Bad Juju (22 page)

“I feel so sorry for you.  I
t
must be awful to have a beautiful girl that wants to have sex with you all the time,” quipped Jake.  His sarcasm was lo
s
t on Henry as he knew it would be
, but he still jested for
his own entertainment.

“Maybe she’ll go back to
Rio
.  He loved her,” Henry wished.

“Henry, I have much more
pressing
problems right now.  Leah and I are in love.
I think the spell has worn off and she really loves me for me.  S
he bought me a car yesterday for my birthday.  Today I’m seventeen.”  Henry was not prompted to wish him a happy birthday.  “I’ll show you the car later.  I’m really not supposed to drive it until I have insurance.  Once I have enough money to pay for that, I’ll pick you up and take you
home.  Anyway, right now I want to take our relationship to the next level, if you know what I mean,” Jake announced.

“Kill Pete?” Henry inquired.

“
Shhh
!  Mrs. Fontana is right over there!  What if she heard you?  Not cool, Henry.”

“Sorry,” Henry whispered.

“Lucien’s afterschool,
” Jake declared.

Chapter 26

Henry’s mother reliably picked them up after school and dropped them off at Lucien’s trailer.  Jake was certain Henry
had kept his blood oath by keeping everything they had done a secret.  His parents would never have approved.  Jake, too, kept quiet, doubting his own
dysfunctional family
’s acceptance of Voodoo
. 

The more Jake learned, the more uncomfortable the religion had made him.  He saw a new side of Lucien that sent shivers through his spine.  He felt himself changing into someone who daydreamed about murder, someone who tricked a woman into liking him, someone else.  But despite the self-doubt, he continued to hang on every word Lucien uttered. 

Jake couldn’t help but think of his mom.  She used to say, “If you dance with the devil, you’re
gonna
get burned,” every time he did something wrong.  Praying to
loas
made him feel dirty. 
Henry
, however,
seemed oblivious, eager to learn as much as he
could
from Lucien.

Mrs. Novak waved as she
told
Henry
to be ready at dinner time when she’d pick him
up.  Lucien was inside of his enclosed porch, smoking his
pipe and wearing his white linen tunic.

“My
Bizango
brothers, honored to have you over as my guests,” Lucien greeted as he stood up from his chair.  “
And Jake, today you are seventeen, a man.  A token of our friendship.”

Lucien handed Jake his treasured human skull
. 
Jake always admired it
. 

“Thank you.  I don’t know what to say.  I know this was very special to you,” Jake said.

“You have no idea.  I’ll tell you every detail
about how I got the skull
, but not today. 
I have prepared some simple healing spells for you to learn.  Back in Haiti,
healing was
where much of my money was made.  Pay attention.  Neither of you know this, but I have been treating Mrs.
Muddraker
, or Esther, for a couple of months.  Her arthritis had gotten so bad that she could no longer walk.  Jake, you know
how frail she is
.  She had you shopping for her every week.  Over the years she had been to dozens of doctors who never healed her pain.  Her desperation is what led her
to
me.  In fact, as
bokors
in training, you will learn that most of the people who come to
see
you come because of desperation.  You are the last resort, the end of the line as you Americans say. 
Always treat with
compassion. 
We will meet Esther in the common area by the outdoor kitchen.  I have a
fet
or festival of sorts planned for us all.  My potions have helped
her
greatly, but I think this one will erase all of her pain.  Help me carry all of this.”

Jake and Henry carried a heavy tray and
bongo
drums while
Lucien
carried
Mami
, his snake.  She rested around his neck with
her body draped around him like a scarf. 
Only a few months ago
,
Lucien needed help in getting out of a chair.  Now he moved with the
ease
of an athlete.  The same chilly feeling swept over Jake as he watched the man power walk across the trailer park
to the
far
th
est side.  The trail was at least a half of
a
mile.  Hi
s sudden rejuvenation made Jake
apprehensive
.
 

Once they
arrived at
the common area
of the trailer park
, it was obvious that Lucien had already made a few trips before Jake and Henry came over.  There were piles of logs and kindling, stacks of newspaper, and a jug of rum sitting on the picnic table.  Lucien had a tripod with a rack set up over the fire pit and a cast iron pot sitting on top of it. 

Once Lucien started the fire, he poured the bottle of rum into the pot.  Esther
Muddraker
soon joined them.

“Hello everyone.  Jake, Henry, Lucien tells me what great
bokors
you two are becoming.  I can’t tell you how proud I am.  This is a profession that America needs more of.  Lucien is nothing short of a miracle worker.  Notice anything different about me?” Esther asked.

“No cane.  And you walked here,” Jake replied.  He couldn’t help be happy for the old woman.  Esther was glowing.  He had always seen her in nightgowns and house dresses.  Today she had her gray hair curled and
lips red with
lipstick.  She wore a summery shirt
with
matching
pants, looking
relaxed and
peace
ful
.

“That’s right!  I’ve been walking to the store as well.  That’s why I haven’t had you over.  My pain had gotten so bad that I just wanted to die.  Now I have a second chance.  Still some flare-ups, but its bearable. 
I feel good enough to have my
grandchildren over this weekend.”

