Bad Juju (44 page)

“No T.J.!” Lucien commanded, but T.J. twisted at the knob.  “Jake, take this and command him to bathe!”  Lucien passed Jake the mummified hand of his uncle.

Jake poked T.J. with the dead hand and directed, “To the bathroom!  You will obey me!”  T.J. slowly turned around.  Jake jabbed T.J.’s chest with the Hand of Glory, forcing T.J. to walk backwards down the hallway and into the bathroom.  “Good.  In there.  Now strip off your clothes and get in the tub!”

“
Nooooo
!  I’m
afraaaaaid
!” T.J. moaned.

“I said now!”  Jake took the hand and touched him.  He backed into the bathroom and winced while disrobing.  Lucien came down the hall with a stack of towels and fresh clothes.  He stood in the hallway and watched Jake take charge.

T.J. took off his tattered suit coat and then his socks and shoes.  Jake was surprised to see how intact T.J.’s feet were compared to his face.  The corpse’s toes were purplish in some parts, with most of the skin was tightly wrapped around the bones of each foot. 

T.J. took off his dress shirt.  Fascinated with the macabre vision, Jake could not even blink let alone look away.  Skin shed all over the tiled floor.  His chest cavity was exposed.  Fringed flesh randomly hung over his torso and collar bone.  Inside of his ribcage w
as
a
mysterious
blackened, dehydrated organ. 
Jake assumed the mortician removed most of the missing innards. 
Sheets of muscle dangled from his arms.

In a perverse way Jake enjoyed watching the zombie.  He waited for the grand finale, T.J.’s exposed penis.  As the zombie took off his pants, bile shot up Jake’s esophagus.  He swallowed it back down.  The naked zombie was a sight to behold.  Jake zeroed in on the dead man’s genitals.  Pieces of flesh flapped over a torn sheet of muscle tissue like thread.  More skin peeled off of his legs. 

“Is that his dick?” Jake asked.

Lucien had a smirk on his face that lit up his eyes.  “Yes, that’s what is left of it.  Many corpses lose theirs right away. 

T.J. turned away from Jake as if he was ashamed. 

“Get in the tub!” ordered Jake.  He nudged T.J.’s shoulder with the mummified hand then turned to the bathroom sink and vomited.

T.J. gingerly stepped in the scented bath and sat down.  Still fixated with T.J.’s genitals, Jake watched the sheet of yellowed flappy skin float in the water.  Jake saw broken veins sticking out like mesh webbing.  T.J.’s balls were two shrunken, dark purple sacks that barely hung onto his groin.

Several minutes went by as T.J. stared at the tiled wall.  Lucien took the garbage bag and picked up the rotten clothes and pieces of skin with his bare hands.  “That’s good enough.  Now get him out of the tub and dry him off,” Lucien said.

Jake followed the old man’s directions and then dressed T.J. into a long sleeve t-shirt and gray sweatpants.  The pants were much too long.  Lucien retrieved a pair of scissors and cut them down to a more manageable length. 

Jake took a whiff of the new and improved T.J.  “Wow!  He does smell better.  He smells like lady’s perfume!”

Lucien went back to the kitchen and retrieved some scented oil he had made many years ago.  He rubbed it all over T.J.’s face and hands.  “
Djabs
love the smell of scented oil.  Tonight will be the last request I ever make to Baron
Samedi
.  Tonight will be the ...” Lucien’s voice dwindled.  “Jake, I want to show you where I keep my valuables.  Come into my room.”

Jake followed him into his bedroom as his eyes watered.  “Were you going to say tonight is the night that you will die?”

Lucien glanced at the boy and looked away.  He pulled out a skinny drawer inside of the armoire and placed it on the bed.  Ignoring Jake’s question, he said, “See inside that compartment?  Where the drawer was?”  Jake nodded as Lucien stuck his arm deep inside of the armoire.  He tapped his fingers on the back of the dresser.  “Hear that?  It sounds like I’m tapping on the back of the armoire, doesn’t it?  It’s not the back.  False back.  Now if you feel along it, you can find the latch.  Here, I got it open.  Now you try.”

Jake stuck his hand deep inside of the armoire and felt around the back panel for a latch.  Nothing.  After a few more tries, he found the latch and unlocked it.  “Got it!  Is this where you keep your rings?  I hid the two that you gave me.”

