He knew

Oh but little did Manny know what was about to happen that day when he got out of bed and put his weathered leather sandals on. He didn't bathe or had breakfast because he was poor as any human being could be and still be alive. He slept at the mercy of extreme humid heat and female mosquitoes who made sure he could hear them all night. But all that didn't "actually" matter, after all that's all the world he knew. Hunger was another relative term, for he was used to eating very little and he didn't know what it's like to be well fed with 3 meals a day. Anyway, he was poor and he worked as a shoe cleaner in the city of Santo Domingo, at the heart of the Antilles.

He's life was a dominican urban cliché. His mother worked her ass all day as a maid at a loan-dependable-upper-middle-class-family-house, where she had to stay for 6 days a week. Her shift went on something like from 6h to 19h, and got payed 200 usd each month. His father was a good-for-nothing-alcoholic-sonofabitch who beated the crap out of Manny every night just for the laughs, and raped Manny's mom each weekend when she was home. Manny's human waste of a father was very prolific at producing offsprings so Manny had about 11 brothers and sisters, but hey we are here to hear what Manny has to say, so let's focus on him, right?

So yeah Manny was a shoe cleaner and as such he knew two things that he could do to get money: go from street to street shouting "limpiaaa botaaaaa" or go house by house in one of those nice neighborhoods that "hard working good Dominican families" inhabit asking for money (food was not appreciated as all his work was to be measured by his father by the amount of money he produced during the day). Wait, you know, I think I forgot to tell you that Manny smiled all freaking day. He had this big crazy mouth full of white teeth and man did he smile.

So yeah, shout after shout, one street after another. One door slam after the other, 2 to 3 food plates offered but not welcomed and crazy Manny smiled like a fool. Even though the unforgiving Caribbean sun cooked him to the bone, he still smiled. And that's what Manny knew: to smile. To smile even though life's shitty. But what he didn't know was that following that juicy thigh mulatta with short pants, big nails and straightened hair (probably treated by one of those dominican female warriors that knew very well how to use a hair blower and weren't afraid to use it). So yeah, hypnotized by the hips movement of this fertility goddess he walked following her trail. She stopped at the corner of 27 with Churchill and as she waited for one of those public cars that cram 4 individuals on the back and 2 on the copilot seat, Manny caught up with her. With that crazy smile and clear eyes he stared at that craziness he had in front. The female made an indication to a public car that was approaching, then she noticed that Manny was boldly looking at her. He noticed she noticed and the smile was erased, he didn't know where to put his tail and head. The girl smiled and planted a big kiss on Manny's forehead. Manny was in love.

------Fin----

And that's it. Even kids with a fucked up life like Manny get to be innocent. They even get to smile like nothing's wrong. So yeah he knew how to smile but I guess he doesn't know all the great things awaiting him with that attitude. That is ... if he doesn't lose hope. Can we leave Manny to such fate? Can't we help him? Will the government? The least he could do is go to school...but you know, even if his dad lets him, the teachers and the government won't do their part. So who can help Manny? Maybe another crazy sex goddess that lets him know there's something good in that smile.