No Mercy (14 page)

“Thank you, Ogunlabi,” Mama says, kissing him on the cheek. “Did you bring your broom?”

“I did,” he says, pulling out a short broom similar to the one Netta’s using. “It’s already dressed.”

“Excellent,” Mama says, taking it from him and whipping it around in the air. “Ogun always makes the best tools.”

“Yes he does,” Netta agrees. “Come on over here, iyawo. It’s time for your next lesson.

I dutifully obey already knowing the drill.

“It’s time for you to start
playing with voodoo dolls and doing broom work, little miss,” Netta says, holding up Mama’s doll and brushing it with her broom.

I’ve
always been afraid of the broom closet at Mama’s house and rarely swept as a result, leaving that task to my cousin Jay. When I was little I could hear mice burrowing through it to get inside of the kitchen. It was always a mess, packed with old grocery bags, brooms, mops and anything else my uncles decided to put in there. But the one in the spirit room is immaculately kept.

“I’m going to teach you how to use brooms to sweep away ou
r enemies, and instead sweep up some good energy by properly dressing them with your ashe,” Netta says, taking out a bunch of straw, twine and other goodies from her large bag.

“Listen carefully, Jayd,” Mama says, taking a seat next to me. “This is how we’re going to defeat Esmeralda and Rousseau once and for all.”

“I’m down with that,” I say, preparing for a long evening. I take out my spirit notebook ready to take notes.

“As you know part of my lineage’s
gifts are doing hair,” Netta says, instinctively fixing a wayward strand on Mama’s head. “But we actually deal with anything involving all types of hair, including old brooms made from horse hair and straw.”

“There’s always more work to do
,” I say, jokingly but not really. It seems that every hour of every day calls for work of some sort.

“Jayd, as my favorite author Zora Neale Hurston once said, black women are the mules of the world,” Mama says, looking exhausted. “Get used to working all day, every day because like it or not, this work right here is for the rest of your life.”

“You’d better enjoy the work you choose to do, Jayd,” Mr. Adewale says, adding his three cents. “Thus the college applications.”

I picked the wrong audience to express my feelings to in regards to working, I see. There’s no sympathy for a sister up in here.

“Okay, Jayd,” Netta says, handing me a wooden stick, a handful of straw and some twine. “I want you to try fixing your own broom with your hair first. See yourself as weaving in all of the good things you want for yourself. Protection, power, money, love just to name a few: All the good that life has to offer.”

I pull out a few strands from my ponytail and begin weaving them together with the straw. Mr. Adewale hands me more. I look at Mama’s voodoo doll and think about how much I want to help protect my grandmother from our enemies. As I envision all of the things I want to bring into my life, M
aman's powers take over my site. I’m instantly caught up in the rapture of the vision.

I’m inside of the same beauty shop that I was in during my last vision as Mama, but instead of being my grandmother this time I’m just a witness to more of the abuse Maman endured at the hands of her husband, Jean Paul.

“I will kill you if it’s the last thing I do,” Maman says, holding on tightly to her infant daughter. I should be used to seeing Mama as a baby but it freaks me out every time.

“Your wish is my command, ma chere,” Jean Paul says, attempting to rise from the floor where my great-grandmother has him virtually paralyzed through her site. His head is pulsating from her hold on him but he’s got one more trick up his sleeve.

“Jean Paul, no!” Maman screams.

He pulls out a broom and sweeps it toward her. “Damn you to hell, Marie! You’ll never live without me! Never!”

Refusing to let go of her hold on him, Maman Marie’s stare becomes more intense. Baby Mama cries in agony as if she senses that something is terribly wrong with her mother. The more Jean Paul squirms in pain, the more intense Maman’s green eyes glow.

“I’d rather become an ancestor than remain your wife.” Her eyes tear up with water first, and then it changes to blood. It drips onto Mama’s forehead as if she’s being baptized.

Jean Paul can’t take it anymore. He drops the broom and slumps over, takes his final breath and Maman’s life with it.

“Maman!” I scream out in horror. It
took all of her life force to kill her husband and keep her baby safe from his evil ways. She paid the ultimate sacrifice to put her husband’s reign of terror in New Orleans to an end.

“Jayd, snap out of it!” I can hear Mama say into my ear, but just like when she was in her dream state I’m not going to wake up until it’s over.

Baby Mama’s hysterical as Maman falls to the ground across from her husband’s body. She drops Mama who luckily lands on her padded bottom. Maman’s stream of tears have turned into a river of blood. I run over to Maman and kneel down beside her. I can’t stop crying as I look my great-grandmother in the eyes. Mama reaches up to me and I hold her tightly crying with them both.

“Remember, Jayd. Our vision is our life. Without it, we become the walking dead.” Maman grabs my face and forces me closer. “Vision equals
life, Jayd. Never loose your site.” Maman’s green glow takes over her entire body. I can’t move nor let go of Mama who’s mystified by her mother’s transformation from flesh to total spirit. “You have all of me, my daughters. Now, go and cast out your enemies as I did with mine!”

