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touched her hand a bit more to signal to her he was aware and
delightened by her smile.
The rest of their meal went quietly and with an extra carefree
manner while Father Thomas kept a good eye on everything
that was taking place in the eating area. The food was consumed.
The kids would be led to their dorms. Mary said to Anton,
“Wait for me; I’ll be back in ten minutes or so.”
Anton nodded his head and after supper he walked to the
kitchen where he found Migizi working on the cauldrons as usually.
He was a smiling, happy boy, when Anton faced him and
asked.
“I see you on duty again. When will you start behaving so
you wouldn’t have to do this?”
“Never,” the youth said and kept wiping the big cauldron
with both his hands. Then George called him to the side and put a
plateful of food in front of the boy. A chicken thigh, cooked in the
oven with three roasted potatoes which the youth truly devoured.
Soon after Mary returned and joined Anton. They got the
plate with a piece of apple pie George had ready for them. They
stood by the counter and with two forks they shared the apple
pie: one bite each and a good laughter after each bite. Anton’s
body was clearly touching the side of Mary’s body to which she
responded by pushing him a bit just to show to him that she
enjoyed touching him as much as he liked touching her.
George the cook didn’t miss a thing of all the interaction
between the young secretary and the young caretaker; he too
smiled with joy seeing sweetness blooming even here between
these walls that have kept so many ugly secrets, yes beauty could
be found anywhere, even in the dark bowels of the Kamloops
Indian Residential School. Time passed quickly as it always does
when two people enjoy themselves.
Manolis Aligizakis 