Everything started with a huge hand grasping my right shoulder. It should have looked like a friendly gesture between two colleagues. He indicated in a low voice that I should continue walking: the small group of Mataputos (it wasn't a joke; that's what they were called and they had already sent three homosexuals from school to the hospital) whose leader had already marked me as a target, as I found out later, just passed by our side when moments before they had begun to approach me with a malicious smile on his face.

Twenty daily bills were too much for a 17-year-old boy; but I didn't have many options at that moment. I didn't know what could be more dangerous: if I risked walking alone and fell into the hands of the Mataputos or if I annoyed my "voluntary" bodyguard by refusing to gratify him for his protection service.

There was no alternative. Every morning I found him standing at the bus stop near my parents' department, where I started walking, he passed his arm over my back and grasped my right shoulder. At some point, he took out my wallet and extracted his payment; then we arrived at the school gate where he released me and continued walking without even turning around. At the end of classes, no matter if I delayed or advanced my exit; he appeared as soon as I had taken a couple of steps on the sidewalk and the process was repeated until the corner before reaching my home. This was repeated for five days a week during the three months that remained of the course.

"Don't go out unless necessary. Only attend stores on the main avenue. On weekends, lock yourself in your house and don't go out unless you're accompanied by your parents" was one of the longest phrases I heard him say during that period. The guy barely uttered a word; and it was always to give me some instruction, or to scold me for something. One time I went out without enough money: He took the little he found, returned the wallet to my pocket, and squeezed the hand with which he held me all the way to school. "Tomorrow bring forty" he said before releasing me in front of the school: he repeated the procedure during the afternoon and the next morning I went out with 45 bills, my arm still aching and a bruise that took a couple of weeks to disappear and which I could barely hide from my family.

On another occasion, he scolded me for having gone out with my cousin at dusk on Sunday. It had been my parents' idea, since they were visiting us and the boy wanted to go out for some treats, so they sent me with him to watch him. He took the opportunity to point out other occasions when I had ventured too close to the park and areas near the warehouses that he had also ordered me to avoid. I barely tried to respond, he cut me off immediately. I understood that all this was a form of extortion; but I was concerned to know that he was watching my movements in this way.

...

MP and a two-digit number tattooed on his arm. The Mataputos ...