Chapter 7: Retaliating Son

“Ms. Nella!!!”

“Christopher!!!”

“It’s time to give yourself up… if your daughter committed suicide, then you have nothing to worry about!”

Were the constant bellowing and shouting of the policemen as they comb through the bushes near the Bradshaw’s property. And those four police officers who decided to search the tunnel, leading to god knows where, continued on with the same declaration.

The morning was still early, just after eleven o’clock, and the very deep shaft which the officers decided to investigate was dark, cold and muddy.

One behind the other, on bending knees, with headlights attached to their foreheads, the creeped into the sloppiness of the underpass, looking for their fugitives.

It was like entering into a coalmine, and none of the officers knew what would happen the next minute. If the earth above them was going to soon collapse or if, their two outlaws had any deadly trap patiently waiting for them ahead.

Splattering and splashing, the four officers continued into the dark misty channel shouting out the names of their runaway parents until they came upon a two way intersection; heading northwest and southwest. There, they took a quick break and began yelling out the names, Nella and Christopher, once again and as loudly as they could. But the earth all around them remain silent.

No trickling of water underground, croaking of frogs or any strange sounds of insects bellowing in the confine space being occupied.

The strategic conclusion was for two officers to proceed in the direction of northwest and the other two southwest, as the pathway lead, and so the men of the law did.

One pathway pitch-black… there was no going any further, and the other, literally light at the end of the tunnel. And there they found Ms. Nella and Christopher, actually digging their way to freedom.

How would these officers ever excavated these two persons from the tunnel without putting up frisky fight?

The police officers presumed that Christopher Bradshaw would easily surrender, but his hot-head wife Nella was a completely different story!

Because, there were no form of tameness or tenderness in her, and even with generosity which Corporal Banks had shown to her five younger children, still, she wasn’t displaying any signs of being grateful to him or his selfless actions towards them. And neither did any of the officers wanted approach the matter in a very drastic way; pulling Ms. Nella out of the underpass like hard and heartless criminal.

After all, the officers had mothers too, or loved ones who were motherly figures to them and who were also around the age of Ms. Nella’s age; so they decided on gently coaxing - persuading her to crawl back with them out of the dark hole. If not, they would just have to drag her out of the tunnel like an unruly mother elephant. Especially since she wasn’t any featherweight.

But would Ms. Nella comply with the men designated or authorized to serve and protect?

The bold fugitives were approximately fifty feet away from where the law enforcement officers remained on all fours in the muddy tunnel. While their headlights were glaring up ahead to where Christopher and his wife knelt digging to achieve their escape. And at the same time, their handmade torches could be seen burning steadily in the distance and then, periodically, dancing whenever bodily movements were being performed repeatedly around them.

All four officers were now in one spot, trying to make the right plan to navigate the two outlaws out of the very tight spot they were in. Keeping in mind that this wasn’t any holy ground that they were working on, but very dangerous grounds. Because if the earth above them should ever give way, that would be it; all lives would be loss.

Off their butts and back on all four, the officers began creeping once again like babies towards the two fugitives. One officers called out to Christopher, demanding that he turned around and come back towards them and not to make their jobs any more dangerous than it already was.

They could see that he had stopped digging for a minute or two, hesitant in his decision to continue digging and began staring into the partially lit space where all the officers bundled together. Ms. Nella, however, remain digging at the earth ferociously – fiercely, as though, a ton of white diamonds were just piled together, beyond the next clump of mud in front of her.

“Come this way Christopher, come!” Said one of the officers; “Don’t let it get any harder on you like it already is!”

“Just follow the lights and come toward us!”

Coax another officer.

Just as Christopher reached up to where the officers were on bending knees, the headlights of two of the officers totally blew-out – became completely dead. Their batteries had done their due course, and now the policemen only had minimal lighting to see inside of the muddy hole.

Franticly, one officer pushed Christopher in front of him and so did another, as he shouted; “Quickly, lead us out of here!”

Without any hesitancy, Christopher was on all four and leading the officers out of the swampy hole, the same way they had nervously entered it. And half way on that long stretch of the tunnel before exiting it, Christopher sudden stopped and ask;

“What about Nella, are you going to leave her inside there?”

“You tell me, should we?”

One of the officers replied.

“Where the hell were the both of you, digging yourselves to?”

Inquired another of the officers.

Sworn to secrecy and mysticism, Christopher pondered on the question being thrown at him, before he replied.

“It’s for storing lumber and keeping ground food.”

“It’s going to be a whole lot of lumber and ground food you’ll be snatching away for later use!”

Another of the policemen commented with a giggle.

