19.
As the sun conquered the horizon the inhabitants of Lengüeta Del Diablo began to stir and begin their journeys around town, a few of them passing the drunken children with surprise, amusement, and disgust. One of the kids was lying on the ground as the others stood around him, showering him in their piss and laughing all the while.
The brightness from the outside shone into the bar, too, making old Sophia look somewhat younger. She began her story.
"Madeline and I grew up in Lyon. It was a beautiful place, but all our childhood Papa would hit our mother. Sometimes he would hit her softly, but sometimes he would hit her so much that she could not stand. I remember every night Madeline--she was four years older than me--would tell me to close my eyes and bow my head. She prayed to God, sometimes crying, for Papa to stop. But never did he stop."
"See why I left Heaven?" Grod asked me quietly.
"I thought you got kicked out," I said.
The woman ignored us, lost in her memories, and continued to tell her story.
"Eventually Madeline and I grew tired of waiting for God. Papa never let up, and my sister and I began to wonder if we could do something ourselves. But we were too young, and we had no means." Grod tapped on his empty glass and cleared his throat, and the woman interrupted her story to reach below the counter and take out the bottle again. I got the impression that Grod wasn't really listening, but despite myself I was beginning to be drawn into the woman's story. Maybe part of it was the tequila. The woman finished filling Grod's glass, topped mine up, and set the bottle down on the counter firmly.
"One day, I was nine at the time, Madeline came home from school and took me to the backyard. There she had a kitten and bowl. I asked her what we were doing, and she said we were helping Mama. She told me to hold the kitten over the bowl, so I did. I was just a kid, and my sister knew so much more than me. I held the kitten over the bowl and it mewed it me. I smiled at it and I think it smiled back."
Grod chuckled, and I could tell he liked this part of the story. The woman shot him a glance, but it didn't seem to have any effect on him. She turned back to me. "Maybe I should explain about Madeline. I was always a normal child, I did well in school and did things that childen were supposed to. But Madeline was different." The lady took down another glass and filled it with tequila, and this time she drank from it. "I always knew there was something strange about my sister. I said she knew more than me, and that's true. But the things she knew, I think they are things I still don't completely understand."
"You see, she cut the kittens neck, that day, and let it bleed into the bowl. I didn't know what had happened at the time. Like I said, I was just a kid. The kitten just closed its eyes and the bowl filled with its redness. We went inside and up to my sister's room where we sat in the center of the room. She lit candles all around us and placed the bowl between us. Then she began to read from one of her strange books. I couldn't understand anything she was saying, and I felt fear rising up in me. There was a cold wind in the room, even though the window was closed, and the candles started to flicker like they wanted to go out. My sister's voice grew louder and louder, and when she suddenly slammed the book shut, the candles did go out. Even though I couldn't see anything in the dark I knew there was something there in the room with us that hadn't been there before." Sophia closed her eyes. "I heard a grumbling, low voice... well, I didn't hear it with my ears, but I felt it, inside of my head. It asked us what we wanted, why we had brought it there."
"Satan," I said, now completely enthralled by her narrative.
"Shut up, kid," said Grod.
Sophia went on. "My eyes were closed as tight as I could make them. So tight they hurt. Then I heard Madeline's voice, 'Destroy our papa.' Then the voice boomed in my head to me, And you, is that what you want? I shook my head yes.
"I felt the presence lift, and opened my eyes. Madeline's eyes were glowing in the dark with power... or maybe it was madness. And the bowl, it was empty, now. Papa yelled up the stairs at us, asking us what we were doing. And then he began to climb the stairs so Madeline and I moved as fast as we could to put away the candles and things. And then... and then we heard Papa fall. He fell down the stairs, and Mama screamed.
"My sister and I, we ran out of our room. Papa lay on the floor, and Mama lay on top of him. She loved him, even though he beat her. She looked right at Madeline and screamed why, why did you do this. She cried and cried, and that night Mama slit her wrists in the bathroom, for the devil's service always comes with a price."
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The brightness from the outside shone into the bar, too, making old Sophia look somewhat younger. She began her story.
"Madeline and I grew up in Lyon. It was a beautiful place, but all our childhood Papa would hit our mother. Sometimes he would hit her softly, but sometimes he would hit her so much that she could not stand. I remember every night Madeline--she was four years older than me--would tell me to close my eyes and bow my head. She prayed to God, sometimes crying, for Papa to stop. But never did he stop."
"See why I left Heaven?" Grod asked me quietly.
"I thought you got kicked out," I said.
The woman ignored us, lost in her memories, and continued to tell her story.
"Eventually Madeline and I grew tired of waiting for God. Papa never let up, and my sister and I began to wonder if we could do something ourselves. But we were too young, and we had no means." Grod tapped on his empty glass and cleared his throat, and the woman interrupted her story to reach below the counter and take out the bottle again. I got the impression that Grod wasn't really listening, but despite myself I was beginning to be drawn into the woman's story. Maybe part of it was the tequila. The woman finished filling Grod's glass, topped mine up, and set the bottle down on the counter firmly.
"One day, I was nine at the time, Madeline came home from school and took me to the backyard. There she had a kitten and bowl. I asked her what we were doing, and she said we were helping Mama. She told me to hold the kitten over the bowl, so I did. I was just a kid, and my sister knew so much more than me. I held the kitten over the bowl and it mewed it me. I smiled at it and I think it smiled back."
Grod chuckled, and I could tell he liked this part of the story. The woman shot him a glance, but it didn't seem to have any effect on him. She turned back to me. "Maybe I should explain about Madeline. I was always a normal child, I did well in school and did things that childen were supposed to. But Madeline was different." The lady took down another glass and filled it with tequila, and this time she drank from it. "I always knew there was something strange about my sister. I said she knew more than me, and that's true. But the things she knew, I think they are things I still don't completely understand."
"You see, she cut the kittens neck, that day, and let it bleed into the bowl. I didn't know what had happened at the time. Like I said, I was just a kid. The kitten just closed its eyes and the bowl filled with its redness. We went inside and up to my sister's room where we sat in the center of the room. She lit candles all around us and placed the bowl between us. Then she began to read from one of her strange books. I couldn't understand anything she was saying, and I felt fear rising up in me. There was a cold wind in the room, even though the window was closed, and the candles started to flicker like they wanted to go out. My sister's voice grew louder and louder, and when she suddenly slammed the book shut, the candles did go out. Even though I couldn't see anything in the dark I knew there was something there in the room with us that hadn't been there before." Sophia closed her eyes. "I heard a grumbling, low voice... well, I didn't hear it with my ears, but I felt it, inside of my head. It asked us what we wanted, why we had brought it there."
"Satan," I said, now completely enthralled by her narrative.
"Shut up, kid," said Grod.
Sophia went on. "My eyes were closed as tight as I could make them. So tight they hurt. Then I heard Madeline's voice, 'Destroy our papa.' Then the voice boomed in my head to me, And you, is that what you want? I shook my head yes.
"I felt the presence lift, and opened my eyes. Madeline's eyes were glowing in the dark with power... or maybe it was madness. And the bowl, it was empty, now. Papa yelled up the stairs at us, asking us what we were doing. And then he began to climb the stairs so Madeline and I moved as fast as we could to put away the candles and things. And then... and then we heard Papa fall. He fell down the stairs, and Mama screamed.
"My sister and I, we ran out of our room. Papa lay on the floor, and Mama lay on top of him. She loved him, even though he beat her. She looked right at Madeline and screamed why, why did you do this. She cried and cried, and that night Mama slit her wrists in the bathroom, for the devil's service always comes with a price."
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© 2006 Ian Blake & Marshall Scott
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