C.W. Partial nudity, Alcoholism, Drug Use, Bullying 

The 1970s were tumultuous years for Lucas Amery and Sergio Edevane. Their childhoods were marred by relentless abuse from their caregivers. Did anyone truly care about their well-being? Could some authority protect them? Would they even dare to seek help from a responsible adult? And if they did, would anyone listen? Would anyone believe them? The answer was always the same: no. They were alone, frightened young boys —12 and 14 years old, respectively— each grappling with the violence that defined their lives in their own ways. 

**

Lucas woke up early. He lived with his mother and her new partner, a man much older than she was. At least he seemed useful —he worked as a mechanic in an auto repair shop, unlike Lucas’s late father. The boy stepped out of his room and saw the couple still sprawled in bed, showing little regard —his mother’s bare back exposed without care.

The room around them was chaos, cluttered and filthy. It wouldn’t have been surprising to see cockroaches scurrying across the apartment. It was clear his mother didn’t care enough to clean. Lucas opened the fridge. There was little inside, but he managed to throw together a sandwich before leaving silently for school.  

As he walked to the bus stop, he noticed a girl hugging her mother. They looked more like best friends than family. Lucas watched them with contempt. His mother wasn’t the type to care about anyone but herself. If she was in a relationship now, it was only because she wanted someone to take care of her. Watching these families loving each other made Lucas feel anger bubbling inside him. He hated being one of the unlucky kids, the ones destined for unhappy childhoods.  

A few minutes later, he boarded the bus, sitting at the back and pretending to sleep. In truth, he didn’t want to return home —not until late at night. He wanted to avoid seeing his mother drinking and, worse, being abused by her.

Meanwhile, Sergio had spent the night sleeping on the cold kitchen floor —the space his uncle had designated as his “room”. The night had been anything but peaceful. His uncle had thrown a party with some neighbors —lazy, aimless people like him— and a few women of the night. The floor was littered with empty bottles and traces of drugs. All the adults did as they pleased with each other, right in front of that boy's eyes.

The scene was revolting, repugnant. Sergio didn’t belong there, but he had nowhere else to go. He was just a young boy trying to survive in the real world after enduring the hell of his grandmother’s care.  

One of the women, finishing getting dressed in the bathroom, saw Sergio rummaging through the kitchen pantry, searching for something to eat.  

“There’s nothing, huh?” she said. “Come on, my mom works at a nearby store. Hmm… I guess you must be heading to school too.”  

Sergio nodded, blushing. He was a sweet, shy boy who struggled with speech.  

The woman felt a faint sense of pity for Sergio, but she believed it wasn’t her place to get involved. She was only there for work, and he was merely the nephew of one of her clients. Still, she offered him a small gesture of kindness.  

An hour later, both Lucas and Sergio arrived at the school in the city center. The three-story building was old, its walls covered in graffiti, and the grounds were chaotic, filled with shouting and running children —as if it were a battlefield. Students dragged themselves into classrooms, while teachers fought to maintain order with unrelenting authority.  

Lucas took his usual seat in the back row by the window of the classroom. He was the top student in his class, but his academic brilliance was overshadowed by his reputation as a troublemaker and bully.  

Lucas thought of himself as a king. A group of boys followed him wherever he went, more out of fear than admiration. Physically strong and capable of delivering punches with the precision of a professional boxer, Lucas had beaten several students, including those older and bigger than him. His curly hair often fell into his eyes, lending an air of quiet menace to his gaze.

Intelligent in some aspects, but cruel when provoked, Lucas was a boy without remorse. He thrived on stealing lunches, shouting profanities, and preying on the weak. It was painfully clear that Sergio Edevane, the new kid in class, was his next target.