Disclaimer-I do not own the characters, just the story!
A/N: Hello again! Here's the next chapter. There are some references to the Don Rosa comic books and Saludos Amigos in this. Again, I use characters from the Brazilian comic series (ex: Maria Voz). Enjoy!
The next day passed without anything too eventful. Most of the morning was spent lounging around, with Donald occasionally having to step outside the flat to get some fresh air from the constant smoking Jose would partake in. The duck did go out on his own at one point in the early afternoon just to take a walk and see the various sights and sounds of the colorful and exciting city (He was in Rio, after all. How could he not get out and look around at least once, even if he had been here before?). The majority the excitement was packed into that night, when Jose had his show. Maria Vaz had shown up around five o'clock in the afternoon to speak to Jose before he had to perform, but Donald had no clue about what being that it wasn't in English.
"Donal'!" Jose smiled as Donald stepped out from the guest room. He had stayed in there for the majority of the time Maria had been over. "You ready to go?"
The duck nodded, frowning a bit. "I've been ready for half an hour."
"Oh, perdoa-nos! But sim, we are," Jose answered. He draped his arms over Maria and dragged his friend to the door with his other arm. He grinned widely as they left the apartment. Various girls smiled and waved at him as they went, and he generally returned the favor."Ola, Adelaide!" "Boa noite, Aurora!" "Oi, Carmen!"
"You know all those girls?" Maria asked, sounding slightly cautious.
"Ehhh, not really. They know me because of my show," Jose explained. Maria continued to give him a stern look. "Eu prometo, isso es tudo...I promise that's all."
In about another twenty minutes, Donald and Jose were alone near the back entrance of Club Rio. Maria had invited some of her friends and they were off somewhere else talking, so it gave the boys a moment to chat. Jose pulled out a cigar and went through the list of songs he was doing. "...and I will be ending with that one. The senhoritas love that one, you see. It's a popular song."
"I haven't heard of the majority of those, but I bet they're good," Donald commented.
"You have not?! Oh, well I suppose they would not be known in the USA...huh. Well, you will know them well by the end of the night, I promise you that," Jose ensured. He chuckled and subtly motioned towards down the street. "You see her? That is Benedita Dimas. She is one of the most known girls around. Single, I think."
Donald smiled but shook his head. "Yeah, I don't want to be beat up by Daisy."
Jose rolled his eyes, but then continued to keep his gaze over at Benedita. "Well, back in the old days we would chase all the senhoritas."
"You and Panchito can do that when he gets here tomorrow...wait, where's he staying?"
Jose blinked. "Oh, uh...I hadn't really thought that through." He scratched his head. "The sofa in the living room...it is one of those, how do you say...pull-out-bed couches?"
"Just sofa bed I think."
"Ah, sim...oh, I've got to get back in there. I will see you after the show! Adues!"
Donald found himself seated at a small tabled towards the corner of the club, enjoying the music and drinks, but feeling somewhat awkward as he didn't understand a single word being said by anyone. There were plenty of good looking women...no, he couldn't think that way. Daisy was only hundreds of miles away.
"You look like you're having a blast."
Donald turned and saw Maria sit at an empty chair next to him. He blinked a few times and ended up shrugging. "Well, I guess it would be more fun if I could, um, communicate."
"Lots of the girls working here speak English, you know," Maria said. Donald frowned. He knew exactly what Maria was referring too, and that went against his whole stay-good-with-Daisy plan.
"I guess, yeah, but..." he muttered something and slumped into his chair, taking another sip of his Cachaca. "Jose is a good singer." And this was true. A lot of the people in the club seemed to be quite enthralled by the tropical, upbeat music. Jose carried the tune quite well.
Maria sighed. "He is." She rubbed her hand through her hair and glanced at Donald. "So, how long have you known Jose? He said you've been friends for a while but didn't go into much more detail than that."
