The Evil My Neighbor Did With My Clothes
Episode 5
Written By Jerry Smith.
I stood outside the shrine, my knees weak and my mind racing. The caretaker’s words echoed in my ears: “Some deals can never be undone.”
Tears blurred my vision as I turned to my mother, anger boiling up inside me. “So, this is it?” I shouted, my voice cracking. “Is this how I’m supposed to live? With this curse eating me alive? My skin swelling, cracking, and smelling like death?”
“David, I…” My mother’s voice trailed off, her face crumpling as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“You did this to me!” I yelled, pointing a trembling finger at her. “You made this deal, and now I’m the one suffering!”
“I didn’t know it would turn out like this,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
“That doesn’t change anything!” I snapped, pacing back and forth. “I can’t live like this, Mom. I can’t!”
My mother remained silent, her shoulders shaking as she cried. For a moment, I wanted to comfort her, but my anger wouldn’t let me.
Back at home, I couldn’t stop thinking about the caretaker’s words. If the original native doctor was gone, maybe someone else could help me. Desperation fueled my thoughts, and I made up my mind.
“Mom,” I said, walking into the living room where she sat quietly. “I’m going to find another native doctor.”
She looked up, her eyes red and swollen. “David, are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“What other choice do I have?” I replied, my voice firm. “I’m not giving up on myself.”
Reluctantly, she nodded. “I’ll help you look.”
The next day, after hours of asking around and driving through unfamiliar areas, we found another native doctor. His shrine was small and dimly lit, with the faint smell of burning herbs filling the air.
He was an elderly man with piercing eyes that seemed to see right through me. He motioned for us to sit on the woven mats spread across the floor.
“What brings you here?” he asked, his voice calm but commanding.
I hesitated, unsure of how to explain, but my mother spoke first. “My son… he’s been cursed. We need your help.”
The native doctor studied me for a long moment, his gaze lingering on my darkened, cracked skin. “This is no ordinary curse,” he said finally. “It’s tied to a deal made long ago. Undoing it will not be easy.”
“Can it be done?” I asked urgently.
He nodded slowly. “There’s a way, but it will be painful. Are you prepared for that?”
I glanced at my mother, who gave me a small nod. Turning back to the native doctor, I said firmly, “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
The native doctor stood and walked over to a shelf filled with jars and bottles. He carefully measured out a thick, dark liquid into a small calabash and handed it to me.
“Drink this,” he said.
I took the calabash, hesitating for a moment as I stared at the strange concoction. It smelled foul, and the texture looked slimy.
“Drink it quickly,” he urged. “The longer you wait, the harder it will be.”
I pinched my nose and drank it in one gulp. The taste was worse than I imagined—bitter, earthy, and nauseating.
Almost immediately, my body began to shake uncontrollably. My vision blurred, and a sharp pain shot through my chest. I doubled over, coughing violently.
Blood splattered onto the floor as I coughed, my body trembling with every heave. My mother cried out, rushing to my side, but the native doctor stopped her. Mh stomach hurt as i screamed in pain.
“Leave him,” he said firmly. “This is part of the process.”
After what felt like an eternity, the coughing subsided, and I collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air. My body was drenched in sweat, but the sharp pain had faded.
“You’ve taken the first step,” the native doctor said, handing me a large, sealed five-liter gallon. “This contains the same concoction. Use it to bathe tonight. It will help cleanse your body.”
I nodded weakly, too drained to speak.
That night, back at home, I prepared the concoction for my bath. The liquid was dark and viscous, and it smelled just as terrible as it had tasted.
Standing in the bathroom, I poured it over my body, letting it seep into my skin. As the liquid touched me, I felt a strange sensation—warmth spreading through my limbs, followed by a tingling numbness.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp tug at my chest, and before I knew it, the cursed clothes slipped off my body, falling to the floor.
I stared at them in disbelief, my heart pounding. “It worked,” I whispered.
But when I looked at my skin, my relief turned to disappointment. While the swelling had stopped, and the smell was gone, my skin remained dark and cracked, a permanent reminder of the curse.
I walked out of the bathroom, wrapping a towel around myself. My mother was waiting anxiously in the living room.
“Did it work?” she asked.
I held up the cursed clothes, my expression somber. “They’re off me now,” I said. “But my skin… it’s still the same.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, David. I wish I could fix this.”
I sat down beside her, exhausted. “At least the swelling and the smell are gone,” I said. “But as for her… I haven’t seen her since.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” my mother said softly. “Maybe this is the end of it.”
I nodded, though a part of me couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t truly over.
I woke up the next morning with the shock of mh life… My mother was nowhere to be found, there was blood soaked in where she slept and that was when i remembered…