Written by Marini Barika Facey
INVISIBLE P
ART 9 "MISCHIEF, MEMORIES AND MISFORTUNE"Young Cyrus' stomach rumbles so he decides to head back home, but as soon as he turns around, two men come out of the shadows and grab his arms and legs and cover his mouth with an old, dirty rag and drag him away. As older Cyrus looks at his younger self, he wants to run and help, but he knows it will make matters worse for him in the future, so he angrily, sadly hobbles along on the dusty path. He longs to just get a glimpse of his mother, even if he can never talk to her again.
Cyrus hobbles to a little shack and walks towards the back window. He sees his mother riffling through papers and crying. Cyrus did not know much about his mother's past but always wondered. He was used to her being superstition and paranoid, but he knew she had her reasons. Cyrus remembers everything he did. He recalls hesitating and thinking of darting back home and straight into his mother's arms. He recollects thinking he could go into the market and make a living by having people bring their dead animals and loved ones to him, and he could bring them back to life with this new found gift of healing.
Cyrus' mother runs through the front door and older Cyrus peeks around the side of their home in enough time to see her. Cyrus' mother hides her face as she rushes through the little village, and hopes her son is safe. She mumbles to herself, "He died as my punishment for all I have done, and he was cursed when he was brought back to life! His gift will bring him too much attention and expose the truth...that I kidnapped him! I only wanted to help him, free him, and now I have lost him again!" She pauses and kneels down in the dust and dirt against a wall.
Older Cyrus sadly remembers the day he ran away. He recollects his mother calling his name and begins to shake with fear and anger. "I wish I had listened! My mother understood the nature of people! I wish I could change it all, because she was right about everything!" He recalls that was the very day when violent men kidnapped and abused him, and he never saw his mother again till now.
The two men drag young Cyrus away and they throw him into the corner of a dark room and slam the door. Cyrus pulls his knees close to his chest. He overhears the men saying, "I told you we would get him back. Ole' Copper thought she could steal from us! We need to find her and kill her!" The men suddenly become silent! Then this little, frightened boy hears these brutish men scream, "Who are you? How dare you come into our place?" "You don't recognize me? Maybe you will recognize this!"
Young Cyrus hears the men become starkly silent and he wonders what is happening! They finally speak but it comes out in a stutter and stammer; " You look so...young! We didn't know you would be back. We didn't think we would see you here!" "I have returned in search of the witch doctor who cursed me!" He violently hits the cane against the ground. "Like the cardinals trapped inside this dark wooden cane, I will be chained to the witch doctor's name. Unless I finds his firstborn son..." "Woodrow we-" "Silence!" He hits the cane against the ground again and the room shakes!
The two violent men sheepishly move away from Woodrow. They are terrified that he will find out that they have found the witch doctor's son. "I will return and you must have an answer for me!" Woodrow leaves and the men quickly open the door where Cyrus is. "Your father told us to find you, but we don't want your misfortune! You have been a curse to us, so we will just tell your father that we never found you!" The light blinds Cyrus' eyes as he listens to these men, and he wishes he would have stayed with his mother!
The two men threaten Cyrus; they tell him not to say anything and that if he makes a sound they will kill him! They shove him into a bag and one of the evil men tote Cyrus over his shoulder! They quietly leave and it feels as if they were walking forever as Cyrus tries his best to breathe. He hears indistinct talking, but in a language he has never heard before. The men wildly drop the bag on the dirt road and Cyrus never sees them again!
Cyrus cries as his body aches. He can't breathe and doesn't know who is dragging him across the ground! They shake the bag and Cyrus rolls out into a dark, damp room! Even though he can barely see, the stench of the room heightens all of his senses. He looks around and begins to shake because of the horrors he is exposed to!
A few scraps of cloth are tied together in tangled up knots. It has a freckled face with eyes that blankly stare, a tattered polka-dotted dress, and dirty, unkempt hair. Instead of rosy cheeks, smudges of dirt are all Cyrus can see. Tangled up knots, crouch down like a disheveled teddy bear. Bruises and freckles show she has been slapped with leather straps across her back! She is tossed in a little corner, headfirst, matted hair, with a blank stare, which is a terror for Cyrus to witness.
Another one's little hands are tied together with cloth and dangled above her head. Her freckled face, with smudges of blood and dirt have eyes that blankly stare as well. She wears a tattered dress and her matted red hair hangs like muddy tangled ropes. Strangle marks and scars cover her tiny body as if she was shaken in a dog's teeth! Instead of rosy cheeks, bruises and scars are all Cyrus can see.
Wrapped beneath soiled sheets, fragile wrists dangle and little eyes fearfully stare. Veiny arms snatch a child by knotted hair and violently throw him against the chairs. Cyrus watches in fear and tries to be as quiet as possible because several men are near. A few ivory teeth fly out of this boy's swollen lips, mahogany cheeks bleed and drip. Instead of a baby face, he has deep bruises and welts from the buckle of a belt! Tossed in a little corner like a tattered and torn teddy bear, the lifeless little eyes stare!
Cyrus can't believe what he sees and is tortured by what will soon be his fate! He watches as another child is trapped under a sweaty body, little arms are held down and bruised, as a belt is unloosed. Cyrus vomits and heaves; he tries to be quiet, but the men roll up their sleeves and punch him in the teeth. As Cyrus' mouth bleeds, he pleads with them to stop what they are doing, and they tie him to a chair and make him watch in despair!
Little almond shaped eyes drip tears of fear! Tiny ribs are crushed as a body violently thrusts. Sweat rains down on a little girl's face as she is strangled and tangled beneath massive thighs and legs. Another fragile body is strapped to a rickety cot with her eyes tightly shut; a startling silhouette with red, bloodshot eyes hoovers above her head. Cyrus looks around the room and quietly mumbles, "Children are shaken in a dog's teeth, like ragdolls tossed into gutters and streets."
To Be Continued!