This was no laughing matter and neither of the other policemen from the crew burst out laughing but instead, showed concern on their faces. Since, they weren’t quite sure what this man’s plot for them or his own children were.

“Let’s leave the questionings for when we get out of this hellhole!”

The officer in the extreme back commented; and everyone agreed and obeyed.

It was only the splattering of mud on hands and knees, and heavy breathing that could be heard now as the five men made their way out of the deep tunnel. Until, the wide blue skies were visible to the eyes of the small troop of officers and a puff of fresh air meet upon their faces once again.

Standing on their feet, they realized, Corporal Banks was nowhere in sight and neither was his truck. But Ella and her two younger siblings were seated on the veranda, munching on whatever the corporal had bought for both their parents earlier this morning. And thankfully, the vehicle they had driven to the location was still parked where they had left it. And just after one of the officers raised his head and hands to the sky, displaying actions of gratitude that he was out of the dark tunnel alive, he turned around and gave Christopher one slap across the face with his fisted hand while cursing out his angry feelings.

“It’s because of ass-holes like you, I have to put up with this shit all day!”

One of the officer’s hand was around Christopher’s neck ready to land him a next blow to his face.

“I’m not Banks!” The angry officer lashed out; “Giving shit-heads like you, break after break, when none of you appreciate it.”

A ring of four men were now circling around Christopher ready to add their punches to Christopher body; letting out every ounce of their frustration on him. One officer gave him a drop-kick and then their feet just kept on kicking him one after the other while he try shielding his face and being curled up into a fetal position.

For much of the beatings he kept silent, but the pain he couldn’t tolerate anymore, so he began screaming repeatedly and as loudly as he could; “Stop!!!!

“Officer, I beg of you to stop now!”

“I didn’t kill anybody, officer… I didn’t kill anybody!”

Christopher cried.

“My daughter is the one who wanted to take her own life! My wife and I, have nothing to do with her dying… please show some me some mercy now officer!”

Christopher continued pleading as one foot landed into his side, a next on his knee shin, and then another foot stamped into his side; leaving the muddy foot prints of the officer’s heavy shoes over his clothing.

Suddenly, a loud voice came out, from the not too far distance;

“All of you want to kill him!”

Uttered the declaration.

“He didn’t murder anyone, for Jesus sakes, and all of you want to kill him… kill him while his little children are sitting right there on the veranda!”

The person continued blazing with her mouth while still standing in the same spot.

Raising their heads and looking in the northwest direction where the loud voice was coming from, the officers were totally shocked to see Nella coming towards them with a shovel hanging over her right shoulder.

All four men were now wildly staring at each other with puzzlement written all over their faces.

“How the fuck did she get out of the tunnel!”

One officer mumble underneath his breath.

“Is she real or is she a friggin' witch?”

Another of the officers uttered with a startle look upon his face.

A truck was coming and tooting its horn that even the dead to hear like it was some form of great emergency. Then came another doing the same damn thing, and seconds later what sounded like the siren of an ambulance was parking alongside the stretch of road to the front of the Bradshaw’s property; to aid the injured officers who went into the tunnel, if they ever needed it.

Moments later, there came a big bulldozer, amber in color with flashing lights all on the scene. The massive bulldozer was to clear away and break into the top of the soil where the tunnel rested below. Just in case, the officers who were sent inside there, were having difficulties making their way out of it alive or was just stuck inside there.

Corporal Green was the one who had ordered them there, the ambulance, additional officers and the heavy bulldozer on the site, fearing that his colleagues might have met danger down below, or worse, meet their sudden and dreadful demise. But it was now obvious to him that all four men were safe and the only person needing the services of an ambulance was Christopher Bradshaw, who was still lying on the earth, filled with bruises and gasping for air.

“Let’s help him out of here!”

One of the newer officers on the scene bellow out.

“Let him stay in the mud and let retribution kill his ass… what he has done to his own, damn children, he deserves to stay there in the squalor of the mud and die!”

Another officer responded.

Ms. Nella, however, not intimidated by all the gun swingers around, the authority figures, or the robust looking men in uniform all occupying the space of her property, wasn’t at all afraid, to use her voice.

And so, she shouted from where she quietly stood observing the chaos taking place in the front of her yard.

“I know my rites!”

“So, if you neglect my husband –my pickny them papa, let him lay there in the mud and die on the ground, you all will be responsible for his funeral!”

She continued with the shovel now stuck into the ground and her hand resting on top of the handle of it.

Corporal Banks heard, knew she was right, but didn’t responded to any of her comments. However, the ambulance team did. And soon they were stepping into the bushes, heaping up the limp body of Christopher and returning him to their vehicle to place him inside of it.

