PEPE’S HENS IX (Final Part)

After jumping through the window and falling onto the old bed, the broken plaster figure that was there fell to the ground and was completely broken. I quickly picked up the pieces and threw them at Pepe’s brothers, who had turned into hens when they jumped into the small chapel. The hens cackled in pain from the force of the stones. I ran to the exit and grabbed hold of a curtain hanging from the side of the stairs, ripping it from the wall.

The hens were furious that they couldn’t hurt me and the three of them pounced on me at the same time, so I pulled the curtain over them and wrapped them completely. Then I went downstairs to where the iron railing was, taking with me the curtain wrapped chickens and from there I threw them into the dining room. The hens fell directly onto the table, beginning to flutter strongly, breaking free from the curtain, with their fluttering throwing the golden corn in every direction. The young men opened their mouths to catch the corn, some of them did, and when they ate the corn, they recovered the movement of their bodies. They immediately got up from the chairs to feed corn to all the young men. Then they began to walk chasing the three chickens that were still flapping everywhere. I kept running through the stairs. When I got to the dining room the young men had already caught the hens and were plucking their feathers. Suddenly in front of me, they ripped off their heads with a bite. With their mouths dripping blood, they continued to pluck feathers while the headless chickens continued to move.

Carlos approached me, telling me that they would bite all of Pepe’s brothers if they found them turned into chickens or cut them into pieces if they found them as men and then put them to dry in the sun and eat them piece by piece.

I looked Carlos directly in the eye and asked him, “Is that what you wanted to be free for? To return violence for violence. You told me that you were not yet like Pepe and his brothers. So, prove it! Change your destiny through making better choices. You are the ones who decide how to live and how to change your destinies. Please do not become a true copy of what Pepe is. I know you want revenge, but it is better to seek justice. Catch Pepe and his brothers to prevent them from continuing to harm. Do not fill yourselves with hatred and a thirst for revenge, because your hearts still beat strong inside your bodies and you can create a different world around you.

For a few seconds Carlos said nothing. Then he ducked his head and replied, “You said you had to go because you don’t want your family to leave without you. Go away, we will take care of Pepe and his brothers. We will try to catch them without taking their lives and then we will lock them in a room in this place where there are no windows so they cannot escape.”

“Yes, I have to go,” I replied, “But I have an idea. Before leaving we go upstairs to where the four doors are facing the iron railing. There we will look in in each of the rooms to find which one Pepe has put all of their hearts.”

Carlos smiled and with that I understood that he agreed. So, we started running upstairs. The other young people went in different directions in search of Pepe and his brothers. When we got to where the four doors were, I said to Carlos, “That room is not it, because that’s where I found your mother. And this door is where we just went up. We already know that it takes us to the dining room. Then that leaves two doors that need to be opened. We will open them at the same time, but we will not enter so as not to get trapped in the rooms. From the outside we will look for the hearts. Whoever finds them first screams.”

When I opened the door that was in front of me, my eyes found a room full of strips of human flesh hanging from ties that crossed the walls and were facing a very large window where they were exposed to the sun during the day. On the entire edge of the room were lying many heads almost dissected by the rays of the sun and at one end of the room was the body of a headless man hanging from a wooden beam by his feet with a rope, being drained of his blood by several vertically cut wounds that had been made to draw blood.

I was paralyzed by what I was seeing and only moved when Carlos shouted, “I found the hearts!” So, I closed the door and headed to where Carlos was

When we both entered, closing the door behind us. In the center of the room, there was a glass heart floating in midair, containing the hearts of Pepe and his brothers. At that moment, the door opened again and Pepe with four of his brothers entered. Their eyes were wide with gaping mouths, displaying their teeth sharp and yellow. They were furious, their eyes flashing madness.

Suddenly Carlos grabbed me by the waist and launched my body toward the glass heart. Having it within my grasp I grabbed it hard and pushed it hard to the floor. Carlos received it, giving it a strong kick that crashed it against one of the walls, breaking it instantly. Pepe and his brothers caught Carlos and began to beat him while the hearts fell to the ground, where they turned to dust.

As the hearts turned to dust, Pepe and his brothers, one by one, turned into chickens once again. Carlos was left lying on the ground, beaten, but nevertheless he told me to jump out the window and leave. Pepe and his brothers would never be people again.

 

Then I went out the window and started walking down the bricks that protruded from the castle walls. The chickens also flew out the window and chased me. When I reached the ground, I started to run very fast until I reached the old bridge that crossed the river. Without stopping, I grabbed the half of the candle I had in my pocket, lit it with the matches, and as soon as I could, brought it closer to the ropes that held the wood of the bridge. As the bridge was old the ropes quickly caught fire. I kept running and after going over the bridge, I found the path that would take me back to town. At no time did I look back, but the light that illuminated the path indicated that the entire bridge was burning. I could clearly hear the cackling of the chickens following behind me.

When I got to Mrs. Lola’s house it was already dawn, the door to the backyard open. So, I had no problem entering the house or the room where my sister, her husband and my little niece already had everything packed to return home. When my sister saw me, she asked, “Where were you?” I replied that I had got up early because I needed to go to the bathroom.

After that she said nothing. We grabbed our bags. We went to the bus stop. We were there when I heard Mrs. Lola’s mocking laugh, yelling, “Hey girl, here are the two hens you asked for, I brought them tucked into this sack. You were not going to leave without carrying them with you. Also, they are already paid, and I chose the fattest ones so you can feed your bony brother’s well.” After that she laughed mockingly again and left.

A few minutes later the bus arrived, my sister telling me, “You are in charge of carrying the hens and do not vomit on them. Just put them on your legs so that they do not escape.”

As the bus began to move, I looked back, thinking of Carlos and the other young men. I really wished they were okay. I also thought of Pepe and his brothers and how as hens, they couldn’t harm anyone anymore. Due to the exhaustion of the adventure from the night before, I fell asleep, until my sister started waking me up, “Hey, those chickens are going to suffocate because you haven’t opened the sack a bit so they can breathe. ”

Even asleep, I began to untie the sack so that the hens could breathe when abruptly the bald neck rooster with wild eyes popped out, forcefully trying to peck my eyes. I held him tightly by the neck without letting go of the sack, despite the other hen that also began to flutter inside the sack, throwing them through the open bus window. From the bus, I was watched how Pepe and his brother rolled on the ground due to the forcefulness with which I threw them off the bus. My sister sat me back in my place, tightly pulling back my hair, “You’re so dumb! Why did you throw the hens out the window? When you get home, you will be punished and for a week I will feed you only black beans.”

I did not answer. I just repeated to myself, “It is better to eat black beans, because when you eat meat you do not know what you are eating.”

And you, do you know what kind of meat you eat? When you eat hen? …

The end.