Bad Juju (40 page)

“Ah, yes.  Ms. Fontana was his favorite teacher.  I’m here to pray for her and give her some flowers,” answered Jess.

“She was a lot of the students’ favorite teacher.  I know about your son.  So sorry.  Detective Bastian was the one who went to your house after you came back from Haiti.  Do you remember him?  He’s here, perched outside of Candy’s door,” said Officer
Carillo
.

“Yes, of course.  That was an awful day,” Jess said.  She felt as if she was being interrogated as she stood in the hallway.

“How is your son?  I heard he was attacked during your mission.  Again, I’m so sorry.  I heard he has some terrible problems because of it,” said the officer.

Jess’s paranoia was not paranoia.  He was definitely fishing.  She began to doubt if she would be escorted into Candy’s room. 
Maybe I should leave.  Maybe I should get a lawyer.
  She politely updated him.  “Yes, Haiti was not what we hoped for.  But thanks to God, we got our son back and he’s getting better.”

“I’m being rude.  You came to visit Candy, not talk about your tragic summer.  Forgive me.  You know she’s out of her coma, right?” asked Officer
Carillo
.

“What?  No.  When?” Jess asked, flabbergasted.

“Only a handful of people know about it.  It happened four or five days ago.  She can barely talk and has a lot of memory loss.  We are trying to keep this hush-hush for as long as we can.  Who knows if the person who did this to her will try again.”  The officer walked her down the long corridor while he talked.

“Of course.  Is this why there’s all the security?” Jess asked.

“Actually it was set up like it is now during the whole summer.  When the media gets a hold of the story we’ll take more precautions.  Her room is right down there, where Detective Bastian is sitting.  So you know, Candy is heavily drugged and sleepy.  If she’s awake, she’ll try to talk to you.  Lately, she hasn’t had too many visitors.  Go ahead,” said the cop as he motioned for her to walk the rest of the way by herself.

Jess saw the detective and said hello.  He was wearing a cheap suit, probably the same one he wore when he came by to inquire about her address being programmed in Candy’s car.  He was preoccupied with a magazine as he sat in front of the closed door.  Jess said hello, and he let her in.  She was thankful he wasn’t chatty like Officer
Carillo
.

Jess entered the one-person suite and saw Candy sleeping.  There were tubes coming out of her mouth and arms, connected to multiple blinking machines.  Parts of her head were shaved, exposing deep wounds stitched up with black medical thread.

Jess
looked at this once beautiful woman with pity. 
A terrifying thought emerged. 
Could Henry have done this?
  Flooded with relief, she recalled missing the teacher’s visit by only a matter of minutes.  Henry couldn’t have done it; he was home. 
What kind of mother am I for even thinking my son could have been responsible for such a thing?

Shrugging off her shame, she found an empty vase and went into the bathroom to fill it with water.  She set the vase on a loaded dresser topped with Get Well cards and arranged the bouquet.  She then sat down in a chair by the room’s only window and watched Candy sleep.  She wasn’t leaving until the woman woke up. 

Almost an hour went by.  Candy’s large brown eyes fluttered.  She looked startled to see Jess staring at her.

“Don’t be scared. 
It’s Jessica, Jessica Novak, Henry’s mom. 
Sorry to show up like this.  I see you’re struggling, but I’ve got some questions that can’t wait. 
Henry’s not…
well.”

“
Hhhhhi
,” Candy breathlessly mumbled.

“I know you stopped by, before we left for Haiti.  I don’t want to upset you or stress you out.  But my kids said you were going to come back,” Jess said.

“
Bbbk
.”  Candy choked.

Jessica felt like a real heel.  The poor woman had been to Hell and back and here she was barging into her room only days after she came out of a coma.

Candy caught her breath and moaned, “
Paaac
.”

“Huh?  Did you say backpack?”

Candy groggily nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.  You dropped it off on the last day of school.  What was in it?” Jess persisted.

Candy lifted her
stickly
arm and pointed to the Bible on the nightstand.

“The Bible?”

Candy shook her head.  “
Bbbbb
…”

“Book?  He had a book?”

Candy nodded and softly said, “Voodoo.”

“A Voodoo book?  Like a research book from the library?” Jess inquired.

Candy shook her head and violently hacked.  The monitor bleeped in a deathly medley.  A team of nurses and a doctor stormed into the room and told her to leave.

When asked what happened, Jessica remained vague.  Her protective motherly instincts kept her quiet.  She feared their interest in her son would continue.

The term ‘Voodoo book’ rang through her mind the rest of the afternoon.  Tom appeared to be indifferent.

“We were going to Haiti.  Doesn’t surprise me he wanted to read about Voodoo.  Maybe the book or books were missing from the library.  It’s a miracle she was even awake,” he said with eyes never leaving the TV screen.  Henry was alone and unwatched in the basement watching TV.

Early evening Jake called, asking to come over the next day.  She invited him over for dinner after Henry’s therapy session intending to corner the boy with more questions.

Chapter 47

Sunday night dragged into the beginning of Monday morning.  Jake stared at the digital clock in Leah’s bedroom, waiting for the right time to slip out.  He had been sneaking into her bedroom on her nights off from work.  She didn’t want
Rhianna
to be confused.

The red glowing numbers of the clock reminded him of Henry’s eyes.  Once they hit 1:50 a.m., it was time to leave.  He stroked Leah’s hair while she slept, dreading the moment when he had to tell her the truth.

He crept back to his room and dressed in a black t-shirt and sweats per Lucien’s instructions.  He wore the crystal necklace Lucien had given him, and a simple gold crucifix that once belonged to his mother.  He was not formally brought up in the Christian faith, but was baptized and believed there was a God and His name was not
Bondeye
. 

