Veils

It was October the sixteenth when all hell broke loose. Mama John had screamed his name from a room upstairs, the one he shared with three other boys. It was not unusual for her to find faults in his chores. From the way he dressed the bed, to how he cleaned the floors even to the way he ate. He always felt sad. Any thirteen year old boy would feel sad. He opted to finish his meal before going to meet her. This has happened before- a month ago to be exact. He had left his food only to be beaten for a quarter of an hour and returned to an empty plate. He had to wait for the next evening before he could eat again. He was lost in thought just to be slapped out of it by Mama John's nephew. He was a hefty man with bulging muscles. Every child was afraid of him because whenever he was around, someone was going to get beaten.

"You heard Mama, didn't you?" He spat. The cold rice for dinner had poured on him from the impact of the slap.

"I didn't hear her." He lied murmuring to himself. It doesn't matter if he tells the truth, I thought to myself.

Mama's nephew, Kash, dragged him by his shirt up the stairs and threw him against the room door. The door creaked and threatened to pull away from its weak hinges. A kick to his stomach greeted him.

"You want to break my door abi?" Mama's familiar hoarse voice accompanied the beating.

"Is it my fault that you killed your parents? Now you want to bring misfortune to me." The beating stopped.

"I should have known it'll be you that'll report me to the magistrate. What do you think they would do? Take in a wretched thing like you? The audacity you had to do it again"

Kash, that wicked thing suggested they shut him up forever. Ladini tried to struggle from his hold. Tears finally pooled in his eyes. This had also happened before- last month when he tried to run away.

Ladini had successfully escaped the compound and reached another street. He stopped a patrol car and reported Mama John's maltreatment. The kind officer offered him a place to rest. Little did he know that the officer was not so kind. He was Mama John's cousin and he brought Ladini back to his house that afternoon. That night during dinner, they called him upstairs. They also broke his legs that night.

Kash held him firmly as Mama covered his face with her palm and muttered some words under her breath. Immediately, Ladini's cries stopped. He was thrown to the ground, his body seeming lifeless.

"Take care of the body." Mama John instructed.

"Tomorrow." Kash whined.

I shivered in my hiding spot. How could they be so calm? I watched, helpless, as the door closed behind them. "Dunu." I heard my name clearly in the quiet room. It was coming from Ladini. I crawled to him and turned him over. He reached under his bed and stuffed a worn book into my hands. "Get out." He whispered.

"I don't understand." I stuttered confused. I have nowhere to go.

"Dunu. Take the book. And leave. Here. Please." He let out a deep breath. "Follow the book. Don't come back."

"You need to explain more than that!" His body started burning." Ladini! What's wrong?"

He pushed me away. "Now!"

I packed some clothes (and any item I could reach) frantically. I ignored the smoke that was suffocating me. When I was done, I stopped and turned to Ladini who was biting his lips in pain, his eyes bloodshot.

"We are all freaks like she always said. Remember that and tell no one."

I cleaned my tears and touched him- once again ignoring (this time) the burns on my palm. When I climbed out the window, he screamed. The room was engulfed in fire. I ran and didn't look back till I was at the city gate three kilometers away. I hope all those wicked people burn. When I did, the flames from our neighborhood was all I could see. I got to another town in three days. They attended to my wounds especially when they knew where I was from. I was the only one that survived the town fire. All wounds healed with time except the burns on my palms from when I touched Ladini. I had to wrap them in bandages all the time. My nerves were destroyed, I could never feel with my hands again.

The book Ladini gave me was safe- hidden from my caretakers. Soon, I will be well enough to read it.