JEALOUS MOON
by
K. K. Woodward
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY:
K. K. Woodward on Smashwords
Jealous Moon
Copyright © 2011
by K. K. Woodward
Smashwords Edition License Notes
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JEALOUS MOON
The moon produces no light of its own. It must use the light of the Sun or the Earth to shine.
Mallika Vallette could not imagine life without David Mickles period. He was her confidant, her joy and her inspiration. He was the reason that she looked forward to each day and she was also pretty sure that he was the love of her life. She never considered what life would be without him or with someone else. How could she? He had always been there. The earliest memories she could remember involved David and his big smile.
They grew up in the same town and went to the same schools since Kindergarten. She remembered in Kindergarten putting together a dinosaur puzzle. David scooted up next to her and put a missing puzzle piece on a T-Rex then looked at her with a shy little smile on his face, hoping she approved. She smiled back at him and his smile grew into a big grin that spread across his face. From that day on he had been by her side. They had grown from putting puzzles together and playing on monkey bars, to teasing each other throughout Junior High, and then falling into a comfortable friendship in their High school years.
Somewhere around 8th grade, she started planning their future. By then, she had planned their marriage in her mind several times over. There would be the wedding by the ocean, with her dress flowing in the wind. Her dress would be white with a hint of blue satin, to highlight her light-mocha colored skin and pretty white teeth. Her hair would have blue flowers framing her veil. David’s suit would be white with a blue cumber-band. Their pictures would cause sighs of envy for years to come.
David. Such a simple name, but such a plethora of feeling would course through her whenever she thought of it. David would look great in any environment she chose to imagine him in. He had cocoa-colored skin, chiseled cheeks, wide shoulders and delightful dimples when he smiled. But it wasn’t just his looks, when David smiled he smiled with his whole heart.
No matter what was going on around him, David managed to stay cheerful. Despite the callousness of his fellow students and the environment they lived in, downtown New Orleans, surrounded by drugs, thugs, and the usual deterioration of society, he always kept an upbeat attitude.
Mallika thought, in general, people had gone through a gradual cooling throughout the years in their town. Their pace was quicker and so were their tongues. David however, had a way of laughing off the rudest person, “He’s having a bad day” he’d say. If someone shoved by, trying to squeeze through a space that wasn’t large enough, David would say, “Hey, no problem man, you obviously have something important to do.” Then David would laugh, unbelievably he would laugh! It was as if he was somehow on a higher plane than the rest of these silly, anxiety-ridden people surrounding him.
Mallika actually envied his relaxed attitude. She hadn’t quite reached that level of relaxation. If someone dared to be nippy to her, Mallika met their chilliness with artic frost, and she didn’t forget, not ever. She remembered a slight or an insult long after the party had forgotten their sin. They would feel it later though, for example, when they asked to borrow a pencil months later. “To you, I don’t think so!” Mallika would say and give them a steady stare.
One day at lunch, as Mallika was walking to her table in the cafeteria, Tanya a short little blonde sauntered over to her. “Do you have an extra quarter Mallika?” Tanya asked. Tanya, who had dared to comment that Mallika looked like she had gained weight over the Summer, during gym a few weeks ago, within hearing distance of other girls in the locker room. “I’m short 25 cents and I want to get a soda?”
“You know what Tanya, go to the office or bring enough money next time and you should drink water anyway at your height”, Mallika snapped. Tanya was a bit stunned, not even aware she had offended Mallika at one time. She shortly learned not to ask her for anything again. Tanya went bouncing off toward a boy she knew that had a crush on her to try again.
Mallika had dark moods, and she didn’t like them herself. She would be surrounded by anger and doubt. She would list all the ills she had suffered in life, and categorize them by the people that had inflicted them. These dark moods were hard to crawl out of; they were deep wells of doubt and melancholy. She'd feel like she couldn't face one class or crowds of people much less a whole day of school. At these times, she craved David more than ever. He was the warm sun that dried up all the pools of sadness.
On her down days, she’d seek him out. He knew when she had that look on her face with her brows furrowed and her mouth tight that she was in one of those moods and needed some David pick-me-up time. She'd tap him on the shoulder and gesture for him to follow her. Then when they were out of everyone's ear-shot she’d say, “David I’m so sick of this routine and these people, really why do we have to go to school so many hours? I don't think I can stand one more day of it!”