“Just know fellas, he will be on twenty-four hours s watch this time around… he has lots of questions to answer to, so don’t let him out of your sight!”

Corporal Banks said loudly to the team of ambulance workers.

“You got it!”

One who seem to be in charge replied while the Corporal made an effort to cuff his subject’s hands to the rail of the ambulance board.

Soon, the ambulance drove away and Corporal Banks attention was now turned towards Ms. Nella.

“Ms. Nella, I need you over here now!”

Declared the policeman.

But upon seeing the look of demise showing all over the woman’s face, the officer continued.

“You can give me your statement here or I can take you up to the station to give it.”

The officer said frankly.

“Which one do you want? The cuffs, me hauling your ass to my truck, or we sit nicely on the veranda and you tell me whatever you know about your daughter’s death!”

The corporal shouted furiously.

It was supposes to be a thirty minutes situation… an hour the most and now it was past mid-day and moving into the late afternoon. Corporal Banks was only to drop off Christopher Bradshaw at his house from the police station, so he could see his family after learning the valuable lesson of what jail is really like. And now that hour has turned into a full fledge day, and him bringing at least, half of the police crew at the station to the Bradshaw’s house. An act which had him boiling up inside, especially, since a young girl has loss her life in the process of it all.

Ms. Nella began walking towards where the corporal was standing, but without any eagerness in her steps, as though, she was already carefully thinking out in her head what she wanted to falsely convey to him and his questionings. One thing he believed for sure, the plotting of his death was involved, and now he was wondering if he had gone too far in being so nice the Bradshaw’s children and too brutal to their parents. But they needed to learn a lesson that they couldn’t treat their own children or anyone else’s the way they were administering their disciplinary actions on them.

Patiently he stood and waited for Ms. Nella to come to him with both hands resting on his hips while numerous questions traveled through his minds.

Few minutes later, Ms. Nella was standing in front of him with eyes filled with hate, sadness and maliciousness all at the same time. Her sadness wasn’t for shedding a teardrop but clearly to kill.

Angrily plopping herself down on the veranda chair, she asked with a frowning face; “What the hell, you want to know!”

“When I had gotten here, I saw you and your husband coming from where your daughter Lillian hung into the tree.” The officer spoke calmly: “So please, walk me through what happened this morning, for you and Christopher to be under the mango tree near to your daughter’s hanged body!”

Rolling her eye-balls to the back of her head, as though, to bring all her thoughts to the front of her head, Ms. Nella sighed heavily and then went on to explain.

“Master Christ, and I were at the corner of the house talking, near to the orange tree. We then heard some scuffling taking place inside the bedroom, and thought, it was one of the children looking for something under the bed.”

“The scuffling sound, stopped for a moment and then started once again, like the spewing of vomit was taking place inside the corner of the room. But those sounds were much shorter than before this time around. All the noise then went away for good. Then twenty-five minutes later, give and take, Master Christ and I heard a crackling sound under the mango three, thought it was an intruder coming to steal grapefruit or star-apple. So, we went to intervene, and just as we reach to backdoor of the bathroom, we notice the blue dress that Lillian was wearing, up in the mango tree, and her feet kicking repeatedly like when man butcher hog a bush!”

Ms. Nella continued explaining her statement to the Officer.

Since Ella had already told him of what the topic of their discussion was about, Corporal Banks wanted to verify with Ms. Nella if such was really the case, seeing that she seemed relaxed and more willing to corporative in the case. Therefore, he turned to her and still with much calmness he asked:

“Do you mind telling me, Ms. Nell, what you and Christopher were talking about at the corner of the house?”

This time, Ms. Nella place her index finger to her right temple of her face and shameless responded;

“We were talking about which position he should put me in tonight and fuck me, so we can see what we will come up with this time, a boy baby or girl child!”

A response which left Corporal Banks speechless for a very good while.

Regaining his thoughts, he then went on to explained to my Ms. Nella that her husband would be held under strict security at that hospital. And he would be there until he was feeling better and able to give his statement about what had happened in the yard of their family that morning. And she better pray that his story matched up with hers, or else, they both should look forward to spending some time inside the prison pen. The corporal further went on to tell her that whatever she was plotting, she can forget about it, because she wouldn’t be able to go by the hospital and visit her common-law-husband; so she could covertly coerce him into what to say in his statement.

But, Ms. Nella wasn’t concern about forging and story with her husband. She was more concern with the money her husband was losing from his job and how she was going to provide what she need for making the family meals.

Some food were already on the property… planted and grown on the land, such as fruits and some ground provisions but, dairy products, meat kinds and sugar, she needed from the food store. And usually, she depended on her husband for bringing home those kinds of items.

