Building My Life

Chapter 03

“Amen!” Josias responded, somewhat moved. Despite the need to get off (the driver always gets wild when asked to stop and no one got off the bus!), Josias had wanted to stay a little longer, as he had felt a connection with Everaldo that he was unable to explain at the time. But it was time to disembark.

After the two said goodbye with a handshake, Josias went to the front door (the driver also noticed Josias’s scant attire) and stepped off. When the bus went on its way, Josias and Everaldo saw each other for the last time, the two saluting with their hands on their foreheads, a typical military greeting.

Then, Josias turned on his heel and faced his new neighborhood.

“Well, Josias!” he said to himself, trying to cheer up. “Time to get to know your new neighborhood!”

Josias started walking. He walked down the widest street, the main one. That was because, in Happiness Slum, there was no urban planning whatsoever.

The main street was the only one opened by City Hall, as it was a road connecting to Happiness Farm. The family who had owned the farm had sold all the land to the City and moved to the United States. The City had done nothing with the land, and little by little, residents had invaded the place, building houses haphazardly around the street.

As the residents were poor and miserable people living in very low conditions, the houses built were not of the best quality and reflected the identity of their owners. Many of these houses were not plastered. Most of them were built right up against the sidewalk, which removed the privacy of the residents. Nobody had thought about leaving space for a front yard or garage; the main doors opened directly onto the street.

With this type of construction, when Josias inadvertently glanced at the window of one of these houses very close to the sidewalk, he saw a man, totally naked, looking for something to wear in a wardrobe, without caring about the open window. In another house, he accidentally saw a woman in her thirties watching a soap opera in a nightgown, lying on the sofa.

Ashamed, Josias left the sidewalk and started walking in the middle of the street. At least in Rainbow Garden, the houses had front yards, and no one was so exposed. How easy it must have been to be robbed in this place if people inadvertently left everything open!

Now Josias had to watch the street. Even though it was wide, it didn’t prevent people from driving their vehicles carelessly.

A cyclist could have easily dodged Josias, but he made a point of almost running him over and complained that Josias should look where he was going. Cars passed down the street with no sense of speed limits. Bikers passed by leaving trails of smoke and deafening noise. Josias started to wonder if the residents there could sleep at all.

To top off the noise, one of the houses was blasting “Xanadu” by Olivia Newton-John at an absurdly loud volume. Josias knew the music, but at that moment he wasn’t in the mood. In front of the house, a group of black teenage girls tried to reproduce the choreography. Another insensitive driver drove by at high speed, very close to the girls. They screamed in fright and scattered to avoid being run over.

“Where’s the happiness in this place?” Josias asked, gritting his teeth.

As he approached a crowded and messy bar, where a group of drunks sang a samba out of tune accompanied by drums and tambourines, Josias realized that the place was on a corner. He had passed through many alleys, but this passage had room for at least one car to pass.

He noticed that the residents parked their cars on the sidewalk so as not to block the street. Josias approached.

“Hope Street” — so it was written on a hand-painted blue sign. The residents maintained their optimism despite everything.

Josias needed a place to stay. Somewhere in this favela, there must have been some kind of boardinghouse or building that rented rooms. Furthermore, on this street and the main street, most of the buildings had several floors. In the building where Josias had seen the lady in a nightgown watching television, there were six floors. She had the misfortune of staying on the first floor.

Therefore, Josias started to walk down the street when he realized that Hope Street also had buildings. No, he didn’t want to be on the main street, with all that noise and lack of privacy. Gradually, the noise of the drunks and the samba decreased.

Josias found a five-story building with a sign that read “Rooms for Rent.” There — it was what he wanted. Josias put his hand in his pants pocket, but he didn’t even dare take out the money to check how much he had. Obviously, he wouldn’t have enough for even one night.

However, Everaldo’s voice echoed in Josias’s mind as he stared at the building. The main door was open, and from where Josias could see, the interior appeared to be a lobby, as if the building were a guesthouse or hotel. Well, the guy who had it built knew what he was doing.

“I will pray for you and plead that God will bring you the best in your life. You will get out of this and be successful. And I believe that you will have the willpower to overcome your adversities! Amen?”