He coughed, he wheezed, and really just about anything that made himself seem more normal than the rest of his classmates. Somehow he knew he would find out what had happened, but it would really just take time. He never spoke, but he found out things from just observing people.
And the people he was with, well, they were being completely obvious.
During breakfast, he didn't really see anything wrong. Everyone was eating and talking to their respective friends. And while he didn't have any close ones because of the way he acted, at least he got to sit next to Lorenzo at the time.
And he seemed fine too, in fact strangely calm. Lorenzo didn't even bring his technology downstairs! That was saying something because when he saw the boy come into their room, he had about three or four suitcases worth of it. And he was smiling a bit more too as he talked to Gerald occasionally.
That was the beginning of it though, he realized as soon as he and the students boarded a school bus after breakfast outside of the hotel's main entrance. Apparently it had been rented out for them to travel to the market. It wasn't a long ride either distance wise. They left the comforts of the building to the countryside along dirt roads, but it only lasted about twenty or thirty minutes.
Brainy thought that everyone would be chatting and full of excitement because he was actually. He had an interest in cultures more than languages (mostly because he didn't like to speak very much), and San Lorenzo's culture was no different. But about five minutes into the trip and after that, no one said a thing. In fact, they were all silent for the most part. Something was up for sure because those who seemed to not know, like Principal Wartz and Mr. Simmons, were nervous to say anything. They kept glancing at each other whenever Brainy would look at them from his seat near the front.
Maybe they didn't want to say anything because if they did, then his classmates would get out of control.
Either way, it was a nice day though despite the heat. The seats and the windows were warm and they were all given water bottles to drink from in case if they got hot. Brainy appreciated it because as a younger kid, he would have problems with it. They weren't heat strokes, but he did get more irritable. So it was probably best if he just kept wheezing so that in case if someone talked to him, then he wouldn't say anything stupid.
Eventually, after several bumps and stops on the roadways, they all reached Paraíso Costa's market. Because the bus was older, the final stop was rougher than the previous ones because he and the others were flung forward a bit. But of course Eugene was practically sent flying, muttering his "I'm ok" phrase again. Brainy felt bad for him because he was a nice guy, but these things just seemed to happen more often with him, so at that point it wasn't unexpected.
And he got to get off of the bus first, which wasn't too bad considering that everyone suddenly went back to themselves for the moment…by shoving each other.
Of course he didn't shove another person, waiting in his seat on the left side of the bus until it seemed that Gerald and Arnold were the last ones off. They were probably thinking the same thing – that it would be safer to just wait it out.
Standing up and adjusting his glasses, he wheezed and took a breath of his inhaler as he carefully stepped out of his seat. He could feel the worn leather under his hands as he went to the front of the bus. Some pieces of the seats were completely ripped off, and it made him wish that he was on a city bus back home instead. But he understood that while San Lorenzo has some popular destinations, most of it was rural or poor to some extent.
"Chico," murmured someone. At that Brainy came closer to the front, only to see that it was the bus driver. He was a man in his late thirties, maybe even in his early forties, with a raspy voice at that too. He was sort of thin, with a blue shirt, dark sunglasses, and a hat. He really didn't look at Brainy directly in the face.
When Brainy was right next to him, the man continued as he gripped onto the steering wheel tightly. "Just know that while you are in San Lorenzo, you must keep an open mind to the possibilities – both the good and the bad." The boy blinked at that, not really sure what he meant. He had heard similar things before, but those were all in movies and what not. So the fact that he got something like this from a stranger was a little unnerving. Unsure of what he could do, Brainy wheezed some more before nodding, getting off of the bus.
The last step was harder to get down from, but once Brainy had his footing it was better. He rubbed his shoes into the dirt for good measure. He wasn't surprised that the market was outside because the student had been told that toward the end of breakfast. And it was good that his classmates were all gathered nearby the entrance, so he didn't have to walk that far.
And it was almost funny at how nervous they seemed to be.
They all kept glancing at each other as they shifted this way and that to meet up with their friends, trying to make themselves feel comfortable. From what Brainy could tell, the market was going to be more complicated than the average grocery store back in Hillwood. It was very crowded with a lot of people outside creaky wooden shacks that were almost in a maze-like pattern, as if they were made up of alleyways. So it made sense that his classmates didn't know how to feel about it.
But Brainy was probably the most comfortable because he lurked in alleyways all of the time, so he typically had a good sense of direction. Sure most of them involved hearing Helga's monologues but still…he had a feeling that he wouldn't be doing that today. "In fact," he thought to himself, "I haven't heard her do that at all for the past month really." He frowned as he stared at her from behind her head. "She really is trying to change herself isn't she?"
