I am not a fan of uncertainty.

Sometimes I really wish God would give me cue cards, or an audible voice, or at least a little buzzer that would go off if I miss something.

Today I spent about half an hour repairing one of our abondoned bicycles. You may view this as a community service project or you may view at as procrastinating on my review work- it was both. We had two bikes here that were the same brand and had identical frames. One was in good shape but the gear shifter on the handlebar for the back speeds was busted. The other bike has lots and lots of problems but the shifter for the rear speeds was fine. So, as might be predicted, I swiped the gear shifter that worked and put it on the better bike.

I was just finishing up this project and had not yet taken the bike for a test ride to make sure that the speeds actually changed correctly, when a boy, perhaps 11 years old, came up and started talking to me. In portuguese. At least, I think it was portuguese. It could have been something else. All I caught was a word that sounded more or less like "chicklette," and he made the pedal rotating motions with his hands. He also said "s'il vous plait monsieur." He kept repeating it over and over and wouldn't go away. At one point another boy came up and the two of them discussed something briefly, pointing at me. Then the other boy left and the original boy advanced closer. I think he was asking for me to either sell him or give him the bike. I spoke to him in French but he didn't seem to understand. Then I told him "C'est pas mon velo" (It's not my bike), at which point he chose to say "je ne parle pas de français" (I don't speak French). I told him I only spoke French and English, which didn't prevent him from standing there and repeating his phrase every time I would make eye contact with him.

I thought about giving him the bike. Truth is, I have no clue who is going to use it. We already have two other bikes that work just fine. Was it God's timing that I decided to fix it just in time for him to have it? But on the other hand, he seemed to be waging psychological warfare and I didn't want to reward him for it. I had no clue who he was, where he came from, or what he planned to do with a bicycle that was probably too large for him. So I prayed for direction as I fiddled with the bikes in the garage, trying to pretend that he wasn't standing there watching me.

Then, somewhat to my consternation somebody else showed up- the father of our directrice, who has advanced alzheimers. He said hello to us, we said hello, he wandered off, and to my dissapointment the boy didn't leave. Then one of the new students drove up to unload some luggage. I tried talking to him in French, which he didn't understand, then switched to English. The boy watched all of this as if it was perfectly normal for him to be standing there. I directed the man to the front door and headed back into the garage. The boy tried to speak to the poor guy, who of course didn't understand him either and probably thought he was speaking French. Meanwhile I put the bikes in the garage as quickly as possible and then left, letting the door lock behind me. Later I talked with the man who had been there and he said that the boy had indeed tried to talk to him, but he had made money and food motions to him rather than the bicycle motion.

So, I am not sure what to think of it all. I had two bikes outside of our garage and he could probably see that there were another five bikes inside, so perhaps he thought it was a bike shop. But the fact that he later asked the other man for food and money makes me think he is probably the son of one of the guys who makes a living begging money outside the local grocery stores and on the metro. In either case, should I have given him the bike?