by Kira Saito
“I have to go,” I said, as I turned my back on him and started to walk into the swamp water. If I didn’t leave now, I might be tempted to stay, and that disturbed me.
“Will I ever see you again beautiful spirit?” he asked.
I turned around and drank in the sight of him standing in front of the glorious cypress tree. Jealousy slapped me across the face, as I realized that he wouldn’t remember this drunken moment and that he would go back to pining over that mystery girl probably for the next hundred years or so.
“Of course, you will,” I said, as I turned my attention back to the water.
“We’re meant to be together beautiful spirit!” he shouted after me. “You’ll see. I know you’ll come back to me one day. Your heart belongs to me; you just don’t know it yet because you’re a stubborn spirit. I love you! Je t’aime!”
I tried to stop the goofy smile that invaded my face, but I couldn’t help it. “You can’t love me, you don’t even know me,” I shouted over my shoulder. “We’ve spent five minutes together.”
“It was an hour actually, and it was more than enough time. Love isn’t rational.”
So, he had always been a hopeless romantic. I guess some things could never be eroded by time or circumstance.
“Go back to the party you drunk. She’s probably waiting for you.” Whoever that girl was, I despised her already, and I didn’t even know her.
“There’s no one else but you!” he shouted.
I was tempted to run back to him, but I knew I couldn’t. Or could I? Maybe I could warn about the curse and what was going to eventually happen to him.
“Don’t even think about it Arelia. Keep walking,” Bade warned.
“But…” I started to protest.
“Keep walking naive one, keep walking. You can’t change the past.”
“Be safe Lucus LaPlante,” I whispered. “You’re a beautiful spirit too. I’m sorry I can’t stay and save you from your miserable fate. I can’t wait to see you again.”
Chapter 24
Gran-Ibo
Monstrous mosquitoes and pesky bees buzzed around me as I waded further into the murky swamp. I could feel Lucus’ eyes on me, but I refused to look back at him. I needed to find a yellow canary and fast. Only Gran-Ibo could help me piece back my soul, so I could return to my body and kick Louis’ ass, even though I had no idea where to find him.
I knew that I couldn’t go too far into the swamp, it was dark, and there probably were countless alligators ready to devour me for dinner. Careful to stay close to the edge of the shoreline, I did my best to fight my way through impossibly thick veins and clusters of leaves.
I must have walked for ten minutes when I heard the sweet chirp of a canary. Like a madwoman, I scanned the cypress trees until my eyes rested on a tiny yellow canary.
“Gran-Ibo?” I cried out cautiously. I prayed that stinky Sousson Pannan wasn’t playing some sick joke on me.
“Arelia,” hummed a serene yet slightly scratchy voice. “We’ve been expecting you.”
“Really?” I asked, as I eyed the canary. “Where are you?”
“Did you bring food for me and my canary?” asked the voice.
“Yes, I did. I heard that you like cornbread and blue-grey candles. I brought both of those things for you.” I held out the rag that had been in my hand the whole time and showed it to the canary.
“Very good. You may come in,” instructed the voice.
“Where?” I still had no idea where the voice was coming from.
“Into the tree Arelia. Into my home.”
“Tree?” I didn’t want to start crying, but I wasn’t in the mood for riddles. I was about to pass out from sheer exhaustion, lack of food, confusion and excitement over everything that had taken place over the last twenty-four hours.
Why couldn’t this wise spirit give me a break? “There are so many trees Gran-Ibo, I don’t know which one you live in, I’ve never been to your home before.”
“Follow my canary dear, he’ll show you the way.”
“Okay,” I numbly agreed, as I kept my eye on the yellow bird.
It swiftly glided through the mess of vines and leaves, as it guided me towards Gran-Ibo’s home. I struggled to keep with it and was beyond relieved when it stopped in front of a towering cypress tree. I wasn’t exactly sure what to do, how was I supposed to get inside a tree?
