2021-05-20 19:23:12Teodoro smiles when he sees Josias enchanted by a resident girl of Happiness Slum. “My boy, take it easy with that heart. Do I know her by any chance?”
“Her name is Melissa.” Josias responds as if he is singing, “And she lives further on.” Josias, however, shakes his head, “Well, what am I doing? Okay, the girl is beautiful and nice, and she was admiring my chest, even though I am not muscular; but, I need to find something. She must think I am a pervert for walking without a shirt.”
“There is nothing wrong with a man walking around without a shirt, especially in this heat.” Teodoro ponders, “But, as I warned you, better to start buying your things.”
Josias smiles as he remembers. “Her father is very strict; he doesn't want his dear daughter to marry a poor man. So I better get ahead.”
Josias starts walking out of the reception. Teodoro asks him, “Hey, where are you going?”
“Buy the towel,” Josias answers, without stopping or looking back.
Back on the main street, Josias realizes that a group of people is standing on the sidewalk as if they are waiting for the bus. Josias remembers that no buses are traveling in the locality and that it was a van that did the job. He approaches the group. “Excuse me; are you by chance waiting for the van?”
“Yes, and it is coming.” A lady in formal wear answers.
Josias looks back and decides to wait for the van. It stops. The guy in the passenger seat gets out and opens the rear door for the others to enter. He serves as the driver's assistant, collecting the ticket, cheaper than the conventional bus. There is still space and Josias enters, sitting in the middle of another teenager, probably going to some vocational course, and the lady who gave the information about the van. Inside, Michael Jackson's “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” is blaring on the radio. The guy next to Josias starts to move, he thinks he's dancing just like Michael.
The van reaches Downtown. Lagoon City is a medium-sized city with approximately 200,000 inhabitants, placed and build near the coast. The Downtown has numerous commercial and residential buildings, the tallest having an average of twenty floors. Traffic is busier, pedestrians need to cross the crosswalk and respect the traffic lights, and people crowd when walking on the sidewalk. Among so many people, Josias ends up calling the attention for being shirtless and in sweatpants. But, he is already getting used to it. Upon entering a Household linen shop, he is promptly attended to by a saleswoman who just needed to sell him a whole wardrobe, even Josias having repeatedly said that he just wanted to buy a bath towel.
When he left the store, relieved, Josias wondered if he was that cute, to get female attention. The fact is he was modest. And yes, he could have used the time to date the girls at school, but precisely because of the lack of financial support from his father, Josias spent his adolescence working in small services. Soon, he didn't have the head for picking up and dating like his other friends.
When walking through the downtown streets, Josias then remembers that right here he has already worked selling popsicles or delivering pamphlets. Any job that helped him buys jeans or new sneakers.
Josias stops walking when he is passing through the main square of the city, which is the ground zero of the municipality, having the slight impression of seeing Everaldo. A young man standing at the bus stop formally dressed like his friend from last night. Josias did not want to shout his name, as it could be another man. But, he tried to get closer. When he was almost close, a bus parked at the bus stop, and the boy, head down, promptly boarded the back door. If only he had his head up...
Josias regrets not having arrived on time. He wanted to meet with Everaldo again to say that everything was fine and that he was taking steps to build a better life. The religious boy's whereabouts became a mystery to Josias. Meanwhile, the same van pointed over the horizon, around the corner to the square. Josias signals to it. Immediately the other passengers look unfavorably at Josias, looking him up and down, thinking that the boy's little clothing and his dark skin indicate that he is a slum dweller.
Josias ignores the prejudiced glances and gets on the van, now with Captain and Tennille's “Do That to Me One More Time”, sounding on the radio and bothering others waiting for driving.
