"Please, call me Mari." "Oh, okay, then let's go Mari." She took me by the hand and almost dragged me outside.
"Bienvenida a Encanto!"
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As Juli led me by the hand down the cobblestone paths, a few bustling groups of villagers passed us by.
Many of the people in the relatively small town were walking about with their families, either buying or just browsing the many food stalls around.
Each one hosted a flourish of different exotic foods that I could only dream of, each with its own intoxicating aroma.
The families all looked so happy... if only Papai could be able to walk and see this with me...
"Hey, watch where you're going, puta!" In a flash, a young kid whizzed in between us.
"Don't mind him, he's a little mocoso." "Where are we headed?" While this market was beautiful, I'd much rather get away from these crowds.
"Oh! Let's go to the park! Maybe you can make a new friend or two there!"
"I-I don't know, I'm not much of a pessoa amigável..."
"No te preocupes, Mari! You got me here to help you!"
~~~
"Here we are! Oh, but where is everybody else?"
"Oh well, who would want to hang around the new girl anyways?"
I wasn't really that excited to make new friends, but it would have been better for me to meet new people anyway.
"They have to be around here somewhere! You stay here, I'm gonna go look for them, si?"
"Juli, esperar!" She ran off before I could even reply.
I sighed dejectedly. "Sim..."
~~~
Juli has been gone for five minutes, what's taking her so long? I better go look for her.
É melhor ela não ter me abandonado ou eu juro-
Wait, what's that sound?
...
I hear... a young boy's voice, about my age, whimpering and pleading with a few other voices. They're all laughing and taunting him.
He sounds like he's either about to or already crying.
I don't care if I just got to this town and have no business in this, no one should be getting bullied.
Não no meu turno.
~~~
I can hear them in this alleyway.
There's about three or four older kids surrounding the boy, but I can't get a clear view yet.
All I can see is the hood of an olive green ruana, though it's all muddied and a bit torn.
"Why do you even stick around anymore? Nobody likes you, your sisters are just taking pity on you, even your own mom thinks you're worthless!"
...No response, only a small sob.
"Well? I'm waiting. Es demasiado decepcionante para entender?"
"Alright, that's it." These kids need to be taught a lesson.
"Quien carajo eres tu?"
"Aquele que está prestes a chutar seu traseiro."
~~~
I had gotten in some bad fights before, but this might have been the worst.
Blood trailed down my right cheek from a cut from one of the guy's nails.
I could taste the iron liquid in my mouth, but I refused to stop.
Two pinned my arms against the alley wall and the main leader socked me right in the chest, maybe even breaking a rib.
I just barely stayed conscious, almost fainting from the pain. Tears rolled down my cheeks, stinging the cut.
They were too strong and too many to take on with brute force.
But they were sloppy.
With the energy I had left, I pushed my feet against the wall behind me and surprised the guys holding me back, tackling the leader.
In a flurry of punches and blood, I had him in a headlock and he eventually ran with his grunts.
...
Why was I fighting them again?
Oh yeah! The poor kid getting bullied. I looked around but didn't see him.
Until I saw a green fabric and sandálisas behind a deposito de lixo.
"It's okay, you can come out now. They all left and I'm not gonna hurt you."
A small whimpering sound came from him, still not convinced that it was safe.
"Please, at least tell me your name."
"W-Why do you want to k-know?"
I waited patiently till he finally gave in.
"Me n-nombre es B-Bruno."
"Okay, Bruno. Meu nome é Mariposa. I am from Brazil and just got here with mi Papai."
"Why are you t-telling me all this stuff about yourself? We just m-met."
He slowly starts to scooch out from behind the dumpster and reveals a torn olive green ruana, dark fluffy hair, slightly darker skin, kind brown eyes and a soft smile.
"There you are. My, you sure are flaco. Now, can you tell me why those guys were bullying you?"
"Um..."
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(A/N) Thank you guys so much for your support on this book! I hope you enjoyed the first glimpse of our beloved rat man, cause there's lots more where that came from! Love ya'll❤️
