Chapter Text
The next day, despite still recovering from his injuries, Manousos forced himself to go to work. Then, when he finished his shift, he went around Rosi’s neighborhood looking for that little rascal. She really uses that bonding tactic to steal, huh? He saw an old lady sitting near a little tienda. Most likely hers.
“Oiga seño, have you seen a small child, with medium length spiky hair and messy clothes? Carrying a box of chucherías.”
The lady looked at him confused. Damn it he used the wrong dialect. Still not used to after 7 years…
“Candies…golosinas I mean.”, he added quickly, scratching his head.
“Oh, you mean Rosita? Ah, did she steal something from you?”, she retorted before whispering to herself, “God, this girl will never learn…”
She looked back at Manousos: “ This morning she said she was heading towards Shopping Paris. You can try to find her there.”
Shopping Paris. Great. He hated those types of places, malls. Crowded and loud. Plus, he thought to himself that his clothes were too dirty to go to such place, even though he’d most likely find Rosi in the entry only. He thanked quickly the old lady and ran back home to wear better clothes.
It was 6pm, hot outside, since everyone was leaving work or school, the environment Manousos was in while walking towards the mall felt a bit too lively for him. It felt like the crowd moved with the same rhythm, banter and smiles covering how deep down they felt. He took the bus, and finally found the place, a giant transparent building with big letters above written Paris in golden with an Eiffel Tower replacing the “A”. He only went there a few times, to buy tools and maybe treat himself with food along the way but didn’t stay too long because it reminded him of the easiness he had while living in Medellín: parilladas, going to the movies, shopping center visits. Shopping Paris reminded him a bit of El Centro Comercial Sandiego.
Suddenly a memory slipped in. He was 11 again, going to a local movie theater nearby El Centro Comercial Sandiego to see Mi Pobre Angelito (Home Alone) with his family who labeled that day as a bonding day. Everyone laughed on cue, ate snacks on cue, sat together on cue. It felt like a rehearsal to him. Once the credits passed and the lights opened again, he heard the last people leaving their seats. Already annoyed by how everyone had someone around to talk to and to leave with, his stomach sank when he realized his family was already gone. It already happened too many times before, but he was tired to try to look for them, which led him to stay on his seat staring at the ceiling, while slowly realizing how the movie didn’t offer escape from his loneliness at all. Just like Kevin, he was left alone. He then felt a light but stubborn hand touching his shoulder from a seat behind, getting him out of his dissociation.
His youngest sister.
She was the only one who didn’t leave. The emptiness he suddenly felt amongst the spilled popcorn and the hum of the projector felt less sharp. Less loud. She jumped towards a seat beside his and stayed beside him until he felt better. Like him, she could see the fakeness behind their family’s sense of unity. Irma, he thought silently.
Suddenly, a sassy childlike voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Why do you feel lost Mancho? Trying to find your date?”
The man flinched. Finally, he found that brat. He approached her severely, voice firm.
“You better give my watch back niña”
Rosi took a few steps back, trying not to laugh: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Was it a gift for your girlfriend?”
The man tutted. He didn’t have time to joke about stuff like that. He kept on walking towards her.
“Boyfriend?”, Rosi added while shrugging innocently.
That question flustered him a bit. Even a street child seemed more open minded than his parents. It’s not that he was fully interested in men, although to him its more complicated than that. He felt more annoyed to the idea that she thought that he dressed better for a date, when it was just to not look poorer than he already was. He shouted:
“Give it back!”
The little girl’s laughter stopped, seeing how intimidating he sounded. Far away, she then saw a boy of her age happily getting out of the mall with his parents, clutching a new toy. Her face dropped. She then kept on fixating on how happy the kid was, while telling to Manousos, almost as a way to test him:
“If you get to buy me something inside.”
The man waited a few seconds. Knowing how cheap toys are, he could easily go buy something to her, but seeing the way she was dressed didn’t make him comfortable enough to enter the shopping mall with her. Seeing a tree, a fountain and a bucket nearby, he had an idea.
