AllFreeNovel
Share Us
PROLOGUE
RAFAEL
I race toward the empty net, with the soccer ball well under control. I’m seconds from getting my boys a win when my brother, Tomas, shouts from across the field. “He wants to see you in his office.”
I skid to a stop, tearing up the grass before my butt hits the ground.
He is my father, who never wants to see me in the middle of the day unless I’m in trouble. Big trouble. The kind of trouble that calls for the strap. Tomas knows it, too. That’s why he gives me a cruel little smirk when I catch his eye.
The soccer ball rests near my feet, but I don’t move to secure it. No one’s going to steal the ball. The game’s over.
My friends are frozen like statues on the field, gawking at me. They know the deal, and tomorrow they’ll see the evidence.
Papai will be careful to hide most of the marks, but he always leaves one nasty welt for Mamã to see every time she looks at me. My broken skin makes her so sad she cries. He loves to make her cry.
“Get out of here, or I’ll sic the dogs on you,” Tomas sneers at my friends.
The boys take off running. Except Zé. He scowls at my brother, then jogs over to where I’m sprawled on the field. Most of my friends are eight, and I’m eight, too, but Zé is already nine. He’s tall for his age and smart, and he’s not afraid of anything. Not even of Tomas, who’s twenty and lifts weights every morning before breakfast.
“We can make a run for it,” Zé whispers. “Tomas is too lazy to chase us. You can hide in the fort behind my house until your father stops being mad.”
I pull my knees up and rest my cheek against the hard ridges. Zé’s right about Tomas. He won’t bother to chase us. But it won’t end there, because there’s no plan that can help me if I did something to make Papai mad.
Zé bumps my cleats with his to let me know he means business. “I’ll bring you a sleeping bag and some food. My mother is making cozido tonight. You like that, right?”
I glance up at my friend. My stomach hurts thinking about the guards dragging me out of the fort while Zé’s family watches. “His men will find me. It’ll just make things worse.”
He nods, and his forehead gets crinkly, like he’s trying to come up with another plan. “Do you want me to go with you to see him?”
I pull up a handful of grass and toss it over my shoulder. “Nah. It’ll be okay.”
I sound brave. My mother calls it putting on a good face, but my friend knows it won’t be okay.
“You should go,” I tell him, getting up. “I don’t think Tomas is joking about sending the dogs.”
There’s only one person in the family meaner than my brother, and that’s my father. Neither of them would hesitate to send the dogs after a kid.
“Tomas is a coward,” Zé mumbles. He looks me in the eye, then nudges me gently with his shoulder as he walks away. It’s how boys show support and respect for their friends.
“You coming, asshole?” my brother jeers.
I keep an eye on Tomas while I cross the field. He’s not smiling—not exactly. But his dark-brown eyes are glittery, and his chest is puffed out, like he beat me in a race and won first prize.
Maybe my father doesn’t want to see me. Maybe Tomas lied to scare me, or maybe he wanted to ruin my chance to win the game. He would do something like that.
“Why does Papai want to see me?”
“Why do you think, you dumb piece of shit? Instead of running around with those idiots, you should be practicing your reading. You deserve what you get.”
He’s not lying about my father. My skin feels sweaty and hot, like I’m going to throw up.
“I practice reading every night before bed. You know I do.” But it doesn’t matter how much I practice. I still suck at it.
Tomas scoffs.
Mamã sits with me for an hour every night. We take turns reading, and she gives me a piece of chocolate, or some other treat, when we’re finished. Last night she gave me a miniature racing car with orange and yellow flames painted on the sides. It’s really cool.
“I’m getting better. Mamã said so.” Maybe she was just being nice.
