Bernardo casually grabs a tattered sheet of old news print from the pile of trash that occupies the corner of his bedroom. The trash isn't his, neither is the room really. It came with the place, an added bonus to the windowless abandoned factory Bernardo calls home. He fiddles with the paper and glances over the words as he describes a beating he took a few weeks ago.
An unidentified man hit Bernardo in the face with a 2x4. The man was trying to steal Bernardo's wife's bag. Mindy refused to let go. The $666 and few bags of heroin she was holding were much to important to give up without a fight. The robber didn't know what was in her purse. He couldn't understand her persistence.
The man left without the purse, and instead took the book bag Mindy was carrying. In it were some dirty clothes and a psychology book she was reading titled, How to Forgive. A few weeks days later, the couple found the book bag on the street. The clothes were still in it but the book was gone.
As Bernardo retells the tale, he points to his broken face that he can't afford to get fixed. He mentions the way doctors treat patients after they find out they are drug users. He tells us about his eye and the way it sinks into the socket. He goes back to reading the newspaper.
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