“Yes, it is
,
and I hide a lot more than my rings.  Let me show you.”  Lucien reached deep inside of the armoire and took out several skinny boxes behind the false back.  “There are necklaces, bracelets, jeweled
govi
jars, even a crystal wand.  If I die, please take all of this.  The collection will make you rich.  It’s been in my family for centuries.  The money will give you a chance at life.  A chance you never had.”

Jake admired the regal jewelry.  “Did you inherit all that stuff?  Was your family rich?”

Before Lucien could answer, Jake’s cell phone rang.  He saw ‘Novak’ on the caller ID screen.  “Hello.  Mrs. Novak, calm down.  He what?  Oh no!  Listen, it’s happening, just like Lucien said it would.  You’ve got to put your feelings aside and talk to him.  We want to help.  Henry isn’t crazy and you know it!  He’s possessed….Oh yeah?  He’ll kill more people if you don’t let us help!  And you’re right about Lucien.  He’s the one who got Henry into this, but he’s trying to get him out…Give him a chance!  He’s all you got!  Please talk to him.  I’m with him right now,” Jake begged.  He gave Lucien the phone.

“Jessica, trust me about this.  This demon inside of Henry will not leave peacefully.  If we don’t lure him out of his body…Yes, I am to blame for everything.  Listen to me!  Henry could die!  The demon has taken over!  He’ll keep on killing until we catch him!  Jake and I have made preparations.  Please go home.  That’s where you’re safe.  I put a protective circle…” Lucien said.  He cupped the receiver of the phone and whispered to Jake, “This woman is impossible.  She wants to fight with us.” 

Jake could hear her rant from the phone.  “Of course she would.  She’s a good mother.  Let me talk to her.”  Jake took the phone away from Lucien.  “Mrs. Novak, the demon isn’t after Henry, he’s after Lucien.  You see, his children back in Haiti used Henry to deliver their old dad a message.  And apparently he’s not their favorite person in the world.  He knows how this works.  Not only will you be in the way, but you and your family could get hurt, even die.  This
djab
, it’s supernatural…yes, I believe in the Lord, but you don’t…So that’s how it is?  You’re coming over to Chippewa Park no matter what…Here’s Lucien.  At least follow his directions.”  Jake handed the phone back to Lucien.

“Alright Jessica, you win.  But we will fight the
djab
at your house.  It will be safer.  I sealed the perimeter last night with a protection guard.  I’m bringing in a third person for this …extraction or …exorcism.  I am warning you ahead of time that he’s a zombie.  We cannot, and I repeat, cannot handle you coming unglued.  Who?  T.J. McGrath.  You attended his funeral.  We dug him up this morning.  Get a hold of yourself!  You’re the one who’s blackmailing us with your help.  One hour and we’ll wait for Henry at your house.”  Lucien ended the call and gave Jake his phone back.  They walked back into the living room to check on T.J.  He
took back
his seat and played with
Mami
.  “That woman is a real piece of work.”

“She’s not the only one.  Look out the window.  Leah’s leaving Esther’s house, dropping
Rhianna
off.  And now she’s headed over here.  Do you know the American saying ‘too many cooks spoil the stew’?”  Lucien nodded.  “Do too many
bokors
spoil the demon exorcism?” Jake asked.

“No, but one
bokor
, one apprentice, and two hysterical women just might.”

Chapter
51

Lucien looked through the blinds and saw Leah exit Esther’s trailer and head over.  “May the
loas
be kind,” he mumbled aloud.  “Alright, let her in.  I’ll change.”  He dressed into another black shirt and matching pants with embroidered red coffins.
  The design was slightly different from his other black ensemble. 
He clipped what was left of his hair down to the nub and then shaved.  The last step of his grooming regime was rubbing his body with the same oil that was rubbed on T.J.  He picked up
more
dead pieces of flesh from the floor and threw them in the bathroom’s waste basket.  Taking a spiral notebook from the vanity drawer, Lucien wrote a long letter and ripped the paper out of the book.  He crumpled the paper and threw it into the waste basket.  He glanced at himself one last time in the mirror. 
May the Baron be kind.

