Bad Juju (12 page)

Once the pastor was finished asking for help, they ended in prayer.  Tom and Jessica headed for the Haitian food relief table.

“Mom, Dad, over here.
Let’s go on a mission
,” Henry said.

“I’m not wasting my summer…”

“
Excuse me?  Wasting?  It’s a waste to
help others in God’s name?”  Tom sternly interrupted Natalie.  “Drop the attitude now.  And Henry, you’ve never been out of the state of Wisconsin.  Even our weekend getaways have upset you.  Why do you want to go?”

“I want to help those people.  Their l
ives are wrecked.  Like
Pastor Franck
says, they need people to rebuild.  And Dad, you’re a carpenter.  You know how to do this kind of thing.  You could teach me something important.”

“But Henry,
your
Dad’s right.  Change of scenery upsets you.  If you want to help the poor Haitians, then let’s donate and ship them some food.  There are so many oth
er ways to show your compassion,
”
Jessica added.

Henry would not be patronized.  Tom was almost proud.  He was becoming a man.  While Henry and his mother argued, Tom began to wonder if the trip could be
possible.  A warm vision of him, his wife, and
the
kids bonding over a con
s
truction site swept over him.  He could hold back no longer.

“Jess, the boy wants to go.  It’s time we get out of Wisconsin
, and if h
e’s called to do God’s
work, then we need to support his
calling.  God just gave us an opportunity, and you’re trying to get him to settle for stuffing boxes with food.”

“But Tom, he’s only interested in Haiti because of Jake’s friend, Lucien,” Jessica explained.

“
What’s wrong with that?  H
e’s interested.  Let it be already.  I’ll tell you what-let’s see if we can sign up for a week.  If things go well, maybe they’ll let us extend our time.  C’mon, don’t be a wet blanket.”

“
Mom, what about me?  I don’t want to go.  I
t
sounds boring,” Natalie whined.

Tom saw a flash of anger burst from Jess’s eyes.  Natalie knew how to get under her mother’s skin.

“Young lady, I’m sick of your spoiled attitude.  Maybe Henry is right.  Maybe your dad can teach both of you something of value.  Let me think about it.  We don’t have to officially sign up for another couple of weeks,” Jess stated.

Chapter
14

Jake comforted Leah while the doctor and nurses ran into the room with their machines and paddles, unable to keep T.J. alive. 
The hospital staff flooded them with a round of
‘I’m so
sorries
’ as they left the room until
only the doctor was
left.  The
last
thing left to say was “You need to make the proper arrangements
.
”
Jake knew that was
a.k.a. “we need the extra bed.” 
The exact ritual was performed the day his mother died.

“Jake, my mom really needs to be here.  Can you watch
Rhianna
over at her place?”  He nodded.  “Thanks.  You’ve been so great through this…I’ll
get
Pete to take you over there.  He can then bring my mom back here.  We got to work on getting you your license.
  I promise to take you driving after we figure out
what
to do about T.J.’s funeral and all.  I don’t have
much
money and neither does my mom.  Don’t think
we
can afford a proper burial.  So many things to talk about.
”

Wherever Pete
went after he
stormed off
could not be
far.  He was back in the room in less than fifteen minutes
and
dutifully dropped Jake off at
Leah’s mother’s
house
.

“She holds me responsible for all of this, you know. 
That Mona’s boyfriend
was the one who killed the bastard, not me,” Pete slurred.  Jake could smell the stench of beer on this breath. 
Don’t worry, my dear uncle, you’ll get what’s coming.

Jake
spent the greater part of Sunday watching his step-sister.  He liked Leah’s mother’s home.  It was clean and cozy. 
Why
would s
he want to leave,
e
specially to live in a trailer with Uncle Pete
?
  She was only twenty years old.  Too young to throw in the towel and settle for such an asshole.  How did Pete get
a girl like her
?  She had so many things going for her.  If she only realized…
He needed to stop thinking of her like that.  She was his
foster
mother. 

Jake shifted his thoughts onto Pete.  Besides being a mean son-of-a-bitch, he had Leah, at least for the moment.  Pete should
be the one sitting in the morgue with a tag on his toe,
not T.J.

Late Sunday, Leah
picked Jake and
Rhianna
up and took them both home. 
For the first time he had lived with them, she offered to call in sick for
him for
school.  Jake
refused.  The worst day of school was a better day than at home.

Upon Monday morning arrival, Henry confronted Jake at his locker.  He had a hurt expression on his face.

“Why weren’t you home
on
Sunday?  We came to get you for church.  You missed a great sermon-all about Haiti.  Our church is setting up a mission to help them this summer.  I want to go
.”

“T.J., that’s Leah’s brother who was staying with us, died early Sunday morning.  That’s why I wasn’t home.  I’ll tell you about it during free time.”

Both walked to the Zoo in silence, almost late for the bell.  Mrs. Powell
predictably
allowed them free time
in
the afternoon
while playing
news coverage on Haiti.  Jake told Henry everything, including his
thoughts on the
Voodoo spell
they had cast
.

“Thought you wanted your uncle dead,” blurted out Henry.

