Bloodstone (Talisman)

by S. E. Akers

  “No. I don’t think so,” I assured her.

  “I’d swear that I’ve seen you before. Hmmm,” she hummed aloud, attempting to locate me somewhere within her memories like she would a set of lost keys. Ms. Lá Léo interrupted the woman’s deep thought when she smacked her hands on the counter, impatiently.

  “Come on now. Are jou ‘ere to be makin’ new friends or ‘ave jou come to trade?” Ms. Lá Léo posed to the redhead.

  “To trade, of course. I don’t need a friend,” the redhead stressed and then turned my way. “No offense, but camaraderie is definitely not for me,” she laughed.

  I adjusted my diamond pendant, thoughtfully. “Everyone needs a friend,” I mumbled as she turned her back to me.

  The redheaded woman whirled around on the spot and stepped closer. “Really?” she questioned with a laugh. “So they can pretend to care? Lie to you constantly…and justify it to suit their own selfish needs?” I shifted my weight uncomfortably as the woman, turned concert pianist, struck every one of my chords as she worked her way down the keys.

  She crept in a circle around me and continued, “Turn their back on you like a coward when you need them most? Disappoint you…repeatedly?” The reality of that one made me flinch.

  “Even break your heart?” she affirmed with a condescending, doe-eyed glare while she repositioned a lock of my hair. “Listen to me, naïve little girl. The only thing worse than a ‘friend’…is ‘family’. Remember that. They’ll take the dagger your friend stabbed you with and drive the damn blade straight through your heart.”

  “Not everyone,” I blurted defensively, trying not to let her assessment seep too deeply into my situation with Katie. “Especially not family,” I added, standing my ground while thoughts of Daddy swirled in my head. (I’ll admit I shut out any about my live-in terrible-twosome. They didn’t count.)

  With a head to toe sweep, the woman eyed me skeptically. “I’ll humor you,” the redhead cooed and flashed me a pandering grin. “Lá Léo,” she called, “Crack open your deck.”

  Intrigued by our exchange, Ms. Lá Léo did as requested and fanned a tarot deck on the counter. After a little fancy shuffling, she stacked the cards in a single, neat pile. The redhead tapped her finger on the one that sat atop of the intricately patterned deck. Slowly, Ms. Lá Léo pulled it towards her.

  “So? Is a friendship in the cards?” the redhead asked in a lighthearted tone while playfully trying to sneak a peek.

  Ms. Lá Léo held the card up to her face, eyeing it vehemently. “Why should I be deprivin’ fate of its duty,” the voodoo woman stated as she shifted her stare between us and straightaway, tucked it back in the center of the stack. “Even ‘de stars like havin’ ‘deir fun too,” she concluded with a hint of a smile. Instinctively, we both tightened our stances and turned to each other with a skeptical air.

  “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” the redhead added with a wink.

  From out of the blue, Grand-mama grabbed my hand, and with a swift jerk, yanked me off to a different part of the store. I didn’t understand the old woman’s crazy fascination with me. Katie thought it was hilarious. The more I complained the louder her laughter howled in my head. Grand-mama kept pulling things off the shelves to show me. I smiled at everything she handed me and then quickly returned whatever it was to its original spot. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she could actually talk to me on her guided sales-tour. I didn’t know what most of this stuff was, and some of it looked interesting. Show and no-tell, I thought regrettably.

  “Tiny’s gotten bigger,” the redhead remarked as she taunted the python through the glass.

  “Enough of ‘dat. What jou be bringin’ me today,” Ms. Lá Léo demanded, trying to hurry her along. The redhead reached into a black pouch she was carrying as she strolled back to the counter.

  “More coral? Jou gotta be kiddin’ me. I has plenty of ‘dese,” she assured her as she pulled open a small drawer. “What else jou got?”

  Ms. Lá Léo’s decline ticked her off. The redhead grumbled at the voodoo woman as she slid the pieces of coral back into her bag. With a sigh of defeat, she pulled something else out of her little pouch.

  “Five abalone shells? Two black pearls?” Ms. Lá Léo scoffed, still unimpressed.

  “Ah, ah, ahhh,” the redhead scolded. “I have one more thing,” she promised and then placed something on the counter with a hard “smack”.

  “A serpentine,” Ms. Lá Léo marveled.