The vision switches to
Esmeralda in her kitchen: It looks like current day. She’s busy making voodoo dolls with both her clients’ and victims’ hair. There’s also a clear vile on the counter with what looks like blood in it marked ‘Lynn Mae’. That must be Mama's blood from the night she was attacked.

“Esmeralda,” I say.

She can’t hear me but I can tell by Netta’s shouting that I’m speaking aloud.

I finally wake up to find myself kneeling on the floor near the front door.

“Baby, are you okay?” Mama asks, helping me to my feet.

“Yeah, I think so. But I’ve got a wicked headache.” I rub my temples then my eyes, which also feel a little off.

“Jayd, your eyes,” Netta says with her mouth wide open.

Mr. Adewale drops his broom in shock.

What are they all staring at?

Mama stares at me, amazed. She hands me a mirror and I can’t believe my eyes, either.

“My eyes…they’re green,” I say, pulling at my lids to make sure they’re mine. When I was a little girl I used to pray to have green eyes like all of the other women in my lineage. Eventually, I grew to love my brown eyes, but now that I’m rocking the jade ones I love it. They feel so powerful, and so good.

“Yes, I can see that,” Mama says. She takes me by the chin and turns my face from one side to the other. “You have my mother’s eyes,” she says, staring at me like I stole something.

“Maman led my vision. At the very end she grabbed my face, kinda like you’re doing now, and forced me to stare into her eyes.” I back away from my grandmother who looks confused and dare I say, angry. “It must’ve been right before she died,” I say, instantly seeing that my words have unintentionally hurt my grandmother. I can’t help but feel like I’ve betrayed her in some way even if it wasn’t my fault.

“I have to talk to the doctor,” Mama says, walking toward the back door. “It’s too soon for you to carry all of that power.”

Netta and Mr. Adewale look at me unsure of how to handle the situation. They can feel my grandmother’s heat, too.

“Don’t worry, baby,” Netta says, embracing me. “It’s going to be okay. Dr. Whitmore will figure out what’s going on.”

I accept the hug and the wisdom, but we both know that things are far from okay. Mama’s used to being in control and I can only imagine how this situation must be driving her crazy. I hope she knows that I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her. Whatever the reason Maman saw fit to give me her sight I’m positive it’s only temporary until our work with Rousseau and Esmeralda is done. And I hate to say it, but ultimately Maman is the head priestess in charge. If this is the way it has to be then we all need to bow down in order to defeat our enemies sooner rather than later.

“Jayd’s become an ornery little wench, hasn’t she Lynn Mae?”

-Daddy

Drama High, volume 11: Cold As Ice

~11~

H.P.I.C.

Mama said
that I had to go back into whites and sleep in the spirit room until my eyes return to normal. Apparently with the green vision comes lofty aspirations, or so the spirit book says. Eventhough I miss the solitude of my mom’s apartment, Mama needs me nearby for her own peace of mind and for me to keep things in check with her clients. I also need the protection of my uncle’s and their notoriously crazy behavior to keep these fools around here from attacking me even more than they already are. I don’t know anyone in Inglewood except my mom’s neighbors and they can’t help me when it comes to Rousseau and Esmeralda. 

After Monday’s near-fight between Nellie, Marcia and myself, I decided to take the high road and not speak to Nellie until she comes to her senses. I also tried talking to Mickey but now that her man is out on probation she’s been preoccupied with her family planning, even at the expense of her school attendance. There are only three more days left in the school week and she hasn’t bothered to show up at all.

“Jayd, I need some toilet paper,” Bryan yells through the cracked bathroom door. There are many things I haven’t missed about living here and dealing with funky ass dudes is the main one.

“And some incense.” I reach into the hall closet, pull out a roll and toss it to him.

“I got your incense,” Bryan says, reclosing the door.

In addition to working with Mama’s regulars, I’ve also taken
on a few school clients of my own, making voodoo love charms, protection potions and a few incantations to help with self-confidence. I made one for Marcia and hopes she utilizes it immediately. The vultures have swooned in on her as easy prey. The sooner she rectifies that shit the better her school year will be. Mama warned me about taking on other people’s problems and I hear her, but I still feel like I should do something to help those who desperately need it.

“I feel ten pounds lighter, niecey,” Bryan says as he exits the bathroom and closes the door behind him. He walks across the hall into Mama’s room and plops down on the foot of my bed. We all miss Mama’s presence in the household.

“Way too much info, Unc,” I say, kicking him in the thigh.

“Here. Get busy,” Bryan says, tossing me a stack of coupons while he stacks the rest. We start clipping
for Daddy’s usual shopping trip in the morning.

“I’m busy, or haven’t you noticed the pile of books on my lap?” I’ve missed hanging out with my Uncle Bryan and from the looks of it he’s missed me, too.

“I know you can do two things at once, just like Kimmy Cakes can handle me and her baby-daddy,” he says, turning up the volume on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. He’s tripping if he thinks I’m about to watch this madness.

