Page 11 of Eyes Like Angel

It pierced my skin. Sister Joanne again brought down the heel and harmed me again, as Sister Jane guffawed at my silent cries, gritting my teeth and biting my tongue from releasing the cries.

When she brought down the final blow, I let out a cry; and Sister Jane laughed harder as the canine barked louder.

“I’ll give you something to cry about,” Sister Joanne seethed, and threw a hot-boiling across me, but I ducked, and the transparent glass of this mural piece she bought for the kitchen shattered.

“Ah, my beautiful piece!” Sister Joanne screamed. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BEAUTIFUL PIECE!? DIE, YOU FUCKING WITCH, DIE!” she cried in terror and anger, picking up the pace to chase me.

By the time, the chase began, our screams increased to a maximum volume and Sister Jane still laughing, clapping her hands; Father Divine stopped her and took me by the fabric.

Father Divine had his hand grip on me and dragged me across the floor, by the time he reached outside from the doorsteps and paused at the hillside staircases, at once, he tossed at the long, winding stairs. As I fell, the gravity trundled me over by the winding staircases, my skin and bones torn and crushed each time the gravity pulled and rolled me over until to the end of the hillside steps.

My joints seared in hot pain and my bowels hardened and coiled sharply, as my tears pricked from Sister Joanne’s sharp heel.

Hearing little steps, a tall shadow of Father Divine loomed over me, his hand reached out to me as I fell unconscious.

***

His hoary palm fisted and shoved my head under the icy water, running from the bathtub, chanting in Lord’s name as he drowned me. It has been five minutes since his hand clutched to my scalp, shoving me back down as I gathered air within a millisecond.

He recited the verses in the bible, regarding to greed—1 Timothy 6:6-10

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. And if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been ensnared by it; they have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows,” Father Divine’s cleared and blurred as he shoved my head down in a cold bathtub, his hand deepened onto my scalp and plunged me in more than five minutes.

Noise in my ears drowned completely, knowing he said another gospel from the Bible scriptures, his head held high up, praising to the Lord himself as he read aloud—Psalm 12:2-6.

“Everyone deceives and flatters and lies. There is no sincerity left. But the Lord will not deal gently with people who act like that; he will destroy those proud liars who say, “We will lie to our heart's content,” his voice boomed, still had his grasponto me, and I was choking, icy water shot straight through my nose and ears.

Once he has done the punishment laid on me, he yanked my head out and tossed me onto the ground, gathering with his belt he held taken from his closet before taken me to another place, a place where no one should hear my screams and see my tears, only a nippy water blanketed me until oblivion.

“Face the wall,” he said to me as I coughed out water, breathing almost to nothing, choking, gathering a thick air.

I heard no sound from him; the bath water trapped, unable to register what he spoke.

“I said face the wall,” he commanded, his veins protruded from his neck.

He then yanked my shriveled body up and strongly pinned me against the grey-bricked wall.

“When I said ‘obey’, you obey!” Father Divine bellowed, and lifted the belt in the air, and deliberately flogged on my back repeatedly until it stopped at seven.

I counted.

“Look at whatyouhad me do! Making everyone’s time a living hell in this special day! Everything that you do is a sin—a sin! Lord will be angry, angry at your greed, your selfishness; your traitorous hands must be purified, and your darkened, sinful soul must be cleansed! You must pay a price for ruining this day!” Each word he rested, he’d gather his leather belt and impacted its blow onto my flesh.

A newly-leathered belt sharply cracked.

My voice croaked into plea, hot tears spilled, my nostrils bled and drowned from bitter water. “Father Divine, please, I was starving—”

I deserve to eat.

Another whiplash cracked.

“Oh dear, Heavenly Father, forgive this lost being, for this wretched filthy demon before you has sinned again, and again and again, and she must be punished accordingly! With you, Lord, we must drown her and be set free into the eternal paradise!” he chanted, cried out, lifting me by the hair tugging on my scalp.

My tongue bit, my arms curled, my back and my skin stung and peeled from his punishment he bestowed on me.

Oh, Lord, I have sinned yet again!

The tongue in between my teeth gashed and left a bitter taste, swallowed as if I tasted a rotten liquid, deepening in my throat and coiled in my emptied, starved belly.