Continuing to obtain a frowning face, Ms. Nella watched Corporal Banks take one foot from off her veranda, and before he could take down another food, she angrily inquired; “You and your colleagues are not leaving funds for food and school fee for the children?”

Observing the startling look on the corporal’s face, she totally ignored it, and continued on addressing her plight to him.

“You have badly beaten and bruised all parts of my husband’s body, landing him inside the hospital and away from his work for three long days now! Just because, he was correcting his children, as if, children are not to be corrected! Now, who is to give them their daily bread, if not you?”

“The little pocket change, I’m making on the job every fortnight, cannot pay for utilities, pay taxi fares and feed five and sometimes six pickny! You throw their provider in jail, so you tell me, how they are going to eat?”

Ms. Nella continued with seriousness all over her countenance.

Guilt was eating at the corporal and for a moment now, having him just standing there in complete awe; contemplating how evil, ungrateful and barefaced this wizard of a woman sitting in front of him, actually was.

“Her husband was now confined to police control, and she has been going-off about him sending her man to jail, completely forgetting, about him intervening when her common-law husband hands were clasp tightly around her daughter Lillian’s neck, almost squeezing the life-line out or away from it. Even though, she still ended up kicking the bucket, subsequently.”

The law keeper thought to himself.

It was his job, and he knew without any hesitancy, he had done the right thing. Although, he was guilty of over extending himself a bit to the family. But they were children and they needed food to eat.

In the moments of his silent thoughts, however, Corporal Banks, came to the conclusion that he could ask his staff members to pitch in, and make a grocery basket for the Bradshaw’s household, or collect donations at one of the churches to help out these children during their state of lack. Therefore, the corporal, turning to Ms. Nella, suggested;

“Come by the station Sunday evening and I will have something there for you, okay Madam!”

“I will be there!”

Ms. Nella replied, seated on the veranda chair with unpleasantness gracing her face.

Immediately after making his suggestion, the man of the law, snap his fingers to the rest of his colleagues lingering around the yard of the Bradshaw’s property. And soon, like a carnival caravan, they were riding away from lot 777 in the Duckens Field community, and back to the police station.

But, not after giving Ms. Nella, stern warning that he wanted no one in her family fighting, giving him reason to be on her property once again.

However, his warning showed no signs of being well heeded by the adult running the house. Instead, she retorted without a grin;

“You just expect me to be at the station after two Sunday evening, and you make sure, I don’t have to wait around for you!”

All police vehicles were swiftly being driven off the Bradshaw’s property, bringing about some joy to the woman whose husband was away from her, and for how long, she was clueless. And on the veranda chair, in a daze she remained, until it had gotten dark and nightfall was slowly but surely looming about.

Luckily, Corporal Banks had bought food earlier on, and that which he had bought for their parents, he had decided to give it to the two younger children in the Bradshaw’s house, Dion and Devon. After the chaos of little Lillian’s death had taken place in the back yard. Because, night had now falling and one thing was for certain, no food was going to be provided or be prepared that evening, by their mother’s hands.

Inevitably, the following morning came, and when it did, the mood inside the house remained the same, and still that of one, walking on egg shells. All the experiences and very hard lessons learn from the previous days, were like smoke evaporating in the air.

Especially, for Ella, since her being the eldest child in the house now and at the times, was being eaten up with guilt. Because, she was the one who had told her younger sister, Lillian, to stay in the back bedroom and covert, eavesdrop on their parent conversation. Simply not knowing that her sister’s ear would be so sensitive to such evil plots of taking another man’s life. Ultimately, allowing her to take her own life; instead of witnessing the act of violence, terror or death; or even, forcefully being a partaker of such an act.

Taking keen notice of her mother’s unpleasant disposition – built-up aggression, and hearing her two younger siblings whining for food to be put into their tummies; Ella quickly took it upon herself to start the pot boiling. Hoping that doing so would relief some of the stress or pressure her mother was enduring. But she received a shock of her life when her mother somehow sense that cooking was going on inside the kitchen and came inside there to investigate. Seeing Nella kneading flour for cooking dumplings, shouting she asked;

“Ella, what the fuck you think you’re doing; did you give me fucking money to provide flour?”

And before Ella could give her a response, her mother knock the pot of boiling water off the stove, causing the water to splash about inside the kitchen burning Ella on the foot and her younger sister Dion, as well. Ranting raving and ready to beat the daylight out of Ella, Ms. Nella reached for the broomstick and began chasing after Ella with it, while verbally bellowing out her frustration, determine that she was going to make the burial of two children instead of one.

