King of the Mutants (11 page)

Burt roared with laughter. He pushed Freddie to the side with one swift kick. Freddie launched backwards and hit his head on a tree. Then, Burt ripped his arm out of my mouth and slammed me to the ground. He held the gun to my forehead.

“Any last words, mutant?” asked Burt.

“Yes,” I said.

There was only one thing I could do: pray that it would work. I didn’t have any other options. I fumbled in my pockets and struggled with the curse bag’s drawstring. Finally, it untied. With one clumsy hand, I grabbed a powdery and chunky substance, its texture familiar. I withdrew my hand and threw the mojo–whatever it was–directly into his face and I screamed, “I curse you! Shut your mouth!” as loud as I could, three times in a row, per Serafine’s instructions.

I expected something cool to happen immediately. Like his head would explode or his body would spontaneously combust. But nothing magical occurred. Burt just wiped yellowish colored dirt off his face and out of his eyes and pointed the barrel of the gun at my temple. Electrifying chills raced down the ridges of my spine to the tip of my tail.

Burt’s ears turned bright red, a purple vein in his forehead throbbed and pulsed, and I thought his eyes might pop right out of their sockets. The sound of the safety being unlatched and the gun being cocked jumpstarted my heart.

“You mutants sure waste last words,” Burt spat with malicious intent.

“Wait, don’t shoot! It’s not his fault,” screeched Freddie. “I’m the one you want. I was hiding under Peaches’ bed. He only did what he did to save me!”

Burt ignored Freddie and grunted. The sound of his vicious laughter rocked the night, an echo of pure evil drifting off into silence.

He was about to squeeze the trigger when out of the darkness Tarzan-like screams filled the bayou. Startled, Burt jerked his arm upwards and misfired his gun. The bullet flew into the air and ricocheted off a tree.

I opened my eyes to find Mr. White, Mr. Black, and Darling soaring through the air like the flying Forsinis. And
BOOM!
Darling came flying in from some branches and landed on Burt’s meaty neck. She wrapped her little legs around it like a python squeezing its prey, hanging onto his hair.

A cloud of bats flew into the sky as Mr. White and Mr. Black crossed over one another in the air, flipped perfect somersaults, and landed on the ground. Like ninjas, they kicked Burt over and over again in the shins. Even Snaggletooth got in on the action. He crawled out of his hiding spot and grabbed Burt’s pant leg, tugging on it and growling.

Grumbling spiraled down to the ground. Before he face-planted in the mud, Darling did a back flip off his shoulders and landed in the swamp like an Olympic gymnast. The look on Burt’s face was priceless—that moment of realization that he’d been one-upped by a couple of midgets, a geek, a three-legged dog, and a mutant. And then he passed out.

“You didn’t think we’d leave you high and dry,” wheezed Darling, out of breath from her gravity-defying feat. “We knew he was on his way here to kill you and it was our plan to take him by surprise.”

Mr. White and Mr. Black stood over Burt smiling like warriors who’d won the battle of their lives, each with one foot on his head, both smiling proudly.

“Did Serafine have one her visions?” asked Freddie.

“You could say that, but truthfully, Adelaide Bacchus called her up and asked her what to do. Serafine thought it would be most excellent if she sent Burt our way. She figured you would need some help getting rid of the loser once and for all. Which you did,” she said proudly. “You couldn’t have that evil man or his vicious crew tracking you all the way to the Big Apple, now could you?”

“This was planned?” I yelled. “What about the stuff in the black bag and the curse?”

“Honey, it was just colored sawdust and a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. You could say it was our alarm system.” Darling giggled. “We needed to know the exact moment to make our move.”

Crap, I thought, they really played with our lives.

Serafine stepped out of the shadows. “Maverick, Freddie, I was hoping you’d be able to take Burt down on your own, using your wits. That didn’t happen. Still, you proved you were fearless. Next time though, we won’t be there to save you.”

“Save us from what?” I asked.

“Whatever obstacles you face.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“Maverick, your calling, dear, is getting to New York City and becoming the King of the Mutants.” Serafine’s serious expression told me she wasn’t kidding around. “But before you set off to claim the future that’s rightfully yours, Darling, Mr. White, and Mr. Black will need your help disposing of Burt.”