"Oh, it was...'42?" Donald said. "Yeah, I was touring Latin America and we bumped into each other. Showed him my card and well-"
"He got pretty excited?" Maria asked. Donald gave her a curious look. "You're famous in your own right, and he likes that. You see him up there on stage. He loves it. He loves being loved, you see. By everyone. I would say that is not a bad thing-being loved by everyone-but..." She didn't finish her sentence. "He means no harm, though."
There was a short pause in the conversation as both birds just stared at the stage a moment. "I'm just wondering, Maria, but your English is perfect. You barely have an accent. How is it that good?"
Maria smiled slightly. She shrugged at Donald, almost seeming embarrased by what she was about to say. "Oh, the school I went to stressed learning English a lot. My dad does business, you see, and to be able to do different deals and such, he has to know different languages. He made sure I learned it well. We travel to the USA a lot, actually. You travel, too, though, because you've been here in Rio before?"
"Yeah, I do travel, but I only know English. Most of the time I travel with my Uncle Scrooge for whatever he needs, and I don't have to do much speaking," Donald explained. Maria looked itently in thought.
"Wait...Uncle Scrooge..." she wrinkled her forehead. "Is he...Scrooge McDuck? Not that it matters!"
Donald bashfully smiled. "...yeah. How have you heard-?"
"Most anyone in the business world knows your uncle, Donald. He's the richest duck alive but he started with practically nothing. Everyone wonders how he did it," Maria answered. Oh. Of course. Donald forgot how much power his uncle had over people sometimes.
Jose didn't get to leave until two in the morning, but luckily his flat was walking distance. "Ola, amigos!" He sat, dragging them both by the arms as he lead his way back.
"You did great, Joe!" Donald chirped, smiling at his friend.
"It was nothing, really," Jose said. He grinned. "I am glad you enjoyed it! It is always nice to know people like my shows. Remember that time in Mexico? I almost got fired at that hotel. Manager was an imbecil. But then you Donal', in all your glory, saved us! We performed our Three Caballeros song for everyone and they loved it, Maria. I told you about that, right?"
"Sim," Maria said rather vaguely, seemingly lost in thought.
Donald suddenly remembered the reason Jose had actually almost been fired. That was the time he was busy messing with some major wanted criminal's girl, got shot at by the criminal, and had to run. He wasn't going to bring that up with Maria right there, though.
The three stopped at an intersection, and Jose put his arm around Maria. "Well, I am going to take her home from here. You have the key to my place, no?"
"Yeah."
"Great. I will meet you there in a little bit then."
"HOLA, AMIGOS! COMO ESTAN?" A booming voice echoed throughout the terminal at the Rio de Janeiro airport. People stared in disbelief as Panchito Pistoles sprinted over to his two friends, luggage dragging behind him. His giant sombrero hit some people as he made his way over, but he didn't seem to notice. "Long time no see."
"It is so good to see you, Panchito!" Jose exclaimed. Donald nodded in agreement. "How are you?"
"Wonderful! Well, the flight here wasn't so wonderful. I had to sit next to this one guy who kept complaining about my sombrero because it kept hitting him in the head or something. Also I'm sure Senor Martinez misses me. Also besides the angry hombre, there was not much to entertain yourself with," Panchito explained. The three started to exit the airport to their taxi waiting ("Oh, so this time you get a taxi!" Donald had said, rather frustrated, earlier that day).
"That's because you're used to bull riding and catching Mexico's most-wanted," Donald pointed out. The trio climbed into the cab and it started to leave towards Jose's place.
Panchito laughed and shook his head. "Oh, you are so funny, Donald! No, most of the time I am just riding Senor Martinez and finding ways to save up for my ranch...I did enter a bull riding contest the other week though."
"And?" Donald and Jose chirped at the same time.
"I won," Panchito grinned.
"No surprise there," Donald smirked back. It was good to see Panchito again. This was going to make the trip more exciting for sure!
The Three Caballeros were reunited once again. What could possibly go wrong?