Children can see what we can't

Caribbean culture has many deep roots in the world of spirituality, so much so that growing up (even with a strict Catholic upbringing) I knew of skin walkers, palo santo, and cleansers against evil.

Roughly around the time of 2005 in northern Virginia, my mother was home watching my two-year-old brother laugh and play in our small townhouse. With her Puerto Rican descent, my mother is well versed in the signs of potential spiritual evil, signs she recognized in her own home.

My brother was a happy baby, smiling and babbling to my mother always. He was sitting in his walker when rather suddenly, the smile dropped completely from his face. His face filled with a sense of dread, staring blankly at the wall behind my mother's head.

Within a second, my mother's happiness was filled with worry, scanning her baby and the room for any sense of danger. When she saw what my brother was looking at, she slowly stood up and made her way over to the wall.

She took one look and very loudly said, "I don't know what you are or who you are or why you're here, but you need to get the f**k out of my house and leave my family and MY SON alone!"

She waited a couple of seconds before turning back to my brother. His entire demeanor had changed, and he was smiling like the world was alright. From what I recall, it never came back as long as we lived in that house.