Bad Juju (36 page)

“No…I wanted to…” Henry replied, and then drifted off.

Dr. Gold intuitively thought it best to finish the session.  “Dr.
Resnick
, I don’t think he’s ready yet.”

“Nonsense.  This is the most, if not the only, progress the boy has shown since his return,” Dr.
Resnick
argued.  “Now Henry, please, I know this is difficult, but tell us what you wanted to do when you left your family, your mission.”

“I wanted to find…” Henry hesitantly answered.  His words turned to garble.

“You wanted to find a church?  To worship?  Did you want to go to a Voodoo service?  I’m confused,” Dr. Gold interrupted.

“No more questions.  I’m tired,” Henry announced.

“Agreed.  But we still need you to answer that last one, and then we’ll end our session.  Again Henry, where were you headed once you left your mission?” nagged Dr.
Resnick
.

Henry wrapped his arms around his legs, retreating into a fetal position.  He began to cry.  “It doesn’t matter!”

“It does matter.  Are you protecting someone?  Why such a secret?  You’re safe.  You don’t need to …” Dr.
Resnick
cajoled.

In a split second, Henry sprang from the chair and cupped his meaty hands around Dr.
Resnick’s
throat with full intent of strangling him to death.

“Henry, stop!  Help!” shrieked Dr. Gold as he pried one of Henry’s arms off of Dr.
Resnick
.  Tom and Jessica dashed into the office.  Tom yanked his son off of the old man.  Dr. Gold rummaged through his desk drawer and found a pair of handcuffs he was looking for.  He quickly slapped them around Henry’s wrists while Dr.
Resnick
caught his breath.

“I’m fine.  Just shaken up, but fine.  Thank you all for getting Henry off of me.  My fault.  I was too aggressive in my treatment,” Dr.
Resnick
stated.

Henry angrily paced on the other side of the office, wearing the cushion-lined handcuffs.

“Please take your son home.  Here is the key to the cuffs.  I hate to use them, but when there is danger…” explained Dr. Gold.

“Say no more.  And Dr.
Resnick
, I’m the one who is sorry.  He’s my son and I’m responsible for his actions,” Tom retorted.  He, Jessica, and Henry left through the back entrance.

“I’m so sorry, Dr.
Resnick
.  This is the first bout of violence I have seen from the boy.  Let me take you to the hospital at once,” Dr. Gold insisted.

“Oh heavens, no.  I’ll be fine.  Not the first button I’ve pushed.  I’ve got to be honest with you, that boy fascinates me.  Of all of the cases I’ve treated…I can’t tell if
he’s under or awake.  Please allow me to sit in on another session.  I want to write about you and Henry in my next book.”

Dr.
Resnick’s
words were like manna from Heaven.  Dr. Gold fervently accepted.  The two men worked out a schedule in which Dr.
Resnick
was available to observe Henry’s upcoming sessions.

C
hapter 4
2

Jake didn’t know what to make of Lucien’s increasingly strange behavior.  He loved the man like a father, but thought he was unraveling. 

The crazy performance he put on for Mrs. Novak had angered Jake.  Her reaction was remarkably tame considering everything she had been through.  Henry’s family didn’t deserve this.  All they wanted to do was help the Haitians in Jesus’ name.

Jake blamed Lucien for their misfortune.  He watched the old man give Henry an envelope after he gave them each spell books.  Jake never asked either one of them about it, but suspected the old man was using Henry as messenger during his mission.

Some good came out of the Voodoo.  Lucien’s love spell brought Leah into his arms.  Jake should have dismantled it, but chose to wait until the spell waned.  Each day he fell deeper in love with her and feared her true feelings.

Besides Leah, Lucien rescued him from Pete.  That alone should have given the man Jake’s complete loyalty, but there had been a trade-off, a darker side.  The bad outweighed the good.  Every death and injury in Hayward could be traced back to Voodoo.