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Upon returning to the building, Teodoro was already having lunch. He holds the plate up and invites Josias. “You can go in there if you can.”Josias approaches the counter. “Do you believe that I almost saw the boy who encouraged me not to give up?”“What do you mean, give up?” Teodoro frowns, “Were you trying to kill yourself?”“No, but all of a sudden, when I was on the bus, this boy in religious style and clothes was on a seat behind me, and when I was leaving, he asked if I needed help. When I asked him to pray for me, he smiled and promised that not only would he pray for me, but that my life would be great and successful.”Teodoro stops chewing and swallows. His face is serious. “And you don't know who it is?”“He embarked at Rainbow Garden, but I had never seen him before.” Josias scratches his head. “Although the neighborhood is large and I don't know
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Josias takes the key from Teodoro and goes up the stairs. Upon entering the room, he takes off his sweatpants and places it on the back of the chair. Today is hot to have a beer, just as Melissa's father wishes. He leaves the balcony door open and lies down on the bed, takes off his briefs, and curls up on the sheet.Do not misjudge Josias for sleep naked. It's just that he is disgusted to wear the same briefs, and his sweatpants are also in utter misery.Josias wakes up the next day, which promises to be another hot day, already getting discouraged with the prospect of work. He gets up and goes to the balcony, looking at the horizon and the activity of the favela. The same girl from the other building meets Josias and this time she dares to wave a hello, to which he corresponds. At this point, the girl is wondering if Josias wears a shirt. If she knew...Josias takes the towel that is folded on the chair and wraps it around his waist, goes to the dresser, and t
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When Josias goes down to the bathroom, he decides to just wash his face and brush his teeth. He no longer cared about other men bathing uninhibited in front of him, as he only took a shower late at night, before going to sleep, just so he wouldn't meet anyone.As he approaches the reception, Teodoro is almost crying with the debut of “Lady”, by Kenny Rogers, being played on the radio with profusion. “The guy sings very well, how wonderful...” Teodoro notices Josias's presence, “Hello, boy, good morning. Are you going out again?”Josias reaches out his hand to prevent Teodoro from giving him more money. “Not today, Seu Teodoro. I am going to take a walk right here in the locality.”Teodoro raises an eyebrow. “Really? Well, I must warn you that here you will only find that type of job that requires a lot of effort and very little reward.” He makes a “money” sign with his fingers.Josias
Building My Life Chapter 13 I Do!
Josias gives Romualdo a gaze of astonishment. He had no intention of asking just in the construction site, but the opportunity came and he would not refuse. He just didn't expect to get this easy. Was Everaldo in action again?“Are you sure, sir? Here it looks like work done with care. I don't have a lot of construction experience; at most I helped as Uélton is doing.”Romualdo analyzes Josias's physical constitution from him. Because he was shirtless, it became easier. “You don't look like a fragile boy to me. You're not muscular, but I see a little strength in your arms and shoulders.”“I was never an idle person, or a sedentary person, as they say,” Josias explains, with a proud smile.“Then there is no more talk!” Romualdo sentences, “If you really want to, come tomorrow to start. And what you don't know how to do, we'll teach you. What do you say?”What to say? Of course, Josia
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The next day, he gets up in fright, because with the lack of a clock he has no idea of the time. Josias goes to the balcony, pays no attention to the girl in the other building, and only analyzes the traffic on the streets. People are going to work and children are going to school. Well, it means that it is not yet eight o'clock.Josias wears his underwear, determining that the first thing to do with the first payment will be to buy a pack of underwear and boxer shorts to stop sleeping naked. After he pulls on his sweatpants; he picks up the brush and toothpaste and runs down to the bathroom.When he is walking down the hall, a girl a few years older than him appears and intercepts him. She is a dark blonde and has a bath towel and shampoo in her hands, apparently a novice in the building.“Excuse me, friend.” She asks Josias, “I'm new here; do you know where the bathroom is?”“At the end of the hallway,” Josias said,
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After insulted by the guy who insinuated Josias to be a homosexual, he strides out of the bathroom, slamming the door shut, and frowns at the lobby, forgetting to brush his teeth.Teodoro is sweeping the floor excitedly to The Manhattans’ “Shining Star”, pretending that the broom was his dance partner. Josias for a few seconds forgets his anger and laughs at the scene. When Teodoro notices the boy, he disguises and returns to sweep normally.“We just work, work... We get to have some fun, too.” He speaks in an apologetic tone, “How can I help you, Josias?”“Seu Teodoro, can you at least put a sign in the men's room telling the men to close the door? Or rather, can you manage to separate the showers by a box?”Teodoro stops sweeping, he’s looking questioningly at Josias. How many demands!“What do you owe so many requests to, Josias?”Josias gulps; he fears he has overdon
