The Monster's Daughter by Michelle Pretorius

called it the Angel, because it was a warrior of God, like the Archangel Michael, and would beat Satan out of you any day. When she swung her arm, the belt part made a loud “fwhop,” and licked your bottom till it felt like it was on fire. Sometimes, when she was really angry,
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Jansen would use the plank side. She said it was for Benjamin’s own good, that it would save his eternal soul.
    â€œStop crying, boy.” Pieter grabbed Benjamin’s arm, his face swollen.
    Benjamin closed his eyes and held his hands to his face, waiting for the slap to come, but
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Jansen stepped in front of Pieter. She pushed Benjamin’s head down, her thumbs parting his hair. “No blood, just a bump. Lucky for you, Mr. Smuts.”
    â€œIt wasn’t my fault,
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—”
    â€œI’ll see you in my office.”
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Jansen turned and walked away, her body a straight gray line.
    â€œWitch,” Pieter muttered when she was out of earshot. He shoved Benjamin. “You stay in the corner the rest of the week for that, hear?” He turned to the rest of the room. “And nobody talks to him.” He was greeted by dull eyes blinking listlessly. Jo-jo continued his perpetual rock, his head flopping as if his neck was made of jelly. Pieter smirked.
    On Sundays,
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Jansen took Benjamin to church with her. He sat very still during services, so that
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Jansen would be proud of him. Benjamin didn’t like church much. The
Dominee
stood behind a box and always spoke in an angry voice. He had slicked-back hair and wore a long black dress.
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Jansen said that when it was a man of God, they didn’t call it a dress, they called it something else.The
Dominee
said that their nation was chosen by God, because He led them to this land in dark Africa, and gave it to them, and it was their sacred mission to guard their Christian heritage here. The
Dominee
talked about God testing His people in the war. Some of the older women would wipe their eyes then and the men would cross their arms and stare at the floor. The
Dominee
said their suffering would be rewarded. If they truly believed, God would avenge His people. That made everyone happy again and they said, “Amen.”
    After the service,
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Jansen always took him into the storeroom at the back of her office, where shelves ran from the floor to the ceiling filled with sheets and cleaning supplies and extra kerosene.
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Jansen used the storeroom to drive demons out. The other children had many demons, making them act up and yell and shake and not understand. That was why they were in the hospital, because of the demons,
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Jansen said. “I command you, Devil be gone!” she would shout, lifting her arms in the air. When
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Jansen drove the demons out, her mouth stuck to the edges of her face, so Benjamin could see all her teeth, even the ones in the back. He sometimes imagined that they were as pointy as her fingernails and that she bit demons in half as they flew out of the children. He didn’t think
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Jansen was very good at driving demons out, because the children would just stay the same, but he didn’t tell her that. He knew that would mean there was a demon in him and that
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Jansen would have to drive it out and wouldn’t believe he was special anymore. That scared him more than anything, so he tried to remember Sunday sermons as best he could to please her.
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Jansen would lock the door once they were in the storeroom. It was so small in there that Benjamin’s nose almost touched the shiny seams on
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Jansen dress.
    â€œWho is your savior, Benjamin?”
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Jansen would always ask.
    â€œThe Lord Jesus Christ,
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.” That one was easy.
    â€œAnd what happened to our Lord, Benjamin?”
    â€œHe died,
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.”
    â€œ
Ja
, but why did he die?”
    â€œThe Jews asked the Romans to crucify