Pedrito’s Diary, Day 15
February 5, 2025
I woke up to a quiet hangar. It looked like everyone was asleep. I thought of the baby. The last time I heard her cries was yesterday afternoon. Why would they take a baby from the mother? Babies need special care. I know it from Mama’s tender care of Gabriela. Who would separate a baby and a mother? Why?
All these questions on my mind stopped when I saw Gabriel’s arms stretched into the air. His eyes were still closed. “Mama, Papa, I’m cold. Hold me!” He was sleeping next to me. I hugged him tightly. “It’s okay, Gabriel. I’m here. Everything is going to be okay.” He opened his tearful eyes, sat up and hugged me back so very tightly. “We will be okay, right Pedrito?” He was looking intensely into my eyes. “Yes, Gabriel. Yes, we will be okay!”
“Gabriel, do you need to pee before breakfast?” I asked him. “Yes! I need to pee a lot!” We both rushed to the back gates and from there toward the boulder. The guards knew the drill. So, they let us be. I stood a little away from the boulder like I did other times. I wanted to give Gabriel some privacy. I took a few steps when Gabriel shrieked: “Pedrito, what is this white stuff? I’m so scared!” I then heard one of the guards answer him: “That’s to cover over your number 2s. Nothing to be scared about!”
When it was my turn, I told Gabriel to wait for me up close. The smell was still horrible but it wasn’t as strong as before.
On our way to the back gates, I saw two guards talking. One of them was the woman whom I saw soon after my arrival here, the same woman who was holding a crying baby in her arms. This time, she had some kind of a bundle in her arms. The man asked her: “What’s this?” She told him not to be that loud, then answered: “She died last night. She was miserable anyway. She wasn’t taking her bottle anymore.”
I so wished I hadn’t heard all this. Worse! Gabriel also heard everything. I held his hand and hurried back to our corner. “Pedrito, what does ‘died’ mean?” I tried to hide my sadness from him but he saw it on my entire face. I quickly changed the subject: “Are you hungry, Gabriel? Breakfast will be soon. I am so very hungry!” He didn’t repeat his question, he answered mine: “Yes, Pedrito! I am very hungry!”
After all of us got our usual food and Gabriel was already eating his, I whispered to Alejandro’s ear: “Remember the baby that was crying a lot? She died last night. Gabriel heard the guards but I distracted him. You will tell your brothers, right?” Alejandro whispered the sad news into Diego’s ears. He did the same to Jose. They always treated Jesu, their youngest, like Gabriel. So, Jesu was saved from finding out the baby’s death.
© hülya n. yılmaz, February 5, 2025
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