“The following is the continuation of Maria de Fatima da Cruz Carvalho’s testimony. See also chapters 1 through 5.”

There was a time where I thought the angel had disappeared. I tried to lead a normal life. I owned a restaurant and was also doing something I enjoyed very much on the side: giving private gymnastics classes.

Some time later, the angel showed up again. He seemed to be more malicious than I’d remembered and always kept close to my son. I wouldn’t say anything because I feared ending up in the hospital again.

My marriage continued to be a farce. I continued doing drugs, and by now, I was taking up to twelve pills a day.

Although we shared lucrative businesses (restaurants, fancy cars) my husband was still cheating on me and our relationship was horrible. Everyone thought I was fine—what a lie!

I had several nervous breakdowns where he, the angel/devil, took possession of my body. My son’s godmother often told me (after I calmed down): “Fatima, it looked like you were possessed by the devil!”

I found out that my husband’s mistress was pregnant. It wasn’t much of a surprise because I had already known of a previous abortion prior to this pregnancy. Although I was suffering a lot, I didn’t leave him. Even though I wanted to leave him, my mother always said: “No, sweetie, divorce is not an option.” So I stayed and put up with the pain, humiliation and torment.

The drugs were my friend. I would smoke more than 20 joints (hashish, cannabis, etc.) a day, along with the 12 pills I was taking.

I tried killing myself a second time. Again, I didn’t succeed. This time, I overdosed on a large quantity of pills mixed with alcohol, but I survived.

I no longer cared about anything. I pretended to be happy. Everyone thought I had made a comeback. Lies. Although, a few friends did begin to suspect something strange was going on in my life.

Others thought, “Fatima is so crazy, she’s the coolest!” I started reading their palms and told them that it was the angel, but they kept thinking I was under the influence of drugs. They would say: “Girl, you’ve been smoking too much!”

My husband’s mistress had a baby boy; another stab in the heart. I felt so much hate!

One sunny morning, while I was getting ready to pick up my father on the docks of Alcântara, the angel/devil made sure I noticed the baby picture inside my husband’s wallet. The angel said to me: “Go on, go strangle him. Strangle your husband!”

I went into the bedroom where he was and tried to kill him. I raised hell in that room. We had a friend staying over our house for a few days. I lived near the beach, so I had a few friends that made it a habit to stay over my house for a couple of days.

That friend came into the room, grabbed my son and took him outside to the backyard. I grabbed a knife to kill him but she somehow managed to drag me out into the backyard as well.

All I know is that I was the one who ended up drenched in blood. I almost lost a hand and became paralyzed. It was definitely a bloody morning but I didn’t feel a thing (that creep was inside me all along).

And so, time passed…