  As soon as I heard what kind of stone she was trading, thoughts of Gallia overcame me. I still missed her. I naturally assumed this woman was a witch of some sort, but since she was in possession of several different stones, it begged the question of whether or not she was something else, like a Talisman — like me.

  Ms. Lá Léo was practically panting. “What jou be wantin’ for ‘dis?”

  The redheaded woman leaned across the counter and whispered something in her ear.

  “What?!?” Ms. Lá Léo shrieked. “Why on ‘dis earth do jou be needin’ ‘dat?” she inquired, sounding almost afraid to ask. The conversation was turning discreet so I edged closer, my nose leading the way.

  “That’s none of your concern,” the redhead assessed dryly, brushing her off.

  “Oh, jes it do. I be the one wit ‘da stone,” Ms. Lá Léo claimed with a smug grin. Even I knew the voodoo woman wasn’t trading whatever it was without a good reason.

  “Let’s just say that I’m going fishing tonight,” the redhead evaded.

  “Fishin’?” Ms. Lá Léo asked. “Ha! Jou should already be good at ‘dat. Jou don’t need ‘de stone.”

  “When this fish bites,” the redhead stressed as she grabbed her wrist, “I need to insure my success with the proper bait.” Ms. Lá Léo crossed her arms and began pacing. She looked around the store nervously and then locked her eyes on me. Luckily, I’d already pulled a book off a nearby shelf and had shifted my gaze. I nonchalantly strolled over to the chaise lounge, where Grand-mama was sitting (still keeping an eye on me) and continued my covert surveillance while I pretended to read.

  Ms. Lá Léo eyed the serpentine on the counter. “He won’t know it come from me?” she asked.

  The redhead shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. How could he?” she added with laugh.

  “I can’t give jou ‘de stone,” she revealed. Like a shot, the redhead slammed her hands on the counter. “But, I can give jou some of its dust. ’Dat be enough for what jou need.”

  The woman tilted her head, looking pensive for a moment, and then straightened her stance. “Only for the serpentine,” the redhead announced as she swept the other stones back into her pouch.

  Ms. Lá Léo didn’t look happy, but she replied, “So it be.” The storeowner swiftly disappeared behind the beaded curtain. She soon returned carrying a small metal box and set it on the counter. Once Ms. Lá Léo had placed the serpentine in her pocket, she motioned for the woman to claim her new property.

  The redhead folded her arms and pointed to the metal box. “Eh hem…”

  “Where ma head be today. Please, allow me,” Ms. Lá Léo stated with a sly grin as she lifted back the lid. She pulled a small vile from out of the box and in several sweeps, waved it in a teasing fashion in front of her face. “Here it be… Jou powder. Milled from ma finest onyx.”

  A loud “thud” sounded through the room when I dropped my book. An onyx? All eyes were on me at that point, regrettably. Even Grand-mama’s. I played it off with a klutzy shrug of my shoulders as I picked up the book and rushed to put it back on the shelf. I didn’t want them to see the anxiety written all over my face. I’d already figured that this probably wasn’t your run-of-the-mill, tacky tourist store, but now, I was more convinced than ever.

  The redhead snatched the bottle right out of her hand. “Our business be done,” Ms. Lá Léo remarked as she watched the woman drop the vile in her small bag.

  “Not quite,” the redhead added with a devious laugh.

&n
bsp; “Is ‘dat not ENOUGH? What else jou need?” Ms. Lá Léo huffed, desperately wanting to show her the door.

  “Another stone,” the redhead stated as she casually strolled a few steps away. Ms. Lá Léo’s patience was wearing thin.

  “Out wit it!” Ms. Lá Léo snapped. “What jou be lookin’ for?”

  “Something earthy and stunning… Possibly in white?” the striking woman purred like she was in search of something fabulous to wear.

  “No. I be all outta ‘dose. Jou should know. Jou took ma last two ‘de last time jou was in ‘ere. Jou use ‘dem already?”

  “Just one of them,” the woman admitted, her words echoing defeat. “I don’t presently have the other one…and I need it!” she argued.

  “Jou so careless ‘dat jou lose it?” Ms. Lá Léo inquired with a laugh. The enchanting woman’s confident stance folded with a draw of her back.

  Ms. Lá Léo’s husky laughter rolled into cackles. “Ha, ha, ha! Jou tellin’ me, someone took it from jou. Jou?” she roared and smacked her hand on the counter. The red-haired woman’s expression hardened. “Ha, ha, ha…and I see by jou face ‘dat ‘dey got away wit it,” the dark voodoo woman added with a proud raise of her mocha brow.

