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  “Your little plan failed miserably,” he said bitterly.

  “I’m sorry, but life wasn’t exactly easy for any of us. What else was I supposed to do? I thought that you’d be safe. You know how hard times were back then. What they did…” I shuddered at the thought of my own death and how merciless it had been.

  “Open your eyes, nothing has changed, and you’re a fool for believing it has.”

  “No,” I snapped back. “You’re a fool for believing that things haven’t changed. They have and they will continue to get better, but only if we fight for a better future. Emilie, she doesn’t want that for any of us.”

  Louis closed his eyes and continued to howl as the lashes tore open more of his flesh.

  I was stubborn and determined, but slowly I was beginning to see that only a true miracle would make Louis change his ways. Something that would shake him to his core and make him let go of his pain and anger. My body started to tremble and all of the composure I had worked so hard to keep was fading. I couldn’t stand to see him suffer any longer.

  I was about to give in and stop the spell when something truly unexpected stopped me. One majestic oak caught fire, then another. The flames leapt and danced in the humid night air and continued to rise as Ti Jean’s words filled the cemetery:

  “The weak MUST GET STRONG! You must make the WEAK strong. HELP the WEAK get STRONG! When the weak realize their own strength, then and only then can real change and REVOLUTION begin. That is all I ask of you! The WEAK MUST GET STRONG! You must build up the weak and help them realize their own strength. The weak are the key!”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Stiff Necked Fools

  Present Day

  Darkwood Plantation

  “Who the hell was that?” Louis opened his eyes. He forgot all about his grisly wounds as he looked at the scorching trees and took in the words that filled the air.

  “You heard that? You see the flames?” I asked, surprised that Ti Jean was revealing himself to Louis.

  He nodded, but tried to brush off his surprise. “I guess it’s just another day at Darkwood,” he muttered. “Where the hell are you? Whoever you are, you can show yourself already. We get it, you’re powerful. Enough with the high budget show already.”

  “I wouldn’t say that if I were you.” Ti Jean wasn’t like Papa Legba, all sweet and fatherly. He wasn’t afraid to resort to whatever means necessary to get the job done. He was an old school bad ass and I was grateful that he had shown up.

  The flames rose higher and higher until the entire cemetery was bathed in a fiery red glow. The bone white tombs and statues transformed into the color of blood and revolution. It was frightening, yet strangely empowering. The unique beat of Manman, Segon, and Boula drums soon joined the show and the flames started to dance to their rhythm.

  “Ti Jean! I kept my promise. I didn’t tell anyone what happened. You can trust me. I didn’t tell Louis, he stalked me to the other side. Please show yourself. I need your help, please. We need your help.” For good measure I sang his song:

  Fre Ti Jean eh ah eti papa, fres Ti Jean eh ah et tipapa

  Houngan p abo yon jou ya mouri ya mouri Ti Jean fres Ti Jean eh ya mouri

  Azaro.

  Pleased that I had remembered his chant, Ti Jean decided to manifest. I spotted him on top of the highest oak. He was still in the form of a tiny, dark, one-legged dwarf. His long, angular face contorted and filled with rage as he glanced upon Louis’ grotesque state.

  My heart stopped beating. Was he angry at me for what I’d done to Louis?

  Louis’ mouth hung open in shock. He quickly closed it and hardened his eyes. He lifted himself from off the ground and stood proud and strong, all while half bleeding to death. “What the hell do you want?” he asked Ti Jean.

  I held my breath. Louis still hadn’t learned the golden rule: don’t mess with the spirits. Be respectful, but never mess with the spirits.

  Ti Jean leapt off from the tree and landed right in front of Louis. He paced back and forth while taking generous sips from his bottle.

  Louis snarled and let out a big condescending laugh as he took in Ti Jean’s form. “Ah, I get why you have to make such a dramatic entrance. You’re overcompensating for that tragic look you’ve got going on.”

  “Louis, have some respect,” I warned.

  Ti Jean sized up Louis from head to toe and took another big swig from his boutielle Ti Jean. Without warning, he used his baton and smacked Louis hard on the knees. Louis tumbled to the ground like a helpless little doll. Ti Jean leapt onto his chest and poured his spicy rum on Louis bloody wounds.