Even though he believed Arnold was an idiot for rejecting her, those monologues that were about him was just something that he enjoyed listening her talking about. It was almost like their thing or something. She would talk about their classmate and he would keep her secret. He always had since they were in preschool. And of course she punched him, but that was also a thing they had. It was weird to say that he liked it, but it made his day more interesting at the very least.
As he thought about this, he stood on his toes as he tried to see the teachers.
"Students!" shouted Mr. Simmons. The man kept waving his hand in the air trying to get their attention. It took a minute or so, but eventually everyone looked at him as he held the clipboard in his hands. "That's good. Now, before we all go in there, first I want to make a few announcements-"
Harold waved his hands. "Are we going to get lunch soon? Because I'm starving!" Brainy sighed. They had a big breakfast less than two hours ago…
Their teacher shook his head with a grin. "No, Harold. There will be food in the market, but we are going to get some more snacks for you all afterwards by having quesillos and tostones. I've had them before from study abroad trips and they are special dishes! But first, we have to get you all some outfits for the festivities while we are here."
There were a few groans and complaints, mostly from the guys, but the girls didn't seem to mind. Especially Rhonda.
"Oh," she smiled, "I want sparkly shoes, and a beautiful necklace to match, and the best red dress that this 'so-called market' has." She held onto Nadine's arm in excitement, but her friend winced at the tightness of it. She always had to endure Rhonda's moments. It made Brainy glad that he wasn't a girl sometimes so that he wouldn't have to deal with her as much as a classmate.
Olga, who was standing by Mr. Simmons, laughed while covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm not too sure about the sparkly shoes, Rhonda. But I believe that we will get you a very nice outfit. But first," she said, taking her hand off and putting it on her brown shoulder bag, "we have to organize you into groups. Mr. Simmons would you please?"
Mr. Simmons smiled. "Thank you Olga. Now as for our groups," he checked his clipboard, "Olga here will take all of the girls to find their dresses, while Principal Wartz and I will split up the boys to make the shopping trip quicker and easier as long as you all behave yourselves." At that the girls went to Olga, while Brainy and the guys stayed where they were. "With me, I have Curly, Brainy, Arnold, Lorenzo and Sid. And Principal Wartz has Harold, Gerald, Eugene, and Stinky."
Brainy shrugged his shoulders as he walked over to Mr. Simmons. He wasn't pleased that he and Arnold were in the same group, because honestly he wanted to punch him like he did with Harold back in the art room at school. But he wasn't complaining all that much because he didn't talk and maybe he could find out what happened at the hotel that has almost everyone nervous.
Turning to their teacher and Helga's sister, Principal Wartz said, "Mr. Simmons, Ms. Pataki? Please remember that each student has a set budget at 4,076 cordabas, or about $150.00 in United States bills. The organization is paying for this and I do not want to go over budget. Also, make sure that no students are to share the money with one another, so please hold onto it. That should be enough for each of them."
They nodded. "We'll make sure to do that Principal Wartz," Mr. Simmons smiled, "Now let's go boys!"
As they all went into the market, it was clear that Brainy was right about his assumptions. Because the shacks had ceilings that weren't completely covered, sunlight poured through the cracks. And below their feet, there was litter everywhere from left over packaging, food etc. But some items were suspended by ropes and strings because there wasn't enough room to show them on the ground. Brainy wasn't sure if he could even reach that far up, but he figured it would be best if he didn't try his luck. Things were stacked everywhere – on the ground, in baskets. Anything from clothing to food to other items, they were there. And sometimes they weren't separated. The vegetables would be next to the shirts, things like that. It made Brainy really grateful that there were different kinds of stores back at home.
He gripped on his water bottle as he unscrewed the cap for a sip. The reality of the situation for the people, on the other hand, was too hard to swallow.
But there was all of the festival stuff too. Brainy remembered that they were celebrating a saint in the country which was why they were getting the outfits in the first place. He could hear Hispanic music in the air, as if it was the wind or something as other people were buying clothes and food for the celebration. People young and old were also helping each other get the things that they needed, even if it seemed they were total strangers to one another. Some people were also cooking different things, probably even the snacks Mr. Simmons mentioned. Of course he saw different pieces of meat hanging like they would Mr. Green's butcher shop, but it was kind of disgusting. Brainy turned away at the thought of eating it.
Even so, some stores were not as lucky as they were to get a shack. Apparently as there were few cars and people riding bicycles, the people who had to sell things with a few baskets and an umbrella above them were ignored more often. It was kind of sad to see that was all they had.
