Mahala (Ecuador)
Dylan and Brenda turned in the Carrara 14 Oueste and stopped in front of an old-built structure, with blue curtains and white stone reflecting the tropical sun. Dylan opened the gate that swarmed under his push. Some children were playing in the yard together with educator Isabel.
As soon as they saw him, they all ran to meet him shouting his name with a Latin accent that made Brenda smile. Isabel ran to hug him and then called Juan and Xavier who were in the kitchen.
It was a kind of party.
Dylan made the proper presentations and Brenda watched him move safely inside that facility. It was a kind of orphanage, school, home, totally supported by Dylan, from its foundation, and the Municipality of Mahala.
Brenda shook hands with all the children.
SHe relied on Xavier, Juan and Dylan who went up to the upper floors where there were classes. There were almost 90 kids in that institute.
Dylan decided it was best to wait and not interrupt the lesione while Brenda looked around. The floors in old brown maiolica smelled clean. The walls were slightly blackened by the weather.
Isabel prepared a fresh lemonade and they all repaired in the garden under a palm tree with a thick, fresh hat.
Dylan was updated on new admissions, expenses to be faced, urgencies. He followed everything carefully, signed a couple of cards, said hi to the older kids.
"Why here?" Brenda asked him in a moment of loneliness between them.
"These people, this place, saved my life"
"What do you mean?"
"Immediately after leaving London" he stopped and looked at her "Immediately after you left me or I got kicked out, however you like. I came here. I had decided that my life could easily slip away like this. One evening Xavier took me in the middle of the street, half dead , in that fine line between jumping away and the spirit of survival; he took me to his house, locked me in the room to allow me to resist withdrawal crises. When I left that room two weeks later, I realized it wasn't a house, but a kind of worm where Xavier and Isabel were trying to get by to get the kids off the street. When I got out of that room I realized how infinitesimal, lucky and boreous I was. Without spine. I thanked Xavier and Isabel and went back to Los Angeles. I thought going home could help me get through this grip of pain that has gripped me for years. But pain is like foam, like a regurgitation that rises and envelops you. And in Los Angeles it could only get worse. I kept making myself. Thinking of Antonia, my father, I thought I would resist, that it could suit me."
"You thought well to deny me too"
"Things are never as they seem. I wanted it to work with Kelly. What sense would it have to bring you under her eyes."
Brenda had a look of obvious disapproval "And then?"
"And then I couldn't find peace. I still felt the need to go back here, and to look for Xavier and Isabel who gave me what I never found anywhere else."
"What?"
"Joy. The joy of the little things. Unconditional joy. This has become a special place for me. So I decided to help them. I bought this property. Hired educators. Made the agreement with the municipality. Welcomed children. Look around Brenda, do you see Bmw? Do you see luxurious houses? Yet I have never seen people happier than these" stopped for a moment to tidy up the ideas "don't get me wrong, I am well aware of the luck we have and I have no judgment about who has other expectations in life, success, career... But being born of this or that part of the world is just a fortune, not a merit. I started kicking and becoming a non-suffering in Los Angeles and came back here. And I need to go back here."
Xavier came up at that moment and the speech between Dylan and Brenda stopped abruptly. Now Brenda had a few more elements. A few pieces of the puzzle.
"Come" nodded to him smiling Dylan.
"There's one thing I need to tell you about urgently," Xavier whispered.
Dylan watched Brenda "you can talk quietly"
"We have received visits in recent weeks"
" visit?"
"Don Pereira"
"And who would he be?"
"Someone you shouldn't bother"
Dylan frowned his forehead and sought answers from Xavier's intimidated gaze.
"He doesn't appreciate that we take the kids off the street. We take away his handworth."
"Explain better."
"Dylan, these are dangerous people, much more than you think, and this is not Los Angeles."
"I still don't understand."
"He wants his kids back to work heroin and cocaine, and he wants them back as soon as possible"
"And when would it happen?"
"A couple of weeks ago. He came to offer us a contract, if we can say so. We laugh at the kids from the slums of Santa Cruz and he doesn't come to look for us anymore"
"We're not going to give anyone back at all," Dylan said.
"We should, instead," Xavier said down, "or it will burn everything. And he can do it. He will be back in the next few days."
Dylan remained silent, then looking at Brenda towards an indefinite "Make it come back".
Brenda didn't say a word, Dylan's worried gaze crushed her against a black wall of things she didn't know and imminent dangers.
The rumors of the children got closer. Brenda looked into the eyes of those little boys, dark-skinned and with the blackest eyes she had ever seen. SHe saw curiosity about the newcomers. The overwhelming affection for Dylan.
For a little moment she realized why that place had managed to save him more than anyone else had ever done.