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That. He Was Belted and Ended Up With Purple, Black and Yellow Welts Across

Credence, as a young teen, had his first feelings of attraction towards another man but repressed them after being severely beaten by his religious fanatic mother. She insisted he had "the devil in him" and needed to be beaten more than his sisters. Though he tried to convince himself he would never have those feelings again, there was a sense of strangeness he and his mother could not deny. As an adult, Credence hands out religious pamphlets as instructed by his mother, not because of faith but to avoid her beatings, which left him unable to sleep or move due to pain. He is terrified of going through the aftermath of another beating.

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27 views1 page

That. He Was Belted and Ended Up With Purple, Black and Yellow Welts Across

Credence, as a young teen, had his first feelings of attraction towards another man but repressed them after being severely beaten by his religious fanatic mother. She insisted he had "the devil in him" and needed to be beaten more than his sisters. Though he tried to convince himself he would never have those feelings again, there was a sense of strangeness he and his mother could not deny. As an adult, Credence hands out religious pamphlets as instructed by his mother, not because of faith but to avoid her beatings, which left him unable to sleep or move due to pain. He is terrified of going through the aftermath of another beating.

Uploaded by

lanabana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The first time Credence thought of another man like that was when he was

young early teens, perhaps. It seemed centuries ago but in actuality was
much more recent than Credence dared admit to himself. A man entered
church in expensive-looking formal attire and became the centre of his
attention. Each of his features, the way he moved; it was all infinitely
fascinating to him.

When his Ma caught him watching he learnt to repress all sense of being like
that. He was belted and ended up with purple, black and yellow welts across
his hands and back to remind him of the sin that it was. He promised his Ma
hed never do it, that hed work harder to make sure he would never fall into
that trap. She insisted he had the devil in him sometimes - that it was inherited
through his witch for a mother. That was why he had to be beaten harder and
more often then Chastity and Modesty. They werent born with such potential
for devilry. Credence repeated it in his head, a fruitless effort to convince
himself that he would never be like that.

There was a sense of strangeness though, that neither he nor his mother
could deny.

Credence had been handing out pamphlets. They were the kind that
appeared friendly and completely non-threatening, advertising the True
Meaning of Christmas on the front. His Ma pushed for increased efforts at
Christmas and his expected conversions were doubled. It was
understandable to Credence, though. His Ma said Christmas made people
seek church. The season pushed people to generally be kinder in the name of
Christmas spirit, and if he wasnt getting enough interest during the most
wonderful time of the year, he wasnt doing good enough. And not doing well
enough meant punishment.

He hated to admit to himself that he pushed people to just take a pamphlet


because he couldnt take the beatings. He should have been doing it for his
Ma, or for his faith but he couldnt deal with it. Ma belted his hands so he
couldnt use them and sores would bloom like flowers upon his hands. He did
manage to wince at the pain and keep going, but when he was hit upon his
back, nothing was comfortable or the slightest bit undemanding. Sleep
wouldnt carry him away from his suffocatingly small bedroom because every
inch of his side and back ached. He couldnt stretch it out or sit and in
honesty, the prospect of going through the aftermath terrified him.

Good afternoon, Sir, Just wondering if you would be interesting in hearing


the truth of Christmas

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