Minas Gerais

I've lived in Minas Gerais for as long as I can remember. Everything I know about farm life, I learned from my dad.

Manoel Venancio

My dad always worked the land. He married my mom when he was barely twenty. She got pregnant with me and died in childbirth the moment I was born.

He raised me on his own until I turned ten. That's when he met my stepmother, Isabel. She had a daughter named Rosalina, who's twenty now.

Stepmother Isabel

Rosalina

At first, Isabel treated me like I was loved. She took care of me. But Rosalina was already fourteen when she moved in with us at the ranch, and she hated me for no reason. My bedroom became hers.

As things between us got worse by the day, my dad started taking me out to the fields with him to avoid fights, because my stepmother kept telling him I didn't like either of them.

While my dad worked until dark, those two sat on their asses on the couch all day. Late at night, we'd come home covered in dirt, and my conniving stepmother would kiss my dad at the door.

"Honey, I cleaned the whole house. Look at your daughter — she's filthy," Isabel said.

"She won't track anything in, sweetheart," my dad replied.

I took my boots off outside and headed for the bedroom I shared with Rosalina. The second I walked in, my wardrobe was gone. My bed too.

"You're moving to the stable," Rosalina said. "You'll feel right at home. You already smell like a horse."

I didn't say a word. I just grabbed what was left of my things and walked past them in the living room. Inside that house, my dad surrendered to their charms, and I became nothing but the country hick from the sticks.

My name is Betina. I'm turning eighteen soon. Right now I live in the horse stall. The only time I go to my dad's house is to eat.

Nothing has changed since then. My dad gives Rosalina and Isabel the good life while I work alongside him, plowing the soil and planting. Sometimes I help drive the cattle to the other side of the ranch.

For years, we've worked at the Schimidt Ranch, for a man named Sulivan Schimidt and his wife.

Sulivan Schimidt and Vanessa Schimidt

Mr. Sulivan visits the ranch once a year, stays about three months, then leaves. His whole life is in Sao Paulo. The last time they came, they brought clothes for me and Rosalina. Mr. Sulivan gave me a tablet so I could study and learn to read better, since I'd dropped out of school to work the fields.

That tablet was taken from me because of Rosalina. She claimed I was making fun of her, so my dad handed it to Rosalina. Like I said — he shielded them while his own daughter slept in a barn.

The Schimidts rushed back to Sao Paulo after getting a phone call. Something serious had happened. Whenever they were here, I took care of the entire ranch house, catering to Mrs. Vanessa's every whim. That woman was insufferably vain.

Everything she asked, I did. I'd clean the house three times over, and she'd still say it was dirty. Thank God when they finally left. I cleaned up and headed for the stable. It was late, so I avoided passing by my old house.

"Hey, big guy," I said.

I ran my hand over my one true companion.

"You missed me, didn't you? One day I'm gonna fly real high, study hard, and be a smart girl."

The horse pulled me in with his head, hugging me the only way he knew how. I let my tears fall. My dad had never once come to check on me since I started sleeping here. Not even when I got really sick.

I bathed with a bucket in the small outdoor bathroom, changed, and went to sleep. Morning was the same as always — the farmhands came to wake me and feed the horse.

"You should stand up for yourself, girl," the foreman said.

"I don't want trouble, Mr. Carlos."

"You've been in this stall for years, girl. When the hard freeze comes, you'll die in here."

"I've made it through a bunch of them already, and I'm still here. I've got my big guy to keep me warm."

"Here — my wife wanted you to have these clothes. They're not new, but they'll do. And this phone. Hide it."

"Thank you. I'll hide it."

"I could find a school for you."

"I can't. I have to help my dad."

"You think about your dad too much, and he doesn't even see it. You don't keep a single cent while those two spend everything."

"I don't mind, Mr. Carlos. I'm used to it."

Mr. Carlos hugged me and headed out to the pastures to wrangle cattle. I grabbed the hay and started filling the stalls.

I didn't see my dad all day. He'd gone to the harvest. At lunchtime I went to the house to eat — nothing was made. The pampered princesses were still asleep. I cooked the whole meal, set the table, ate, covered the dishes with a cloth, and went back to work.

That night I took a bath and turned on the phone Mr. Carlos and his wife had given me. It already had a number and everything. I started poking around and struggled just to figure out the basics.

I found some videos that taught reading and writing. I started copying everything down, slow and careful, and read just as slowly. I fell asleep with the phone on my face.

"Betina!"

I shot up when Carlos shook me.

"What time did you go to sleep? Were you up late studying, Betina?"

"Yeah — look at this, Mr. Carlos!"

I started reading out loud, slow and steady, and Mr. Carlos clapped his hands.

"You're learning! Good job, Betina."

"I learned how to write my first and last name, Mr. Carlos."

"That's great, sweetheart. Keep at it. That's why I gave you that phone. We'll keep paying the bill so you'll always have internet."

Mr. Carlos ruffled my hair and handed me a bag with a bottle of water and bread inside. I sat down and ate.

"You're way too thin. Did you have dinner?"

"I haven't been having dinner, Mr. Carlos."

"This work is hard, Betina. You need to eat."

"I was thinking of building a little stove out here so I can cook some corn and vegetables."

"I'm going to talk to your father, Betina. This can't go on."

"No — please don't stress Dad out. He's already got so much work."

"You need to think about yourself more, girl."

I shrugged, stood up, thanked him for the breakfast, and we went back to the brutal routine of the ranch. I finished working late. The only thing in my stomach was the coffee and some guavas I'd eaten along the way, riding on my faithful big guy. I went to help Carlos rescue a mare that had escaped to the neighboring property.

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