Benedito woke up in a hospital. As soon as he noticed that he was in a hospital, all the trauma he suffered when he was 5 years old came back, and he screamed, screamed, and tried to run away, but was easily stopped by the doctors and nurses.
"I have to get out of here! The earthquake! God's fury will fall on the wicked!" Benedito shouted at the top of his lungs in his childish voice.
The doctors, seeing that there was no way to calm him by conventional means, resigned themselves and sedated Benedito, who finally, after so long, was able to get a full night's sleep.
Looking at the sleeping Benedito, it was truly pitiful to see his current appearance when compared to his appearance years ago.
He had many bruises and scars on his body, he was incredibly thin, and there were deep dark circles under his eyes. His mouth had barely any teeth, and this was not because of the replacement of his baby teeth, but because of the constant food fights with other beggars.
There was a large scar on the top of his head, which was from a beating he received from a soldier when he tried to steal the soldier's money.
The chubby cheeks were no longer there, and his chubby belly was gone, and all that could be seen were his ribs and more scars. An American doctor, who was in Haiti to help after the great earthquake, saw Benedito's condition and could not help but weep at the cruelty the poor boy had to go through.
The doctor's name was Barry, and he couldn't stand to see Benedito's condition anymore. Out of his own money, he decided that he would pay out of his own money for any treatment that Benedito needed.
Over the next few weeks, doctor Barry helped Benedito with his trauma through hospitals, and Benedito underwent various tests and treatments. As much as the conditions of the medical facilities were not ideal, it was enough for palliative treatment.
Benedito and Barry became more attached during this time. Benedito was just a child, and no matter how mature he was, in the end, every child would be just that, a child. He needed a father figure, someone who could and would take care of him, and that feeling of having someone looking after him is certainly a wonderful feeling.
On January 3, 2011, Benedito left the hospital, and Barry took all the legal steps to adopt Benedito as his son and took him to the town of Elko, Nevada. It was a town of just over 20,000 people, and in that town, Benedito that a new, more beautiful, and flourishing tomorrow awaited him.
Ah... how wrong he was.
*********************
January 5th, 2011
Arriving at Barry's house, Benedito was delighted with how much it looked like his old home, causing tears to come to his eyes. Barry noticed this, but didn't rush him, Barry preferred that Benedito go through this, but didn't walk away and stood by Benedito's wheelchair, to show he was there, to support him.
After a few minutes of mentally preparing himself, Benedito turned to Barry and gave a bright smile, showing that he was ready for this. Barry smiled back, and they both went inside, with Barry pushing Benedito's wheelchair. They were both ready for a new life, a new beginning.
Barry showed all parts of the house with enthusiasm, and Benedito responded with a happy smile and questions that Barry was more than happy to answer. Barry looked at Benedito and noticed that everything seemed new to the boy. The kitchen, the dishwasher, the bathroom and the bathtub, the bedrooms, and the big comfortable beds, Barry was delighted with Benedito's genuine joy, who seemed to treat everything as a whole new world.
As they had just arrived from their trip, they had not done any shopping and there was nothing to eat at Barry's place since they had been away for months. Barry then called the pizza place, and a few minutes later the pizza arrived, and Barry and Benedito had a nice and happy family dinner.
At bedtime, Benedito had to sleep in the guest room temporarily, because Barry had not yet bought new furniture and furnished the house for Benedito. Barry put Benedito to bed, told him a story, and waited until the child slept.
"Good night, my son."
Kissing the sleeping Benedito on the forehead, Barry left the room and went about his own business.
At dawn the next day, Barry said he would have to leave for a while, to order the new furniture, hire a contractor for the construction work, and sort out all the bureaucratic issues at the city hall before the renovation could begin. Benedito was a little scared at the idea of being alone once again, but he put up a strong front and agreed to it.
Barry noticed this, and with a pleasant surprise to Benedito, he called Bertha, Barry's mother, to stay with Benedito while Barry was away.
Bertha looked to be in her late 50s and dressed like a typical small-town Catholic nun. She wore a black dress that went close to the floor, with her hair in a bun without a single hair out of place, and had a rosary in her hands. Her skin was pale white, her hair brown, and her eyes the same color as her hair. She had a stern expression on her face, and Benedito could have sworn that her eyebrows frowned when she looked at him, but it happened so fast that he didn't know if it was real.
