The Stranger

Author’s Note: Sorry this took so long to put out. My dad just got out of the hospital and we had to put my dog to sleep, so I wasn’t very happy. But I’m better now thanks to my Tumblr Friends!

Thank you to CandyCaner, Ikkichi, and Fogu-s_Tofu for reviewing and check out a one-shot I did called Paytos! It’s okay

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“I was about seven years old when I met my first Indian. I had been told all the stories you have been told about them being evil beings from hell, and more probably.

“You see, I was the Mayor’s daughter in that little town I lived in. We owned a sugar-cane with acres and acres of fields. My father was the one that supplied the entire town with the sugar they needed and he was elected mayor before I was even born. We had lots of money, and we were one of the lucky few families that weren’t totally wiped out by the war.

“I was a privileged young girl. I had gotten music lessons, studied geography, language, arithmetic, and so much more. I was able to outsmart any boy I knew, and my father wanted me that way so he could say that when he married his daughter off, he would marry her to a great man who knows what he was doin.

“I would walk out past the fields all the time to explore the plants and land beyond my home. I was disobeying my father and governess, but I couldn’t help it, I loved to roam around. That day, though, I walked way too far out and got lost in the swamplands.”

Lynn paused and took a deep breath.

I took her hand in mine and she squeezed.

“I was scared and was yelling for help. I then heard a dull thwack and I jumped at the noise, turning around to see where it had come from.

“It was an arrow that had hit a nearby tree and suddenly a large animal ran by it. I don’t remember what the animal was, but it ain’t important.

“A young man stepped into my vision. He was tall and powerful. His shirtless chest was covered in tribal markings that had been pounded into his skin with needles and ink made from minerals. His pants were made of animal hide and he had a quiver filled with arrows strapped to his back, matching the bow he held in his hand.

“By the time I was finished staring at this man, he had noticed me and began to walk towards me. I never connected him with the hateful stories I had heard about Indians so I just watched him instead of screaming and running like I had been told to do.

“He’d asked me in broken English, “Where you from?” just like that. His voice was rough and heavy with accent. I told him that I was from the Harrison plantation and he nodded at me, smiling. He was so nice, even though he couldn’t speak much English.

“He took me back home and walked me all the way to my front door. One of the housemaids answered and gushed over me saying how much everyone was worried about me. He was yelled at, even though he did nothing wrong. I now realize how brave he must’ve been to take me to a place with prejudiced white folk. I had turned and watch his form retreat from the gardens. I had never even asked his name.”

Lynn smiled sadly, squeezed my hand again, and continued.

“I had never forgotten about him. How nice he’d been to me. I was yelled at and admonished by my father, mother, maids, and governesses about how I should never walk away like that again. I listened for a while, but once I turned 10 I started to question the validity of their hatred.

“What was so wrong about them? They hadn’t seemed like demon spawns from hell to me. So… one day I decided to go see if I could find them and possibly thank the man who’d helped me.

“I’d found a map of the area in my father’s study and memorized it as much as I could. I even took out a paper and copied it in much less detail so I could have a general idea where I would be going. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and changed from my usual dresses to a pair of working pants and a shirt I had taken from the laundry lines out back. I think they’d belonged to one of our workers.

“I snuck away at the crack of dawn so I wouldn’t be noticed. I followed the map and walked for a long while. I stumbled onto their settlement an hours or so later and froze. I didn’t know what to say and they were all staring at me.”

Lynn let out a laugh.

“My eyes widened when an old wrinkled man that was basically naked except for a loin cloth and the tattoos on his body approached me. He held a staff in one hand and he face and ears were pierced with multiple pieces of metal and jewelry that looked to be handmade.

He said to me, “What are you doing here, little girl.” He voice was gentle and sweet and I relaxed, remembering how kind those people were.

“I told him, “A man from this tribe, I think, brought me home when I was lost a few years ago.” I was very quiet, and awkward because of his nakedness. “I wanted to say thank you to him. He was very nice to me.” I then realized that they might not even remember.

“The man smiled widely at me and placed his hand on my back, “Come with me, little one.” He said, gently guiding me further within the settlement.

“We stopped outside a small thatch hut that had walls made with mud and the man called out in his native language. I remember liking the sound of that language. It had clicked, flowed, and sounded beautiful to me.

“My savior from a few years earlier stepped out and looked down at me, his eyes widening. He had remembered me. The older, naked man spoke to the younger one in the language that I did not understand and the younger one smiled after they had talked for a few moments. He kneeled down in front of me so our faces were level with each other and he said, “You have something to tell me?”

“I nodded and said, “Thank you for saving me and taking me home. You were awful nice.” He smiled at me again and I suddenly felt comfortable. Almost as if I was home.”

A full-fledged smile broke Lynn’s face and she stayed quiet for a few moments. I took the time to stare at her in her unadulterated happiness.

“I spent the next few years visiting them as much as I could and I had made a friend. Her name was Doowal. It meant sun.

“She was that old man’s daughter. I had later learned that he was their medicine man. When he saw that I was visiting more and more frequently, he took me under his wing and taught me medicine, salves, prayers, and stitching techniques.

“When he saw that I was not squeamish at all when it came to blood or pain, he told the hunters to train me as well.

