl walking by with confidence, the sentinels at the checkpoint mess with her, throwing idiotic jokes, but she doesn't seem to care. I notice she shoots me a look, but she quickly looks away when she sees me staring and continues to the bus stop. Right then, the bus arrives and she hops on.

"Wipe that drool, it's dripping," Popcorn says, laughing and teasing me.

"Shut the hell up, what drool are you talking about?" I snap back, annoyed.

They laugh until I say, "Well, who is she? I've never seen her around here."

"No idea, but if I'm not mistaken, she works at Seu Mane’s," Popcorn responds.

"Her name’s Carol, lives with her grandma on Street 8," the Kid adds.

"You know this girl?" I ask.

"Yeah, and no disrespect boss, but she's never gonna give you a glance," he says, and it sounds almost like he's jealous.

"Kid, why the hell are you saying that?" I challenge him.

"Because I know the girl. She can't stand thugs, works two jobs to keep the roof over her head, and I've never seen her with any guy, not from here nor from the city. She only leaves home to work," he says.

"That's interesting," I remark.

The truck with the shipment arrives, and I go over to check it. Before long, it's already noon, I skipped lunch again, but my mother sends someone to deliver a meal to my brother and me.

I'm in my office counting a wad of cash when Skinny walks in.

"Is that door just decoration or what?" I snap, pissed off.

"Wow, someone's touchy. What, you need to get laid?" he suggests.

"Don't you work anymore, damn it? Where've you been till now?"

"I was with my sweetheart," he says, all smiles.

"Since when do you have a sweetheart, are you nuts?" I can't believe what he's telling me.

"Since yesterday, at the next party I'm gonna introduce her as my girl."

"Gone soft have you? Geez," I tease him, but he doesn't seem to care.

"I want you to investigate a girl for me, a certain Carol from Street 8, I want to know everything, down to the color of her panties," I demand seriously.

"Why do you need that?" he inquires, eyebrows raised.

"Just to clear some doubts," I say.

"I know the girl; she's a friend of my gal. Leave her be, as far as I know her life is just work," he cautions.

"Just do what I told you," I demand sternly.

"Alright, I'm on it," he says and leaves.

I spend the afternoon at the drug spot sorting out issues. Soon it's nearly seven o'clock, I leave for a quick shower and then off to Seu Manoel's bar. I can't miss the chance to see Carol again, this girl must have hit me with some strong magic for me to be thinking about her all day.

Tigre (narrating)

I arrived at Seu Mane's bar, and it was already packed. I spotted Magrinho and Pipoca at a table, headed over, sat down, and we began to shoot the breeze.

"What are you drinking?" Pipoca asked.

"Just a beer," I replied.

"I'm gonna summon the waitress, think of a hot chick, man oh man," Pipoca remarked, gesturing for the waitress to come over.

When I saw it was her, man oh man, I felt a crazy thing in my chest — she must be some kind of sorceress.

"What can I get for you?" she inquired, holding a notebook and glancing downward, visibly uncomfortable.

I stared at her, and she barely glanced at me, so I said,

"Two chicken and fries, and a tower of beer," while fixing her with my gaze, but she just nodded without looking at me. As she turned to leave, Pipoca grabbed her arm and said,

"Hey, could you give me your number?" His stare was fixed on her, and she turned red, while I just watched.

"Sorry, can you let go?" she responded, looking him in the eye.

"What's the deal, girl, can't give out your number?" he pressed.

"I'm here to work, not to give out my number to strangers," she retorted, and Pipoca scowled.

"Let her go, Pipoca," I told him, staring him down, and he released her, and she hurried away.

"What's with that girl, no one's ever turned me down like this — I'm ticked," he grumbled, and I laughed.

"Maybe you're not as irresistible as you think," I teased, and we both chuckled.

"Leave the girl alone, she's not like the other easy ones around here; she earns her keep without chasing after someone to support her," Magrinho interjected.

"What's up Magrinho, you into her?" Pipoca asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah, man, she's a friend of my curly-haired girl — you know I'm committed to my brunette," Magrinho stated.

"Dunno, she might not get with a thug, but can't say she doesn't chase after those fancy boys from the asphalt," he speculated.

"Drop it, bro; let's change the subject," I cut in, not liking the way he talked about her.

We stayed late; she served us our orders without making eye contact but with total professionalism, and there wasn't a guy in that bar who didn't check out her behind, a fine one at that — I even imagined her on all fours for me, wild.

She paid no mind to anyone, and I just watched her. As Seu Mane's bar was about to close, just past three in the morning, Pipoca took off with a lady of the night, and Magrinho went to see his brunette. I was leaning against my motorcycle across the street, just waiting for her to come out.

She exited and started down the hill. I hopped on my bike and followed her, pulling up beside her, I asked,

"Don't you think it's late to be walking alone?"

She gave me a startled look and said,

"I'm used to walking alone at this time here," and kept moving.

"Get on, I'll give you a ride," I offered.

"Thank you, but I prefer to walk," she declined, stone-faced.

Man, this girl's straight-up dissing me.

"You know who I am, right?" I pressed, starting to get heated.

"Yes, you're the boss of the hill," she continued walking.

"And you're not afraid to refuse a ride on my bike?" I asked, scrutinizing her.

"No, I'm aware that you don't allow men to force women to do anything, do you?" she responded with a raised eyebrow, leaving me speechless.

"Fine then," I said, peeling off with my bike, flabbergasted. No woman ever stood up to me like that, but it seems she's not afraid, and I can hardly believe it.

Now more than ever, I want her, just for one night to scratch this itch I have for her. I'm certain it's just that. Once I have her, I'll get over it.

I arrive at my shack, take a shower while thinking of the headstrong girl, then head to bed in nothing but my underwear, turn on the AC, and drift off thinking about the enchantress.

Magrinho (narrating)

I left Seu Mane's and headed home to see my sweetheart who was waiting for me.

Arriving home, I saw her outside the gate.

"Hi, beautiful," I greeted, planting a kiss on her.

"Hey, handsome, where have you been?"

"At Seu Mane's," I replied, kissing her neck.

"I was going to go too, but had a massive headache," she said, pouting.

"Why didn't you tell me? I would've taken care of you, my kitten."

We entered and went to the bedroom, where, as always, we ignited together. I'm really into this woman, crazy as it sounds, can't do without her anymore.

Gabriel👆 a.k.a. Magrinho

Dani👆