LIKE BROTHERS

When I first met Chris, I thought he was a tourist. His skin as white as a sheet betrayed the fact that he had settled on the island months earlier. He was British, and he was studying in the international school located not far from the beach where I liked to go swimming. We were exactly the same age and we held the same grief: his parents had left him on the island with his paternal grandfather to better go about their life as very busy businessman and businesswoman. What could Chris complain about? After all, exile under the Caribbean sun was much better than exile in a boarding school in Oxford, London or Cambridge, wasn't it?!

'Hey! Sorry, do you speak English?' Chris said in English, running after me as if he had lost something.

I was doing pretty well in English at school. I was watching films in English. I was reading a lot too. Also, I was practising with tourists by offering them my help. I used the same methods with Polish and French to be able to learn and practise both languages.

'I can get by,' I replied.

'Well, I think you're doing better than me in Spanish,' he said with a smirk as he tugged my arm.

He needed an interpreter to get his money back.

***

'Thanks mate! I'm Chris,' he exclaimed with a broad smile a few minutes later, putting his money into his pocket.

'No problem! I'm Borys,' I said, returning his smile. 'What brings you to Cuba?' I asked curious.

'My parents dropped me off at my grandfather's like they had pooped, then they left after enrolling me in the international school,' he replied, laughing. 'And you, are you from here?'

'My mother is from here. Like you, I live with a grandparent,' I said, 'What's wrong with those parents who get rid of their children like this?' I continued without hiding my bitterness, 'As if we were the ones who'd asked to be born.'

'Most of us are just accidents,' he said mockingly, 'Many have children because that's what we're supposed to do before we die. Don't forget, some governments even pay people to encourage them to have offsprings since it suits the economy: more consumers to pay tax and drag by the nose... We'll do the same too,' he added, laughing even harder, 'We all have to leave something behind before we die, don't we?!'

After the introductions, Chris and I became like brothers, united in sorrow as well as by countless moments of joy and laughter. Chris' friendship and company supported me during my flashes of doubt and entertained me during my periods of loneliness. Two youngsters stranded on a paradise island with the affection and wisdom of their grandparent as their sole GPS.