Nothing is as it should be

Nothing is as it should be (English)

Gabriélla sighed and wrote the maths sum down again. She thought and thought but couldn't remember what the teacher explained. She couldn't pay attention, was too distracted. She kept thinking about what happened this morning. She walked in, and saw mãe, sitting on the couch, crying. Next to her sat pai, rubbing her back to comfort her. Gabriélla wanted to ask what was going on, but pai just shook his head. She went back to her room, which she shared with her four younger sisters. Luckily, they were at school, so Gabriélla could prepare her lessons for this afternoon. She loved to go to school, to her friends and her amazing teacher Miss Alima. But the school was too small and there were too few teachers to teach everyone. So the littles ones go to school in the morning, the people Gabriélla's age in the afternoon. But Gabriélla couldn't concentrate today. What could be wrong with mãe? She closed her books. This wasn't working. She picked up her book and started reading. Reading about a country where everyone can go to school. In which everyone is safe. In which no violence is used. In which men and women are equal.

Suddenly the door opened. Angelo, her twin brother, stood in the door. 'Come on, little one, we have to go to school.' Was it that late already? She looked through the window. The sun had already passed the mid sky. She completely lost track of time while reading. Quickly, she put her books in her bag and rushed after Angelo. Together, they walked to school. They passed two gangs who were living in their favela on the way to school. 'Look, little one, I'm going to join a gang when I'm older', Angelo said. 'Stop calling me "little one"!', she growled back. Angelo was taller than her, and 15 minutes older. He loved to remind her of that. Angelo gave her a defiant look. She looked defiant back and ran off. Angelo ran after her.
When they entered the school, Gabriélla asked Angelo: 'You didn't mean that, did you? That you want to join a gang when you're older? But he just shrugged and walked to his class.

Miss Alima was explaining, but Gabriélla didn't hear it. She kept thinking about mãe, crying on the couch, with dad next to her. But also about the things Angelo said. She noticed that her classmates were taking their books out of their bags, so Miss Alima finished her explanation. Quickly, she took her books out of her bag and searched for the right page. 'Gabriélla, can you come to my desk please?' She startled and walked to the desk of her teacher, after which Gabriella looked at her questioningly. 'I saw that you weren't paying attention to my class.' She felt the blood heating in her cheeks and started stammering something that sounded like "I'm sorry'. Miss Alima appeased her and asked: 'Is there something wrong?' Gabriélla hesitated. Should she tell Miss Alima, or keep it to herself? 'Euhhmm, well, it's probably nothing, but ...' She fell silent. How should she say this? 'But?', Miss Alima asked, waiting. 'When I walked in this morning, mãe was crying. It's not like her at all, normally she is very sweet and controlled', she continued. Gabriélla felt the tears coming. Who would want to hurt her sweet, caring mãe? 'Pai was sitting next to her. Usually, he is at work at that time of the day, but now, he sat next to mãe, to comfort her.' She found herself speaking faster than she should. She took a deep breath. 'Nobody ever tells me what's going on'. A tear rolled down her cheek. 'Aha', her teacher said, 'I see.' She turned uncomfortably in her chair, and looked the other way. 'You know what's going on, don't you?' Miss Alima looked at Gabriélla now, right in the eye. Her face became serious. 'I don't want to lie to you, Gabriélla, but I don't want to scare you either. Indeed, I know what's going on, and I find it terribly shocking.'

'And what about me? May I not know what is going on? I'm sick of people wo treat like a baby, like I don't hear, see or get anything. I'm 15, not 5', she bursted out. Then, she realised what she said, and whom she talking to. She covered her mouth with her hand. 'I'm so sorry Miss, that wasn't my intention.' She felt her cheeks getting red because of the shame, and she looked down. 'I certainly understand that you don't like it, but I'm not the one who may decide, who can decide if you can know what happened. Do you have a phone at your house?'