King of the Mutants? What? And hold the phone? We were going to become murderers? I didn’t know if I had it in me. “Serafine, I don’t think I want to be an accomplice in this. I mean, I have enough troubles as it is. Killing somebody, well, it’s just not my bag.”

“No matter how much I hate this Burt guy,” interjected Freddie, “and as much as I’d like to for Maverick’s sake, I couldn’t end his life—”

Mr. White and Mr. Black burst out laughing.

Darling put her hands on her hips. “Who said anything about murder? We’re not killing anybody here. We’re just going to tie him to a raft and float him down the river. Most likely, he’ll end up in the Gulf of Mexico. That’s with a little help from some of Serafine’s gators who’ve been itching to take a vacation. Maybe someone will save him? Maybe they won’t? Hey, I lived in Vegas, I know life is a gamble no matter how you slice it.”

She was right. Sometimes you just need to roll the dice and take a chance. The game was on. With Burt out of my hair, nothing would stop us! I ran over to Burt and grabbed his feet. Freddie tripped after me and grabbed his arms. We dragged his body a couple of feet toward the river.

“Where to?” I asked.

“Yep, that’s the direction,” said Darling.

Burt woke up to find himself bound to a raft, his eyes filled with anger…and terror. I guess I’d be scared too if I was surrounded by alligators and gagged so nobody could hear my screams. Darling instructed us to gather leaves and branches to cover up his stumpy body. All fishermen or locals would see was a floating pile of sticks being carried by five ginormous alligators. Seriously, would anyone really want to find out what was under them? Darling and Serafine’s plan, I had to admit, was brilliant.

We watched the mound of sticks disappear into darkness.

“Ready for your big adventure?” asked Serafine.

I nodded my head no. “Before we take off, can I have a moment with the gators?”

“Brilliant idea!” said Serafine. “I’ll bet you’ll be more than surprised how much your soul is connected to theirs.”

“No doubt,” I whispered. “I just need a minute or two.”

“Take all the time you need, Maverick.”

Darling nodded and Mr. Black led the group back to Cherry Pie. I stayed behind, staring vacantly in the water. At first, I didn’t know what to do, how to communicate with my brethren, but something took hold of me, and to this day I don’t know what it was. I made a low guttural sound in my throat, so intense it shook my whole body, and they came. While the dull noise resonated in my body, I thought, “Don’t be afraid. I am your brother. Come to me.”

One of the larger gators, at least twelve-feet long and over seven hundred pounds, swam gracefully up to me. This gigantic reptile placed his head right by my feet and smiled at me with a huge toothy grin. At first, I was going insane with fear, and I couldn’t stop shaking. Smiling or not, I knew the guy could eat me alive in one big mouthed gulp. But when I listened to this gator’s sounds it was like I could hear him saying, “Go ahead, brother, touch my teeth, my body. I know you’re dying to do it. Don’t be frightened.”

Crazy, right?

Even more outrageous—I did it.

I’d never touched something so powerful in my life. I ran my hands down his spine, on his head, across his teeth, on his tongue, right down to his tail. In the swamp, his crew was doing some kind of crazy cheer, hissing and growling. Perhaps, they were saying goodbye or hello, I don’t know. Turns out, I could only focus on one gator at a time.

I gazed into the eyes of the giant alligator, removed my fake teeth, and smiled. The giant reptile hissed so deeply I could feel it to my core. Without words, the message he sent into my being was: “You are just as powerful as us, Maverick. Good luck on your journey. But if I were you, I’d keep those plastic teeth of yours on until people can accept who and what you are. See you soon, buddy.”

With that, he twisted into the water and swam off, the remaining gators following his lead.

I had a deep revelation at that moment. For the first time in my life, I truly loved who I was. I happily snapped my teeth back into my mouth, and walked back to my amigos with a bounce in my step.

You could have knocked me over with a piece of popcorn when I saw the swag Serafine had waiting for us. First, Mr. Black handed us three canisters of NOS for Cherry Pie. Then Mr. White handed Freddie a pair of Air Jordan sneakers, an iPhone, a pair of jeans, and a cool red t-shirt that said Lucky Mojo with a black cat on it. I got one of those, too. Snaggletooth was given a collar, leash, toothbrush, brush, shampoo, treats, and food. As for me, my big gift was the best of all. Darling handed me a red Fender electric guitar. If I could have done a back flip, I would have. I was beyond stoked.