“They taught me to hunt, how to skin, how to clean the animals and even how to cook every single piece so you’d be able to have meat for a week and not starve. I was one of the men, basically. They had welcomed me with open arms and accepted me as one of them.

“I was initiated at the age of 15 by doing a hunt alone and I was tattooed with the tribe symbol.”

Lynn then reached up, unbuttoned the top few buttons of her shirt and pulled her right sleeve down far enough to show me the swirling pattern on her shoulder.

It was beautiful.

I traced the blue-black design with the tips of my fingers and she shivered. She looked at me with hooded eyes and then closed them after a moment. She let out a shaky breath and continued, leaving the shirt undone.

“I had tracked down, wrestled, and killed a gator all on my own and had brought it back for some of the other women to clean and cook. Doowal was the one I had chosen to clean my animal. She was a great girl. Always sweet and kind, questioning, funny, and a little bold at times too.”

She stared off into her own world.

“I had spent so much time with her. I almost never left her side unless it couldn’t be helped. I pained me to leave her and go to my plantation house. I considered that tribe as my true family. My true home.

“One day, I got courage from… I don’t even know… somewhere. I took her down to the marshes alone and I kissed her.”

Lynn bit her lip and smiled.

“I remember her shock and not responding at first, but when she finally did, I remember it being the best day of my life. Her small beautiful body pressed up to mine.

“We had somehow ended up lying down. We were all cuddled up with each other and kissing softly and lazily every now and then. I told her that I loved her. And strike me down now if my heart didn’t stop when she said, “I love you too.” I was happier than I had ever been in my life.”

Lynn’s face took on a glow I had never seen before

I was furiously jealous.

“When we had gotten back to the settlement, I walked up to her father and asked if it would be alright for me to court her.” She chuckled, “He was damn surprised, but women in love didn’t scare them as they had it every now and then. He allowed me to court her and I kissed her in celebration.”

Her face went from delighted to stony again in less than an instant. The change in expression threw me off balance. I gripped her hand.

“I come home to my father telling me that he wants to marry me off to some god-forsaken son of a bitch that owned a flourishing farm over a hundred miles away. He told me that this man was on his way to meet me and we would be married by the end of the month.

“I cried my eyes out that night.

“The next day, I told Doowal my plight and she cradled me to her chest as I cried out my frustrations.

“She was so strong and wonderful. I was so worried that I would be torn away from the love I had just found with her. She told me that the gods had a plan for us all. That we would be okay somehow. Tragedy may fell on us, but we would see this through and end up happy.

“I spent every waking moment with her before that disgusting man came into town.”

Lynn shivered.

“He was… disgusting. All he ever did was rove his eyes over me as if I was a piece of meat –which to him I probably was –and he treated me like a servant. He groped me, barged in on me dressing and undressing, and never showed me one ounce of respect.

“One week after he had arrived I knew I had to go see Doowal. I needed her support. I knew that I might never get to see her again once the marriage went through. I fled to her in the night. She grabbed and blanket and we walked out to the marsh where we had kissed for the first time.

“I laid my head in her lap and cried. I remember her just petting my hair and letting me let it all out. She never once interrupted me.

“When my eyes were dry and my head was pounding, all she did was lean down and kiss me.

“We made love that night. It was beautiful and wonderful. I had never felt anything as wonderful in all of my life. That memory alone was all I would need to get though my marriage to that horrible man.”

Her body began to tremble. And tears slipped out of her eyes. I hugged her from the side and slipped my head into the crook of her neck.

“Five days later, I smelled smoke. I looked out of my bedroom window and saw great, huge plumes of the black smoke curling over the trees of the forest. My heart jumped up in my throat and I ran towards my tribe. My home.”

I squeezed her tighter.

“That disgusting, filthy man had brought his hunting team along and slaughtered them all. He slaughtered my family and burned down their houses. Burned down our houses, and our sacred grounds. But worst of all…”

She choked. Sobs were torn from her body and she crumpled, cradling her face in her hands. Sympathetic tears rolled down my cheeks and I tried my hardest to hold her even closer. Her voice came out in a muffle.

“They’d raped her. He had let his entire team fuck her and left her right at the entrance to the settlement for me to find. I grabbed her and just sobbed. I watched her eyes deaden slowly as her soul fled from her body. She took her one last ounce of strength to tell me that she loved me, she kissed me, and then she was gone.”

I swallowed the knot that had formed in my throat and I sobbed with Lynn. In no way had she deserved to be destroyed like this.

She composed herself as much as possible, and continued.

“I later found out from him that he had followed me that one night and watched us make love. He had killed them all to put me in my place. And that my father had helped.”

Her face went blank. Empty and emotionless.

“I made some weapons and killed them all Millie. I murdered my Father, my soon-to-be husband, his friends, and even my caretakers.

“They had all either killed my true family, or facilitated it, so I reciprocated.”

Everything went quiet.

Lynn was a murderer.

I couldn’t process that my soft-spoken Lynn was a murderer.

“I felt nothing when it happened. They had taken the best thing in my life away from me, so I took their lives away from them. I skipped town and haven’t looked back since then.”

“How long ago, Lynn?”

“6 years.”

I nodded and pulled away from her. I kept hold of her arm to keep her from running away from me.

I…

I didn’t know what to say.