Pedrito’s Diary, Day 28
February 18, 2025
Gabriel kept looking at me intently for a while. He then gave me one of his biggest hugs ever. I so needed that! There was hardly any sound in the entire hangar except for the moaning and soft crying coming from the other side. I thought that I could still hear Jesu’s cries. Alejandro, Diego and Jose just sat on their beds in tears. This night was going to be a very, very long one.
The lights were turned off but we could still hear the crying. I don’t know how long the crying lasted; I just fell asleep with Gabriel by my side.
I woke up first to the sound of the megaphone, then to the lights. “ATTENTION EVERYONE! More of you got sick after dinner. Get up now! You will shift beds again.” We did as we were told. At least 20 boys went to the side where 27 were moved last night according to the announcement after breakfast yesterday.
Once everyone had settled, all 5 of us stood up on our beds and tried to see Jesu but we couldn’t. We could hear long and hard coughs coming from the site of the sick boys, though. After a short time, Gabriel fell asleep. I sat at the end of my bed, not to stir him. I stayed awake in that position for a little longer, then stretched my legs, and finally fell asleep.
The megaphone woke us all up. We had to pick up our breakfast. As soon as we saw Mr. Matias, we rushed to him and asked: “Could we please see Jesu, Mr. Matias? Please!” He looked up and answered: “That’s impossible, boys. I’m sorry. We suspect that those boys in isolation have food poisoning. However, we are not sure but whatever they have may be contagious. No one but the nurse can be anywhere near them. And he wears a mask all the time.” Alejandro asked nervously: “Do you know how Jesu is doing? If you do, please tell us. Please!” Mr. Matias now had a sad expression on his face. He answered in a shaky voice: “I am very sorry, boys. Jesu is not doing well. He had a high fever all night long. The nurse couldn’t stop him from crying hard or from shivering uncontrollably. He is very sick.”
We all stood there and tried to make sense of what Mr. Matias just told us. Jesu didn’t seem very sick when Diego took him to the guard yesterday. Was he sick for much longer when he was with us and we didn’t see that? He never said anything to his brothers. Was he trying not to scare us?
Suddenly, Diego dashed toward the sick boys. His eyes were filled with tears and he was shouting: “Jesu, we are all here waiting for you to get better. You’re going to be okay. Don’t worry! Just do what the nurse says. We love you so very much! Just get better, Jesu! Okay?”
Two guards ran after Diego, stopped him before he could go farther and dragged him back. One guard slapped his face very hard and threatened him: “If you do this again, you will be moved to the storage room. It’s cold and dark there. Do you understand?”
Diego didn’t answer him. The guard looked very angry, yelled at him again: “Do you understand, I said! Answer me!” When Diego didn’t answer him, he raised his hand again. Just when he was about to slap Diego’s face again, Mr. Matias stepped in and held the guard’s hand, forcing it down. Looking still angry, the guard spoke: “But Sir, these children must obey the rules.” Mr. Matias gave him a stern look and said: “Go to your post right now, and never raise your hand to any of the children. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” The guard answered sheepishly: “Yes, Sir.”
Diego was crying quietly. Alejandro’s and Jose’s tears were rolling down their faces. We didn’t care if we ate or not. Without getting our breakfast food, all 5 of us went back to our beds. None of us spoke a word. Lunchtime passed. Dinner time passed. None of us had moved from where we sat.
© hülya n. yılmaz, March 8, 2025
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