“Hide your candy box behind that tree with some leaves, then go to the fountain and try to clean yourself the most you can. I’ll be inside the mall.”
Rosi said confused: “Why should I?”
“Just do it for god’s sake. Do you really want people there to keep on staring at you because of how dirty you look?”, replied firmly the man.
She then remembered it was the reason why she never could enter the mall on her own. Street kids were not allowed to sell anything inside a mall, and even if she went inside without her box, people could easily kick her out for bringing dirtiness in their clean environment.
“Fine…I’ll do it!”, exclaimed the girl reluctantly.
Manousos then went inside and waited for 20 minutes near a store. Once he saw her again awkwardly cleaner, he made a quick whistle followed by a hand movement telling her to follow him. They both walked towards the atrium. The man was getting hungry and since he assumed they’ve been walking a lot prior entering the mall, he thought they could rest there. Of course he did not share this information to her.
“How are your injuries Mancho? You feel better?”, inquired Rosi, while looking at how clean was the floor and the ceiling.
And what does she care? sneered the man’s internal voice. He hated that type of small talk. He reflected the question, not answering. “How about you, did your mother came back yesterday?”
Rosi felt upset that he didn’t answer her question, but did not want to disappoint him by not answering his. After all she was about to get a free toy.
“She did come back. Now answer my question please.”
Since he worked instead of resting, his injuries are still hurting him bad, but did not want to seem dependable to a child while venting about his physical issues. That child isn’t a doctor.
“I…feel good as new”, he replied while making a fake smile
A spasm hitted his arm. He winced.
“Yeah right”, she whispered sarcastically, shaking her head.
They finally arrived to the atrium. The narrow corridor filled with stores pressed by 3 or 4 meters in front of each other, finally led them to a place where they could see everything above. The floors and the moving stairs that led to them, the stores that enveloped each floor. It was still as narrow as the passages that leads to them, which made Manousos realize how small this area is, but Rosi couldn’t help but keep staring above, standing still, strangely moved about how tall the building was. The man saw a kiosk selling empanadas and asked the girl, trying to adopt a softer tone :
“Are you hungry?”
Rosi almost said no. She wasn’t feeling like eating, but she thought that maybe she could bring those empanadas back home, so she accepted the man’s request to buy her food.
They sat at a small table and each of them feasted on their pair of stuffed bread like meal, although Manousos noticed quickly the kid was only licking the dough. He wasn’t really happy to know he had potentially spent money for her to eat nothing anyway.
“Are you going to eat it or no?”
Rosi startled. Dang it he realized quick! There was no other way to lie more, so she told him the truth quietly.
“I want to keep it for me and my mom later.”
The man looked at her the way someone looks at bad weather, annoyed.
“You could have just told me you were keeping it before I ordered… Anyway, I’m done eating let’s get out of here”, he muttered
He was about to get out of his seat until he heard boisterous laughter coming from a store nearby. It looked like it was celebrating their opening day. Very well-dressed people were standing in front of it laughing. One of them was a young pale skinned businessman shaking the hand of an older man dressed like him. They were talking in a foreign language. Gringos, thought Manousos.
Rosi turned around and couldn’t help but gasp softly, staring at the businessman’s wrist.
“Whoa that watch looks sick…”
Manousos looked at the little girl being captivated like she saw gold, then stared back at the businessman. He did realize early on that no matter in which Latin American country he ended up living in, he’d always see this absurd division where from a side of a street he’ll see people like Rosi struggling to get a proper meal, then in another one, he’ll see oblivious investors opening new businesses catered to themselves. The man felt annoyed, but this time with a touch of anger. Ciudad del Este felt poorer than Medellín to him, and these business decisions he just witnessed seemed…senseless.
Why would Paraguay want more foreigners to take possession of new territories by opening stores where they sell stuff that not even 80 percent of the common population could buy? Why wouldn’t the government help its own struggling population thrive first?