Lucien walked into the living room and greeted Leah.  She sat on the floor across from her brother.  They both played with
Mami
while she cried, seemingly filled with gratitude as if T.J.’s resurrection was a miracle. 
Don’t get too attached.  He’s dead.

“Jake, come in the kitchen and help me,” Lucien requested.  He went into the pantry and packed the liter sized bottles of water in the same bag he had used earlier.  On the bottom of the pantry was a large metal tool box.  “You carry that.  It’s too heavy for me.  Leah’s got to compose herself.  Maybe you should give her a quick summary of the kinds of things we do.  We can’t afford any emotional breakdowns.”

“Got it.  I think I’ll leave out who the hand originally belonged to” Jake whispered to Lucien.  He then relayed some ground rules and information to Leah.  “We cannot risk you falling apart.”

“My dead brother is sitting across from me.  Excuse me for having a moment, but I’m not some frail flower.  I promise not to get in the way,” Leah said.

“Alright.  I need you both to drink this water.  It was blessed by a priest many years ago.  It’s been sitting in my pantry ever since.  It might taste bad, but it adds protection.”  Lucien handed them a liter.  “Split this between you two.”

They shared the water and gave Lucien the empty plastic bottle.  “Where’s yours?” asked Jake.

“Already had some,” Lucien lied.  “We’ll go to the common area.  T.J. needs a baseball hat or something with a brim to cover his eye socket.”

Jake grabbed a hat off of Lucien’s closet hook.  “But…I thought we were going to Mrs. Novak’s?”

“She doesn’t need to be involved in this.  And I wish she wasn’t either,” Lucien said as he gazed at Leah.  “Jessica won’t find us back in the commons.”

“What about
Mami
?” Jake asked.

“She’s sitting this one out.  Put her back in her tank and let’s go.”

They trooped to the far end of the trailer park and followed the dirt path to the common area.  It was a long walk.  With T.J.’s unsteady gate and the unbearable heat
,
it turned into a difficult trek.  Everyone was saturated with sweat by the time they arrived.  The picnic area was empty and the fire pit was unused.  Lucien roped off the entrance and hung a sign, ‘Reserved by Resident’, as a deterrent for interruptions.

“
Djabs
love fires.  It’s going to get a little bit hotter for us.  Jake, help me get one started,” Lucien said.  They lit some kindling while Leah and T.J. handed them some split logs left for the residents to use.  Once the fire grew, Lucien took out a spray bottle filled with green liquid.  As he sprayed the fire, the flames intensified, turning the campfire into a mini-inferno.  Lucien sang while he sprayed.  Jake sang with him by the next chorus.  Leah and T.J. joined in.

“Very good,” Lucien praised.  “How far was Henry when he ran away from his doctors?”

“Eau Claire.  That’s at least an hour drive.  He supposedly stole a car,” Jake answered.

“He should be here soon.  All of us need to chant so he can hear us,” Lucien instructed.  “Repeat after me and we’ll try it together. 
Evil come and get me if you can.  Demon come and take me, I’m your man.  I dare you to.  I have no fear.  I dare you to.  That’s why you’re here.  Demon come and kill me if you can.
” 

Lucien could tell Jake and Leah didn’t like the uncomfortable lyrics, but they still sang.  He taught them song after song, chant after chant as they beckoned Henry to the fire.

In the distance, not far from the main road, they heard tires squeal.

“Ah, our friend can hear us.  He is close,” Lucien whispered.  “
Here.
  Take these bottles and flick holy water at him if he attacks.”

Stillness filled the air.  Out of nowhere a strong gust of wind blew by, fanning the flames of the fire.  From the treetops of the adjacent forest came a rustling sound.  Thud!  Henry dropped out of the tree branches waving Pete’s severed head at everyone.  “Look what I dug up in the woods.  Wondered who buried it back there!” Henry growled.  He whipped the head at Lucien.  Henry lunged on top of Jake like a savage beast with his
red
eyes glowering. 

Lucien caught the human head and threw it in the fire.

“Henry, don’t you know me?” gasped Jake.  His holy water bottle rolled away while Henry pummeled away at Jake’s face.

Leah poured some water on Henry’s back.  He howled in pain, looking monstrous as rolled off of Jake.