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Have you ever wondered what it would be like? You know? To walk a mile in another man’s shoes. ‘The devil is laughing alright! Not only am I practically a junkie again, I’m also cheating on my wife with a married woman. This isn’t backsliding. This is diving head first into a bucket full of sh*t. And I’m so numb I can’t even smell it.’ Somehow everything had just kind of snowballed and David didn’t even know how it got that bad. But the devil did! "I am not much of a reader, but I owed someone a favour. So I flipped through the first few pages, I didn't put it down until I finished it!" Gerry Brummer
The Story of David
Hi, I’m David. I’m 12 years old and I’m sitting in a jail cell. I’m so scared I can taste it. Like some kind of gas or vapour at the back of my mouth. And that, I’m-about-to-bite-a-lemon feeling in my jaw. The cell feels damp. Damp and dark. It smells of other people’s body excretions. Piss and sh*t and vomit. Probably a lot of sweat. Fear sweat.
The police have just taken my friend to the next room. It was quiet for a moment. Then I heard a crack, followed by an excruciating scream. More cracks and the scream turned to broken sobs. As if his mind could not make the connection between the pain and the expression of it.
I knew that I was next. My friend was 16. I was only 12. The taste of fear increased. Incredibly enough, along with that fear come a different feeling. Something new. I didn’t know what it was exactly. Now I know it was pride and determination.
A really big policeman came into my cell. He had red hair. He was a giant. He was an angel of doom. He was here to introduce me to his wrath. Somehow I managed to walk without my knees giving way.
He told me to take my pants down. I felt so vulnerable. The taste of fear was so much I felt as if I could vomit it out. I braced myself. I knew it was going to be bad. The first crack of that cane sent excruciating pain throughout my entire body. You’d think it would only hurt where it landed. But that is not how it is. Literally, every nerve in my body felt that crack. I wanted to scream. ‘One is enough. I have learned my lesson! One is enough!’
But I was getting 4! There was no way I was going to scream or cry in front of this man! I could tell he was surprised at my silence. He muttered under his breath, ‘So you are a tough one are you’
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Francisco Javier Pintor Maldonado
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