“Hello?” I leaned against it and tapped it gently. I reminded myself that Gran-Ibo was a wise-old spirit, and I needed to be respectful. “May I please come in?” I asked, as the canary hovered above me and Spanish moss tickled my cheeks.
“What do you think Sammie? Should we let her in?” asked the scratchy voice.
“Who’s Sammie?” I asked.
“Me,” responded the canary.
Oh God, I was losing it. Talking spirits were fine, but speaking canaries? I felt like I was in a Disney movie, was he going to break out in a song too?
“Is this a dream?” I innocently asked. “Are you real?”
“Are you real?” he asked, rather sarcastically.
“Yes, I am,” I responded.
“Well then so am I.” He flew over and landed on my shoulder. “You smell terrible,” he said, as he gave me a long sniff.
“Hey, I’ve working out in the fields all day.” If Gran-Ibo was supposed to be all wise, why was her canary so rude?
“Yeah, let her in. Gotta warn you, she needs a shower. She doesn’t smell too great,” Sammie advised.
As he said those words, a doorway manifested itself at the base of the tree trunk and swung wide open. I stood there frozen, unaware as to what I should do.
“What are waiting for honey, come on in,” invited Gran-Ibo.
Reluctantly, I stepped into the tree trunk. Inside, the strong aroma of aloes wood and cedar incense greeted me. There were endless wooden shelves filled with herbs, candles, and bottles and jars full of various ingredients. A large black cauldron spat in the middle of wooden floor along with a mortar and pestle. “Hello?” I couldn’t see Gran-Ibo anywhere.
“She’s probably putting on her make-up; she likes to look decent when she has company over. Obviously you can learn something from that.” Sammie looked me over with his little eyes.
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks. I’ll remember that the next time part of my soul is put under a voodoo curse, and I’m forced to work as a slave, not eat for a million hours and walk through a deadly swamp.”
“So defensive,” muttered Sammie, as he stirred something inside the cauldron with a wooden stick.
“What is that?” I asked, as I peered inside. “It smells really good.”
“Shrimp gumbo, my specialty,” he advised.
I was skeptical. “You can cook? But you’re a bird.”
Sammie shook his head. “Can you cook Arelia?”
“Yes. I kind of can.”
“Then why can’t I?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’ve never seen a canary cook before, that’s all.”
“And I’ve never seen such an unkempt girl before,” he replied in a snarky tone.
“Sammie, how many times have I told you to be polite to our guests?”
Gran-Ibo walked into the room, and my mouth literally dropped open. She sure as hell didn’t look like a gran. Dressed in a long white gown and heaps of gold jewelry, she was ethereal. Her honey colored skin was unwrinkled, and the flecks of gold in her large brown eyes sparkled.
“Gran-Ibo?” I asked.
“Yes honey, aren’t you a sight. What sorts of trouble have you gotten yourself into? Is that your stomach I hear growling? My oh my. Sammie, why haven’t you offered the poor girl a seat and something to eat? I swear sometimes you’re useless,” she scolded. “Don’t stand there with your mouth open honey, go on now, have a seat.” She pointed to a wooden table with four chairs arranged around it.
Thankful to have a place to rest my weary feet, I happily sat down. At this point, I wasn’t going to question what was going on.
I just wanted food. “Do you have any sweet-tea and maybe some chocolate?” I asked in my sweetest and most hopeful voice.
“Chocolate isn’t dinner. Why am I cooking shrimp gumbo if you’re going to stuff your face with chocolate?” Sammie interrupted.
“Now Sammie, I’m sure Arelia has plenty of room for your heavenly shrimp gumbo. She’s been through quite an ordeal; let’s let her have some chocolate now.” Gran-Ibo shot him a frosty look, as she flipped back the long braids that hung over her shoulders.
“Fine,” Sammie reluctantly agreed, as he headed to the shelf and grabbed some chocolate with his beak.
He dropped it in front of me on the table, and Gran-Ibo filled up a glass with some sweet-tea. They both watched in silence as I hungrily shoved them down my throat.
“Fill up a bowl of gumbo for her; go on now Sammie, it’s not polite to stare.”
