The Change

Chapter 4

"Where are we going?" asked Little Crow walking with his brother.

"We are going to see Pete Chasing Horse," Kicking Bird getting annoyed and angry.

When they arrived, Pete was already waiting, he was sitting on his porch step.

"Ready to get "ecktomy" off your back?" asked Pete.

So he showed them to the back of the house and went inside the sweat lodge.

"Haw" (hello) Little Crow, I'm glad you came here today, we all know why you are here, so all of us in here are going to pray for you, we are going to gather our minds, we are going to make our minds and our hearts and prayers as one, and we are all going to pray for this young man, we are going to help him to see and hear the things he needs to see and hear," said Pete.

So they did a healing ceremony and went on their way feeling washed and renewed, then they went home.

"Well how do you feel today?" asked Rocky Crow.

"Different," said Little Crow sitting at the table.

"You will be fine, I promise," said Rocky Crow.

Then their mother came home from work and started cooking, they were all sitting at the table.

"How was work today honey?" asked White Dove.

"They let me go, along with a few other people," said Rocky Crow.

"What?" asked White Dove.

"Yeah, but I'm going to find another job, maybe breaking horses on a ranch in Arizona or something," said Rocky Crow.

"That might be too far," said White Dove.

"I know, but I have to put food on the table as well not just you," said Rocky Crow.

"Well the food is ready," said White Dove.

So they started eating and it was late, so they helped clean up and went to bed. The next morning it was time to get up and get ready for school again, they rushed out the door and ran to the bus stop, and waited for the bus. White Eagle and Ivy walked over and stood next to them.

"How do you feel?" asked Ivy.

"Washte" (good)," Little Crow said in the Lakota language.

"Good, here comes Matthew," said White Eagle.

"Haw" (hello)," said Little Crow.

"Haw" (hello)," said Matthew in confusion.

Then they get on the bus and went to the back and sat down. Matthew looked back at Little Crow with confusion. Then the bus came to a stop at the school, and all the kids got off and went inside.

"Okay what is going on with you, did you fall from a horse and hit your head?" asked Matthew.

"I've never been on a horse to fall off of a horse," said Little Crow.

"Why are you being nice and talking to me?" asked Matthew looking around.

"My blood is good now, no more fighting," said Little Crow.

"What? did you turn into a flower child?" said Matthew.

"No it is still me, I just fight when I have to," said Little Crow.

Matthew just looked at Little Crow and walked away to class.

"See you could be nice," said Kicking Bird.

Little Crow just smiled.

So they all went to class.

"Alright class open your books to page 509 we are going to learn about plants today?" asked the teacher.

So they read out loud together and answered questions and did vocabulary until the end of class. Then the bell rang and it was time for lunch. As they went through the lunch line, Matthew was just starring at Little Crow with confusion. Then they walked to their table and sat down.

"How long is Matthew going to stare at you?" asked Ivy.

"Is he still staring?" asked Little Crow.

"Yes very hard, if he stares any longer he'll go blind," said Ivy.

Kicking Bird watched Little Crow get up from his table and walked over to Matthew.

"Alright what is going on?" asked Little Crow.

"Why are being nice," said Matthew.

"My blood is good, I'm starting to see more things clearly," said Little Crow.

"I still don't like you," said Matthew.

"That's okay, you don't have to like me, but no more fighting," said Little Crow walking away.

Then the bell rang, everybody threw their trays away and went to class. Little Crow and his friends were walking in the hallway.

"That was a good thing you did," said White Eagle.

"It felt good," said Little Crow.

"That's good," said Ivy.

Then they walked inside, the teacher was gone, Matthew was bullying another kid.

"Hey, come on man, leave him alone, give him his stuff back?" asked Little Crow.

"No," said Matthew.

"Let him go," said White Eagle.

Everybody stood up in class and stood out of the way.

"Are you going to let him go?" asked Little Crow.

The teacher and keynote speaker opened the door everybody ran to their desk, Matthew quickly let go and sat down.

"Alright class settle down, we are having a keynote speaker with us today, so be on your best behavior.

"Hello class, my name is Red Deer, we are going to talk about ways that you guys can help your community. "asked Red Deer.

"I would help rebuild homes, with running water, and put gas heaters to stay warm, help them find jobs, help them to get off the reservation to have a better life and stop living poorly because there is so much out there that we don't even know because we're too caught up in the past and hating the white people. We chose to live this way, we chose not to get up and make it right or a better place, we were once proud people," said Little Crow.