He took another gulp of water.
Because the area was very crowded, it was kind of hard to keep up with the other guys and his teacher. They were going in and out of certain aisles really, and bumping into other people because of the rush, so it became difficult needless to say.
Walking rather quickly, Mr. Simmons suddenly stopped to greet a man, who seemed to be in a good mood.
"Disculpe, Señor. ¿Tiene usted alguna ropa chicos para la celebración?"
Brainy's eyes widened behind his glasses. How much time did their teacher say he studied abroad again? He was probably asking about the clothes they had to wear, and looking around at the stacks, it was a safe bet given that there were shirts and pants everywhere for the next row or two.
The man nodded, lifting a hat he was wearing as he patted Mr. Simmon's shoulder. "A lo largo de esta fila entera son la ropa que deben adaptarse a ellos. Tómense su tiempo y si usted tiene alguna pregunta me acaba de preguntar."
Mr. Simmons turned around to shake his hand. "Muchas gracias." Looking down at them, their teacher gestured his hands to the row of clothing on his left.
"Ok, boys. This nice man said that you can look up and down this row for the clothes we need. And if you have any questions just ask me, and then I'll ask him for you. Now go on and have some fun! Just don't go off somewhere else alright?" He clapped his hands together.
Once again, Brainy shrugged not really caring about going shopping. It wasn't his thing, but it beat having to wear something he didn't like.
Going up and down the aisle, he kept having to shove through a lot of people. He couldn't really see his classmates after a few minutes, but he could hear Sid and Arnold talking from the other side as he looked up at some hanging shirts of different colors.
"Boy Howdy! Do we have try all of these on?"
"No Sid. I don't think we can in this market. There's," he groaned at probably being bumped into, "no place to try them on I think. We're just going to have to guess what shirt sizes they are and hope for the best."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Hey look!" Brainy could hear a hanger being taken off from somewhere. "I think that this white shirt is good. I'm going to ask to make sure it's the right size. Be right back!"
"Ok!"
At this point it seemed that all anybody could do was yell because more people were coming through, talking in Spanish, and even yelling like they were. Brainy sighed as he continued to look down the aisle, not really sure what to do. It seemed like he went through half of what they had, and he was reaching the end of the row before having to go to the other side.
"Hombre, yo lo tengo."
The boy lifted his head as he turned it down the road at the end of the aisle. There was a man in a darkened corner wearing a typical outfit like the rest with a long brown bag over his shoulder. Brainy thought for a second that he was talking to him, but he was mistaken. There was another man who looked similar to the first, but his face was more concealed.
"Déjame ver." The first man looked in different directions, probably trying to see if anyone was watching them. Brainy shrunk back a bit, but enough to see what was going on. Apparently they didn't notice him, so he kneeled to the ground. Setting his bag down, he opened it to pull out brown fabric that was covering something round.
From what Brainy could tell, it definitely wasn't from the market. Everything he had seen so far never glowed or shone the way that object did. There wasn't much that he could see, but it was a green light that was soon covered up by the fabric again.
The second man nodded as the first one put the object back into the bag before standing up.
"Eso está bien. Lo tienes. Ahora vamos a volver a su jefe antes de que nadie nos ve." And with that they went further into the darkness until Brainy couldn't see them anymore.
It seemed like a nice piece of pottery or something, but he wasn't sure. Stepping out slowly to the main sidewalk before turning right around to the other side of the row, Brainy scanned the clothes some more. But his mind was going.
The men really seemed to want whatever was wrapped in that fabric – like they could've stolen it or maybe it actually did belong to them. But he had a feeling it was more likely first. He never understood that level of Spanish, but it didn't seem good. There were so many buts running through his head because Brainy knew it wasn't any of his business, however he was curious. Nobody else that he saw that day acted as strange as they did. So why did it bother him?
"Hey Brainy, what's with you? Are you under a spell or something?"
He shook his head before looking to his right. It was Curly, who was leaning against the clothing piles as if there was a wall. Brainy sighed. There was no point in playing dumb by wheezing as he scanned through the clothes some more. He really didn't have much time left, and besides Curly knew he could talk anyway.
"No, I'm fine. What's up?"
Curly gulped, and he heard it. Looking at his classmate, Brainy could see the sweat on his face from nervousness. Or was it from the heat? Maybe both. He didn't seem to have his water bottle either. He must have drank all of his already. It was probably eighty to ninety degrees out. So Brainy handed him the bottle he had in his hand.
