Sebastian - 7. Chapter 7

When I got home that night dad was waiting for me. I dug into my sweats and handed over the cash I’d made as fast as possible. I was really hoping that he’d forgive my oversleeping since I’d brought home the usual amount. He counted it and it must have mollified him a bit ‘cause he only cuffed me on the back of the head and warned me about what would happen if I lost my job. It hurt but it wouldn’t leave a mark. I sat on the floor in the corner and did my best to disappear. If they didn’t notice me they couldn’t hurt me.

Mom made lentils for dinner. We didn’t have any meat to put in it but still it was something. Once again I got the smallest portion along with the end piece of a stale loaf of bread but for once I didn’t care. I’d actually eaten well that day. “Those people” seemed to enjoy their meal. They’d sent me to buy a couple of liters of beer and they were all drinking and laughing.

I cowered in the corner watching them until dinner was over. Our shack was so small that there wasn’t room for everyone to sit at the table. We only had two chairs anyway. Pablo and Jorge sat on the edge of our bed. They could still have their plates on the table while they ate. When dinner was over Pablo and Jorge simply rolled over and fell asleep where they were. Mom and dad went behind the blankets that hung from the ceiling separating their bed from the rest of the room. I waited until the lights were off and everyone else was asleep before I got undressed for bed. I piled my clothes together on the floor nearby and slid carefully into bed.

The next morning I woke up before everyone else. I eased myself out from under the covers and crawled out onto the floor. I felt around for my pile of clothes. Gathering them up I eased out the door. It was freezing but I’d make less noise if I got dressed outside. Dressed and shivering I moved out to pick up the papers for my route. I jogged a couple of blocks to get my blood flowing and to help warm me up a bit. I tried to keep moving all day. It helped me stay warm.

Once again the foreign kid was there waiting for me. He had one of those huge grins that meant he was hiding something. I couldn’t figure out what he was up to. But then the grin left his face and I decided it must have been something that happened inside. I gave him his paper and tried to give him his change. He refused again. That made me happy I would have breakfast again. I looked at him and wondered why he was so nice to me. Oh well I thought. Once again I told him to suck my dick. It was pretty childish but the blank look on his face as he tried to figure out what I’d said made me laugh. I walked off anticipating the pastries I would eat for breakfast. The smile never left my face.

A funny thing happened after that. People seemed to be buying papers more than usual I burned through the forty I had in an hour. That had never happened before. And the more I sold the more the smile grew on my face. And strangely the more I smiled the more people waved me off when I tried to give them change. I learned a valuable lesson that day. A smile and courteous demeanor meant more sales and tips for me. I hurried back to where I picked the papers up and asked for twenty more. The boss looked at me with a surprised expression but gave them to me. I was hungry but if things continued well I could sell these twenty in a short amount of time.

I didn’t sell them all but I only had to take two back. It had been a great day. With the tip from the foreign kid and everyone else I had five pesos. It was three more than they expected from me. I could barely contain myself as I ran to the bakery and treated myself to a half dozen pastries. I got a variety of things. I ate things that day that I’d never had before. It was so good.

I managed to stuff myself and it made me drowsy. It was still earlier than normal for me to be done. I ran home and remembered to set the alarm clock. I really didn’t want to oversleep again.

Three hours later I woke up feeling something I’d rarely felt before, happy. The little guy was demanding attention but I didn’t dare right then. I’d learned how to beat off the year before but as much as I loved the feelings it gave me, there wasn’t often a chance for me to do it especially in the winter. It was mostly clean up that was the problem. If I started using too much toilet paper there’d be hell to pay. I didn’t have a rag to clean up with and unlike the summer if you left it in your pants it got really cold. So I ignored the little guy and went to work.

I tried what I had learned that morning. I smiled a lot and was courteous to everyone I saw. It seemed to work fairly well. Before long I was down to my last dozen empanadas. I realized I was on the foreign kid’s street and sure enough there he was waiting for me with a plate in hand. I was happy and I knew I was going to tease him again. The blank look on his face was too good to pass up. As I approached him I realized he had a huge shit eating grin on his face. I hesitated wondering what was up but the smile faded off his face. Must have been something going on inside I thought.