Lucien obsessed over Henry’s condition, nagging Jake to keep him updated.  Jake called Mrs. Novak
frequently since their return from
Haiti
.  Henry was his best friend and he felt responsible.  It was he who introduced Henry to Lucien, and he who invited Henry into the world of Voodoo, and he who never mentioned the envelope to anyone.

A week af
t
er Lucien and Jake stopped by,
Mrs. Novak claimed her son experienced a breakthrough.  She wanted Jake to
come over
without Lucien.  He readily agreed to drive over Saturday afternoon after he
finished helping
the elderly residents of Chippewa Park.

Lucien was Jake’s last stop.  The house was filthy, not the norm. 
Mami’s
water hadn’t been changed in days.  Mold grew around the rim of the bowl.  Dishes and empty food cartons cluttered every surface.

Lucien’s hair had lightened back to shocks of white.  He looked manic.

“Hi, Lucien.  Anything special today?  Errands?” Jake asked as he took the garbage bag out of the plastic can and filled it with the litter strewn throughout the kitchen and dining area.

“No.  Nothing.  Sit,” Lucien directed.  “I don’t have much longer.”

“What do you mean?  Are you about to die?” Jake asked.  The very thought of losing him filled his eyes with tears. 

“You knew my time here was near.  Any day now.  A month if I’m lucky.  I need to warn you about my speech.  If I start talking about random things, that’s the
ti
-bon-
ange
taking over.  And be careful.  Ed saw you grab Leah.  I saw you both as well.  People are talking…”

“But…” Jake protested.

“But nothing.  Cool off!  Too many reasons not to advertise your relationship.  Enough said.  It’s Henry I’m most worried about.  Is he awake yet?” Lucien asked.

“Uh, I’m not sure.  His mom said he had a breakthrough.  I’m going there once I’m finished,” Jake answered.

Lucien’s eyes darkened and he looked away.  “When was this breakthrough?  Same day he drank my potion?” Lucien asked with a frantic edge that made Jake uncomfortable.

“I don’t know.  Calm down.  I’ll ask, okay?” 

Lucien nodded and said, “I’m not insane.  Just running out of time.  Can’t sugar coat this or ease you or Jessica into it.  What color are Henry’s eyes? Blue?” Jake nodded.  “If you look at his eyes from the side, his profile, if I’m right about him…right about what happened in Haiti…you’ll see a glint of red or orange, maybe yellow.  You’ll think it’s the lighting, but it’s him.  Notice everything about him, head to toe.  And I implore, don’t confront him on anything.  You’re not trained yet.  If he says the sky is green then you agree,” Lucien instructed.

Jake didn’t like the sound of the word ‘yet’, but humored the old man. “Okay, I promise to be in observation mode and let you know what happens,” Jake said.

“I wish I killed Pete.  He was nothing but a
mutha
fucking bully.  Always made me feel less than a man.  Knock me around…” Lucien said, sounding distant.

“But you did kill Pete to save me.  And he never knocked you around.  He knocked me around,” Jake said, confused at the sudden turn of conversation.

“Hi, Jake.  How’s Leah doing?” Lucien asked in a
styro
-foam voice that sent chills down Jake’s spine.

“This must be the random gibberish you warned me about,” Jake said.

Lucien nodded and then said, “Don’t you know who I am?”  His voice sounded sing-song and his body movements didn’t match his language.  Lucien grabbed an empty box of crackers and ripped it open.  On the inside of the cardboard, he wrote, “Go now!  U R the only one who can save him.”

Jake bolted out of the trailer with a sense of urgency. 
What if he’s not crazy?  What if he’s right about Henry?

Chapter 43

After a week’s worth of double sessions with Dr. Gold and Dr.
Resnick
, Henry’s communication improved.  Still unable to hold a conversation, he could answer yes/no questions.  At times he asked a question when he needed something, and every so often he’d make a comment.  No signs of his memory were apparent.  Per the doctors’ orders, Jessica sat with him for hours flipping through yearbooks and family photo albums helping him recall the past.