“Why did I bring you cornbread and blue-grey candles if you already have all of this food and all these supplies?” I asked, as I suddenly remembered the cornbread.
“I like cornbread.” Sammie informed me. “If we’re going to help you, you can at least bring us a present. Blue-grey candles happen to bring out the flecks of green in my eyes.”
“Okay, geez, I was just asking. You don’t have to get so defensive.”
“I’m the defensive one?” Sammie chirped back.
“Now, now Sammie, be polite. Let Arelia eat her dinner, so we can help her get back to where she belongs.”
Thankfully, Sammie shut-up and I crammed myself with gumbo until I was certain my belly was going to explode. Even then, I couldn’t stop because a small part of me feared that I would be tossed back into the horrific cotton field.
Sammie eyed me in horror. “You’re not going to stay that skinny forever if you keep eating like that.”
“I don’t care,” I grumbled through mouthfuls of the spicy stew.
After dinner, Gran-Ibo took my hands into hers and studied me silently with her pretty eyes. I knew I was openly staring at her in awe. Her eyelashes were so long and perfectly curled. Sabrina would have been so jealous.
“So, I hear that this Louis has placed a piece of your soul under a curse, and you need to repair it.”
“Yes, he wants me to experience what he went through. I don’t know why and for how long he plans on keeping this up, but I know I can’t stay here. I need to know where Louis is so I can confront him; somehow I think he holds the key to everything. I can’t help Lucus if I can’t find Louis.”
She listened to me carefully and absorbed everything I said before she spoke. “Why do you want to go back?”
“Why?” That was such a stupid question. “Because I don’t belong here! I’m not a slave.”
“Everyone is a slave to one thing or another, what you experienced was physical slavery, just because you go on back to your own time, it doesn’t mean you still won’t be a prisoner.”
I closed my eyes and scratched my head in frustration. Was she being philosophical? Of course, she was. She was the almighty swamp witch, whose wisdom extended to a place before time. As much as I appreciated the fact that she was trying to help, my brain was too tired to engage in debates about the meaning of existence. So I nodded. “Okay.”
“You have no idea what I’m talking about honey, do you?” she laughed.
“No,” I admitted. I remembered what Erzulie had told me, I couldn’t lie to Gran-Ibo. She didn’t tolerate any type of lies.
“What are you a slave to?” she asked, as she squeezed my hand.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You know Gran-Ibo won’t accept any lies,” she reminded me.
“I’m afraid that I’m never good enough,” I said weakly.
“So, you’re keeping yourself prisoner?”
“I guess.” I wasn’t sure where she was going with all of this.
“Now, if I let you go back home, will you promise me you’ll try to set yourself free?”
“I promise,” I said, even though I really had no idea what I was agreeing to.
“Honey, do you understand what I’m going on about, or do I have to spell it out in simple English for you?” Gran-Ibo asked, as she squeezed my hand even harder.
“You pretty much have to spell it out for me. I’m too tired to think straight,” I admitted.
“Alright then, stop letting other people make you feel inferior. As long as you keep giving them that power, they’ll keep abusing it. Don’t be afraid of standing up for yourself, go after the one you love and stop pitying yourself because of all that you don’t have.”
“Yeah, stop feeling sorry for yourself,” Sammie interrupted.
“Hush now Sammie.” Gran-Ibo continued. “Remember you have more than most will ever dream of having. This Louis, he’s not the bad guy, he’s just confused and angry. Now that you’ve been through what he has, you must feel a little more sympathy for him, don’t you?”
“Of course, I do, but that doesn’t make what he’s doing right.”
“There’s no right or wrong in this honey, there are bigger things happening out there. Erzulie, she’s chosen you to handle them, so when you confront Louis you have to have some patience with him.”
“I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises,” I said. “Where do I even find him? Erzulie said that he’s bound in flesh and bone. Whatever that means.”
