Short Story 5 - Mother
MOTHER
by
Magdelin Rodrigues
Teelay stood over the boy who had moments ago threatened her with the rusty blade she now held high above her head. The pair of strangers were not even born when the battles began but they fought as though the grudge was personal between the pair.
Teelay wielded the rusty blade ready to strike down into the young boy, building her rage until she had the nerve to bury the blade deep into his chest. She repeated the list of sins the Unclean had afflicted upon her kind in her head, starting from the ancient oppression then going through the humiliation and assassination of the great Mother of All and all the horrors since that day.
Teelay’s breathing got heavier and faster as she remembered the day a mob took away her mother and sisters. The boy struggled against the binds she had secured tightly around his arms and legs, letting out pathetic whimpers of pain as the binds tightened further and dug into his skin.
The echoes of her younger sister’s last whimpers rang through Teelay’s head, causing her to falter and loosen the grip on her rage. The boy sensed this and quietly implored Teelay, “Stop, please. Stop.”
Teelay lowered the rusty blade and took a step back.
“Please, I have not hurt anyone. I will do what you want. Please, do not kill me.” the boy continued.
Teelay imagined her family tied up and waiting in fright at what was to come next. She stepped up to the boy, bent down and cut the binds from his legs.
“Get up!” Teelay barked at the boy, who dutifully obeyed.
She grabbed hold of the bind that was securing the boy’s arms behind his back, lifting it to pull his arms up and shoulders down to make him easier to control. Teelay pushed the boy onward, leading from behind towards her makeshift home. The bounty on an Unclean is less if they are alive because of the risk from the infectious diseases that frequently sweep through their unwashed population but it was still enough for Teelay to eat and drink for the next month.
The pair marched on in silence with Teelay pulling and pushing the boy by the arms to guide him through the decaying city streets. The buildings around them laying in ruins from over a decade of kamikaze drones and 3D printed hand grenades. Teelay shoved the boy to make a hard right, to take a shortcut down an alley. The walls of the alley had been brightly painted with a mural in the years leading up to the battles, parts of which still shone through the scorch marks and bullet holes. This was Teelay’s favourite alley, she always felt a renewed sense of hope by the time she made it to the other side.
“My name is Precious” the boy offered, sensing his captor’s softening emotions through the slowing of her pace as they passed the pieces of untouched mural. Teelay did not respond so he continued, “Not a very masculine name, I know but that is how my parents felt about me when I was born.”
“Shut up!” yelled Teelay, pulling Precious’ arms up as high as they could go without dislocating his shoulders. She had always been taught not to listen to the wily Unclean; their tongues were laced with poison and their words are always designed to deceive.
Suddenly, a silhouetted figure appeared at the end of the alley. Teelay panicked and quickly shoved Precious behind a pile of rubble and she hissed at him to stay still before turning back to the figure that was now striding towards her. “All love from our Mother be upon you” she called out to them.
“And you and yours little girly” replied a deep gruff voice as a six and a half foot man stepped into the light in front of Teelay, his face deeply scarred by war but his stylish clothes were impeccable. He peered over Teelay’s shoulder at Precious laying crumpled on the ground behind the pile of broken bricks and glass. A dirty grin spread across the man’s face. “Mother certainly shines on me today. Thank you for bringing it to me dear, I will take it from here.”
“You cannot for he is mine” protested Teelay. She rushed to get in-between the man and Precious but the man smooshed his giant palm into her face and threw her backwards by the head. Teelay flew across the alley, luckily landing on a heavily soiled mattress.
The man took out a machete from inside his tailored trench coat and stood over a quivering Precious. Teelay shook off the shock of being so easily thrown by the head and rose to her feet. She pulled out the rusty blade from her back pocket it and ran at the man, screaming at the top of her lungs. The man turned to face her. Teelay jumped and slashed at his face with the blade, slicing him a few times before he threw her off with one sweep of his arm. The blade fell from her hand and landed inches from Precious’ face. Teelay again flew across the alley, this time landing heavily on the concrete floor.
“My eye!” screamed the man, “you filthy witch! My eye!” Blood trickled between his fingers as he covered his right eye. “The dishonourable deserve no sight” Teelay quoted as she lay crumpled on the ground. The man rushed over to her and began kicking her heavily.
A brick flew through the air and collided with the back of the man’s head. A sickening thud echoed through the alley before the man collapsed, smashing his head on a wall on the way down. Precious stood for a moment, ready to throw a second brick if needed. The man lay still, in the inhuman way he had landed.
Free from his binds and captor, Precious began walking out of the alley but he could not leave Teelay behind. She had gotten injured protecting him, even if it was just to sell him later and there was something familiar about her, as though he had known her for years not hours. Precious picked her up and walked her back the way they had came.
Teelay stumbled along in a daze. The streets passed by but she could not recognise or remember any of it. Finally, they entered a dwelling. Precious lay Teelay down on a dusty old couch and brought her some water in a tin can. Teelay sipped the water, her head becoming clearer with every sip.
Teelay sat up and thanked Precious. The pain in her body suddenly came into sharp focus and she had to lay down again, closing her eyes tight. Precious ran out of the room yelling for his mother to come help.
“Teelay?” called out a comforting familiar voice. Teelay gently opened her eyes. Her mother stood in front of her, just as Teelay had remembered her on the day she was taken away except now she was obviously an Unclean. Her grubby face and matted hair exposed her sinful ways but took little away from her beauty in Teelay’s eyes.
Teelay smiled for the first time in years, before closing her eyes for the last time.