Henry was difficult to read.  His poker face gave his doctors no warning to his violent outbursts.  Dr. Gold claimed Henry abhorred their methods and resented them for getting inside of his head.  He believed the boy suppressed a traumatic event he didn’t want
to
face. 

Both doctors handcuffed Henry before each therapy session.  He oddly complied, almost as if he was afraid of his own strength.  Incited, Jessica tried on the padded handcuffs.  She admitted they were comfortable, but wanted them off of her son. 

“We need to be safe, Mrs. Novak.  Your son strangled Dr.
Resnick
and trashed my office a few sessions later.  If you’d rather we have him committed to a psychiatric ward…” Dr. Gold threatened.  “He’s technically a dangerous patient.”

That son-of-a-bitch!
She sneered, forced into allowing her son to be treated as a criminal.

Henry served as both a laboratory rat and a stepping stone for the doctors.  His unusual situation had potential to bolster their credentials. 
What would they call him once the book was published?  Patient X?
  Jessica guessed.  Despite her contempt, she couldn’t deny their progress.  At the rate they were going, Henry might be “cured” in time for school.

Jake frequently called with inquiries over Henry’s condition.  He had not been over since she threw Lucien out of the house.  Henry’s doctors suggested she socialize him with people he was once familiar with, people besides his family.  Although she liked Jake, his affiliation with Lucien had turned her off.  Reluctantly, she invited him over.

Jake arrived a few minutes before noon.  He seemed anxious to see Henry.

“Hello, Mrs. Novak, Natalie.  Where’s Mr. Novak?  Working?” Jake asked.

“Of course.  And do we need the money,” Jess said.  “Come in and have some lunch.  I bought subs from
Augustino’s
.  Henry’s playing video games,” Jess said.  “Henry, Jake’s here.”  She ushered him into the family room. 

Henry was entranced with the
Halo
game on his X-Box.  Jake sat down and watched him play.

Jessica prepared the kitchen counter with cut-up hunks of various sub sandwiches, pop, and chips.  She watched the boys in the adjoining family room, grateful Jake came over.

Jessica summoned everyone in the kitchen for lunch.  They all piled up their plates and sat down at the kitchen table.

“You must be so happy.  Henry seems to have snapped out of his funk,” Jake said.  “You look good, Henry.”

“Thanks,” Henry said.

“I’m so proud of him,” Jess said as she squeezed his shoulder.  “The double long sessions are doing him some good.  His doctors cost a fortune, but they’re bringing us back our boy.”

“When exactly did he become…more social?” Jake politely asked.

Jessica knew why he was asking.  The same thought had crossed her mind as well, but it was too ludicrous of a possibility.  “It was the day after you and Lucien came over.”

“He must have really good doctors,” Jake said.

“My mom calls them Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Hyde,” Natalie said.  “Henry hates them.”

Jess felt awkward discussing the details of Henry’s therapy with Jake.  Changing the subject, she asked, “We never talked about Brittany.  How was her funeral?” Jessica asked.  She regretfully didn’t know about the girl until they returned from Haiti.

“It was very sad.  Half the school was there,” answered Jake.

“The night she died, she called for Henry,” Jessica said.   She looked over at Henry who didn’t seem interested in the conversation.  She wondered if he even remembered her.

“She was depressed after he dumped her.  He liked her, but didn’t want to get in trouble.  And she had quite a reputation,” Jake said.

“Classy way to say she was a whore,” Natalie chimed in.  “Can’t imagine why she liked you, Henry.  She could have had anybody.  She must have been psycho.  I phone blocked her so she wouldn’t call us.  She said that she was…”  Natalie’s voice trailed off.  Jess knew her daughter was holding something back.  In fact, they all were holding something back.  Secrets.  She was sick of them.

“And poor Ms. Fontana.  I hear she’s still fighting for her life over at St. Mary’s.  She was over here too.  The same night Brittany died,” Jess said.  The coincidence was too great to ignore.  The police mentioned Mrs. Fontana had both Henry’s and Brittany’s addresses programmed into her car’s navigation.