"Take this," he said, "You need it more than I do." Luckily Curly didn't protest and drank a few sips before sighing. He nodded. "Thanks, but um, that's not what I wanted to ask you. Oh and um," he pushed Brainy away from the clothes, "I already got you an outfit and Mr. Simmons has it. I told him that you picked it out but you were too tired to carry it."
Brainy arched an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Ok, first of all, will I like it Curly? Because I don't want to wear something stupid at the party. And two, this must be good if you actually helped someone besides Rhonda."
Curly nodded, putting his hands on Brainy shoulders. "Yeah, yeah. It's fine. It's a light yellow shirt, light blue pants, and brown shoes ok? See, now you know what I got. Anyway, I need advice." What would he need advice from Brainy for? They never really talked, except during that detention, but they haven't since then. So what was up?
He pushed Curly away from him. "Alright Curly, what is it? Because we don't have much time you know." His classmate nodded, and rubbed his forehead with his hand as he took another gulp of water.
"I know, I know. Listen, I wanted to talk to Arnold about this. But um, because I think you know Helga better than he does, you might be able to help me out more." He was hesitant, as if he wasn't sure of what else to do except wait for him to respond. And it made sense given that Brainy yelled at him before. But still…
"What does this have to do with Helga?" As far as he knew, Curly and Helga hadn't ever really argued with just each other. Normally it would just be Helga making sarcastic comments at Curly's antics. He always did something crazy after all.
The boy in front of him gulped and stepped back a bit. "You see, Brainy, I feel kind of guilty for something that happened to Helga earlier today. Now I didn't do it, but," he sighed, "I know who did, because I saw it. I was there. I admit it. I was there!" He started to shout louder and louder, making a small scene while waving his arms around looking this way and that. Brainy knew that he had to do something.
"Woah, woah Curly. Relax," he rested his own hands on Curly's arms, lowering them. "Now tell me. Who did what to Helga?"
Luckily, Curly calmed down a bit and continued, "Well, you see, after you and some of the other guys went upstairs taking your things up, I was still pulling my things along with Sid, Stinky, Harold. And then Helga showed up laughing at what happened to us by the elevator…" he stopped. This was going to be difficult to get it out of him.
"And…" Brainy dragged on the word, letting go of Curly as he crossed his arms.
The boy put his hands in his pockets, looked down at ground, and kicked his right foot. "I guess we were all more tired than we thought because we got angry. So we, you know, crowded around her. And well, um, Harold almost punched her."
Once again, Brainy wanted to punch Harold again just because Curly said that. It was bad enough that he had to laugh at her over a stupid assumption in the art room. But to punch her because she acted no different than she usually did in the past? That was ridiculous! Wait a minute though…
Then his eyes widened. "What do you mean by 'almost'?" Did Helga not get hurt?
Curly looked up. "She ducked her head, so Harold ended up hitting his fist against the wall." Then he snickered of course. "It was actually pretty interesting, really." That was right. Curly didn't like Harold because it seemed like he and Rhonda had a thing for each other. His classmate didn't know that Brainy knew that was what he thought, but Brainy was an observer after all. Those things just came natural to him.
But he was still upset of course with Curly. "So let me get this straight. You didn't do anything to stop it?" And now he was the one raising his voice. But his classmate put his hands up in the air in defense. "Hey man! I was angry alright. And I had completely forgotten about what you said at school about protecting her and what not until…" then he stopped again, looking away at the stacks of clothes. "Until what?" Brainy questioned slowly. He gestured his hand to get the boy to answer. Which he did. But he gulped again. "Until I almost punched Eugene on the bed in our hotel room."
Well, Brainy would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised given with what happened in the hallway at the hotel. But Curly was the kind of kid that was cunning, and plotted things out before acting on them. So that was more spontaneous. Brainy shook his head. "Really Curly? And what about Arnold? Last time I checked you three had the same room."
Curly turned back to face him. "Oh we do share the same room. And he and Gerald tried to stop me. But when I saw Eugene's face cower in terror of my power, I," he sighed, "remembered about what happened to Helga downstairs, and what you had said earlier. And I was about to tell Arnold, but…" he stopped himself again. And to be honest, it was getting annoying.
"But what?" Brainy could feel his voice getting a little deeper than it already was. But it was because of the fact that he was starting to lose his patience. Maybe he needed his water bottle back.
"She screamed. From her hotel room."
Wait, what? Brainy stared at Curly, almost like a gaping fish or something. Did she get hurt this time? "She screamed? Well, what happened to her?" he asked urgently.