  “AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Louis’ screams sent chills down my spine, as I watched the spicy rum wash away the blood that had started to congeal on his chest. His body jerked from head to toe.

  “No. Please.” I quickly got down on my knees and shielded Louis from the spicy rum, by placing part of my dress over his chest.

  Ti Jean wasn’t impressed with my move. Instead of stopping, he smacked me over the head with his baton and poured the rum over my head. I fell backwards and landed on my back. “Ouch! I’ve done everything you’ve said. What more do you want from me?”

  Louis tried to rise, but once again Ti Jean beat him down with his baton. “Queen, reverse the spell and I’ll take care of this clown.”

  For some reason, Louis’ arrogance really pissed me off. “Shut-up! It doesn’t work like that! For once in your life have some respect!”

  “If you don’t want me to do something, then you do it! If you’re supposed to be this all powerful Queen, take this guy down.”

  Ti Jean laughed at Louis’ suggestion. The fire continued to rise. The cemetery became incredibly hot. Sweat started to drip from my forehead and upper lip. Between Ti Jean’s demented laugh and Louis’ cries of pain, I wanted to give up and let Ti Jean throw me into the fire already.

  “You two are nothing but a pair of stiff necked fools! Arguing among yourselves! Can’t you see this is exactly what your enemy wants you to do? Divide and conquer is the basic strategy of any wise enemy. The more time you spend fussing and fighting with one another, the less time you have to focus on the big picture. The man who moves behind the shadows. Don’t worry, you’ll meet him eventually.” Ti Jean poked Louis with his baton again. “If you live that long.”

  “You know nothing about me!” Louis screamed.

  “Oh yes I do!” Ti Jeans long pointy beard tickled the tip of Louis’ nose and his claw like nails wrapped around his neck.

  “You’ve gone far too long with your love for vanity! Far too long! Selfish, self-absorbed, a waste of vast potential. Don’t you see the power you have?”

  “Does it look like I have any power?” Louis asked through clenched teeth. “I’ve never had any power. Only the one percenters have any semblance of power.”

  “That’s exactly what they want you to think!” Ti Jean ruthlessly smacked Louis with his baton yet again. The scene was morbid. Every inch of Louis’ naked chest was bloody. It had started to sizzle and boil thanks to the incredibly spicy rum. I looked away. I couldn’t watch. I wanted to crawl and reverse the spell so Louis could at least fend for himself, but that wouldn’t help. It would only be a temporary fix. I knew that he needed this lesson.

  “Always the victim! Always the victim! Nothing but a stiff necked fool! Fools die for want of wisdom! You’re nothing but a fool! ” Ti Jean continued to school Louis in the most brutal manner ever. He was schooling him with the truth, which was a really hard pill for most people to swallow.

  “I’m not Solomon Northup! I want to survive! Only survive! Is that so damn hard to understand? Why can’t any of you idiots grasp that principle? Not everyone wants to be a noble, self-sacrificing idiot!”

  I would not cry. Why did he have to be so difficult? Why couldn’t Louis just compromise? I fought back tears and put on my brave face. This was not the time to turn into an emotional mess. I imagined I was somewhere else. I was sitting by Darkwood River and
having a picnic with Lucus. There was sweet tea and creamy Creole cheesecake and chocolate. I regained my composure and stood up. I realized that Ti Jean respected strength, but above all things he respected those who listened to him. He helped those who trusted him. I got up and like a soldier I marched towards Ti Jean. I stood beside him, as a sign that I trusted him and that I was on his side. “Now, the weak must get strong,” I whispered finally understanding his cryptic message. “You know what happened to the tongueless group, don’t you? You know who Emilie is and how we can help Sabrina? You’re trying to help us, but only if we trust you.”

  Ti Jean nodded in approval and relief washed over me.

  Unfortunately, Louis wasn’t as excited as I was. “Do something, Queen! Make yourself useful if you’re not going to let me take care of him.”

  I shook my head. “This is the intervention you need. The weak must get strong. The weak are the key.”

