Aris: A Skywalker Story

3. Aris Skywalker

Aris's POV

"Now come on dear, put this on," Mom hands me a gray-coloured skirt.

"But Mom, I don't wanna wear a skirt to work," I whine.

"You know the new rule Aris. Now go on."

I trudge into my bedroom and start to get dressed. Very slowly. This is probably the worst day of my life. I hate skirts. They are so girly. I would prefer pants, or at least a skort. Skirts would mark me as a girl. And I hate that. But I have no choice.

Anakin knocks on my bedroom door. "Come on!" his muffled voice shouts at me.

"Just have a little patience will you?" I shout back, hurrying to finish dressing.

A few moments later, I step out of my bedroom.

"Dang, what took you so long?" Anakin asks.

"Meh, nothing," I reply, shurgging my shoulders.

We walk towards Watto's shop. People stare at me as we walk into the market. I probably look like a boy wearing a skirt, with my pixie cut and all. 

We enter Watto's junk shop. The familiar smell of scraps and metal enters my nose. I love this smell. 

"Girl, go clean the floor," Watto commands.

"Boy, go clean the counter," he then orders Anakin.

As always, he gives me the harder and more tedious task. I have known this for a while now. He likes to see me suffer. He likes to go easier on Anakin. Probably because he is a boy. This always lights a spark inside of me, but I try to control it.

Once I finish mopping, Watto orders me to clean the walls. I know he gives me hard tasks, but this is impossible. The anger inside me grows with every passing second. It must have shown on my face, because Anakin looks at me and mouths to me,"Calm down".

I try my best to calm down, but I cannot. I pick up a rag and start cleaning the wall. Hard. So hard that a piece of sandstone starts to come off the wall and falls with a "thunk" on the ground.

Watto gets angry. But not as angry as I am. "Look what you have done,"  he groans. "Put that piece back now, girl."

I face the wall, trying not to look angry.

"No," I say, turning around with a defiant look on my face. "I have had enough of your torture and letting Anakin do all the easy work. It is because he is a boy, isn't it? Because that's just unfair! Go easy on me for once! At least treat me like I'm equal to Anakin!" 

I cover my mouth as the reality of the situation washes over me. What have I done? I was going to get punished. Oh, sh*t, I think.

Watto's blue face turns red, something I didn't even think was possible until now.

"So, you talk back to me? Impressive courage. But not enough!" Watto starts to raise his voice.

I want to take back all the words I said just now, but it's too late. Anakin just stares at me in shock.

Watto towers over my short, eight-year old body.

"Maybe this will teach you a lesson," an evil grin spreads across his face.

He takes out a whip from his belt. He pushes me to face the wall and swings the brown whip. It lands hard on my back.

A searing pain rips through me. I try my best to stay strong, to not scream or cry. A small scream escapes from my lips. Anakin runs towards me. Or at least he tries to. Watto blocks his way and pushes him aside like he is a piece of tissue paper. Warm sticky blood soaks through my gray shirt. I blink rapidly, trying not to let the tears in my eyes flow down my face.