X-Marks: Hiding Shadows

Cuts

Stiff fabric scratched together and zippers fastened in haste. We whispered curses of lost belonging and let out tired yawns as we packed in the bright light of the earlier morning. These were the sounds of a home being left behind, and for good. We were set to leave the Iboris.

I pulled the zipper of my backpack, letting it slide, not forcing it around the stubborn corners of my bag covered with dust and cobwebs that had time to settle during our long our stay. At my side, little Noah piled pieces of my clothes atop one another to help me stuff them away.

"I help," Noah said with a cheery smile.

I smiled back with a tight grin. I knew by Noah's smile he had no idea we were going away, and for good.

"Come now, little brother," Dana said and picked Noah up onto on her hip, "Let our guest do what they need."

Dana smiled back at me. Her round cheeks and full lips were like Niyah in every way. She was tall with a thin frame under her loose blue dress and wore a pair of pair of gold round glasses that matched the gold cuffs of her long brown braids.

"I have gathered some things, I know you will need," Niyah said from behind with gentle eyes, "There are bowls, Mosi has carved

from our best lumber and scarves I have taken from my closet although you won't be needing yours as much anymore."

"Why not?" Mat said and stood from packing his backpack.

Niyah pointed to her forehead and tapped at its center.

"You think I do not know what you hide under those scarves?" she said and grinned.

The others and I looked around at each other, mouths gaped and eyes moving about. How could she -?

"I suggest you find a better way to hide such things or hope you do not encounter someone as clever as me," Niyah said, and pulled a pair of scissors from the pocket of her long skirt, "May I suggest a trim of your hair instead."

Hours later, I waited in the tight hall just outside the Ibori's bedroom. Evee was inside the room getting her haircut.

I waited with the others who were all combing through their new hairstyles with their finger.

"I didn't even need a haircut, I don't have a mark," Nate said tousled his blond hair that was cut close to his ear.

"Who knew, you actually have eyes," Mat laughed and ran his hand through his black curls cut just above his brows that hide his mark.

"I kind of - like it," Ocean said smoothed her finger over the straight black hair also cut above her brows, "Whatever it's called."

"I think, I heard Buggy call it fringe once," I said.

"Fringe," Ocean repeated, with a hint of sadness.

The latch of the bedroom door unhinged. Evee stood in the doorway, her curls groomed tight around her face like a neatly trimmed bush.

Nate's face blossomed into a blushed smile, "You look -."

"Exactly the same," Mat interrupted, "Did your hair break the scissor or something?"

Evee looked Mat up and down and scrunched her hair with her hands with her nose tilted away from him.

"Now I know why I saw a chip in the mirror," she said and rolled her eyes at Mat.

Niyah stood in the doorway, "Valen," she said and dusted her hands on her black skirt, "You are last, but never least, dear."

I walked towards the door and left the noise of the others fade behind.

The bedroom was a small room that was draped with cloth from the ceiling and a dresser with many jars and little boxes. The bed had a colorfully striped blanket stretched across its wide frame and was enough to fill the whole room except for a small wooden chair in the corner.

Niyah sat in a lone wooden chair in the corner of the room, the bed and dresser were so close it was hard to see where I could fit.

Beside the chair, a small metal bucket was filled with brown, black and gold hair matted into a nest. Niyah extended her hand towards the spot below the chair between her legs.

"Sit here, child," she said.

I folded my legs and sat between her legs. There on the floor opposite me, a water-stained mirror reflected back my tired face.

"I saved you for last and for good reasons," Niyah said, and ran her finger through my auburn hair, "I have noticed you, Valen. You are a great learner. Your eyes see all. I will teach you how to cut hair."

"You really think I can?" I said, the wrinkles in my brow tightening.

"I'm am rarely wrong about such things," Niyah said, and turned my face forward toward the mirror, "Now watch, I will explain."

Niyah split my hair into fours, pulling small strands of my hair through her two fingers and cutting with the pointed end of the scissors. She did this until she reached the front and parted this piece towards my forehead to hide my mark. I listened carefully as she explained each step.

"It will take practice, but you do not have much longer on this road," she said and put down her scissors, "Soon, there will be no reason to hide."

"I hope you're right," I said and focused on my reflection again.

"Evee tells me you help braid her hair?" Niyah said and began to comb my hair back in place.

"Sometimes," I said, "But I'm not very good."

"Who taught you this, you're mother? A sister?"

"Valencia," I said and studdered on the sour tasting name, "She was - well like a mother, to me at least."

Niyah's gentle glare turned gray, as she reached into her pocket and revealed another pair of scissors.

"Take this," Niyah said and handed me the scissors, "Remember, many hope for the same as you do," she said and put her hand on my shoulder, "In this way, you are never alone."

I held the scissors, and let the scratched handle slip over my palm. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I had ever received, not for its use or its value. It came with something else.

Faith, faith in me.

It still did not answer my question.

"There is something else troubling you, child?" Niyah asked.

"How did you do it?" I said.

Niyah's eyes fluttered as she searched for the source of the abrupt question. Once she realized what I was asking her eyes came back into focus.

"If you want to be heard," Niyah said, her reflection looked back at me in the mirror, "That is something, you cannot simply hope for. You must take it."

I continued to hold the scissors as the morning light came through the ceiling window and shone a bright strip of light onto the mirror.

How much did this old pair of scissors mean to me? I feared I didn't have the words to ever never let Niyah know just how much.

I stood from the floor and wrapped my arms around Niyah and felt the soft edges of her floral pattern black dress hit my cheek. This was a family. The very thing I had set off to find.

And I was about to leave it all behind and for good.