The Sunbathing Cowboy

Benedito Goncalo Cruz Pereira

It had been years since I had last seen a childhood picture of me and Tomas. In fact it had been years since I had seen a childhood picture of myself. When my parents kicked me out of Brazil and exiled me to New York, Pedro was only able to grab a handful of pictures for me and in those I was already a teenager. 

I could say I was five but from Bobby's pictures when he was five we looked world's apart. Bobby was always in his big jeans and hat, even in the picture you could tell he was a naughty toddler by the grin he always gave the camera and the innocence in his eyes was still so bright it felt like if you could blink you would be right there with him. 

All of his family pictures looked so happy. Like he had the proper childhood he deserved before he learned the world was not the perfect place it was portrayed to be.