When Jake arrived at Lucien’s trailer, the lights were off, but the old man was wide awake.  Jake could see the glow of a cigarette cherry through the front porch screens. 

Lucien wore a black tunic with a red outline of a coffin and black pants.  His hair was banded in a ponytail and tucked inside of his shirt.  Several rings drew attention to his hands.  He was dressed to kill, or in this case, dressed to raise the dead.

“Hey.  You look…nice.  I thought we were going to the cemetery?” Jake asked.

“Back in Haiti, my brethren and I would wear these kinds of things when we performed a
dessounin
.  It’s a very complex death ritual.  Tonight we will do something a little different.  A reversal of sorts,” Lucien announced.  “It’s a formal affair.  Are you wearing the crystal I gave you?”  Jake nodded and pulled it out from his shirt.  “Good.  Let me give you two of my rings, one for each hand. 
Here.
  See if these fit.  They ward off
loas
.”

Lucien handed Jake the two most ornate of the five he was wearing.  They were heavy, encrusted in stones Jake didn’t recognize.  They fit his index fingers perfectly.

“They’re both made with rubies and diamonds and set in gold.  They belonged to an ancestor of mine, Plato the Wizard, and they’re very powerful guards.  Once I became
a
bokor
for my
Bizango
brethren, my uncle gave them to me.  They’re very valuable, museum valuable.  I know you’re only here to save Henry and will soon be washing your hands of Voodoo, so to speak.  But don’t sell these off to some slummy pawn shop.  When I’m dead I want you to also take the ones I’m wearing
as well
.  Try an auction house like Sotheby’s or Christie’s, or a museum, wherever you can get the most money.  You’ll have a bright future without the Voodoo.  I should have quit my sorcery and sold off my family heirlooms years ago, taken care of my family... But my fate is sealed and this is all that I know.”

“Thank you.  That’s very generous.  And I will sell them as part of a fancy collection.  So where are we going?” Jake asked.

“The cemetery.  But first, we need to cleanse ourselves.  Come inside and take off your rings for a moment.”  Lucien led him to the kitchen which was solely illuminated by a night light. 

Jake’s eyes adjusted.  The sink was filled with water.  The counter was cleared, leaving only a few knives and rags laid out next to the sink. 

“What we are about to do can be…let’s just say we are taking every safeguard known to Voodoo.  Now roll up your arms and wash them good.”  Lucien lightly cut Jake’s forearms and let the blood drizzle into the water.  He rubbed an herbal mixture in the new scratches then wrapped them with clean rags.  He repeated the process to his own arms and then picked up
Mami
and put her around his neck.

“So why bring her with us?” Jake asked.

“
Mami
represents
Damballah
, also known as Li Grande
Zombi
.  This
loa’s
power is needed for guidance.  And she might serve other purposes,” Lucien answered.  “I’ve packed up everything we need.  Please carry the duffel bag for me.”

Jake picked up the five foot long, heavy canvas bag and groaned.  “What’s in this?  It must weigh at least fifty pounds.”

“You’ll see.  That’s why you’re carrying it.  I got
Mami
.  We’ll pick up the rest of what we need on the way to the cemetery,” Lucien said with a smile.

“Maybe I should get my car,” Jake proposed.

“Oh no.  We don’t want to alarm the new caretaker.  We must walk.”

They passed Esther’s trailer and picked up the two shovels leaning against her shed.

“So we’ll be doing some digging?” Jake asked.

“Yes.  You see we will lose if we fight the
djab
alone.  It’s much stronger than all of us put together.  If we did get it to exit out of Henry, it would kill him and repossess us in the process.  T.J. and I have been talking,” Lucien said.

“That must be some weird conversation,” Jake commented.

“It’s different alright.  I’m talking to someone inside of my head.  But surprisingly we’ve become friends.  He wants his body back so he can ascend, rest in peace.  We need a decoy of sorts…Someone the
djab
can possess…A win, win situation for all of us if this works,” Lucien said.

“And you trust T.J.’s
ti
-bon-
ange
?” Jake asked.

“Ah, Jake, always thinking.  Remember, I am a
bokor
.  Resurrection is my specialty.  But T.J. does have access to my thoughts.  Things can go wrong if he doesn’t obey my commands.  That has never happened before,” Lucien said.

Within fifteen minutes they were inside of the cemetery.  T.J.’s grave was on the far side from where they entered.  They passed Jake’s mother’s headstone and he paused to look at it. 

As if Lucien could read his mind, he said, “She’s gone.  Even if I could, it wouldn’t be
the woman you knew
.”

“What if
you were around
when she died?” Jake asked.

“Like T.J.?  Even T.J. isn’t T.J.  You have to let go of death or it will take over your life.  Look at me.  I’ve been under death’s thumb for half of my life.  And I’m still going to die under some
one
else’s terms.  When people die, don’t look back.  And remember them as they were, not what you’re about to see.”

The cemetery was silent as was the night.  Not even an owl hoot or an insect buzz would interrupt the stillness.  Once they reached T.J.’s tomb, Jake set the bag down and took a short rest.

“This is going to be tricky.  Last chance to run away.”  Jake shook his head.  “Good.  Because I can’t do this without you.  In Haiti I’d have two or three helpers.  Tonight it’s just us.  Shall we start digging?”

Both men dug in front of T.J.’s headstone.  Jake shoveled at least three more shovels full of dirt to Lucien’s one.  Soon the hole was deep enough to hit the top of the casket.

“I brought a step ladder.  We should get the bag in here before the hole gets too deep,” Lucien said as he placed the enormous gym bag inside of the pit with them.  Both dug without words around the coffin until they had some floor space to stand.  Lucien pulled out the ladder, cigarettes, and a six pack of warm Miller Lite.  The compact step ladder extended four feet, high enough for them to easily climb out of the hole.