Shiīnkā

Prologue

He remembered when he was young, that he'd trained himself to not cry. He always tried to be pleasant, he tried to do things for the other kids, but they didn't like him. All because his mother named him Shiīnkā... Worthless. He was worthless.
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Edward Age 7 Years Old
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"Where are we going?" He asked as a group of big kids led him through the halls. They'd said they'd play with him.
    "Somewhere special" One of the kids grinned and the others laughed. He smiled. It must be a good place if they were all so excited. They stopped at a janitor's closet and the boy adopted a confused look.
    "Why are we here?" He'd asked and the boys grinned. One punched him in the stomach and he fell, another kicked his face, splitting his lip and bruising his face. They beat him and he cried. There was no one in the school to hear him. Then it was dark and he heard the door of the janitor's closet locking.
    "Hey! Don't leave me here!" The boys outside laughed and did nothing. Soon it was quiet outside and the boy banged his fists against the door. "Let me out!!!" He cried. When no one heard him. It was a school break and the whole school would be locked up for a week. He sobbed, he'd be there for a whole week!
***
He was hungry and cold and tired by the end of the week. When the door finally opened he flinched away from the light and when he finally looked over there was a janitor looming over him glaring down at him.
    "What're you doing in here?!" The man scolded and the boy explained himself and the man sighed. "Damn kids, I've seen you out in the play yard, you can't catch a break can you kid?"
    "It's not their fault, really! I probably did something to make them mad!" He truly believed it. I something bad happened to him, it was his own fault. That's what his mother had taught him, it was always his fault.
    "Kid, what happened wasn't your fault." The man said, "I'm going to report this to the principle."  And with that the Janitor man became his best and only friend
***
A couple days later Shiīnkā was sitting in the principle's office looking down shamefully. His mother sat next to him and was glaring at him disappointedly. They were scolding him for the matter of being locked in the closet. It was his fault. The janitor man had been wrong because it was all his fault.
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Edward Age 11 Years Old
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Shiīnkā sat at his desk, working until someone threw a piece of crumpled paper at him. He unfolded it and read the contents. He bit his lip trying not to cry.
"Worthless Bitch" It said. "Shiīnkā bāktā" In Xeresian. He bit his lip to hold back a sob. He didn't realize that his teeth had cut skin until the teacher scolded him then sent him to the nurse. The teacher was new, had been warned that Shiīnkā was a troublemaker. She looked at the note and read the words. Her eyes widened and she looked up angrily.
"Who wrote this?!" No one said a word, "If no one says anything I'm keeping the whole class after." Still no one answered. She sighed. She didn't keep them after class, what was the point? As she left the building she found Shiīnkā sitting in the courtyard alone. He had nothing on his bitten lip and tears on his face.
"Shiīnkā," the teacher approached him and his eyes widened, "where's the bandage for your lip?"
"I didn't get one teacher." He said.
"Why?"
"The nurse said it was my own fault and that if I wanted it treated to do it myself." He looked down shamefully, "but I don't know how."
"No one ever taught you?
"Everyone says I'm too stupid to learn and so I'm worthless to teach." He looked up at the teacher, "Am I stupid? Am I really not able to learn? I want to learn! I want to be smart!"  The teacher looked at him sadly. This boy was crying for help that she didn't know how to give...
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Edward Age 12 Years Old
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Shiīnkā looked at his mother with wide ryes as men chained him in a cart.
"Mama where are they taking me?" He saw one of the men hand his mother money and they began to drag him away. As soon as he realized that, he struggled.
"Mama! Stop them! Mama help me! Help me!" The woman who he called mother scowled at him and said:
"Quit your whining, the only use you have for me is the money you'll bring in as a slave." Shiīnkā's eyes widened. His mother, his mama... She sold him? Tears streamed down his face and he gave up his fight letting the men drag him away.