Trash

A 63-year-old man named Father Juilliard says that he is the one compiling the various accounts of the story. He has been running the Pascal Aguila Mission School at the Behala dumpsite for seven years. His class sizes are dwindling, even though he tries to bribe the children with food. He meets Raphael, Gardo, and Rat in his classes, but they mostly stop coming after age 10. He thinks of the rules of the school and laughs to himself: “Rules are what we live by even though we all know they’re sometimes foolish” (53). One rule he likes is that no one can speak when they are on the chapel steps because the chapel is dedicated to Pascal Aguila, “one of the country’s lesser-known freedom fighters” (53). His picture hangs over the altar. Pascal was shot to death on his way to a trial in which he was going to be a witness against three senators who were stealing public tax funds.

The three boys come to visit him on a Thursday. Father Juilliard describes Gardo as the leader. Rat says they are there to use the computer for a quiz for school.