When Bertha looked at Barry, who was standing next to Benedito at the front door, her face softened and she smiled gently at her son, but soon her expression became rigid again.
"So you mean you finally remembered you have a mother? And when are you going to introduce me? You are not getting any younger, my son." She said, in an authoritative voice.
Benedito looked with the corner of his eyes at Barry and saw that he seemed quite uncomfortable with this subject. Benedito wanted to say something, but since he had just arrived in this family, he refrained and just observed.
"Mom, we've already talked about this, remember? First I want to introduce you to my son, Benedito! Benedito, this is his grandmother, Bertha." Barry said excitedly.
"Nice to meet you, Grandma," Benedito said politely.
For a second, he noticed that the woman had a strange expression, but he preferred to think that this was just a mistaken impression on his part. Benedito saw the woman examine him up and down, and then completely ignore him and go back to talking to Barry.
Benedito found this very strange. Was he rude? Did his French accent get in the way of his pronunciation of English words? Was he stinking? Barry couldn't notice any of this, due to his haste to leave and Bertha's acidic words that always seemed to hit him where it hurt the most.
A few minutes later, Barry left, leaving Benedito alone with Bertha, with the old woman staring at him mercilessly. Benedito really was a little afraid and confused. After all, he is sure that this is the first time he has seen this woman, so why did she seem to dislike him?
What Benedito didn't know was that this encounter would result in one of the greatest traumas and pride of his entire life. By the time Bertha had prepared breakfast, Benedito, who had gotten used to Barry helping to push the wheelchair, was surprised that Bertha completely ignored his efforts to move the wheelchair.
Breakfast was hearty, with scrambled eggs, juice, bacon, toast, and pancakes. Benedito gazed wide-eyed at the abundance. Because he had lived on the street for a long time, he had gotten used to fighting for food with other beggars and animals. Benedito couldn't help himself and overwhelmingly attacked the food.
Benedito had just grabbed some toast when Bertha, who was standing by the table, lightly tapped his hand with a wooden spoon. Benedito took his eyes off the food and looked at the woman, confused as to what was wrong.
Bertha looked at him disapprovingly, with a look of complicated emotions. Benedito tried once again to eat, but Bertha hit him again, but this time, harder.
"In houses of God, everyone has manners when sitting at the table, and eating the food provided by the son of God," Bertha said.
Benedito, the son of Catholics, imagined that Bertha meant praying to give thanks for the food, so he prayed in thanks for his meal. After finishing his prayer, he once again tried to eat, and again, was hit with the spoon, causing him to become angry.
"I want to eat!" Benedito shouted impatiently.
"Act like a human being, you little animal! Civilized people don't attack food like vultures on a carcass! Have some manners and don't embarrass my family and your name!" Bertha shouted in response.
Benedito, now afraid and understanding what Bertha wanted, tried to eat more slowly, as his parents had taught him when younger. Eating calmly, this still wasn't enough to stop him from rushing at times, creating a lot of mess, and dirtying his clothes, the table, and the floor.
Bertha, who was watching everything from the same spot standing beside the table, let out an exasperated sigh and felt like she was watching a hungry dog eat.
"Barry should have listened to me. He should have brought a woman into his home, gotten married, and had a child more like us. What should I do to teach that child how to behave?" Bertha said.
Benedito found those words strange. But he didn't know that this was only the beginning of days, months, and years of suffering. All because he was not "like" Bertha and Barry.
Barry returned later that day, and all three had dinner together, as a family. For the next two months, Barry and Benedito stayed at Bertha's house, due to the renovation of Barry's house.
When the two months had passed, Barry paid Bertha a lump sum to take care of the house, and the shopping, and to help Benedito while Barry went back to work. Barry worked as a doctor for an NGO and was always sent to other countries. But momentarily he chose to stay close by, to help with anything Benedito might need.
Benedito had been enrolled in a public school, much to Bertha's displeasure. According to her, there were too many "strange children" and "children with useless parents" in that school. Before he started school, Benedito was forced to shave his head because Bertha said his hair was too ugly, and he looked better with a shaved head.
As the days went by, Benedito noticed that he would always get beaten up, no matter how hard he tried to do things correctly. Bertha's acid comments only increased in intensity, and it got to the point where she called him a useless crippled nigger.