David would smile and put a hand on her shoulder and say, “Mallika, come on girl your tough, you can get through this. Hundreds that don’t have your spunk made it before you, I’m sure you’ll survive.” She’d pout a little and he’d smile and say, “Right, right?”
“Yes, your right.” There be more bounce in her step the rest of the day and amazingly the day would go by faster and things didn’t quite seem so bad.
At the end of the school day, Mallika went to home to her life with Sasha. Sasha’s and Lyle, Mallika's father, had divorced when she was very, very young, and she didn’t even remember the circumstances. He lived only two hours away in Baton Rouge, but she spent most of her time with her mom, even on weekends. Her Dad was a nice guy, a man’s man. He loved working on cars and getting dirty. Mallika knew she was lucky to have a nice father, some of her friends were not so lucky. They had short-tempered Dad’s that blew up at the littlest thing or neglectful Dad’s that were always gone, and when they were there they usually parked in front of the T.V., until it was time to leave again. Mallika hung out with him on the odd weekend. Occasionally they took in a movie, or went to the beach, or someplace nice to eat. She was glad that he was there for her and made it clear she was welcome in her life, but Mallika preferred being around her Mom.
Mallika’s Mother, Sasha, was the glamorous type. Cool, confident, fun to be around and just a little self-absorbed. She was single for several years now, and at age 47, after divorcing her second husband, and it didn’t seem to faze her a bit. She went about her business as usual as if her life hadn’t just gone through a complete change; that someone that used to live there wasn’t there anymore. That was Sasha, she never questioned her decisions, just made new ones if they didn’t work. Sasha cheerfully made her ex-husband, Jonathan’s old office into another guest room, one that was rarely used but Sasha talked as though it would be.
Sasha had long-straight black hair a gift from a stray-Creole gene passed down from her Mother’s side of the family. She was lucky to have taken after her father in height too, and as if that wasn’t enough, she had a beautiful face too. She managed to grow to 5’ 9”. Her long hair and tall frame garnered a lot of attention wherever she went. Many said she resembled Sade the singer. She wasn’t necessarily a mean-spirited person, she never had a bad thing to say about others, but she wasn’t emotionally supportive either. If she hurt someone’s feelings, like Jonathan, when she told them after six years it was time to move on, she seemed puzzled that he was upset and then she’d usually get impatient. She just seemed unaware of how she made people feel. If they felt sad she didn’t have the patience for it, or know how to address it. She felt that it was their problem, she was just doing what she felt was right. Sasha didn’t know how to handle Mallika’s dark moods or insecure times. Her big advice was “Get over it.” She definitely wasn’t interested in deeper issues. Words, like “closure” and “healing” and “therapy” were not in her vocabulary. Her interest were clothes, jewelry and the latest craze, whatever that may be. If the latest craze was an artist of course, she’d be deeply interested, until his or her popularity passed.
They didn’t have long conversations. It was always, “Get to school on time Mallika”, or “What do you want for dinner?” or “I’m going out with coworkers tonight so be sure to lock the doors when you get home.” They didn’t hug or sit close to each other when sharing a movie. She couldn’t remember if her Mother was very affectionate when she was a baby, she supposed they had to get close when she fed her.
Sometimes when her Mother had too much champagne she’d show a rare sign of affection. She’d hug Mallika in front of her friends, and say, “Look everyone, look at my beauuuutiful daughter, she’s a chip off the old block isn’t she?” Mallika loved those few moments, when her Mom acted silly and affectionate; she almost looked forward to those few times when she drank. On New Years or Mardi Gras her Mom would invite a few people over after the festivities in the street, and she’d drink champagne and sway then she’d grab Mallika in a tight hug and say, “Look at my beauuuutiful baby,” and swing her around, almost losing her balance and laughing as her high heels went awry as everyone laughed and agreed, yes she’s beautiful Sasha, a lovely girl. For Mallika, a few times a year was not enough.
Mallika did look a lot like her mother, she was almost as tall and she had beautiful skin and full pink lips, her eyes were large and light brown, which made them stand out all the more. She however, did not have her mother’s straight hair, her hair was curly and she wore it medium length. She was pretty active and didn’t want to spend a lot of time primping and preening.