“
Shhh
!  Not in public.  Lucien’s after school, okay?”  Henry nodded and they remained quiet, watching the news.

***

At 3:10 p.m. the boys were dropped off
by
Henry’s mother. 
As Lucien got to know Henry, the boy grew on him. 
He
carefully
listened to Jake as
the boy reported
his
tragic weekend. 
For the first time in their relationship Lucien was upset, but sat
stone-faced
, instantly recognizing
the problem.  The
loas
would be angry.

“Say something!  What should I do?” cried Jake.

Lucien wobbled over to the Voodoo doll and opened it up.  “Is it possible some of your uncle’s
taglocks
were not your uncle’s, maybe T.J.’s perhaps?  Where did you get these things?  Pete’s bathroom?”

“Yes, that’s where Jake told me to go,” Henry answered defensively.

“Does T.J. use Pete’s bathroom or yours, Jake?”
Lucien asked.

“Mine.  Pete
wouldn’t
let
him in his bathroom, but…sometimes he
went
in there when Pete
wasn’t
home.  Oh no!  T.J. smokes a different brand of cigarettes
…I think…But he’s always bumming
off of Leah and Pete. 
I didn’t think about that. 
We screwed up.”

“We?  Henry?  Me?  No, Jake, you screwed up,” Lucien sternly said.
Jake
’s eyes misted
.  “S
top crying.  I guess I wasn’t emphasizing the importance of the
taglocks
.  It’s
okay, well not for T.J., but we can undo his fate
in
the
afterlife h
e
is about to enter. 
And Pete?  From the sounds of it, he’s getting more
violent
.  We’ll try again
, but first you must undo a wrong.  After T.J.’s wake, before he is buried…”

“Lucien, I
’m so sorry. 
I want to make things right! 
Will you please help me? 
I want to be the best
bokor
in Wisconsin. 
Give me another chance
,” Jake pleaded.

“
The next time you place a hex on your uncle, it will be much simpler since T.J. is not around
.  It’s impertinent that you direct T.J.’s
gros
-bon-
ange
to the
C
osmos so he can be free. 
I’m very serious.  The
loas
have their own way of doling out justice.  Once you have information on T.J.’s wake, I’ll tell you what to do,” Lucien promised.

“Have you heard from your family?  I’m trying to talk my mom into going to Haiti this summer for a mission,”
Henry rambled.  Lucien
’s irritated demeanor vanished. 
Could
Henry
be a gift from Papa
Legba
?  The wheels in Lucien’s mind began to turn
.

***

Jessica ran a literacy program
with other church members
within the community. 
They
volunteered
at
Indian reservations
to
teach adults and children how to read.  While they interacted with their students, Jessica began to ask her friends about the upcoming trip to Haiti.

“Jess, why are you so interested?  Thought Henry
was
difficult to travel with,” Carol stated.

“Yes, but I think he’s been
moved by the Spirit
to go, or at least that’s how Tom is spinning it.  It is kind of peculiar
,
though.  He’s fascinated with the earthquake and
the island
…”

“Keith and I are going.  We signed up yesterday after the sermon.  I’m so excited.  This is our first mission,” Carol added.  “That would be wonderful if you and your family came along!”

“I’m thinking about it,” Jessica said.

“Well
,
you two are just too good for mankind.  There is no way in hell, pardon my French,
that I would ever go to that God-for
saken
island.  They’re rampant with AIDs and who knows what
else
.  They practically worship the devil with that Voodoo Hoodoo stuff.  The news won’t tell you about all of the violence going on in those
flimsy
camps. 
Too dangerous of a place for me.  And Jessica, you have a teenage daughter to consider,” Virginia declared.

“What do you mean God-
forsaken
island?” Jessica asked.

“Witchcraft, zombies, black art…You name it.  They have these rituals where anything goes, if you know what I mean
.  Sex, sacrifice, drugs…
” Virginia explained.

“Don’t listen to her. 
All negative stereotypes. 
The missionary camps have always been safe.  Yes, there are risks, but doing God’s work is all the reward I need.  Think about it.  Don’t let her scare you,” Carol said.

Jessica got back to work
.  Virginia was one to blow things out of proportion
, but
she
couldn’t
shake the
bad feeling that enveloped her.  Women’s intuition
told her to forget about the upcoming mission.

Lucien had been living on borrowed time
since his forty-ninth birthday
.  Back in Haiti
, a few months before his legal problems,
he had been
diagnosed with
inoperable brain cancer.  Doctors gave him
a
two month maximum. 
There
was no Voodoo remedy
for cancer
, but
Lucien’s experimentation of
the black arts allowed
him to postpone the inevitable, a way to cheat death.

As a young man
Lucien
took his Voodoo legacy and compounded it to a never-before-seen level. 
Much
controversy surround
ed
his
u
nconventional methods
, earning
him the reputation of
being part juju man and part
mad scientist.  He
played
with
s
pells, rituals,
and various plants for magical powers. 
Every once in a while he stumble
d
upon something new. 
As the years flew by, h
is critics deemed him as unholy, shunning
the
laws of nature. 
But h
is supporters showered him with money.