Crunch by Rick Bundschuh Page B

Bethany and dribbled it to a hole in a pallet fence that served as his makeshift goal.
    He grinned broadly as he kicked the ball in for a point.
    â€œLittle rascal,” Bethany laughed.
    Eddie waved the boy over and acted as interpreter for Bethany.
    â€œHe says he is five, and he lives here with his mother, four brothers, and a sister. He usually has to work in the dump, but his mother said he could have the day off—to stay clean. He likes to play football (which means soccer in Mexico) and wants to be on the national team someday,” Eddie translated.
    â€œWow! Such ambition from such a young kid!” Sarah said, smiling down at the boy warmly.
    â€œIf he keeps playing like he did with me, he might make it,” Bethany grinned.
    Eduardo said something that caused Eddie to croak out, “ Como? ”
    Eddie listened to Eduardo repeat what he said. Then Eddie translated for Bethany. “He says he heard you speak about God at the orphanage,” Eddie said with a shake of his head. “He believes you will help him see the face of God.”
    â€œBut I never said anything like—“ Bethany felt Eduardo grab on to the edge of her sweatshirt.
    â€œI think you have a fan,” Sarah observed.
    â€œI think I’m Eduardo’s fan,” Bethany replied, trying her best to blink back the tears that had formed in her eyes.
    For the rest of the day, Bethany and Eduardo were inseparable. They played games of tag, played hopscotch in a course scratched out in the dirt, and ate snacks together from Bethany’s backpack.
    By mid-afternoon the last child had been bathed, and the team was busy dismantling the portable bathhouse and loading empty water containers into vehicles. Bethany strolled back to the slum with Eduardo and a few other children who had gathered around the tall blonde girl who was having so much fun with their friend.
    As they walked, Eduardo grabbed Bethany’s sleeve and pulled her toward one of the small houses with a blue tarp roof held in place by bricks and flat rocks.
    â€œMi casa ,” Eduardo said with a grin as he started pulling her toward the doorway.
    Bethany wanted to stay outside the home, but Eduardo was having none of it.
    As she stepped inside, she realized the home was even smaller than she had first imagined. It had only one window. Three sagging cots were pressed against the corner, and a small table with an old TV set was against the wall. Bethany noticed that the wires from the TV were connected to a car battery. A couple of beat-up chairs were wedged against the table, and next to it was a kerosene camp stove on a small stand with a few pots and pans underneath. The floor was merely layer upon layer of mismatched carpet laid on the bare ground.
    A small, thick-waisted young woman, who Bethany took to be Eduardo’s mother, was sitting on the edge of a cot when the pair entered, and she flushed with embarrassment. She ran to meet Bethany while saying something that sounded like a scold to the young boy.
    Bethany, for her part, felt out of place standing there. She quickly introduced herself and then edged back toward the door.
    She slipped outside and took a deep breath. It had only been a glimpse, but what she had seen shocked her more than anything she had witnessed in all of her travels.
    Then the shock quickly melted into compassion as Eduardo appeared again with his pathetic-looking soccer ball in hand. He flashed a grin that persuaded Bethany to play another round with him.
    They played on the plain of the dusty, seagullinfested landfill until Sarah called that they were getting ready to leave the site.
    Bethany ran toward the caravan with Eduardo close at her heels. As the rest of her team wearily climbed into the vans, Bethany bent down and gave the boy a hug, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks as she told him good-bye.
    Eduardo smiled, patted her cheek, and said something to her in