The one person in her whole world that made Mallika feel like she was in a real family, as though she belonged, was Gramma Eugenie, as they called her. Not Grandmother, or Grandma, but “Gramma.” Gramma Eugenie was the epitome of what you think a Grandmother should be. She always had a roast, or ham, or BBQ baked beans with honey and sugar cooking when Mallika went to visit. Her memories of Gramma’s house from the beginning of her time on earth were of the greatest smells in the world: brown sugar, cinnamon, gumbo, and homemade bread. When she smelled these smells as she walked by a bakery or restaurant, Mallika would instantly remember that comfortable feeling. Also Gramma Eugenie always made special time for Mallika. Eugenie knew her daughter, Sasha was not the patient type and perhaps tried to fill in the void.
Gramma Eugenie had outlived her husband Charles, and was now 75-years old. Despite her age, she seemed to have the same amount of energy she had ever since Mallika could remember. She couldn’t ever remember her ever feeling sorry for herself or moping about. She always kept busy. Mallika was sure she had her sad times, especially in the evenings when she was alone but she rarely let that side show to others. After her husband Charles passed away she volunteered at the local hospital, working at the desk, comforting those who came through, anxious, injured or scared. Despite her own loss, she never complained or took her pain out on others. She truly kept her spirits up by helping others. But Eugenie was not a pushover. Gramma would put someone in their place in a second if they tried to insult her.
Gramma always had a hug for Mallika. If Mallika was grumbling about school or the immaturity of other kids, she always would laugh away Mallika’s worries and offer her a piece of cake or some gumbo with big oversize slices of cornbread dripping with butter and honey. Good food was Gramma’s cure for everything. Gramma had lived here all of Mallika’s life. But she knew that she traveled all over the states with her husband Charles. In his 20’s Charles was a traveling salesman and he bounced between three or four states, “Wherever the money was good,” he’d say. When blacks were allowed to join the Army he signed up and Eugenie traveled with him from base to base.
Where the family’s white-Creole blood came from was a family secret. Mallika would sit at the table eating some crumb cake and say, “C’mon Gramma I’m old enough now, tell the big secret, tell me where the white side of the family came from.”
Gramma would just laugh and say, “Never you mind, it’s neither here or there.” No one who did know would tell the name of the actual man that fathered Eugenie’s mother. All Mallika knew was that he had a secret affair with Great-Great-Grandma Betsy. So someone had an affair, what was the big deal? These days, it would hardly be considered a scandal. As she understood it wasn’t even an affair, no one was married at the time.
Great-Great Grandma Betsy was said to be a voodoo priestess. There were no pictures of her but there were some old sketches that Eugenie’s mother kept that gave you an idea of how she looked. Eugenie said she was ten times as lovely in person. She was said to be very thin, with high cheekbones, dark skin, and large brown eyes which seemed to be the families’ signature trait, framed with thick eyelashes that were black as soot. She also had long, kinky hair she wore in several braids around her head that she refused to cut. It was said that when she took the braids out her hair was 3-feet long! She had a deep husky voice, and it was said that many a man was intrigued with her, white and black alike, despite her station in life. She, like several like her were born on a plantation and continued to work there as they grew up.
The plantation she was raised on, grew cotton, tobacco and other crops. Betsy worked as a house-maid since she was a great cook and since the family relied on her so much, it earned her a room downstairs close to the kitchen.
Betsy was often surrounded by young men that worked at the plantation as she walked about getting eggs for breakfast from the chicken coop, pulling fresh carrots for stew, or just rolling dough for biscuits in the kitchen in the morning (long before the owners were awake and the cocks would crow.) Men buzzed around her like bees around a flower. They just loved to be in her vicinity, to listen to her talk about the latest recipe, or tell a few jokes and get a smile out of her if they could. When she did laugh which was not often, it sounded like music to their ears.
The story goes that a high-ranking General fell in love with Betsy. He was apparently very well-known and very political which led to the secrecy. He was injured during the Civil War and took solace at the plantation, at the owner’s invitation. He had several wounds, one which was very deep, from a musket ball that had to be dug out with a knife. The wound became infected and he was told to stay on bed rest and not to use the leg, except to take care of personal business, to subdue the festering
He stayed at the plantation for three months. Betsy nursed him back to health and kept the restless General company. She brought him papers and books to read and sat with him while he went over the news of the war. The owner of the plantation played cards and spent time with him also, but he had a farm to run and protect and could not be there most of the time. Sometime during those three months, he and Betsy fell deeply in love. It was said that Betsy’s Hoodoo cured him rather than the doctor’s prescriptions.
