"Arturo's Flight" (From _An Island Like You_)

If I were Johann and I had learned about Arturo's life and situation, I would've told him not to worry. Arturo feels like an outcast in his school because of his home life and he feels like an outcast in his neighborhood because he enjoys some of his school subjects and wants to do well, but tries to hide this because he knows/fears that he will be ostracized for it.

Johann seems like the type of guy that would give some genuine consideration to Arturo's plight and then help him see it positively and recognize its temporary nature. Arturo, he would say, you have parents who love you, you are smart and talented, you have beautiful hair...you're just confused. Johann would have said to Arturo exactly what Ms. Rathbone told him: "'For what care I who calls me well or ill?'"

Johann's age allows him to help Arturo look into the future and see that he will always have what really matters and that those who wish him ill will also get what they choose to work toward...