  “What the hell is this? Celebrity rehab?”

  I nodded. “Perhaps, but you’re not a celebrity.”

  “Ti Jean, I no longer wish to be a stiff necked fool. I trust you completely and I am on your side. I’m on the side of the just and righteous.” I was displaying a lot more confidence than I actually had. The words just and righteous scared the hell out of me. People were capable of doing some pretty nasty stuff in the name of righteousness.

  “Queen, what the hell?” Louis’ voice was furious.

  Ti Jean gave me a wide smile and handed me his bottle of rum. I took a large swig and pretended that my insides were not on fire.

  “And you? Whose side are you on? Are you willing to trust the loa of revolution? Or are you going to dwell in eternal self-pity?”

  “Since I don’t have my fancy ass lawyer here with me, I want you to describe in detail what my options are. I’m not agreeing to anything unless you tell me what the hell I have to do.” Pain, suffering, lashes, and spicy rum were not enough to make Louis change his ways. He could not be forced into anything.

  “If you choose to trust me, I’ll give you the peace you so desperately need. The peace you crave, but are too afraid to ask for.” Ti Jean’s offer hung in the air. His words were thick, seductive, and tempting. I would have said yes in an instant, but then again I wasn’t Louis. “The process won’t be easy. It will be laborious and you will have to suffer again. You will face the past and feel the suffering and pain of others worse off than you!” He took a generous gulp from his bottle and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “It will be torturous, but you will come out of it a King. I will protect your souls while you are on the other side so that no one can recognize who you truly are. There are certain things you must see. Things you must understand.”

  “A King? That’s all you have to offer me? I already am a goddamn King. I don’t need you to make it official.”

  Ti Jean laughed wildly. The flames grew thicker and hotter as he continued to laugh. “King? You call yourself a King? You may have a bag full of tricks, but your mentality is nothing like that of a King! You are weaker and poorer than the poorest peasant. You’re nothing but a slave to your mentality.”

  Louis didn’t argue with Ti Jean’s assessment. Louis was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a liar. He kept his mouth shut when he knew you were right.

  “And if I say no?”

  “Since, I’m vastly tired of your whining and complaining, I can put an end to this misery of yours. You’ll simply cease to exist. Correction, you will exist, but you won’t exist.”

  “Once again, I don’t have my fancy lawyer with me so you’ll have to be more specific.”

  “I get to keep your spirit and soul. I’ll lock it up in this bottle and you won’t remember any of your pain and suffering. You’ll be a vegetable and your body would eventually die off naturally.”

  “And Prince Charming? My Mother? The Queen?” Louis asked eagerly.

  “Since you don’t care about others that is none of your concern.”

  “No, I need all of the details before I make a decision. And I do care about my Mother,” Louis added. “She’s the only one worth giving a damn about.”

  Louis’ disrespectful, self- serving attitude further infuriated Ti Jean. “You cannot demand answers you are not ready to hear!” Ti Jean smacked Louis so hard that his eyes closed. “How can you be so vain?”

  Louis’ mouth twitched as if he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. I expected tears to come gushing out of his eyes, but nothing. His eyes opened and he looked up the sky. His gaze was cold, indifferent as if he was trying to block his emotions. “Why the hell are you giving me choices if I’m so vain?” he asked.

  “Many are called. Few are chosen. I have chosen you because you have the heart of a King.” Ti Jean crossed his arms as he waited for Louis’ response.

  “Why does it feel like I’m in a goddamn fairy tale? Chosen one?” Louis scoffed. “Are you going to tell me you’re my father? No. Wait. That little surprise already happened. I’m Prince Charming’s bastard brother. All of a sudden I feel like Jon Snow. Are you going to tell me I know nothing?”

  “Masking your pain behind humor is nothing but a trick,” said Ti Jean. “A very weak trick that the most feeble minded rely on.”

  There was an eerie silence as Louis reflected on those words. I got down on my knees and took his hand into mine. I remembered Henri’s words and how he had taught me that using honey to sweeten a sad soul was a very effective trick. To my surprise, he didn’t pull away. “Please, Louis,” I whispered. “Can’t you see that you’re needed?”