In time, the General’s leg was healed and he was ready for assignment. In the army, you were either sick or assigned, and it was time for him to go. He managed to make sure he was assigned only in the southernmost forts, because he could not bear to stay away from Betsy for long. Gramma told her that Great-Great-Gramma Betsy put twine around a rooster’s feet and dunked him in gin, to bind the general’s love to her forever. They would meet after the sun went down, at the plantation, in motels, or somewhere in between the fort and the plantation. He would ride all night if he had to and still manage to report for duty by dawn. If anyone in the town knew they didn’t dare protest.
Eventually, Betsy became pregnant. She refused to mention who the father was to anyone. No matter what was said to her by the other slaves, or how threatened she was by the owners, Betsy would remain mute and just stare off into space with her head held high. The visits from the General stopped completely, and no one knew what had transpired between the Betsy and the General. Betsy’s baby Gracie, was born on the plantation right before the emancipation.
By the time she was 6-months old they were legally free. Since the owner never treated Betsy too unfairly (as fair as a slave could be treated) and offered to pay her a regular wage, she worked for them for another five years, mostly for the security of her child. She didn’t want to travel and look for work while raising a toddler.
That was until she met Benjamin. Benjamin was a gentle, happy man, some would have thought he was simple, but he actually was quite crafty behind those eyes, and his cheerfulness helped him keep customers after he was free. He actually had a good trade making horse shoes and shoeing horses. Benjamin and Betsy moved out on their own in 1894, and lived in a shack until they could build their own cabin, in New Orleans right on the Mississippi.
They never had another child. Benjamin thought of Gracie as his own child and they both doted on her being their only daughter. She was taught to work hard, but she was taught with kindness and love. Between the three of them they managed to have a happy life together. They had friends but their core and their strength came from each other.
Living with Betsy, Gracie grew up with the background of Betsy’s Voodoo religion. The lessons that Betsy had taught her were as common as learning the alphabet. Not until she was older did she learn that it was thought of as strange by others or even superstitious rubbish. On a regular day, Betsy and Gracie would sit on the porch and she would tell her how to mix herbs, powder and oils. She would say, “Betsy if you ever have an enemy that wants to hurt you or yours, throw this goofer dust down in their path. They will track it back into their home they will never bother you again. If you want them to go far far far away from you to another town, you mix the ash with the dirt from their footprint and goofer dust. Take the mixture and sprinkle it in moving water and just like the water they will drift away. If they come back someday we have to use stronger voodoo. We make Four Thieves Vinegar. Write their name on a piece of paper, place this in a bottle and cover it with the vinegar. You seal up the bottle and throw it into the river or the ocean and they will be taken even farther next time, across the water to another land.”
She taught her all the veve symbols her own mother had learned in Africa and passed on to her. She showed her which symbols conjure a love spell, which symbols protect you from an enemy and which ones attract money or success. She taught her how to write the symbols on the ground with ashes and cornmeal. She also taught her the prayers to say over them to make each spell more powerful.
If Betsy met a pushy person or some lady friend was too friendly with Benjamin, she would take a handful of salt and call their name and throw it over her right shoulder or she would get a picture of them and hang it upside down in the barn. Everytime the person entered their home they would get a horrible headache. Eventually, they would get spooked and not come over anymore.
Betsy would never let a woman visit first thing in the morning on Mondays because it was considered bad luck. She would never sweep trash out of the house after dark, because it would sweep away your luck. She wore a gris-gris bag and never took it off, even when she went to bed she transfered it to a chain around her neck. It was tied to her belt until the day she died.
These factoids became a part of Gracie’s own beliefs almost subconsciously. She never swept after dark or had someone visit on Monday morning. She never considered whether it was true or false. Rather, she used it as a talisman and a link to her own people. She felt that her people were aware of ideas from the old world that the new world had lost, just like medicines used in the rain forest by the natives for centuries. For example, in the 1920’s scientist discovered Penicillin, but it was said that the fungi had been in use by the natives since ancient times. It was also said that European peasants used mold from bread to treat illness long before the official discovery. Who knows what would be discovered to be true from the rituals of her people?
Benjamin and Betsy lived to a ripe old age and gave Gracie the best start they could, better than most in her day. She had her own cabin, a good head on her shoulders and pride in herself. After her parents passed away, she lived in the cabin with their happy memories until she met Samson while working at the local grocery store. Samson and Gracie were married shortly after meeting and had two children, Eugenie and little Sam.