But Ella ran as fast as she could and as far away as she could, into the bushes, with her younger brother and sister right behind her heels. Already knowing that if their mother didn’t catch Ella, then all her frustration would be put out on them. So, all three children stayed into the bushes and fed on whatever fruits were available to them there. After, having a good dose of grapefruits, star-apples and plums, the three children quietly entertained themselves with nursery rhymes and guessing games with the leaves from the trees.

It was an act which had kept their spirt alive for most of the day, but after a while Devon had gotten weary in the eyes and began bucking away at ever second.

Playing the motherly roll and protector of her two younger siblings, Ella pull away from the tree barks whatever dry leaves that were available; mostly from the banana trees and proceeded to make comfortable beddings with them for the younger ones. And while here brother and sister took their nap, she carefully return to the house to find out what attitude or mood their mother were in.

Standing at the backdoor of the kitchen, Ella could see her mother’s hand on the handle of the chair, tapping at it repeatedly. Unsure of what to say, she stood there for a while hoping for her mother to say something, so as to determine what her mood was now. But Ms. Nella only sat there in silence, deep in thoughts and tapping her fingers on the surface of the living room chair.

Ella was now running out of patience.

She was eager to believe that her mother had calm down by now and in a much better mood, even though, she knew that such could be impossible right now. Especially, since she was very much aware that the time span for her mother’s anger, usually last for days and sometimes for weeks at a time.

Not seeing or hearing any reaction coming from the living room where Ms. Nella sat, Ella decided to brave it, and cautiously walk from the backdoor into the kitchen and then into the living room where her mother was quietly seated. But her mother’s eyes were closed and she could tell that she was very deep into thoughts. Probably thoughts of what was going to happen to their father, if he wasn’t released from the hospital very soon.

In that moment another thought came to Ella, and she thought it best, if she entered that back bedroom and grab some clothing for herself and her younger siblings. Or even two sheets to keep them warm later on, if their mother forbid not to sleep inside the house unless she crack the whip on their asses.

Tip-toing into the bedroom, Ella was able to gather up all that she thought she needed, and once again was tip-toing her way out of the back bedroom when she heard the yawning of her mother. Soon she was off the chair and making her way towards the back bedroom. For a moment, Ella froze, and then she thought she could make it under the bed and hide. But she was way too late for that now.

Trying to fit under the bed, she felt the tight grip of her mother’s strong hands, pulling her out from under the bed, while blazing the room with all sorts of profanity.

“You bitch you, I catch you now!”

Ms. Nella joyously uttered.

And as she dragged Ella from under the bed kicking and screaming, Ms. Nella reached for the hen figurine sitting on the dresser and dropped it into Ella’s head.

“Mama, you burst my head now!”

Ella shouted, still holding onto the clothing in her hands.

“Your head is burst… you think is only your head that I want to burst; I want to burst all of your ass!”

Her mother replied with angrily while searching for something else to throw at Ella.

Kicking and screaming, Ella managed to get herself up from off the floor. Now she was on her knees, trying to be on her both feet when another slap reached for her temple, landing her back onto floors. Determined, she was back on her knees once more, and this time she managed to plant both of her feet on the surface of the floors while her mother fumbled about for something to cause the next blow. But nothing was to her avail.

“Because of you, you papa have to be sleeping in jail now… I want you dead… fucking dead you hear me!”

Ms. Nella lashed out loudly and again and again.

Thankful to be standing on both feet, Ella made her way on top of them bed and then climb through one of the board windows leading to the exterior of the yard.

In a hurry, Ms. Nella try reaching the side of the house before Ella could jump from the window ledge. But, Ella was much swifter than her mother possible could, so leaped from the window like a Siberian tiger and landed heavily on the ground. Then running off into the bushes, with clothing still bundled betwixt her arms and ribs, and limping like her hips went out of their sockets. Making her way to where her two other siblings were still very much fast asleep. Meanwhile, her mother continued cussing and raving about the cops who had intervened into her and her husband’s way of life, calling them nothing but crosses and swearing that they would have to lack her up too, when she was done scouring their asses.

Realizing the temperament of their mother, Ella knew that the solitude of the bushes would be their resting place for the rest of the night. So she cleared out a spot for them to sleep, gathered more dry leaves from whatever trees were shedding them and prepared their bed for the night. But before settling for sleeping, the three siblings climbed under the fence separating the property of their neighbors to theirs, and found themselves down by the river to take a wash-off of from their stresses of the day.

Their visit and splashing into the water of the river, wasn’t only for releasing stress, but, for cleansing their bodies as well. Especially, since they were unable to have a proper bath from the night before.

