Wind Witch C3

A stream of light beamed through a small window of the wash room. The sun’s rays showed a stark difference between the light and dark on the cement wall. This room is the beginning of the deconstruction of the Native child. The child of light enters and a child of Betrayl and brokenness exits.

Sarah shook off the goosebumps and the shivers as she opened the door to the wash room. No one knows what will appear on the other side of the door. The institution was unpredictable as well as those who fed the building with new children. Through the slightly opened door Sarah could see that there were five children waiting for what came next. The children stood in a line staring at their feet as they tried to keep themselves composed. “Be strong.” Were the words they clung onto as they were removed from their mother’s hug. One could see that many were trying their hardest and a few of them failed and let a tear fall from their cheek.

Three boys and two girls stood alongside wash tubs waiting for their turn. “Sarah! There you are! Sarah’s eyes jumped to the very spot where Jade stood standing. “Come and help get the basin ready.” Sarah nodded and proceeded to the buckets near a wood stove. By surprise, she jumped when Jade whispered in her ear, “There is rumor that one maybe marked. Make sure to use the special soap to cover the mark. Undeerstood?” Sarah glanced over to the shelf where a dark bar of soap laid in a pile of other hand made bars of soap. Then as if listening to instructions, she looked over to Chavo standing there in a downtrodden manner. “Remember, you must say the spell.”

Jade crept in closer to Sarah’s ear and spoke, “Cloak of darkness conceal the truth for this mark, is one of truth.”

Sarah nodded slightly so not to be seen and a sudden pain bursted upside her head. Jade pulled her around to face her. In the background, Sarah could see Father Unic supervising all the activity of the room. With a snear on the Father’s face, you could see that her actions met with approval. “Sorry about that. He’s watching very close today. He suspects that Chavo, that boy over there maybe marked.” With a nod Sarah worked in silence.

The bucket of water filled quickly and Sarah’s muscles strained to haul the water to the basin. The tin tub was ringed with plastered on soap scum that flaked when it dried. Sarah worked quickly and there was very little time to get him clean before breakfast. She knew she must hurry or she would be hungry for a long time. Once another bucket had been filled, Sarah went to the shelf to gather a bar of soap and some makeshift towels. She slipped the black bar of soap in between the make shift towels and headed to Chavo’s tub.

Chavo watched Sarah fill his tub with water. She avoided his eyes. She didn’t want to see the pain and fear that filled his being. She kept her eyes lowered and just concentrated on her task. Jade watched closely as Chavo removed his shirt. Nothing of notice could be seen. Father Unic nodded in disapproval and left the room. With a glance at the door, Sarah looked back at Chavo and signaled to continue to undress. Shoes, socks and pants laid on the cement floor. With a slight jester of her hand, Chavo stepped into the tub.

Chavo’s long hair touched the waist band of his underpants. Long, dark as night and straight as one would expect. Beautiful locks of dark strains of hair were gathered together and woven around each other in a tight braid. Sarah signed knowing that in a few moments, that beautiful braid would decorate the floor of the nun’s room soon. Chavo lowered himself into the water and Sarah began to scrub the dirt off his travel worn body. No mark was found as she cleaned his upper body. She promoted him to wash has toes, feet, and legs which he did. Sarah turned him around and instructed him to wash his private parts. Chavo grabbed his braid, tossed it over his shoulder to get it out of his way, and began to lower his underwear but stopped once Sarah placed her hand on his arm and said, “Sit down”.

Startled, Chavo sat with a splash into the tub. Jade was busy gathering up the clothing of the children who were already bathed and she jumped at the noise and sternly peered at Sarah. Sarah grabbed her arm to alert Jade that Chavo was indeed marked. With wide eyes, Jade nodded I n acknowledgment of Sarah’s message. Jade’s was a sturdy woman. Very square in stature no where near graceful. As she went over to distract Sister Jane she tripped over a little doll that had been brought in by one of the girl and was confiscated by Sister Jane and thrown in with the clothes to be burned. As she stood up, she was face to look at the gauntly woman with green eyes. Her robes hung on her skeleton like drapery and the weight of her habit seem to slow her down. Many thought she was a victim of consumption and most of the nuns and students kept a good distance from her at all times. Jade quickey rose to her feet and stood back from her as they both talked. Sarah knew that this was her chance to cover the spot on Chavo’s buttocks.

“Can you speak the their tongue? Just nod, don’t speak.” Whispered Sarah.

Chavo glared at Sarah with a look that could have shown his hatred for this experience. He purse his lips together, narrowed his eyes, and nodded. “You have a mark on you that needs to be covered so the nuns won’t see it. Take this bar of soap and wash the spot where your birthmark is. Understand you must wash the entire spot. Do you understand?” Chavo looked in disgust at the blackened bar of soap that was being handed to him and nodded. When Sarah placed the obsidian soap in his hand, he could feel a slight vibration tickle his fingers. In alarm, he allowed the bar to slip from his fingers into the mucky water followed by a watery thud indicated that it hit bottom. Sarah glared at Chavo as he searched for the slippery bar in the murkiness of the water.

Sarah watched as Chavo began to reach around his waist to wash himyself. Spider like webbing on his skin was dark blue and had purplish tones gathered together to look like a maple leaf. “Quickly rub and rub that area very hard as you wash.” Said Sarah. “If you don’t you’ll go directly to the dark room.” With widened eyes, Chavo began to scrub hard all over. Sarah closed her eyes and spoke, “Cloak of Darkness conceal the truth for this mark, is one of truth.” She opened her eyes and watched closely as the mark disappeared from its original blue into an even brown tone that matched the rest of his body. Sarah sighed and smiled at Chavo to let him know, the soap worked.

Sister Jane heard Sarah talking and glanced over Jade’s shoulder to see what was taking Sarah so long to process this boy. Seeing nothing unusual, she turned her attention back to Jade. Sarah handed him a white shirt, some dark pants and the proper undergarments required for the students to wear. Sister Jane watched the boy as he dressed and then left the room not seeing any mark on him.

Jade returned to the two of them with a smile. “That was close you two. It is time to go to the next room where Sister Mary is.” Chavo had an older brother who attended the boarding school. Once, his brother returned home, he told some horrible stories of the dealings within. Chavo knew that Sister Mary would be the one who would cut off his braided hair because she loved to humiliate the students as she did so. His brother’s stories told of tales that she became almost demon like as she mangled student’s hair. He looked up at Jade with fear in his eyes. She simply said, “Be Strong.” and led them from the room.