  “I didn’t have a CHOICE!” she snapped and then took a deep breath. “Even the best of us have a bad night.”

  “Serves jou right. Jou conned ‘dem outta me!” Ms. Lá Léo yelled.

  The woman crossed her arms. “Buyer beware,” she mocked with a cunning glare.

  “Jes. Now I know bedder,” Ms. Lá Léo insisted as she leaned into the woman’s unflinching face. “I be outta of ‘dem… Too bad for jou. So jou go now!” With a wave of her fabric-draped arm, Ms. Lá Léo shooed her away, but the ravishing, relentless woman stepped closer.

  “What about another stone?” the woman asked. “Something more ancient.”

  “’Day a nice antique store down ‘da street. Maybe you find something ‘dere?” Ms. Lá Léo insisted with a pat on the woman’s back.

  From out of the corner of my eye, I spied the redheaded woman casually looking my way, suggesting she required more discretion. I was right.

  She grabbed Ms. Lá Léo’s arm and pulled her close. She whispered, “Don’t play cute with me. You know what I’m talking about,” she argued and then glanced at the frail old woman who was still hanging onto my heels like a curious three-year old child. “Something very old and oh, I don’t know…that sparkles like the sun? Have anything like THAT lying around?”

  Ms. Lá Léo remained still, only sharpening her glare. “I don’t know what jou talkin’ ‘bout.”

  “It doesn’t matter if you won’t cooperate. The prophecy has spoken. You know it as well as I,” she affirmed and gave her long coral-painted nails a frivolous shine. “Surely the undesirables you bang your little bongos with have heard about that, even all the way up here.”

  “I’m a tellin’ jou for ‘de last time… She don’t know nothin’… She don’t think nothin’… And ‘de old woman can’t say nothin’! If ‘dis prophecy do turn out true, she will have nothin’ to do wit it! Impossible is what it be!” Ms. Lá Léo raged to the redhead as she pointed to her frail grand-mama.

  Trying to pretend I wasn’t eavesdropping, I casually scanned around the store in search of something specific and caught the beautiful redhead looking my way — but not at me. She was eyeing the pathetic elderly woman, who strangely now had a death grip on my wrist. The redhead’s chary expression hardened into a scowl.

  “Pity,” she grunted to Ms. Lá Léo.

  “So now ‘dat jou have come and seen her for jouself, jou can leave… NOW!” Ms. Lá Léo snapped like a stinging whip.

  “I’ve not finished browsing yet,” the redhead remarked snidely as she walked away.

  “OH JES, JOU ARE!” Ms. Lá Léo shouted and pointed towards the door. The redheaded woman ignored Ms. Lá Léo and prowled towards the glass terrarium that housed the hideous python. From my vantage point, she seemed to have pulled something small out from underneath her billowy sleeve that was now hidden in her hand.

  “You shouldn’t be so rude to your customers,” the redheaded woman announced in a belligerent tone as she rested her hands on the edge of the snake’s cage. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like she may have dropped something in there. She spun around on her heels. “You know what goes around, comes around,” she added with a smile and batted her eyes.

  “Jou know better ‘dan to threaten me in my store. Jou little magic tricks won’t work in ‘ere! Only my tricks! MY TRICKS!” Ms. Lá Léo pointed at her repeatedly. “’Day keep me safe from ‘de likes of JOU!”

  The redhead played wounded rather facetiously, and with a smug stride, she strutted past the irate storeowner, headed towards the front of the store.

  “You’ll drop your guard sometime… Everyone eventually does,” the redhead guaranteed with a raise of her brow as she opened the door.

  “I’ll take ma chances wit ‘dat,” Ms. Lá Léo assured her coolly.

  The redhead turned around and aimed a glare at Ms. Lá Léo that was so sharp and frigid, I thought icicles were going to shoot out of her eyes. “And I’ll be waiting for you when you do,” she vowed. Then with a whirl of her cape, she disappeared down the street.

  Ms. Lá Léo raced to the door. “Evil, monstrous BITCH!” the voodoo woman yelled out from safe inside the store. She whipped around in a huff and pointed to me. “AND JOU, TOO! I’m tired of jour kind comin’ in ‘ere!”

