Grupo Guapo
or, Hermanos
Instead of being home on Mother's Day (sorry Brenda & Mom), I spent the day as Leader of Group G. This group was the "brother" group...initially 3 sets of brothers and a couple of other guys added to the mix. The brothers - Jonathan & Erick, Kelvin & Cristian, Juan & Angel, the extras were Oseas and Bryan. The next day Juan & Angel were transferred out and Jose joined the group. These guys were awesome and fun - they acted just like any set of brothers I've been around in my life.
Let me explain the nickname I gave them...
At supper time on this unusual Mother's Day we were in the cafeteria waiting for our turn to go through the food line. One of the brothers, Kelvin, in a quite-brotherly-fashion, calls me over and says:
"David, Cristian (hermano) es muy feo."
I responded in Spanish...
"No, no, no!!!"
"Sí, Dah-veed, Cristian es muy feo!"
Then all of the brothers began calling each other ugly. And brothers turned against unrelated group members, it was ugly. : )
I interjected, "¡Cristian es muy guapo!"
The multiple viewings of the Three Amigos has had a positive socio-cultural impact on me...
And then, "¡Todos ustedes son guapo!"
And I have to tell this story of ingenuity, or brilliance, as it were...one night in the cafeteria Grupo Guapo called me over their table. Kelvin told me to ask Cristian about his afternoon shower. So I did. The showers have levers that are about 6'6" from the floor, there is a chain hanging down for the occupant, or showerer, to pull on to get water flow. Today, Cristian's chain broke and there was no way this 14 year old boy was going to be able to reach the lever. He didn't complain, file a grievance, forego the shower or anything like that - he simply solved the problem. Cristian took his dirty underwear, twisted them up, lassoed the lever with the underwear and commenced his shower as if it was the most logical thing ever. When he finished telling his story, the rest of Grupo Guapo howled with laughter (as did I). Kelvin said,
"¡Cristian es malo!
I thought for a moment and remembered that I love non-whining, low-maintenance problem solvers like Cristian. I tapped my temple with my index finger and replied,
"¡No, Cristian es brillante!"
I would like to say that our time together ended with this kind of banter and playfulness but it didn't. In fact, I will probably cry as I type this out...
May 17th was my last full day at the shelter. At the end of the day I went out to say goodbye to all of my friends and offer them blessing. This was a fairly difficult task. Since Grupo Guapo was my favorite and the most fun, I saved them for last hoping to end on a high note. To their location I go:
"Yo voy a San Antonio de mañana."
Silence...silence broken by Jose,
"¡No se puede ir, Day-bid, no ir!"
"Tengo que"
"¡No se puede ir, no!"
At this point Bryan started sobbing, Jonathan & Erick had tears rolling down their cheeks, Kelvin dropped his head and Jose buried his face in his towel. Cristian is the only one not crying - he stood up and said that he knew he couldn't hug me (government rules) so he gave me a firm, stoic handshake. I was speechless and my eyes were flooded. Bryan stopped crying long enough to tell one of my co-workers that he had never had a friend like me. At this point I could do nothing but mutter a "Dios bendiga" and walked away. These boys are so hungry for love and affirmation and extremely grateful when they receive even a meager amount...I am still processing my emotions from this evening.
p.s. - I saw Grupo Guapo the next morning as I had a little unfinished business at the Shelter, they were passing by, all smiles!
"¡Buenas dias, Dah-veed!"
"Good morning, Day-bid!"
And Cristian, last in line, walks by, taps his index finger on his temple and says,
"¡Brillante!"