His classmate continued. "We went downstairs, and learned from the girls that Helga had a sleep terror from the stress of the trip." Well, that would do it for Helga. Curly had no idea of what Helga's intentions were about getting over Arnold, which was already bad enough. Then her having to rewrite Arnold's essay, prepare for the trip, and then almost get punched by Harold…that would be enough for anyone to have a sleep terror. He had heard about them before, and he was upset that Helga had to go through it.
But Brainy went on asking anyway, hoping that it didn't seem to Curly that there was something more going on. He still wanted to respect Helga's privacy. "Ok, so then what happened?"
"Well, I was about to confess, you know, about what happened. But Helga said that me and the guys only got into an argument with her when the topic was brought up. It was like she was avoiding it or something." Brainy raised his glasses with his hand, frowning. Why would Helga want to hide it? She would normally tell on someone, which was what she should have done as soon as possible. But she didn't…
"Yeah." He left it at that, deciding to let Curly continue.
"So I was wondering what I should do, you know? Without getting caught by Simmons or Wartz?"
At that Brainy shook his head again and rolled his eyes, not believing that he had to give the most obvious answer. "Well, Curly, I think you should tell someone what happened. You know I hate to sound like Arnold on this, but you know it's the right thing to do." And that was true. If Helga wouldn't do it herself, then maybe getting a guilt-ridden guy to do it for her would be just as good.
She needed as much protection as possible, even from her own decisions sometimes.
Curly rubbed his forehead as he took another gulp of water. "I know. I know. But I can't get caught. And neither can you!" He pointed his finger at Brainy, drawing more attention from others around them. But Brainy held his hands up this time. "What? Me? I didn't do anything wrong!"
His classmate looked serious. "Yeah, well, you know about it now – so you're in on it!" And he meant it too apparently. But Brainy shook his head. "Oh, no I'm not." He tried to walk passed Curly, wanting it to end right there but the boy wasn't finished yet.
"Oh yeah you are unless that day in detention and copying that essay for Arnold meant nothing to you! Because I'm sure you went to long lengths for that one buddy because I was there!"
At that point they were literally face to face, a few inches from each other. However, that was enough to stop Brainy in his tracks and stared the geek in the face. "Of course it mattered! But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't tell someone about what happened!" And Curly was just as loud. They were like raging bulls. "Of yeah it does!"
"What do you mean Curly?" Brainy shouted. None of their classmates were around and everyone else seemed to stay away because they probably didn't know English. They most likely thought that they were tourists arguing. Which as technically true, but –
"If we tell someone, then we won't be allowed to help Arnold on his journey to find his parents. We'd be stuck in the hotel, you wouldn't get what you want to do accomplished, I wouldn't get to be Rhonda's hero and see wild animals, and anyway you know the rest." Curly was the one who finally stepped away.
And as much as Brainy hated to say it, that was true. He told Curly the importance of the trip, and to help Arnold the same way that he had helped everyone since they were young. It would be cruel to him if he didn't have as much help because both Brainy and Curly decided to be blabbermouths.
Because of that, Brainy nodded with a smile to help bring the peace. "Alright, yeah, you're right Curly. What's most important is helping Arnold." It was hard to say that. On the one hand Arnold did deserve to find his parents, but on the other hand Brainy still wanted to punch him for rejecting Helga. So Brainy was torn on the matter.
But at least it satisfied Curly, who puffed out his chest in pride with his own arms crossed. "Yeah, I'm always right." Brainy rolled his eyes with a chuckle. He patted Curly's right shoulder. "Well not always, but this time you are. Let's just wait until after this trip is over, we tell someone what happened, get a year's worth of detentions that we could escape from. But most importantly…" he ended up whispering.
"Yeah?" Curly asked, probably thinking that it was another secret that Brainy had. He leaned in a bit to hear. "Don't tell anyone that I talk. I'm still secretive about it. So as long as you won't tell anyone about it, I won't say a word until we get back."
The kid looked unsure for a second. "You promise?" Letting go of Curly, Brainy nodded. "Yeah I promise."
Turning around, his classmate started to walk away. "Good, now let's go back to the others my good fellow." And with that, Brainy and Curly started to go back where they started, going in and out of the crowd.
However, Brainy's mind was still going. "At least, I hope I'm doing the right thing for Helga. She didn't want to say anything, so maybe I should respect what she wants to do, regardless of how I feel about this." He frowned without anyone noticing.
He got the answers he wanted, but he still wished that there was something that he could do.
A/N ** I chose the name Bartlett for this chapter because the awesome Craig Bartlett voiced Brainy on the show; so I don't own Hey Arnold!; also, if my Spanish is bad in this fanfic I apologize for the grammar because I only know so much**