Excerpt
and the little devils stayed in their quarters. However there was
a witness to all these things which took place in the school: the
Great Spirit of these kids’ ancestors which stood by them and
consoled them and healed their wounds, whether from the strap,
or the shoe of their master, or the hand that sometimes moved
in the speed of lightning and struck the cheek of the non-conforming
kid, that rebellious soul that couldn’t stay still and bow
down to anyone, and there were innumerable kids of that kind,
who always found a way to return the blow, in their childish way
but nonetheless as powerful and as important as ever, these kids
with the insubordinate souls took the strapping and the slaps,
knowing well that one day they’d have the chance to pay them
back, with the same token or with a very more powerful one.
“These were the bad old days,” Dylan kept on narrating,
“when the old man reigned over things here. But after Father
Jerome came everyone felt better. George, the Cretan cook, was
given, by Father Jerome, the free will to go out in the farmlands
around Kamloops and negotiate deals with producers, farm
people who supplied the School with vegetables, fruits, and the
people who raised chicken and supplied the School with fresh
poultry which not only was consumed by the personnel but even
the kids had their chicken meal once every two weeks. Beef and
pork were also discovered directly from farmers and was bought
at very reasonable prices, even at a very good discount when
George always reminded these people the food was for the good
of the community since it fed children, all these things changed
to the better…” Dylan said and took a deep breath. He took his
cigarette package and grabbed one, which he lighted while he
and Anton were walking the grounds. Once they stood under
a huge wild chestnut tree, letting its shade provide them with
some comfort from the heat of the August sun, Dylan sighed,
Libros Libertad 