Ella, in her early teen at that time, knew it wasn’t safe for her to be down by the riverside after dark, even though, she wasn’t by herself. Since it was said in her hearing more than once, by many in their community; that a rapist had return from jail and frequently visited the reverbed, possibly prowling around for his next victim. As the sun made its way far west to sleep, and other users of the river soon began packing up their belongings and journeying away from the river, Ella and her siblings did the same.

Once back in their yard, all three children change into dry clothing. Moments later, they were swallowing up whatever fruits they had left from over their early morning pick, covered up with the sheets Ella had brought back from the house and position themselves for sleeping.

A moment of sleep in which Ella had certainly anticipated would be quite peaceful. And peaceful it was for a while.

It was close to midnight when Ella was awaken by the voice of her mother calling her repeatedly. But she was feeling quite good in the spot where she and her siblings lay cuddle together on the ground, and concluded that whatever her mother was calling her for, could never be anything good. Therefore, she kept quiet, refrain from answering her and closed her eyes to devour another session of her very satisfying sweet sleep. Until, flashes of pink lights illuminated the skies; displaying all the vegetation that she and her other two kin were surrounded by.

Finding the signs in the skies quite strange, the teenager lifted her head from the plie of leaves used as her pillow, and began peering into the darkness; straining her eyes, and somehow presuming that god was mystically granting her a sign. A sign that her mother was coming after her in the bushes to get her, drag her back to the house and beat the shit out of her. Or that something rather bad was about to happen.

Either way, Ella refused from going back to sleep and sat up in the dark, waiting for whatever were to come.

Then another ball of light flash out in the heavens with a lingering string of lights which eventually diminished into thin air.

Blou-Blou-Blou!!!

Came another mighty sound, almost shaking the ground from beneath where she sat. And then, thick drops of rain began pouring down.

It didn’t seem threatening to Ella at first, because she knew that she had placed enough coconuts limbs over the hut which she had built; along with some old plastic bags, lying around the yard, which she had ripped wide open to obtain their fullest of usage.

For a while, all was nice, feeling comfy and dry, until, a heavy blast of win came, removing the entire covering of the hut’s roofing. More and more water began ducking its way into the hut now, and the earth below their bodies, became extremely moist and started trickling streams of water in various direction.

Through it all, Dion and Devon remained shut-eyed – fast asleep!

“Dion, Devon, wake-up… wake-up!”

Ella said hurryingly while constantly shaking at her younger sister and brother bodies.

Eventually, their eyes were open and both were staring with terror showing on their faces. Soon came the twisted faces, dropped lips, and loud crying.

“Come, we have to get back to the house!”

Ella said, trying the scoop both of them up in her hands all at once.

Her first attempt failed when she slipped from the wet clumps of mud under her feet.

But she knew she couldn’t stay down, even though, it was quite difficult to stand up. And also soon figured out that she would be falling back into the mud again and again.

Realizing her dilemma, Ella decided to tie to their feet, the dirty clothing which they had taken off their bodies after going by the river to bath. Hoping that such would give them some friction – a firm grip, as they try standing in the pile of mud all around them. But she would soon learn, the clothing on her feet would consume the mud, and she would be tumbling to the ground with her brother and sister in her hands once again.

This time around however, she had no intention of getting herself up from of the ground, and instead she shouted at her little loved ones, beside her;

“Roll with me now… roll with me, Dion and Devon, roll with me!”

A decision which had brought them at the end of the slope and into a trench of water, almost drowning her brother Devon and actually startling the crap out of her sister Dion. Because the water in the trench was little bit above Ella’s knees, reaching Dion’s armpit and covering the entire face of little Devon.

Frightened to see her little brother in danger, fumbling under the muddy water, Ella acted quickly; reaching down and scooping him out of the water and physically throwing him on the banking of the trench. Immediately afterwards, she did the same thing for her sister, because there was no way her little feet could have taken her out of that flowing trench of muddy water. Immediate danger now out of the way, Ella try making her way out the thick mucky waters, catching onto whatever tree limbs that were in front of her. Until, one foot, still bounded with her clothing was out of the gunk and then the next.

Knowing that her brother Phillip would be in his bed near to the backdoor, Ella went there and began quietly tapping at his door in the way hours of the night. A disturbance which her bother in his deep sleep, wasn’t at all happy to hear.

“Wherever you coming from, why you don’t go back there!”

He lashed out at her after her persistent knocking.

“I’m coming from in the bushes!”

She whispered trying hard not to awake their mother.

“Dion and Devon are also with me now, they can’t be out here any longer!”

Ella continued.