I began putting empanadas on his plate. He stopped me at six and handed me a five peso bill. I tried to give him his two pesos back and again he refused. I considered not saying anything but I couldn’t resist. So I told him to suck my dick again.

“No thanks, your dick probably tastes like shit.” And he burst out laughing.

At first I couldn’t believe it. How did he figure out what I was saying so fast? And then it hit me, if he says something to Señor Kotik there was no way I’d keep my job. Shit. Things had been going so good and I fucked it up again. Tears sprang to my eyes. I managed to hold them back and hurried off as fast as I could.

The foreign kid grabbed my arm to stop me. He opened his mouth to say something several times but didn’t say anything. I could see the frustration on his face. He was searching for something to say but couldn’t find it. My stomach chose that moment to let me know it was empty again. The one drawback to eating regularly is that your stomach starts expecting it.

“You hungry?” he asked

His Spanish wasn’t great but I understood. I shook my head no. And damn it all, my stomach rumbles again. He gave me a look and started pulling me up to his house. I reluctantly let him. I didn’t know what was going to happen but I figured whatever it was I’d deserve it for mouthing off at him. And maybe if he smacked me around a bit he wouldn’t tell my boss what had happened.

He stooped down to pick up the plate he’d left there and dragged me up into his house. It was nice. The door opened into a front room/kitchen that was big enough to fit my whole house into. There was a TV on a stand in the corner. A couple of sofas were placed along the walls and a table with four chairs in the middle of the room. He sat me down in the chair furthest from the door. He pulled out another plate and put the last six empanadas on it. He put five pesos on the table next to be then sat down close to the door.

I wasn’t going to take his charity and I didn’t need him feeding me. I told him so. And every time I opened my mouth he pop off with the “I don’t speak Spanish” bullshit. Fuck it I thought I’m hungry and if he wants to waste his money on me that’s his problem. When I started eating he relaxed a bit and started eating himself. He got up after a few minutes looking a little embarrassed. He got a couple of glasses out and poured us both a glass of coke. When he brought me mine I couldn’t help but grin. I’d really grown to like the stuff. Realizing I wasn’t being very gracious I hung my head and whispered.

“Thank you.”

“Your welcome” he said with a huge grin on his face.

He pointed to himself and said, “Sean.”

I guessed that was his name so I pointed at myself.

“Seba.”

The happy glint in his eyes was infectious and I couldn’t help myself. We couldn’t even talk but I really enjoyed being there with him. I’ll never understand how we ended up having lunch together every day. It was like he’d invited me without saying anything. I went to his house every week day when I was done selling and we’d have something for lunch. It was wonderful. Sandwiches, hamburgers or whatever else we felt like. And every day a glass of coke. If someone had told me a week earlier that I would soon find happiness, I would have decked him for being a liar. But that winter turned out to be one of the best times of my life.

By the time August rolled around Sean’s Spanish had improved to the point that we could have conversations. I loved talking to him. He always treated me like an equal. He never made an issue of my situation. I did see him wrinkle his nose a couple of times when I was especially ripe but he never once treated me different. One time he tried to give me some clothes but I wouldn’t have it. None of “them” could ever know about our lunches and if I came home wearing decent clothes there would be hell to pay. They’d never allow me to have something better than them.

We talked about everything from sports to families to school. I couldn’t believe he’d chosen to pull for River Platte, they happened to be my favorite fútbol team also. It fascinated me that he went to school here and would be taking classes back home also. I don’t think I could ever study that much. Sometimes if we finished lunch with enough time before I had to go back to work. We’d do other things. He taught me how to play video games. We watched TV. We just hung out at times. It was weird to think that my first true friend wasn’t even from Argentina.

At the end of August my life would change forever. Sean and his dad were preparing to fly home for a week. I was bummed out. I was going to miss him and I didn’t like the thought of not eating well for a week. On several occasions I’d met Sean’s dad. I think he was the nicest grown up I’d ever met. He treated me just like Sean did. I never once felt inferior in their presence. He spoke fluent Spanish and insisted I call him Pedro, which he told me, was his name in Spanish.