  “Wh—what do you mean, ‘my kind’?” I asked, stunned that I was now the target of her menacing scowl.

  “JOU NO TOURIST! ’Dat I do know. Jou couldn’t have come in if jou were! For all I know, jou may be even worse ‘dan she be!” Ms. Lá Léo snatched the colorful voodoo doll out of my hands. “Two of jou in one day! Whadda rotten luck I be havin’! I gonna have to sacrifice ma best chicken now!” she ranted. “Maybe even kill a goat! Ugh! COME ON!” Ms. Lá Léo ordered as she grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the door. Grand-mama caught a rowdy wind and tried to pry her off me, but Ms. Lá Léo wasn’t having any of that.

  “Grand-mama, jou stop and sit down! Jou see how ‘day are. ‘Day always givin’ people a case of ‘de crazies!” Ms. Lá Léo claimed as she pulled her elderly grandmother off to the side.

  “But I wanted to get that…and a tarot reading. Please?” I pleaded, hoping to persuade her with more business.

  “Notta chance! Jou not be goin’ anywhere near ma table. Ever! But jou definitely a goin’ — NOW!” she growled and then paused to look at my diamond pendant. Strangely, her stare slanted into a suspicious frown. As soon as she grabbed my necklace, her eyes shot open. “’De both of jou!” she added as if she knew I was carting someone else around and then shoved me out the door. It slammed on the spot, barely missing my face as I turned around.

  “What happened?” Katie asked.

  “I don’t know. She sensed me…and you too,” I replied.

  “But, h—how?” Katie stammered.

  I grabbed the door handles and gave them several hard shakes, but they didn’t open — not this time. The little elderly woman stood facing me on the other side of the glass. Ms. Lá Léo tried to pull her away, but she didn’t want to go. I stood there frozen for a moment. A sad longing had set deep into her tired eyes. Unconsciously, my stare remained fixed on her as I walked away. For some reason I felt like this fragile woman’s heart was going break. Her grief was coming at me in massive waves. The next thing I knew, the angry storeowner whisked her black velvet curtains shut. The elderly woman was gone, right along with my “I’m sorry” gift that I wanted to give Bea. Disappointed, I headed back down the street.

  “Shi, how could she have sensed me?” Katie asked, just as baffled. “She couldn’t flippin’ hear me… Could she?”

  “I think she was a real witch,” I stated. “Well, a voodoo witch or priestess…or whatever you call them. But the others didn’t sense you, or even me. I’m sure of it. Not even that l
ast chick…and I think she was a Talisman.”

  “Really?” Katie gasped. “A good or bad one?”

  “I’m not sure,” I replied. “But she did knock that asshole out for me,” I added, in her defense.

  “Hmmm. Why did she make that Ms. Lá Léo so mad?” Katie inquired.

  “I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that was her intention. Didn’t you hear her?” I asked.

  “Yeah…Wonder why?”

  “She mentioned something about a ‘prophecy’,” I replied. “Whatever that is.” I glanced back at the shop, feeling completely bummed. “I really hate I didn’t get Bea her voodoo doll.”

  “That soooo sad,” Katie announced.

  “I know,” I continued. “She loves all that witch-stuff. Now I have to come up with something else.”

  “No, Shi. That’s not what’s sad. We’re in the French Quarter, and it was your first time getting bounced — and it wasn’t even from a damn bar,” Katie contended. “I wouldn’t tell that one.”

  “Trust me. I’m not,” I assured her as I took a left onto Royal Street, en route to the hotel. “Maybe it’s for the best. If that voodoo lady actually is a real witch, it would piss Bea off even more. I promised her that I would stay away from them. So, bosom friend…What goes on in NOLA, stays in NOLA.”

  “Really, Shi? Who am I gonna tell?”

  A familiar tingle drove my hand down into my purse. Tanner.

  I threw the silver chain over my head and dropped the stone under my shirt. “Yes,” I answered him casually.

  “What are you doing?” Tanner demanded. The question itself was alarming, but his worrisome tone tugged at my nerves the most. Does he know where I am? I didn’t want to rat myself out, so I decided to play it cool.

  “Walking down the street,” I answered innocently. I figured as long as I didn’t say “which street”, you couldn’t count it as a lie. “Why?”

  “All right,” Tanner replied with a skeptical roll. “And nothing’s…going on?”

  “Nooo,” I rolled off suspiciously. “Should there be?”