“You’re lying!”

Phillip retorted angrily.

But after checking the bed round four feet from his and seeing that it was empty, Phillip decided to open up the door for his elder sister.

“They need cleaning up; would you help me?”

Ella ask quietly.

Without responding, Phillip reached for one of the buckets from the hallway, brought it up to the mouth of the facet, because he didn’t want their mother to hear him fetching water at that hour of the night. And soon, he began filling the bucket with water and washing away the mud and grime from the bodies of the little ones.

Shortly afterwards, they were dressed in dry clothing and placed on the bed in the opposite side of the room so as to finish catching their sleep.

Ella being just as filthy as her two younger relations, catch two buckets of water, brought them to the back of the yard where she washed away the dirt from her skin the best way that she could. Dried and dressed, she dived into the bed and not long after she was off to sleep after whispering into her brother’s ear;

“Thank you, and please wake me in the morning, as soon as your eyes are open!”

Phillip, however, didn’t get that chance to wake her up all on his own. And was only awaken by the loud screams of his sister, Ella, in the seven o’clock bells of the morning.

Screaming for dear life, because their mother was on top of the bed, even stepping on the little ones, while throwing down some heavy beatings with a thick piece of stick she had chopped and hidden for such a purpose as this.

Driving the stick all over Ella’s plump body, she began screaming and begging for mercy from her hard hearted mother. But the more she begged for mercy, was the more the striking of the stick came down on her, severely whacking against her skin.

Woop!

Woop!

Woop!

Went, one strike after the other.

Fearing that his beautiful sister might end up looking like him, and the after math she would have to face in the future with her face totally disfigured and damaged. For the very first time, Phillip ever intervened in the beating of any of his loved ones… his siblings.

Quickly jumping off his bed, Phillip ran to the kitchen where he knew the machete was stuck in the corner. Placing a firm grip onto it, he ran back to the bedroom, firmly gripping the machete in his left hand above his head, because he was a lefty. Not even wanting to acknowledge his mother as a mother, he shouted;

“Hey! Drop the fucking stick and get your ass off of her!”

Ms. Nella was now totally surprise and suddenly frozen in time for a moment.

Hand still held high in the air to come down with that next heavy blow on her daughter’s back with the stick, she gazed into her son’s face and knew that he was dead serious about his command. Or, even using the machete on her.

Ms. Nella could see the angry face of her husband in her son, and knew that he meant business. But instead of surrendering to her ways, she took him on, and soon, she started whacking him across his face with the heavy piece of stick in her hand.

A whacking so hard, he partially lose the grip of the machete in his hand. But quickly, he regain his grip on it while his mother got even more angrier and began bellowing out on top of her lungs, every profanity under the whole united kingdom.

“I am the one who pissed you out of my pussy, and not the other way around!”

Ms. Nella said cussing.

“And I, didn’t tell you, to lay on your back, and get me!”

Phillip replied stutteringly.

A reply which had infuriated Ms. Nella even more, have her feeling ashamed and gotten her throwing another blow at her son.

Not in a million years would she have imagine that her own son would have actually put a slap upon her thick, muscular being.

It wasn’t a part of the African or Caribbean culture for any child to hit their parent, especially their mother.

Gripping onto the handle of the machete as firmly as he could, Phillip raised his hand and gave his mother one slap to the side of the face, splitting apart of her earlobe, and then having her quickly releasing the piece of stick held in her hand.

The culture of children retaliating to their parent violent beatings upon them were now somewhat abolished.

However, the slap stung hard, and Ms. Nella was now holding onto her face and groaning with agony. Her eyes, her eyes were telling a completely different story, though. While blood from her earlobe drip onto her pale colored blouse.

A story of internally and everlastingly despising of her flesh and blood – hating her own son whom she had given birth to, to the core of her being.

But, he was only doing what she and his father had taught him to do, or had done to him and his other siblings over the years.

In her state of agony and pain, she swore on her breast that she would never give him a red cent for his schooling ever again. Or, fixing a plate of food.

The declaration made Phillip jawline drop, and the countenance of worry seep upon his face, making him look like he had suddenly aged a bit. One thing was for certain, he wasn’t feeling a sense of guilt or apologetic, and felt he had done the right thing defending his elder sister. Because one sister was already dead, just a day ago, because of the constant violence being practiced in the family. Police officers were coming and going on the property of their home like it was a damn shopping mall.

Their father, the main breadwinner was now hospitalized because of police brutality. And worst, no one had a clue when he would be returning home.

Ignoring his mother’s harsh comments, Phillip brought himself to a quiet place inside the house to sort out his thoughts.

