Paralyzed

El viaje

When Andrés was back home, it was nearly 5 a.m. He was so tired he didn't even think about his dad and entered the house through the front door instead of climbing back to his window. He slammed the door shut, and when he realized what he had done, he ran as fast as he could toward the stairs to get to his bedroom. But his father had already pinned him to the wall.

Andrés tried to kick him, but his father blocked the blow and punched him hard and deep in the stomach. The boy fell to the floor, crying and trying to catch his breath. His father grabbed his hair and said, "Boy, you better tell me why you were running away from me. Now, I don't give a shit why you were out there in the middle of the night, but what I don't like is when people lie to me. You running away from me like that tells me you're hiding something. Now tell me, why were you running?"

Andrés sniffed and said, "Nothing."

His father pulled Andrés's hair harder and grabbed his jaw. "Don't lie to me, boy." Javier turned his eyes toward the backpack on the ground. "I bet you're hiding something in that bag. Let's see what you're hiding in that backpack."

His father shoved Andrés to the ground, grabbed the backpack, opened it, and started to laugh very loudly. Andrés was on his knees, holding his stomach as he looked at his dad, holding back his tears. Javier shook his head and looked at his son.

"Really, boy? You were running away from me because you didn't want me to know you had books in your bag?" He shushed him. "Boy, I don't care if you read. I don't get why you're so afraid of me. After all, you're stuck with me until you're 18." Javier threw the bag toward Andrés, then went back to his sofa and fell asleep.

Andrés took his bag and ran to his bedroom, closed the door, and didn't come out for the rest of the day.

Two days passed, and the only thing Andrés could think about was his brother. He desperately wanted to see him. He wanted to give him the present he had gotten, and he wanted to make up for the time he hadn't been there. He decided it was time to see him. He got his backpack, took a shirt, pants, socks, and the books, then went downstairs. When he reached the door, he simply said, "I'm going on a trip. I'll be gone for a couple of days."

"With who are you going?" his father asked, half asleep.

"Benjamín."

"The baker? What are you going to do with him?"

"He said he wanted to show me the best bakery around the country. So I said yes."

"Alright, go crazy then," Javier mumbled. Andrés smiled and left.

When Andrés arrived at the bakery, he saw Alicia playing with her dolls again on the floor. He walked toward her and said, "Hello."

She looked up at him. "Oh hi, Andrés! How are you?"

He stared at her beautiful blue eyes and said, "I'm going on a trip."

"Oh fun! Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going to see my brother, Sergio."

"Cool! Well... have a nice trip then!"

"Thank you. Actually, I wanted to give you something." Andrés took out the book he had taken for her and handed it to her.

"Wow! A book about dolls! Thank you!!" Alicia said, smiling. Andrés smiled back, and as he turned around, he saw Benjamín.

"Buenos días, Andrés! How are you?"

"Good, thank you.... and you?"

"The usual." He looked at Alicia. "What do you have there, missy?"

"Andrés gave it to me."

"Oh, that's nice of him. Where did he get it from?"

"I don't know." Alicia looked at Andrés. "Where did you get it?"

Andrés felt nervous but decided to be honest and answered, "The toy store."

Alicia looked at him, surprised. "Oh, the toy store where you wanted to buy the dinosaur for your brother?"

"Yes."

"Oh, and you bought the book at the same time as the dinosaur?" Benjamín glanced at Andrés from the corner of his eye.

"Well, the one I wanted wasn't there anymore, so I bought him a book about dinosaurs."

Benjamín jumped into the conversation. "Speaking of this place, apparently there was a little accident over there..." Andrés looked at him, his eyes wide open. "But it isn't that bad; everything is okay now." Benjamín continued, "Well, anyway, I have to get back to work. Have a nice trip, Andrés! Oh, and here, take this. You might need it for your trip." He gave Andrés a small paper bag, and Andrés took it and left.

After leaving the bakery, Andrés went to the hotel where he had called his mother. On his way to the hotel, he opened the paper bag Benjamín had given him. Inside the bag were a breakfast sandwich, an orange juice, a chocolate muffin, and a 20-euro bill. When he arrived at the hotel, he went to the lobby, hoping to see the same receptionist who had helped him before. Fortunately, it was her. He asked if he could see the guestbook, and she handed it to him. He searched for his mother's name and found her, along with her address; she lived in Guadalupe while he lived in Anchuras. Andrés asked the receptionist if she could write down his mother's address and phone number on a piece of paper. She did so and gave him the paper. He thanked her once again, then left to go to the bus terminal.