  “Can’t you see that I can’t do what he’s asking of me? I refuse to go back to that hell! You of all people should get that.”

  “I faced my past. I walked back through the pain and now I’m stronger. You have to do the same. Please, there are so many people who are depending on us. Your Mom, Sabrina, that tongueless group, and little Linto. You saw it all. You know how much they’re all suffering. I can’t help you and Lucus unless you work with me.”

  “I can’t.” His voice was cold, distant, and almost robotic. “I can’t do it.”

  “I don’t have all day. You have exactly one minute before I take back my very generous offer,” Ti Jean said interrupting our little heartfelt moment.

  “Why the hell should we trust him? Who knows what he really wants.”

  “We have to have faith that things will work out.”

  “I hate you!” he shouted. “I hate you for everything.”

  Louis’ words were full of venom and despair. The old Arelia would have told him to go to hell, but the new Arelia needed to be a leader and put her own pettiness aside. “No you don’t, you hate the situation we’re in, but you don’t hate me,” I said adamantly.

  Louis’ eyes peered into mine and their hardness vanished. They glistened and the tears that he had tried so hard to fight for so many years finally released themselves. He let out a scream full of angst, rage, and full of frustration. “I’m not as strong as you,” he admitted after his little out-burst had stopped.

  “Yes, you are,” I squeezed his hand and used my other hand to wipe away his tears.

  “No.”

  “Yes,” I whispered. “Let it all out. Whenever I was super depressed Grand-mere used to sing me this song. It’s a Bob song.” I softly sang for him, hoping that my emotions would overpower my horrific singing voice so that I could get through to him:

  Cry to me, now;

  You gonna cry to me

  You're gonna walk back through the heartaches;

  You're gonna walk back through the pain;

  Shed those lonely teardrops:

  “Thirty seconds,” Ti Jean warned, as he prodded my ribs with his baton.

  “Say, yes, please.” I urged Louis to make up his mind already.

  Without warning, Louis’ tears stopped flowing and his gray eyes filled with fire and determination. He let go of my hand and stood up. He marched towards Ti Jean and took the bottle from his hand. He tossed back the
spicy rum and looked at the loa of revolution directly in the eyes.

  “You’re not bullshitting us, are you?”

  “Ti Jean does not play games unlike you humans.” Ti Jean reached into Louis’ back pocket and pulled out a very detailed Arelia Voodoo doll.

  “Is that my real hair?” I asked as I peered at the doll.

  “You shed a lot,” he said with a smirk. “It wasn’t very hard to find.”

  I shivered. Despite all of the stuff I’d seen, the thought of someone collecting my hair still rated high on my list of things that were beyond creepy.

  Ti Jean limped to where I had buried the Louis Voodoo doll and dug it up. He threw the two dolls into the flames. “There will be no more internal conflict between the two of you. Any trick, spell, or curse you place on one another I will reverse so that it comes back to you tenfold.”

  “That’s blackmail,” said Louis unimpressed with the stipulation of the contract. Clearly, he had a stash of Arelia Voodoo dolls that he was dying to use at any given time.

  “We agree,” I said quickly before Ti Jean and Louis got into another fight and more time was lost.

  “Do you agree, Louis?” Ti Jean turned to Louis and peered at him in expectation.

  “Fine,” he said reluctantly. “I agree to your little offer, but I can’t promise that I’ll play nice forever. I still have issues with the Queen.”

  I ignored his little comment and focused on the task at hand. “Are you sure no one will recognize us?” I asked, worried that Emilie would somehow follow us and trap us on the other side, or worse I would get distracted by Lucus.

  “I give you my word! The loa of revolution keeps his promises. Unlike you humans, I do not resort to meaningless manipulation. You will be able to recognize one another, but no outsider will be able to recognize you. You must keep all that you see a secret.”

  “Why?” asked Louis.

  I nudged him in the ribs. “Don’t argue. We agree,” I said quickly.

  “No! Arelia, don’t trust him! Don’t trust that creepy spirit. He’s going to hurt you! Please come get me already!” Sabrina’s desperate voice danced with the flames and made me question Ti Jean’s intentions.