Chapter 2 dragged

Letícia, but rather his mouth. — I let go of one's ear and grabbed the other's. - Are you dating! Are you dating! Are you dating! — Joshua began to sing to Jacob, who responded to the mockery with a push. I left Jason to separate the two and found myself like almost every other night, with three demonized pre-teens wanting to kill each other. It didn't take long for the landline phone to ring and the school principal to accuse me again between the lines of being a bad father. The worst thing is that she was right, that's what I was. — Mr. Mackenzie, your children are suspended next week and I need to speak to you personally about their inappropriate behavior. I sighed, nodding. — Can we make an appointment on Tuesday afternoon? - Clear. I'll wait for you at 2pm. Have a good night. I didn't know exactly what I was doing wrong, but I had tried everything to correct their behavior, except spanking them, because I didn't believe in that type of education. Even the child psychologist couldn't help, she said they were healthy boys, they missed their mother and took out their frustration with their mischief. — It's just a phase, Mr. Mackenzie, it will pass and they will be quieter — said the dishonored woman three years ago. I had no social life, once I brought a girlfriend for them to meet, the poor girl left my farm covered in rotten eggs and wheat flour, calling me all sorts of bad names, but what could I do if she was careless? and passed under their bedroom window without making sure they were up to something? Knowing that there was no woman crazy enough to live with my little devils, I resigned myself to being alone and stopped trying. Love wasn't for me. At least not until they go to college. — Have you taken a shower, son? — I went into Joshua's room. — Of course, dad, I'm not a child anymore, you don't need to keep checking on me — he said sullenly. — So, if you're not a child anymore, you won't need me to tell you a bedtime story. — Who said stories are told only to children? — The smart guy tried, and I couldn't help but laugh. I started to read, but he soon interrupted me. — Dad, I didn't want Leticia to cry, I just got jealous of her with Jacob, and I ended up accidentally telling Camy, who told the whole school. She's a gossip. I sighed. — Do you like Letícia? — Errrr! No, how disgusting! Girls are disgusting! — Then why were you jealous of your brother with her? — Because Jacob was supposed to pretend to be me in physical education class, but he let me down for a girl and everyone made fun of me, because I don't know how to play properly. — I looked at him in disbelief. — Oops! I talked too much... My children were unbelievable. — Do you ask your brothers to pretend to be you in classes when you don't get along? — I looked at him, dying of anger and at the same time trying not to laugh. —That's cheating. He huddled in the corner of the bed, shaking his hands as he justified himself. — No, Dad, it's not cheating. It's called companionship, wasn't it you who told us that we should be friends with each other and always protect each other? School is a jungle and if you are weak, you will be massacred. And the little bastard left me without answers again... — It's wrong to use the similarity between you to deceive the teachers. I don't want you doing this again, am I clear? I said it firmly, allowing no objections, but I noticed that the smart guy hid his crossed fingers from me behind his back. — I promise it won't happen again, Dad. And I pretended to believe it and went to put the next child to sleep. Chapter 2 Clara Mancini “If one day someone told me to be what I am and what I like I don't know who I am and I'm going to change To be what I always wanted And if you say that you dream of one day being happy Be serious” Music : Xote da joy Falamansa My hands were shaking so much that I thought I was going to let the cappuccino spill. — I'll hold it so you can read it properly — said Emily, taking the drink from my hand, so that I could open the envelope properly, so much was I anxious to read the answer that I couldn't move two steps away from the mailbox, to open it and check the result at home. - Girl of God! I achieved. — I held the paper in front of her face, [2] so she could see the word APPROVED on the paper. — Look here, friend, it says here that I got it, doesn’t it? She quickly glanced at the paper and grabbed me in a tight [3] hug, saying a series of congratulations. I had actually achieved it. I was finishing the last month of my exchange in Austin, but I absolutely didn't want to return to Brazil. Not that I wasn't missing home, my family and my friends, but living this time away from them made me grow so much and learn so many new things, that I needed to stay at least a little longer. College wasn't quite like the afternoon movies I used to watch, or at least it wasn't like that for me. I had a really hard time trying to get top marks in everything and not be embarrassed by my English at school, which didn't have even a hint of a Texan accent. However, I had help from Emily, who I was lucky enough to meet here on the first day. She spoke Portuguese, because her mother was Brazilian, but she never visited Brazil. So, she trained my pronunciation with me, saving me from several situations where I had no idea what people were saying around me, and I did it, I was the best student in the class and now I would have the opportunity to continue living a little more of my American dream. Emily was advertising a vacancy in her rented room, at the door of the building where I had taken my documents to regularize my registration and we hit it off straight away, and soon she revealed that she knew how to speak Portuguese, which was a relief. I became her roommate and before long she turned into a sister to me. She told me that the university awarded a scholarship to the best students on the course at the end of the first semester and my eyes lit up with excitement. It was like that with her, she got a full scholarship to study dentistry, which was a relief for her family, as they would save a fortune on student loans. — We need to celebrate, we will continue living together until we graduate. — Emily dragged me into the building. — Let's go to Billy Bob's for a beer, today it's on me. — But I need to finish a report for Professor Jonh before he leaves, I promised to send it by email by tomorrow. She rolled her eyes. — We won't be back late, I'll help you with anything. — I sighed, but went to get ready and soon we were on our third round of beer. — I need to get a temporary job at least during the summer holidays — I mused out loud, thinking about my little savings. During the entire time I remained in Austin, my expenses were paid by UFMG, through the exchange program, however, with the new scholarship I would only be entitled to free tuition, I would no longer have the benefits of accommodation and food. My family, despite being