It was Friday and I was having lunch with Sean. His dad came home early probably because they were leaving early the next morning. I was trying not to mope but I knew I wasn’t doing a good job of showing my feelings. It was almost time for me to leave for work when Pedro asked to speak with me for a minute. I couldn’t help feeling guilty. I couldn’t remember doing anything wrong though.

“You know we are going to be gone until late next Saturday right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Can it with the sir Seba. Listen I need someone to check on the house everyday while we are gone. I’ll pay thirty pesos. What do you think? Can you stop by everyday to make sure everything’s ok?”

“Sure Pedro. But you don’t need to pay me.”

I couldn’t wipe the huge grin off my face. It was almost like he knew how much their house had become a refuge for me.

“Nonsense, if you’re coming here everyday you won’t have time to get lunch, the least I can do is provide you with enough to get one. Your welcome to use anything here just clean up any plates you use. And make sure you lock the door when you leave.”

I knew he was lying to give me an excuse to do it. But I didn’t care. And suddenly tears came to my eyes. I couldn’t believe how good they were too me. I felt more love with them in one day than I’d felt in my entire life at home. I felt his arms around me. He pulled me close and let me cry on his shoulder. When I was done crying I felt horrible for sitting on his lap with my dirty clothes. But he didn’t say a word about it.

It was time for me to get to work. So I thanked Pedro again and wished them a good trip. As I was leaving Pedro showed me the secret place they kept a spare key, he didn’t think it would be a good idea for me to take a key home with me and I agreed.

“Oh and Seba, I’ll leave the money on the table for you. I suggest you only spend what you need to for lunch and leave the rest here. I’d hate for you to ‘lose’ it.”

He gave me a look to show me he knew damn well that if my dad found me with extra money he’d take it for booze and probably smack me around too.

That week went faster than I thought it would. I went to Sean’s house every day to have lunch. I was really careful with the money, spending only what I needed for food. On Friday I hurried through the lunch run as quick as I could. I saved half a dozen empanadas for myself and practically ran to Sean’s house. I spent the next two hours cleaning their house. I wanted them to be surprised when they came home.

Saturday came, I checked their house one last time and worked until late that evening. When I made it to “their house” that night I knew something was up. There was a lot of laughing and even music. I guess mom had gotten a bonus for something or another and they were drinking it away. I sat quietly in the corner until they all passed out. Getting undressed I slipped into bed. I will never fully remember what happened. I was having a dream. It was a really good dream too. I hadn’t taken care of the little guy in quite awhile. I had been afraid that Sean would notice the extra smell. I woke up just as I squirted, I didn’t squirt a lot but it all went on Pablo’s back. I was horrified to realize I’d been humping him also.

Pablo came to with a roar. I could tell he was still drunk and not thinking clearly. But he was royally pissed. I’d never seen him that mad.

“What the fuck are you doing you little faggot?” He roared at me.

I backed away from him trying to stammer out an apology. Before I could get anything out he hit me hard. Then the blows really started coming. He was beating me and holding nothing back. I tried to get away but ended up in the corner where he slammed me over and over. I collapsed to the floor and the kicking started. I was struggling to stay conscious. The blows stopped as quickly as they had started. Dad had him in a bear hug pulling him off me. I remember him yelling something about my not being worth it, that I was worth more alive than dead. I didn’t really understand what was going on.

I wasn’t just hurt. I was hurt bad. I was having trouble breathing. I couldn’t see out of my left eye and I could taste the blood in my mouth. Blackness threatened to overtake me as I struggled to get to my feet. When I was finally standing I stumbled out the door and staggered down the street as quickly as I could. It was freezing I was barefoot and in my underwear. I don’t remember anything that happened during my flight from home. I repeatedly blanked out but somehow, my feet knew where to go.

I stopped and realized I was at Sean’s house. They would help me I thought. I tried to knock on the door but couldn’t seem to make more than a weak tapping. I remembered the spare key and searched for it. I fumbled with it. I couldn’t seem to make it fit in the key hole. I knew I was losing the battle as much as I knew I needed to get inside. I tried to fight the blackness but I lost. The last thing I remember was the door opening as I fell to the ground.

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