Part Two
Grinning wildly, my dramatic friend plunked down
hard in his chair and slapped his thigh.
“There ya go, in a
shells nut Ain’t It, the story of her name.”
Clay finished his pop
and tossed the bottle in the general direction of a growing pile.
“Well?” I asked.
“Well what man?” That’s
it. Clay got up and added wood to the fire.
Typically, I enjoyed a
full moon’s presence at camp. This time differed. It glared at me harshly as a
judge and unsettled me. Tension in my head, jabbing a knowing and telling
finger into my mind, provoked me. I pushed back and it ceased.
“Clay, that’s just a
tiny part of what I’m after. Tell me about her spirit, heart, and mind. Tell me
what she treasures and is willing to fight for, besides you, that is. What
makes her unique and special?”
Clay got up again and
emptied spent coffee grounds at the edge of the fire. They smelled like musty
memories as they burned.
“Don’t get your boxers
in a wad. I’ll tell ya more but it requires another pot of coffee.”
A cloud, acting as my
defense attorney, ran a block on the judging moon so Clay turned up the lights
before sitting. The air, cooling nicely, offered nice sleeping bag comfort for
later but nothing for the feeling tip-toeing around my spirit. I also feared
another shift by Clay.
“Alrighty Migizi, I’ll
go for the one thing that colors her through and through but with a warning.”
“Why should I be warned
brother?”
“With your feelings
about tradition and spirituality…” Clay crossed his arms and another moth
became intoxicated with lantern light. “Yah, you might go bonkers like that
moth there.”
“Clay, please, before
midnight already.”
Clay looked to the moon
and back at me. The cloud, my lawyer, was in contempt of the moon’s court and
ousted.
“Gal descends from a long
line of medicine people, all from her mom’s side. You know, Midehwins. At age
15, under her ma’s wing, she was accepted into the Sacred Lodge as a ‘hopeful’
and spose to follow in the moc’s of her ancestors. Her mom gave up the society
at 3rd level. After years of effort and proving, Gal also gave it
up, 2nd level for her. Still wanna hear more? We can stop here and
talk other stuff. Yah, let’s do that.”
Clay sniffed the air
and whistled. “Coffee is soup so it’s on.”
Short hairs on my neck,
stiff with paranoia, tried hiding from the moon.
“Dammit Clay, gimme
some of that pot cleaner in a cup and tell me more.”
“You were warned.” He
handed me my coffee, sat, and resumed.
“She gave it up for one
reason, same as her mom, evil. The more gifted she got the more evil she saw,
yup, saw it everywhere workin’ its deception, delusion, and destruction. Also
saw the sacred battling against it. Said it wore her out just watching and
feeling it.”
Clay paused, chewed his
lower lip, and shook his head no and then yes.
“Okay, I’ll tell him
but he ain’t gonna like it.”
“Who won’t like it
Clay? Who you taking orders from?”
“Gal says that you got
some serious bad medicine, curse like, tearing you to into 6 pieces. That’s why
she stays so close to me, to protect me from you.”
Blinding pain stabbed
my spirit and I collapsed.
Copyright ©
2015 Migizi M. New Song. All Rights Reserved.
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