“Bryan, I know your conscious ass isn’t feeling that trick,” I say, attempting to rescue the remote to no avail. Bryan’s bigger, stronger and faster than me.

As we continue clipping and chatting about silly shit on television, Jay walks in with a chip on his shoulder.

“Jayd, why did you tell Mr. Baxter that I didn’t graduate from high school?” he says with his hands on his hips. Someone needs to tell him that’s not an attractive quality.

“Because you didn’t, fool.” Why is he sweating me? It came up in conversation when our neighbor across the street asked how the family was doing. After helping me with Mama’s episode a couple of weeks ago they have been extra inquisitive.

“I did graduate by taking the GED.
I just didn’t walk. Stop telling people all my business, Jayd, especially when you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Jay storms out of our grandmother’s room and into the neighboring room he, Bryan and Daddy share.

“Damn, J
ay. You act like you left high school to become a secret agent or something,” I yell out of the opened door. “You got promoted to manager at Costco. Big deal.” I know that was a bit harsh but he’s been smelling himself big time ever since he started making more money than he ever has in his life. Hell, he makes more money than any of our uncles have ever made. I am proud of him, but I still think he’s going about his newfound career the wrong way. In my opinion, he still needs to go to college.

“Just because you got to go to a rich, white high school and take all AP classes doesn’t mean that’s what we’re all supposed to do, Jayd,” he yells back. “Just shut up when your mouth begins to form my name if you aren’t speaking directly to me.” Jay slams the bedroom door and turns up his radio.

“Damn, what’s eating him?” I ask Bryan, who’s as shocked by Jay’s response as I am.

“He’s been out of sorts lately,” Bryan says, changing the channel. “I think it’s the long hours. I told him a promotion ain’t always a good thing.”

My phone rings with another call from Keenan. He isn’t happy about my temporary relocation and thinks I’ve been avoiding him. He’s gotten a little arrogant about my unavailable status to the point of being slightly controlling and it’s turning me off. I push ignore on my cell and toss the phone down. It rings again, this time with a call from Jeremy.

“Hello,” I answer, excited to hear from him outside of school even if we’re not supposed to be talking.

“Peace, Lady J.” Just the sound of his voice makes me melt inside. “I was just thinking about the last time I played a really good game of chess and you came to mind, of course.”

If he could see my smile through the phone he’d know how much I still care about him and miss us. “Aching for an ass whipping, I see.”

“Language, young lady,” Bryan says, pinching my left big toe.

I playfully kick Bryan in the back and step into the dining room for more privacy.

“I can see that humility escapes you.” I can hear Jeremy’s smile through the phone. “But seriously, Jayd. I miss my friend.”

“And I miss mine.” To hell with being coy. There’s just something about Jeremy that I can’t shake, damn the pretenses.

“Can we see each other, outside of school? Look Jayd, I know you’re seeing somebody new,” Jeremy begins.

“And you’re seeing Cameron,” I say, reminding him of the real issue between us. Keenan would’ve never had space to move in if Jeremy and me were still together and rolling hard like we used to.

“No. Cameron’s seeing me. My eyes never left you, Jayd. I hope you know that.”

“I do, Jeremy,” I say, feeling his pain.

Before I can confess all my love to my ex, one of Esmeralda’s crows lands on the porch railing eavesdropping for it’s master, no doubt. My eyes begin to glow as I catch the bird’s beady eyes by surprise and lock onto them.

“Jayd, are you there?” Jeremy asks. I would love to get lost on the phone with my ex but duty calls.

“Jeremy, I have to go. Can we continue this conversation later?” I ask without letting go of my visual hold on the bird.

“Of course.”

I hang up my phone and step out onto the porch. The bird looks paralyzed as Maman’s powers take over. “I want you to bring me locks of Esmeralda and Rousseau’s hair. Now!” I command, knowing that Maman’s in my head even if I can’t hear her. Esmeralda needs to know that just because Mama’s not here that doesn’t mean that she automatically became the head priestess in charge.

“Jayd, I need you to learn how to part destinies into the dolls’ heads through braiding their hair
,”
Maman says into my head. I guess now that I’ve got her eyes she’s got free range to my thoughts, just like her daughter and granddaughter do.
“Look it up in the spirit book and I’ll explain in detail later. Go to the spirit room after the bird returns with the hair.”

Oh hell. Here we go. I guess my night of studying and calling Jeremy back is a wrap. As always, spirit work trumps all else. I’m still glad he called. Once this is all over with Esmeralda I’ll find a way to get Cameron off Jeremy’s ass.

             
Surprisingly I wasn’t late for school this morning although I had a long night. Jeremy cornered me in the library this morning before the first bell rang. He didn’t speak to me and I didn’t say a word to him, either. He simply put my face in his hands, bent down and kissed me softly at first. Then all of our emotions seemed to rise to our lips and we stayed that way until the final bell rang. I’ve been thinking about that kiss all morning and more importantly, how Cameron would react if she found out about it. I have no doubt that she’d rather see Jeremy back on lock down than with me any day.