I was now a firm believer in Serafine’s visions.

She knew me, knew us.

Barely able to control my high-strung emotions, I blubbered like an idiot.

“Serafine knows you haven’t been given much in life, what troubles you’ve both had,” whispered Darling.

“But I c-c-can’t accept this,” I said. “It’s t-too expensive.”

“Well, Maverick, not accepting a gift from Serafine would be the rudest thing you could ever do to a Hoodoo Queen,” said Darling. “You wouldn’t want to upset her? Would you?”

“No,” I said, wiping the tears from eyes. Have to admit, I was relieved. I really wanted the guitar. I locked my eyes onto Serafine’s. “Thank you. I’ll do you and our kind proud.”

“That’s all the thanks I need, Maverick.”

Everybody hugged and kissed and cried and smiled and shook hands. It was the nicest display of emotion I’d ever seen in all my twelve years.

Once our emotional outburst had subsided, Darling handed us directions to one of her cousin’s houses near Knoxville, Tennessee. “You’ll need somewhere to freshen up. It’s about seven hours from here by regular car, um, hmmm, about five and a half or six with your souped up bike. Drive there tonight and then make your way on to the Big Apple. I MapQuested the directions myself so you’ll avoid all major roads, cops, and you can put that bike of yours full speed ahead with no worries.”

Serafine grabbed my left hand, Freddie’s right. “Mav, Freddie, at some point in time you will understand just how connected we all are. I’ve just brought us that much closer together. I know there are a lot of things that have transpired you don’t understand, but one thing you can both count on are your instincts. You don’t have to believe in magic or hoodoo, but you do have to have faith in yourselves. Understand?”

Better than before, I thought. I nodded and Serafine squeezed my hand one more time, and then released it. “Boys, you have a long drive ahead of you,” she said. “Even though I don’t want you to leave, I think it’s best you be on your way.”

Before we took off, I had to know one thing. I had brushed over the subject before, but something deep in my gut told me something really strange was about to happen in my life. “Serafine, what’s this whole King of the Mutants thing all about?”

Maybe it was the name of a band? That would explain the righteous guitar.

“You’ll find out soon enough. As I’ve said before, misinterpreting the future could backfire.” She paused for a moment, and then continued. “Guys, I really hate goodbyes. So do Darling, Mr. Black and Mr. White. Let’s just turn around and go our separate ways,” she said. “If you need anything once you get to New York, I’ve programmed Darling’s cell number right on Freddie’s phone. The bill comes to us.” She pointed into the distance. “There’s something else for you boys hidden by that tree over there. Go get it…”

Freddie and I walked toward a large cypress, looking hesitantly over our shoulders.

“That’s the right direction,” said Mr. White. “Yep, right over there.”

When we got to the tree, we crouched down and moved the fallen leaves and dirt away to reveal two sets of hand-carved nunchakus—those sticks martial artists use. We turned to face our new friends to thank them, but they’d disappeared into the darkness.

I sighed deeply through my nose, not quite ready to leave the swamp, and we walked back to Cherry Pie. While Freddie goofed around with the nunchakus, hitting himself in the head like a moron far too many times, I played around with my new guitar. Even though I didn’t have an amplifier, I knew I could get a beat going.

Freddie stopped dorking about, sat back, and listened to my groove. “You’re really, really good, Mav.”

“Thanks. Think I have what it takes? You know, to become famous?”

“Totally. Being a rock star is in your blood.”

I nodded with pride, but then my mood changed. I thought about the puke green Speedo Burt made me sport when I performed at the sideshow. The one with the red GATOR BOY embroidered on the butt. Not exactly a rock star. I slumped my shoulders with shame. “My dreams will never come true. Just like my old poster says, I’m an abomination.”

“No, you’re going to be famous one day. I can feel it.”

I rolled my eyes. The truth just hurts, no matter how hard you try to justify it. “What for? Being a freak?”

“We’re all freaks in one way or another,” said Freddie. He gave me a brotherly pat on the back. “And you, my freaky friend, have got serious talent. I just hope I’m around for the crazy ride.”

Freddie’s attempt at boosting up my confidence worked. Sometimes all it took was having someone on your side. Maybe one day there would come a time when people accepted me for what I was. Freddie seemed to overlook all my issues.

I sealed the deal with a knuckle-bump. “Dude, after what we’ve been through, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”