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RESEARCHING THE HOUSING MARKET

old, was trotting down the stairs on her own, completely unaware of what had been occurring moments before.

Niña. Little girl.

I didn’t want to tell Ricardo about what had happened this time in case he thought I was asking him to solve my problems for me or that having me stay in his room might be too dangerous. When he asked about the interview with the embassy, I handed him thirty bolivianos to help pay for the food I’d eaten, and told him I would definitely receive more money soon to pay him for the accommodation. I used twenty-five to pay el Ingreso and kept the remaining five for myself. Ricardo agreed to let me stay with him a little longer, but I could tell that he wanted me out of his living space as soon as possible because he started encouraging me to look around for a room.

However, he also warned me it could take some time to find the right one. ‘You can’t go out and buy a room just like that. You’ve got to do your homework first. Research the market, my friend. Buyer beware.’

The next day, he gave me a rundown on all the sections and afterwards insisted on taking me around the prison so that I could see them for myself. I didn’t want to go. I already knew where I wanted to stay: as close to Ricardo as possible. And although I couldn’t tell him the reason, I was very scared of going out into the main prison, especially down to the inside sections where the gang was from.

‘You should come, Thomas,’ Ricardo said. ‘You need to meet the people. Don’t worry. Guillermo and Pedro will be with us. It’s daytime. You’ll be safe. Just remember you are inglés.’

‘No soy americano.’ I parroted the expression he had taught me. He laughed.

‘That’s the spirit. We’ll have to work on your pronunciation, though.’

‘Soy de Inglaterra,’ I put on my jacket and a brave face, ready to go out.

‘Exactly! Come on! It’ll be fun.’

When I thought of those four men I had seen on my first day smoking pipes in the abandoned building, laughing and screaming at me crazily, and the gang that had attacked me, ‘fun’ wasn’t the word that came to mind.