When Josias returned from work drenched in sweat and dusted with gray cement from pouring the roof slab, Teodoro greeted him with a cheeky, triumphant smile.
Laid out on the counter were the clothes rescued from Rainbow Garden, freshly ironed and neatly folded. Beside them sat the stack of comic books.
Josias’s eyes shimmered. He reached out to touch the fabric, feeling a connection to a life he thought had been buried under the tragedy of his father’s death.
“Thank you so much, Seu Teodoro,” Josias said with gratitude.
“I scrubbed that old suitcase of yours and tucked it in my office for now,” Teodoro said. “But you’re going to need a proper wardrobe or a dresser soon. That ancient thing in your room is held together by termites and prayers.”
“That’s the truth, but I didn’t want to
