Despite his foolishness, Stupid Samuel had heard of this place. His mother had told him about the border between their native land and the land of big dreams.

He revelled in these stories, though he couldn't quite believe them. That's because Stupid Samuel, having a small mind, also had a small spirit. His mother painted him a picture of gold, diamonds, and silver — materials of not much importance to him if they would not satisfy his hunger.

Here he stood at the boundary separating him from his barrio from the world beyond. Stupid Samuel, being stupid, thought he could just step around the guards without being noticed.

"¡Párate ahí! ¿Quién es?" One guard stopped the boy in his tracks, asking him who he was.

"Soy yo," said Stupid Samuel. As if a simple reply would be enough to make heavily armed men look the other way, the boy was sorely mistaken.

"¿Y a ti quién te conoce?" The man asked, as if he were supposed to recognize Stupid Samuel, a random child wandering around the deserted area.

"Soy yo. Is me," he repeated. "Que soy yo, Samuel Jacobo."

The other guard with the missing tooth interjected, "¿Cómo el Samuel L. Jacobo, el famoso?"

Stupid Samuel nodded, even when he didn't know who Samuel L. Jacobo was, nor was his celebrity status in any way related to him. The movement of his head was more an acknowledgement of the guard's questioning, rather than the words being spoken.

"Ha de ser otro de sus hijos," the men looked at each other with the mistaken assumption that the boy must be another one of Samuel L. Jacobo's illegitimate kids. Stupid Samuel did not bother to correct them. He realized that the more he tried to do something, the worse it got. He had learned that lesson from his encounters with Mona.

"Pásale, pues," the first man gestured with his hand, letting Stupid Samuel pass through the gates.

Later, Stupid Samuel would discover that having connections wasn't necessarily a bad thing.