He squinted his eyes a bit and realized by looking closer that the store was selling high end Native Paraguayan merchandise, including Guaraní inspired jewelry and local crafts, and very luxurious tereré sets. Perfect, that’s the cherry on top. His stomach tightened a bit at the idea that Rosi’s mother should be the one selling those not those profit makers who wouldn’t give any importance to the culture and the people behind it. This thought will fleet quietly yet briefly in his mind when he'll get to confront the Hivemind in the Darien Gap jungle. You cannot give me anything, because all that you have is stolen.
“I wanna go see inside…”, exclaimed the little girl. The man couldn’t care less. He didn’t want to go inside a store like this.
“Let’s just get your toy instead”, he said as he got up of his seat, tired.
They took a few moving staircases while lead them in a floor where was a striking corridor. It was narrow like the others, but the stores exterior seemed to be covered by gold, bathed by lights of the same color. What made Rosi more impressed however was the arch like ceiling who had a baby blue color decorated with white clouds. A sky she barely got to see due to pollution outside. A few meters later, they finally arrived in a kids store. Many kids were around with their parents. Honestly it seemed more like a cute, girly variety store rather than a MULTITOYS . Manousos figured it would be enough to please a little girl like her.
“Here we are, now go find what you want”
He let the girl search on her own while he just waited at the entry, sitting on a bench wishing for a cigarette. 10 minutes later the girl came back, worn out
“These are boring, I wanted a Nerf gun like that kid…”, she said, being true to her feelings, but at the same time trying to test the man’s patience. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, she could see the man’s face going more impatient. Before he could say anything, her eyes drifted to the store in front that were selling electronics. She ran towards it, curious. The man followed her, ready to catch her and make her go back to the kids’ store, but then something caught his attention. While Rosi was admiring the expensive phones and the cameras, he found out the disposable Kodak cameras were cheap, so he grabbed one from the shelf and showed it to the girl, crouching to her height, while shaking it lightly in his hand.
“You either take this or we go back to the store, comprendido?
Rosi finally settled on taking the camera, seeing there were no better options.
When they got outside of the mall, it was getting dark. Manousos refused to repeat the same mistake he did yesterday, remembering how it made him uncomfortable to let her hold his hand, so he made them both take the bus. He told Rosi that once she gets to her stop, she’s on her own. She ended up giving his watch back. Taking the bus was another first time. There were too many first times today for her.
First time going in a mall.
First time owning a camera
First time taking the bus (although she did take the bus as a toddler but that memory is long gone).
And it was all thanks to him
She thought of the man like one thinks of sudden luck, like winning a free trip to Disneyland. Part of her thought she could try to use him more to live more amazing days, but at the same time another part of her just thought, how rare is a person that would do all this just for a street child? Nevertheless, she really started to respect him fully. All of this ran through her head while Manousos was teaching her beside her in their bus seats how to use the disposable camera.
The girl did clumsily learn, but her eyes got off the Kodak and gazed at a keychain hooked in his belt. A Virgen Maria holding baby Jesus.
“You go to church ?”, she asked.
Rosi didn’t really like going near churches. Her mother would tell her that it’s the best place where she could sell. It gets to test those believers’ faith in what the Bible says about charity. Some days she’d make profit, but most days she’d be shooed away by old people or would be beaten up by teenagers behind the building, which ends up making them steal her candy. Also the church organ sounds scared her.
“I go there every Sunday.”, replied the man, looking by the window
Since she imagined he won’t tell her which church he goes to, plus that there could be no other point for him to see her again after today, she took a deep breath and gave herself the challenge to sell around all the churches around Ciudad del Este every Sunday, until she finds the one Manousos goes to. She wanted to live that amazing day again. She wanted to feel like how a kid is supposed to live. Even if he ends up shoving her away, at least she tried to grasp the most she could on a normal life.
4 weeks have passed, and on a sunny day of December, she ended up finding the church where Manousos goes to. Iglesia Del Espíritu Santo.