Machi's a Feral Child and I'm the Wolf

Machi's a Feral Child and I'm the Wolf

Week 190

Machi is a feral child and I am the wolf who raised him. He couldn’t be dragged to the dentist. I couldn’t make him. There was nothing I could make him do he didn’t want to do. So I abandoned him to parent himself or be parented by the thugs. Thugs who were the resisters and revolutionary criminals of India, Ori had told her once. Thugees had played a role in defeating the British Empire. Before birth Machi had turned and kicked. Already fighting empire. I abandoned him to parent himself and now he was unfit for any of the venues of normality. Having called the bluff of adults early on, having known that he was actually the one with the power, he had known how to win every contest with me. And now where was he? You have to learn to say no to him. He’s begging you to say no to him. That was what the high priced shrink told me. Machi was 8, punching the walls at school, his teacher told me. I believed her. At home he punched through the glass of the front door and cut his hand. He poured a half gallon of red poster paint I got him for Christmas down the stairs. The shrink told me to say no to him. To boot him from my bed. At night he woke up with terrors. I’ll never forget his screams.