Maria looked at the present.

“Maria, this is a very special thing, to be opened only when you really need something, when you have a problem to be solved as you wish. You can open it only once. After you’ve opened it, you cannot reuse or reopen it ever again.”

“How will I know it’s the right time?”

“You’ll know.”

“How?”

“Because you’ll have no other choice but to call me! Now go enjoy your party. Everybody wants to see you, and soon you’ll need to leave the party.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re too young!”

The Master looked at Zita, and Zita came into his presence too.

“Zita, you did a great job with Maria, but you didn’t teach her to be obedient. Tomorrow she must start to learn my ways. Take her to the desert.”

“Yes, Master.”

Zita bowed down and kissed his hand.

“Where are you going to take me?”

“You see, Zita, I’m not happy with this.”

“Maria, bow down, kiss the Master’s hand, and enough with the questions.”

It was the first time Zita had spoken directly to Maria’s mind. Maria looked at her and understood that this time she could not ask questions. This time, she had to listen. That was it.

Maria bowed down and kissed the Master’s hand. A tear fell from her eye.

“Zita, why did he speak like that? Where will you take me?”

“Maria, the Master is right! I didn’t teach you our ways. I was too busy making sure you were well taken care of, but now it’s time you learn discipline.”

“Well, I don’t want to learn this thing of discipline. What is it, and what is it good for?”

“It’s needed, Maria, so you can become the woman you’re supposed to.”

Maria looked at Zita, and for the first time, she felt that Zita was her enemy. But Amada grabbed her hand and took her to eat and meet the other witches. Maria soon forgot about the talk of discipline.

At midnight, the music stopped again. Maria looked at Zita.

“What’s happening, Zita?”

“Maria, you need to leave the party. I’ll take you and Amada upstairs.”

“But Zita, it’s my birthday party! Why do I have to leave?”

Lúcia looked at them, worried. She knew something was wrong and needed to take Maria away from Zita.

“Zita, I’m taking the girls, and I’ll explain our ways to Maria. You stay here and enjoy the party.”

“Okay, Lúcia, you take Maria. Maria, we’ll speak tomorrow. Go to sleep.”

Maria was angry; she felt the wind of Iansã inside of her. She had lived with rules for the last seven years with her mother and grandmother. She cried. She wasn’t going to accept any other orders. She could hear the music and the voices from the party. She looked at Amada. Amada was asleep.

“I’m not going anywhere, away to a desert or whatever the Master said, and I won’t be kissing anybody’s hand.”

Maria got up, changed into the simplest clothes she could find, took the present the Master had given her, grabbed her bag, and left the cemetery grounds.

For the first time since she was born, she walked alone. Zita wasn’t with her. Maria continued to look beside her, used to seeing Zita every day next to her. Now she was alone.

She saw a taxi.

“Senhor? Are we far from Joá?”

“No, Miss.”

“Do you know the sacred grounds and where the entrance is?”

“Yes, I know where the entrance is, but I cannot enter.”

“I can enter. Take me to the entrance.”

Maria felt afraid. She didn’t know how to be without Zita, but she wasn’t going to kiss strangers’ hands and wasn’t going to go to a desert.

Arriving at the sacred grounds, Maria entered Yemanjá’s sea.

“Mother, clean me. I’m back.”

Maria swam, taking away the energies of the cemetery grounds. When she felt clean, she got out of the water, ready to start the walk to Exu’s house and then to the temple.

“Maria?”

“Father!”

“Maria, what are you doing here alone? I felt your presence, but I couldn’t believe I would really see you here.”

“I’m back, Father. I’m not kissing unknown hands, and I’m not leaving for the desert grounds.”

“I see. Maria, it’s your decision, and the sacred grounds also belong to you. Let’s go to the temple.”

Maria took the Master’s present, which she had left on the ground next to her bag, and walked up the hill. She stopped at Exu’s house and kissed Exu.

“Maria, you go up to the temple, go to our house, and get some sleep. I must wait for Zita. What should I tell her?”

“That I’m not going anywhere, and that she’s not allowed on the sacred grounds.”

Baba Carlos waited for Zita in Exu’s house. Maria arrived at her old house, but first she wanted to go see Oxum. Maria cried in Oxum’s arms, and when she felt strong, she went to sleep. For the first time, she was alone. Zita wasn’t there to guard her sleep.

“Baba Carlos, I feel her, but I cannot see her. Where is she? Where’s Maria?”

“Maria is sleeping in her house at the temple.”

“I need to speak with her. I need to speak to her and take her back.”

“You cannot enter, Zita. When you were part of Maria, you were welcome on the sacred grounds, but she doesn’t want to see you, and she has forbidden your entrance. She’s my daughter. The sacred grounds belong to her by blood, and the Orixás won’t let you enter. There’s nothing you or your Master can do to enter without permission, and you know that. You can only stay here, in Exu’s house, because he is the messenger. He belongs to all worlds. Until Maria permits your entrance, there’s nothing I WILL do!”

“But Baba, I have orders. I must talk with her.”

“Zita, until my daughter changes her mind, you cannot enter the sacred grounds.”