“Our
fet
will soon begin.  I’m cooking up a healing potion for all of u
s
.  Esther
, you
will drink most of it.  I think the potion will erase most of the pains that you still have left.”  Lucien reached for the ingredients on the tray, naming each
one
before he dropped them into the boiling kettle.  “Worms, houseflies, tulip petals, lavender,
datura
plant,
wolfsbane
,
graveyard dirt, and then we need a few drops of your blood, Esther, to finish the recipe.”

Mrs.
Muddraker
slit her arm as if she had done this numerous times before and allowed the blood droplets to drip into the boiling elixir.

“Good.  That will be enough.  Henry, take that rag and wrap it around her arm.  We will finish with a pinch of my gris-gris for good fortune.  Jake, stir the pot while we worship.  Esther has agreed to be mounted.  Simply put, she wants a
loa
to possess her.  She acts as the
loa’s
horse and the
loa
rides her during our little ceremony.  This
loa
will stay with her and protect her.”  Lucien began playing his drums and sang a song in French, Spanish, and English.  As he sang, everyone else echoed the verses until they all learned the song and could sing it together.  The potion continued to boil
with the aroma lingering
through the air.  Jake thought it smelled like perfume.

After the song, Lucien poured Esther a big stein of the mixture
,
and
then poured
hi
m
self and
Henry
a small
S
tyrofoam coffee cup of what was left over. 
Jake got to drink the potion from his new skull. 
“To Esther.  May the
loa
closest to your heart show itself to you,” Lucien toasted.

Mrs.
Muddraker
slammed down the concoction with the same fervor of a college student at a
kegger
party.  “I’m ready!  I’m committed!  Oh
loa
, show yourself to me!” she yelled with passion as she bowed down to the ground.

Lucien quit singing and drummed a faster, more complicated rhythm. 
Mami
slithered off of his shoulders and approached Esther as she stayed on the ground.  Jake felt drowsy.  He looked over at Henry, surprised to see the boy’s eyes blaze with excitement.  Mrs.
Muddraker
wrapped
Mami
around her neck, dancing
to the beats
like a
younger and thinner
woman. 
Was this possession?
Jake wondered.

“Esther, do you feel tingly?”  She nodded.  “Terrific. 
Grab the sack of cornmeal.  Your
loa
will reveal itself.”  Lucien continued to drum.

Esther swayed over to the picnic table and took the sack of cornmeal.  Slowly, she poured it out in a large area before the fire, making a curly, loopy design.

“Boys, that’s a
veve
, a symbol of sorts.  It represents the
loa
who
has taken possession of her body,
” Lucien yelled over his drums.  “When she’s finished, I can tell you what
loa
is inside of her.”

While
Esther
outlined
the symbol, Lucien
stood up to watch
.  Without the drum beats, Esther still gyrated
and held
Mami
around her
shoulders
.  Her dance struck Jake as inappropriate as she grinded her crotch
onto the snake that
slithered between
her
legs.

“Ah…That’s Baron
Kriminel
.  He is from the
same family as my
loa
, the
Ghede
family.  He’s fierce, a headhunter, a cannibal, a spirit of the dead.”

Mrs.
Muddraker
became more energetic and vulgar, now lying on the floor, thrusting as the snake continued to slither between her legs.  The scene was grotesque, but both Jake and Henry could not look away.

“Boys, sing after me. 
Baron has a sack.  Baron wears a belt.  Baron likes the dead and likes to wear their skulls
…” Lucien sang.  His voice was hypnotic.  Jake could not help but obey and sing the morbid song while Esther rolled around with
Mami
. 
As he watched the kind, old woman act out in her haze, he felt nauseated.  Unnatural and frightening feelings returned, but he still would not leave. 

Looking around, Jake
noticed
no one else from the trailer park had come to watch
the grotesque show
in spite of the perfect weather.  T
he area was
too much of a hike for the elderly residents
.  Reluctantly participating, Jake couldn’t wait for the ritual to end.  And then Lucien abruptly stopped singing and beating on drums.

Mrs.
Muddraker’s
face became contorted as she rose off of the ground.  Whipping the snake off of her body, she flung it
at Lucien.  Violently, s
he twirled in circles, until stopping in front of Jake.  In a voice not her own, she shrilled, “He knows.  He knows.  He knows what you’ve done.  Both in death and in life.”  Esther then fainted.  Several minutes later,
bewildered, the woman awoke
with the bo
ys and Lucien knelt by her side.  Her
facial characteristics returned.  Jake told her everything that had happened.

In disbelief, she responded, “I what?  With the snake?  Said what?  Oh Lucien, my hands!  My legs!  I don’t care what I’ve done!  I never felt this good when I was in my twenties!  No pain!  It’s a miracle!  How can I ever thank you?”

“Enjoy it.  At our age, it doesn’t last.  Your
loa
is the Baron
Kriminel
, a
Ghede
.  He’s watching out for you.  Make sure you go home and make him an altar.  He likes black and purple, hot peppers, and rum.  And cigarettes, lots of cigarettes.  Now go home
.  The
boys will
help me
clean up.  You will need lots of sleep after a possession,” Lucien advised.