shook his head. “Let me make you an ointment for your back.”
Lucien opened a drawer with endless containers of odd spices labeled in French. He began to boil water.
“Lucien, why don’t you make a V oodoo doll? Isn’t that what you do in Haiti when someone is making you mad? We can make one of Jake’s uncle,” Henry suggested.
“Can you do that , Lucien?” Jake asked.
“I haven’t done that kind of thing since, oh, since I left Haiti. And sometimes it doesn’t even work. It’s such a small part of the V oodoo religion. Some would call it H oodoo. These things take time , but we could try . Although I’d feel more comfortable showing you how to make a healing ointment for scarred skin. R evenge is one of the trickiest of the hexes. It has a power of its own , making it easy to backfire . Any more harm than what your uncle deserves might invite evil loas into your life. And Henry, your parent s might not approve of this. Maybe it’s a bad idea. ”
“ L ike I said earlier, I’m good at keeping secrets.”
“But from your parents? I don’t know if that’s right.”
“He’s cool. And like you said, t his probably won’t even work. It’s worth a try . You’re cheer ing me up just talking about it, ” Jake said.
“Then I’ll need a few personal items from your uncle. Hair, Q-tips, trinkets, clothes, anything he personally uses,” Lucien instructed. “I also need dirt. Large Ziploc bags of dirt from the graveyard next door. I think I can provide the rest.”
Lucien dabbed his herbal healing concoction over Jake’s back. Once it absorbed into the skin, the boys bolted out of the house to gather everything on Lucien’s list. They first headed towards the adjacent cemetery.
“How are we gonna get dirt if the ground’s frozen?” Jake thought aloud. He was very familiar with the cemetery. His mother was buried there. For the time being, he kept that information to himself.
“Let’s walk around. Maybe someone just got buried and there’s fresh ground dug up.”
A half an hour later they stumbled upon a new grave. “Henry, you’re a genius, you know that? Let’s see, we are taking Mary Ann Shepard’s dirt. She lived from 192 3 until last week. This must be her husband, Paul, next to her.”
“Jake, what time is it? My mom picks me up at 5:30.”
“We still got some time. Come to my house . I’ll ask if you could use the bathroom. My uncle won’t want you using mine because my room is messed up from what went down last night. Once you’re in there, grab whatever you can that’s his. The laundry basket is in there. Nothing too noticeable.”
Jake’s uncle , preoccupied with the hockey game, sat on the couch with his sleeping daughter and brother-in-law. The coffee table was covered in empty bottles of Miller Draft.
As planned, his uncle mindlessly pointed to the other bathroom, too absorbed to question who Jake’s friend was .
A few minutes later, Henry was finished . They returned to Lucien’s and emptied their collection.
“Ah…A razor…good. And a pair of dirty underwear…a pair of scissors, dark brown hair clippings, Sports Illustrated , a St. Anthony medal…”
“Henry, he might miss that!”
“Jake, it’s okay. You can return it in a day or so. He’ll just think he lost it. And here’s the dirt. Oh, and several cigarette butts, ” Lucien said. “Tomorrow I will be ready. Will you boys be back?”
“I’ve got Awanas tomorrow night at 7 p . m. Will we be done by then?” Lucien nodded. “Then tomorrow. Jake, do you want to come with me? They won’t mind if I bring a friend.”
As lame as Awanas sounded , it would keep Jake away from his uncle’s house for the night. He eagerly accepted. Just then, Henry’s mother pulled up in front of Lucien’s window and Henry bolted out the door.
“Jake, you are going to help me assemble a poppet .
Lucien opened a drawer with endless containers of odd spices labeled in French. He began to boil water.
“Lucien, why don’t you make a V oodoo doll? Isn’t that what you do in Haiti when someone is making you mad? We can make one of Jake’s uncle,” Henry suggested.
“Can you do that , Lucien?” Jake asked.
“I haven’t done that kind of thing since, oh, since I left Haiti. And sometimes it doesn’t even work. It’s such a small part of the V oodoo religion. Some would call it H oodoo. These things take time , but we could try . Although I’d feel more comfortable showing you how to make a healing ointment for scarred skin. R evenge is one of the trickiest of the hexes. It has a power of its own , making it easy to backfire . Any more harm than what your uncle deserves might invite evil loas into your life. And Henry, your parent s might not approve of this. Maybe it’s a bad idea. ”
“ L ike I said earlier, I’m good at keeping secrets.”
“But from your parents? I don’t know if that’s right.”
“He’s cool. And like you said, t his probably won’t even work. It’s worth a try . You’re cheer ing me up just talking about it, ” Jake said.
“Then I’ll need a few personal items from your uncle. Hair, Q-tips, trinkets, clothes, anything he personally uses,” Lucien instructed. “I also need dirt. Large Ziploc bags of dirt from the graveyard next door. I think I can provide the rest.”
Lucien dabbed his herbal healing concoction over Jake’s back. Once it absorbed into the skin, the boys bolted out of the house to gather everything on Lucien’s list. They first headed towards the adjacent cemetery.
“How are we gonna get dirt if the ground’s frozen?” Jake thought aloud. He was very familiar with the cemetery. His mother was buried there. For the time being, he kept that information to himself.
“Let’s walk around. Maybe someone just got buried and there’s fresh ground dug up.”
A half an hour later they stumbled upon a new grave. “Henry, you’re a genius, you know that? Let’s see, we are taking Mary Ann Shepard’s dirt. She lived from 192 3 until last week. This must be her husband, Paul, next to her.”
“Jake, what time is it? My mom picks me up at 5:30.”
“We still got some time. Come to my house . I’ll ask if you could use the bathroom. My uncle won’t want you using mine because my room is messed up from what went down last night. Once you’re in there, grab whatever you can that’s his. The laundry basket is in there. Nothing too noticeable.”
Jake’s uncle , preoccupied with the hockey game, sat on the couch with his sleeping daughter and brother-in-law. The coffee table was covered in empty bottles of Miller Draft.
As planned, his uncle mindlessly pointed to the other bathroom, too absorbed to question who Jake’s friend was .
A few minutes later, Henry was finished . They returned to Lucien’s and emptied their collection.
“Ah…A razor…good. And a pair of dirty underwear…a pair of scissors, dark brown hair clippings, Sports Illustrated , a St. Anthony medal…”
“Henry, he might miss that!”
“Jake, it’s okay. You can return it in a day or so. He’ll just think he lost it. And here’s the dirt. Oh, and several cigarette butts, ” Lucien said. “Tomorrow I will be ready. Will you boys be back?”
“I’ve got Awanas tomorrow night at 7 p . m. Will we be done by then?” Lucien nodded. “Then tomorrow. Jake, do you want to come with me? They won’t mind if I bring a friend.”
As lame as Awanas sounded , it would keep Jake away from his uncle’s house for the night. He eagerly accepted. Just then, Henry’s mother pulled up in front of Lucien’s window and Henry bolted out the door.
“Jake, you are going to help me assemble a poppet .
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