He wouldn’t be the first student who didn’t make it through the secondary school system; many other students had dropped out for one reason or the other.

Phillip thought to himself.

Now he began thinking; if he should focus on farming the land he was dwelling on or should he proceed to the streets and start asking for work. But time was too early and wounds still too raw to make that decision. Therefore, Phillip decided to stay still in his thoughts, his intentions and in his deeds for a while.

Dion and Devon were still laying on the bed with their eyes closed. They had learn the trick of keeping their eyes close and pretending that they were dead whenever there was some sort of trouble around. Therefore, no one knew if they were actually still sleeping and pretending to be dead. Only Ella’s kind voice could get them to respond, but she was at the side of the house shivering from the beatings she had just received, checking out her limbs to see if anything was sprain and wiping away tears.

Her pains were many, her skin whaled and badly bruised, making her totally forgetting about her two other siblings on the bed for that moment. But she would soon remember their existence where there was a tooting of horn at the gate.

Corporal Banks was now at the gate, exiting his truck to enquire about how the family was doing, brought some well need news and also some food for the children to eat as well.

Immediately after seeing Ella, he knew there was some trouble taking place inside the house. And right away, he began inquiring about her younger brother and sister; fearing that they too might have had something drastically happening to them. But, Ella made mention to him that they might be still actually on the bed sleeping or they were there, pretending to be dead.

Spearing not a minute, the corporal dash to the back bedroom with Ella following close behind, to see about their condition. And happy to have found them both unharmed; sleeping peacefully, since their ordeal of the night was an uneasy one.

Phillip came inside the bedroom and greeted the police officer while Ms. Nella stayed inside her bedroom and remain nursing her wound on her earlobe.

But Corporal Banks knocked on her bedroom door, insisting that he would like to speak with her.

For a long while, Ms. Nella lingered, before opening the door to her bedroom. And when she finally opened it, her face said it all… she was ready to build a grand mountain out of a mole hill; by the simple questioned Corporal Banks said to her.

“You’re going to put another child in the ground or, you are happy for your children to be taken away from you?”

The officer questioned with concerns on his face and in his voice.

“If the State wants to come and take them, let them! And if, they want to travel six feet under, I am not holding them back, because death is a fucking must!”

Ms. Nella spoke angrily.

Her statement, her voice and her demeanor annoyed the officer and he felt like slapping, some sense into her. But, he kept his cool, and went on talking. Hoping instead, that his words would somehow have some for an effect on her way of presently thinking.

“Wouldn’t you like for your children and grandchildren to gather around you someday… in your old age, and share you with what is taking place in their lives presently, and lord you because of the way you had cherish them while they grew up?

The officer continued to ask with concern still cracking in his voice.

Observing her face and body language, and concluding that her heart and mind, or entire being was totally cemented with cruelty and evil; the corporal with a serious face spoke sternly;

“You just keep this in mind, Ms. Nella, not every officer is going to be easy on you, like I am. Just giving you fair warning, I might not be the officer who shows up at your door-step the next time around! Therefore, the passes I’m giving to you now, might not be his or her way of handling businesses like this… your ass thrown in jail and your children handed over to the state in one scoop; never to behold again…not even in the court of law after testifying against you!”

Corporal Banks said with a heavy sighing at the end of his sentence.

But, would Ms. Nella ever take heed or even appreciate that fair warning?

Without waiting to hear a response from her lips, though, Corporal Banks removed himself from in front of Ms. Nella, and also from in front of her bedroom door as well, rushed off to his car to get the rest of food, he had brought there for the Bradshaw’s children.

Within minutes, he was back with bags in hand and resting them on the veranda chair, and before he could call out to Ella to bring the two little ones, Dion and Devon, Ms. Nella mood changed. And now she was complaining and showing the corporal what her son Phillip, had done to her ear.

He had already seen the blood stain on the top of her blouse, near to the collar, but refuse from saying a word to her about it. And neither did he cared to be sympathetic with her either.

“It seems like drawing blood, is all you have ever taught your poor children, for most of their lives! So, what do you expect from them; hugs, kisses, roses and candies?”

The officer stated with eyes forcing wide open.

“So, you think, I am the one who has been beating them all their lives?” Ms. Nella asked; “When, you have seen with your own two eyes, what their father was doing to Lillian before she took her own life?”

“Didn’t you witness me trying to step-in and stop him?”

Ms. Nella lashed out asking.

“Your husband is presently in the hospital, and the evidence is presently showing on Ella’s hand and also on her face, as we speak right now! So please, don’t give me that crap, about their father being the only abusive one in this house!”

The officer lashed out, with annoyance showing all over his face.