“Louis, he wants to be found, he just doesn’t know it yet. He’s the one that called upon Sousson Pannan, asked Ayida to help you find his diary and sent you back to his past. You think he did all these things just to make your life miserable, and he might have, but his soul is in pain. He’s reaching out; he just hasn’t figured that out yet. He knows that you can help him, but he’s too afraid to ask. He’s been all alone for an awfully long time just like Lucus. You can’t love one without feeling something for the other.”
“He’s the one who called on Sousson Pannan that day by the gate? I thought that was my fault!” I let out a low frustrated breath.
“Well, you’re the one who invited him in, but Louis’ the one who called on him in the first place by tempting him with your blood. Sousson Pannan loves the blood of powerful queens. He’s a nasty old spirit but is easily controlled with the right amount of rum and blood.” Gran-Ibo was so nonchalant about the whole thing. Obviously, she didn’t understand the extent of Sousson Pannan’s hideousness.
“Why would did he do that?”
“To test your powers,” she replied. “To estimate how strong to make the curse.”
“I don’t believe this! So you’re basically saying that I have to have patience with Louis when I find him because there is something bigger behind this whole mess? But he tried to keep me trapped in his past forever! I can’t just get over that!”
“So much teenage angst,” Sammie added his two cents.
I glared at him and for a minute felt like throwing him into the giant pot of gumbo. “You’re not helping!”
“We’re not here to make you feel good. We’re here to tell you the things you don’t want to hear, but need to understand,” he snapped, as he flew in one of the backrooms.
“That’s right honey, you’re meant to do bigger things and so are Louis and Lucus. You have to have faith in that. Deep inside, Louis knows that you’re stronger than he is, and he wouldn’t have been able to keep you prisoner forever.”
Everyone kept telling me the same thing over and over again. I had to have faith that I was meant to do something great. Why couldn’t they just tell what that was, so I could do it already and get on with my life?
“Fine, I’m going to try my best to understand all the things you’ve told me, but I can’t promise I won’t mess a few things up along the way. Where can I find Louis anyways? Is there some kind of locator spell or something?”
“Locator spell? Heavens no, the best locators you have are your senses and your intuition. If you pay attention, you’ll eventually know where to find him.”
Trustin
g my senses and intuition was easier said than done when I was a master at second guessing myself. “What should I do when I do find him?”
“It’ easy honey, you confront him and bind his powers until you feel that you can trust him.” Gran-Ibo examined her fingernails, as she answered. “Oh my, do I need a manicure. Sammie go get my nail file, will you?”
Was she really worried about her nails at a time like this? “Bind his powers? How can I do that?” I quickly asked, before she got distracted again.
“Sammie!” she hollered.
“Give me a second will you?” replied Sammie from a backroom. “Here you go.” He dropped a nail file on the table.
“So how can I bind his powers?” I asked again, as I tried my best to keep my cool.
“It’s easy honey,” she said, as she filed away. “You just need to whip up some Black Arts Oil, carry it with you at all times. When you finally confront Louis, you simply pass a bit of it over your lips and then give Louis a big old kiss. It will suck the energy right out of him.”
“Where do I get Black Arts Oil? How do I make it? And do I really have to kiss him?” This whole thing was getting more and more complicated. Should I even ask what was in the oil?
“Are you a prude, Arelia?” asked Sammie.
“No.” I felt like strangling that stupid bird.
“Then you shouldn’t have a problem kissing Louis.”
“Okay whatever, I’ll kiss him, how do I make some of this oil?” I said okay, but what if Louis was bound in a Mr. Dumpty type body or what if he was a frog or something?
“Sammie will whip some up for you, won’t you Sammie?” Gran-Ibo asked.
“Why should I?” He obviously didn’t like being told what to do.
Gran-Ibo gave Sammie an icy glare which prompted him to leap into action.
“Fine, get off your bum and watch carefully Arelia, since you need to learn how to do this anyways, pay attention.”
Calm, I told myself. Keep calm and don’t kill him. He’s trying to help you.
I watched Sammie, as he grabbed some ingredients off the shelf with his beak and placed them down on the table.