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Teodoro quickly realizes that Jeremiah is the man who took a shower with the door open, letting a young lady see him as he came into the world. If she didn't like seeing the black, muscular boy under the shower, it was because she was a family girl. Now he needed to prevent a fight from happening in the lobby.“OK, guys, let's calm down.” Teodoro puts himself in the middle of the two, “Jeremiah, the young man here called Josias was already making me aware of the situation. I happen to agree with his idea, asking you to keep the door closed. When the door is open, it covers the sign that I put on the wall, and other women may inadvertently enter.”“I have lived here for years and this is the first time it has happened.” Jeremias apologizes, not appearing to be sorry, “I can even accept; what I don't agree with is this little guy wanting to teach a moral lesson and speak in decency as if he were the owner of this place. He never
Building My Life Chapter 17 Enough of Jokes
Romualdo approaches the young people with the usual smile. “Good morning, young people! It's good that you are getting to know each other better.” Romualdo notices Josias's dress, “Yeah, there was no way, right? The sweatpants won. But, this is going to be temporary. Shall we start?”Romualdo turns his back and the two boys follow him. The rest of the masons are standing in a corner, waiting for the orders of the day. Romualdo dictates today's schedule, as a real foreman.When everyone goes to perform their tasks, Romualdo takes the famous hoe and gives it to Josias, with a nod. Uélton chuckles again.“See, you did manage to be assigned effectively. I said that I suck with the hoe.”Josias turns to Uélton with the same determined and firm expression. “Don't say such nonsense, Uélton. One day I'll teach you, so you can be proud of knowing how to handle a hoe. Never settle for little. You have t
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A few days had passed since David’s massacre. The news that he had been fiercely reprimanded by Josias didn’t make it into the Maggiezine, but it was a gossip that everyone had heard, spread by word of mouth. David hadn’t been seen during these days. At Crystal Blue, Eugenio was excitedly recounting the juicy details to his nephews. Felipe appeared from the office, and upon hearing the conversation, he stopped where he was. “So, Josias Rocha asks me to leave my office.” Eugenio’s eyes were shining. “That’s when I thought: ‘That’s it, David is screwed!’ Josias Rocha’s voice was so powerful that I felt the need to change my underwear!” “Ha, ha, ha...” Suzy burst into laughter. “Don’t exaggerate, Uncle!” “Maybe that’s exactly what happened, sis.” Jake also chuckled heartily. Felipe smiled with satisfaction. Josias had forgotten to aim the rifle at Daryl and had listened to his hint. With that, he returned to the office and closed the door, picking up his phone next. On the other
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Josias visits the Rocha Hotel since he didn’t have a day off for the staff. In the management room, Eugenio gathered David, Benjamin, and Sybil. “Why is that mere cook present at this meeting?” David asked disparagingly. “Because that’s how our boss ordered it,” Eugenio replied dryly. “I didn’t say anything and didn’t call this meeting, so if you’ll excuse me...” Benjamin and Sybil were horrified to see David leaving the meeting just like that. However, when he opened the door, David came face to face with his father. “David, where do you think you’re going?” “DAD!” David exclaimed, extremely surprised. “I didn’t know you were coming!” “Didn’t Eugenio tell you I was coming?” Josias asked with a scowl. David understood who the ‘boss’ was. Benjamin and Sybil felt vindicated. Josias sat down at the desk, taking Eugenio’s seat, while the manager remained humbly standing. “Very well,” Josias began the meeting in a formal tone, “I’m here just to make things crystal clear. First
Chapter 3147 Josias Instructs His Firstborn
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Chapter 3146 We Need to Talk - Dad
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Chapter 3145 João Paulo Is a Good Father
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Chapter 3144 Benjamin Requests a Transfer
At the Rocha Mansion, Josias receives a visit from Benjamin. “How have you been, Ben? Any news about your parents?” The two embrace. “Actually, that’s what I want to talk about.” Benjamin scratches the back of his neck. The embrace breaks. “Let’s go to my office.” The two gentlemen enter Josias’s imposing office. “Any problems with Adolfo?” Josias asks, becoming serious. “Not yet, but I hope not to have any,” Benjamin replies with some sadness. “You know, Josias, what happened with your father made me think about my family, about how important it is for all of us to be together in the final moments.” “That’s true. João Paulo can tell you that better than I can.” “I think you can say it too. Vernon was the father you never had.” Benjamin clears his throat. “So, I’ve been looking into some hotels and realized there’s a demand at the Rocha Hotel in Victoria.” Josias looks at Benjamin, understanding where he’s going with this. “You want to go to Victoria to be close to your pare
