Donato and the Foreign Language

Trade.

A language that, if said right with a smile and a wink, can get you anything.

"M'a teck?"

A language that could buy me my freedom.

"Curly fries."

"Bathroom."

I called it trade because I picked up some words here and there from the other kids at the orphanage. Sometimes they'd slip and say a word in English when we were alone, or when they were talking about me to the people who ran the place. The first time I heard someone say 'trade' it was like I'd found a whole new world; because it was true, wasn't it? As soon as I heard that word I could see into their minds, and all the things those minds held.

I took what I needed, stole what I wanted--curly fries, chocolate bars--and gave back what they wanted--nickels, dimes, quarters. It was perfect. I had friends now, and no one was angry with me anymore. They liked me because of the things I brought them, and they let me stay because of the things I could do for them. And best of all: no more orphanage! This is how my life is supposed to be; being able to go where I want, eat when I want...it's incredible! But it wasn't always this good; there was a time when people didn't like me as much as they do now.

I woke up early on one particular morning after having slept on a bench in an alleyway behind the deli by the train station. There were still people around though; trucks idling outside barbeque joints and cafes waiting for business to start filling up their seats.

I stretched out on the bench and yawned, thinking about what kind of day lay ahead of me. Probably no money, but plenty of food if I played my cards right. There was a little kid sitting next to me though; he looked scared and even younger than me. He just stared at me like he'd never seen anyone else before, his eyes big and his lips quivering like he wanted to cry but didn't know how.

I couldn't stand that look so I smiled at him instead. "Hey kid," I said in my clearest English, hoping he could understand me somehow without knowing any Trade myself. "What's your name?"

He pointed to himself but stuttered over his reply anyway: "Uh...uhm...Donato." Like he couldn't believe that he knew how to say his own name again; like he didn't even know why he knew it himself in the first place. That made sense to me though; if you're locked up somewhere long enough then you might forget your own name too if you ever knew it in the first place...but you'd always remember how nice curly fries taste once you finally get them again! It's funny how easy some of us are to please! Donato kept looking at me with those big eyes while he played with his fingers like they were puppets on strings--he told me that his mother's name was Maria and that she had brown hair like mine (though her curls weren't as neat as mine!). We talked for a while until we both grew tired of talking so we decided to play a game instead! We sat in front of each other facing forward and put our feet together so we could jump over each other's feet without falling down. It was fun until Donato tripped and fell over onto my feet; then we both laughed because we weren't really doing anything important anyway so why should we care about falling!? Then Donato asked if we could play another game instead which was fine by me--I was bored anyway! We looked around for something interesting but then Donato whispered something into my ear that made him giggle wildly: 'Pee-pee!' Then he pointed over near where some men were getting coffee together at one of those outdoor tables set up along the sidewalk between buildings--there were already some guys peeing there!

It took us a while to find someone who would let us use their bathroom though because nobody would talk trade with us so Donato whispered something else into my ear instead: 'Boogeyman!' And that made us laugh again because this time we knew exactly what we were looking for! Though at first it didn't seem like anyone would help us out either yet eventually someone did say yes--that's why I'm writing all this down now even though it happened years ago!

But before that happened Donato whispered another thing into my ear which made him laugh even harder than before: 'Pee-pee' again! Except this time instead of whispering 'Boogeyman' he pretended to be the Boogeyman by making scary sounds from behind me--the man wouldn't let us inside until we stopped making noise! No fair! Didn't he know how loud laughing can get sometimes!? But Donato thought it was funny too and kept going until finally the guy got tired of waiting too so he opened up his door wide open so we could go inside too--no thanks necessary from our part since Donato had already bought us in through trade earlier while whispering 'curly fries' into my ear before switching back to 'Boogeyman' when someone wouldn't take us seriously yet again!