“OLIVER GET BACK HERE”
Dad suddenly grabbed him once more, which means he’s safe again!
“Take better care of your kid”
“Who do you think you are to tell me that. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Dressed like that? You think your mother is going to be proud?”
Unbeknown to him, his father just put them in great danger.
Even unbeknown-er to him, his father has been in great danger for a long time.
“Excuse me!”
The lady from the store gets between her dad and the strange man.
“Please ignore him, he’s from the farms, he doesn’t know any better. You are Miss Sandra’s son, yeah? She should be working right now but I can tell you where she is!”
His dad doesn’t stop staring. He can feel the disgust coming from him.
Eventually the man leaves, and they return to the store for the forgotten bread.
“Please, be more careful about what you say. I know it’s supposed to be over, but you never know how people like this will act, you know this! Less so if they find out the things you’ve done..!”
“You don’t want to leave Oliver without a father, right?”
“…Thanks for the bread. Goodbye”
“Bernardo!”
They leave without another word
Good thing Oliver is there, he knows so many words
“Who was that, Daddy?”
“A dog.”
“Huh?”
“A lost dog without its owner. Raised to hurt. Don’t trust them, Oliver”
“But, but, can’t it be nice again? Copito used to bite a bit too hard when playing but then he didn’t!”
“That won’t happen. Dogs are loyal to their owners. They would never bite the hand that fed them”
“I don’t get it”
“You don’t have to. Hopefully you’ll never have to.”
“I do want you to understand this, though”
“If you’re ever in trouble with another dog, call me. I’ll come get you”
“Seeing as you can’t help yourself but get into trouble, I’ll have to get you quite often”
“But I’ll do it. Don’t ever doubt it.”
“Oliver”
“Oliver? You back?”
“Huh? Wha- Ángel?”
“Welcome back! We finished eating a good while ago, but you seemed so comfy zoning out that I didn’t want to interrupt you”
“Wha- everyone’s gone?!”
“We should be getting ready for bed, actually. You missed me telling the new guys the cat car joke”
“Oh, so nothing important”
“You evil little fiend. Once I get new material, you’re toast! You’ll laugh with so much joy and whimsy it will conjure a rainbow!”
“I expect nothing less”
It’s 10:15. He still has a bit of time. Maybe have a little chat with one of his friends, before waking up to the chaos of vacations in a new city. He can see some people in the corridors.
When he grew older, he found out about his dad’s illegal activities.
He found out the grave danger he was putting himself in.
But he never held that against him.
His father taught him that sometimes, the law isn’t fair. That sometimes, the police aren’t right. That sometimes, it’s all about the whims of whoever is on charge.
And that sometimes, you have to fight for what’s right.
His dad is old now. He’s no longer the resistance bullet smuggler he once was. And he’s glad for that. He’d rather his dad be safe, he would never do anything that could put him in danger.
Although, there’s been some times. Some three particular times. That he wished he was there.
That he’d carry him away in that uncomfortable way he used to do.
That he’d used his trusty stick to defend him.
That he’d drive the scary dogs away.