Gracie was as good a Mother as Betsy if not better. Eugenie and Sam were her whole life, and fortunately she could stay home and care for them. She taught them the same lessons her Mother taught her, never saying whether it was absolutely true or not, but just that their family believed in it.
She decided let them make up their own minds. It just seemed natural to sit on the porch and talk about problems they encountered in their little world and how “the old ways” could assist them with their obstacles. Gracie felt that something would be missing from their background if she didn’t. She did warn them though not to share the information with outsiders or to broadcast it to their friends at school.
She explained that it was too different from what they were familiar with and they wouldn’t understand. “When people don’t understand something they usually fear it,” she warned. She told them that the other children would think they were strange to have such beliefs and sometimes people can make a big deal out of something quite little and not in a good way, sometimes they would make people out to be freaks, for lack of anything better to do. “Believe me, you don’t want to deal with that!” Gracie said. “If that happened,” she would joke, “I’ll have to do a banishing spell on the whole town. Then we’d have to wait for new people to move in to get our groceries, clothes, candles and basically everything we rely on.” Eugenie never doubted that Gracie could do it, if she had to.
Eugenie grew up and met her husband Charles. Charles and Eugenie traveled in their early days and lived all over the United States. Gracie and Sampson had passed away many years ago, but something always called Eugenie back to Louisiana. No matter where she went, Louisiana was still home. After a lifetime of moving around for work, Charles got a job in New Orleans and they moved back for good. They built a two-story house where the cabin used to stand and Eugenie had a baby and named her Sasha, because even from birth she seemed so sassy. It was a beautiful and peaceful place for Sasha to grow up in, with French doors and lace curtains and a wrap-around porch. The driveway was lined with spruce and maple trees. The yard had a huge Weeping Willow and there were always flowers and vegetables growing in the garden. Mallika loved visiting there, especially when she was feeling lonely or vulnerable. A feeling of contentment would come over her and she would feel like herself again.
Eugenie and Mallika sat at the kitchen table, and Eugenie would tell some of the old tales that were told to her of Betsy’s day. She spoke of a slave that had been on the edge of death and some of Betsy’s stomach herbs that brought him back. There was a child born to the plantation owner’s family with a strawberry birthmark on one half of her otherwise perfect face. Betsy rubbed lotions and oils on the baby and prayed night after night. Slowly the birthmark shrunk and shrunk, until there was nothing left but a tiny little pink beauty mark.
When Mallika mentioned these stories to her mother Sasha, she would say, “Oh those old silly stories, come on Mallika those are fairy tales!” We have all the magic we need right here!” And she would point at her smile and laugh and laugh. Mallika smiled too, her mother could charm the devil himself she thought.
After a calm weekend visiting with Eugenie and having an early dinner with Mama in the French Quarter, Mallika felt fresh and ready for school, and especially ready to see David, whom she hadn’t seen for two whole days. She put on a light pink sweater and whistled as she walked to school. Little did she know this was the day that her life would change, forever.
David was sitting two seats back from her in 3rd period, English Literature. He had a cold. She could hear him snuffling and sneezing, trying not to cough, but every now and then a cough would escape. She wanted to walk right back there and put a cough drop in his mouth and a blanket around his shoulders. She never could stand to hear him suffer, or for anyone to be unkind to him. Halfway through the class, while reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, while Mallika was daydreaming of David as Romeo and of course, she was Juliet, they were interrupted by the office secretary. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said to Ms. Fenton, “we had some paperwork to finish up in the office.” In she walked with a girl trailing behind her.
She wasn’t exactly dressed up for her first day at school. She had on blue jeans and a yellow t-shirt. Pretty face, long hair but tied back in a tight long braid. No makeup, not a lot of jewelry. If she didn’t have a cute figure she wouldn’t have stood out at all, Mallika thought. “Okay class, stop reading for a moment. We have a new student starting today, this is Rosemarie, who just arrived here from Tennessee. Please make her feel at home, and could someone please show her where the gym is next period? Rosemarie you can sit in the 4th chair back unless you have trouble reading the board.”
“No that’s fine,” Rosemarie said, and quickly moved to her new seat. The bell rang and the class herded out the door. Rosemarie tapped Mallika on the shoulder on the way out. “Hi, can you show me where the gym is?” she asked.
“Sure,” said Mallika “I’m heading that way anyway.” Mallika had no intention of getting too close to anyone new, too fast, she been down that road before. They latched on until they were popular then they blew you off, but she wasn’t going to be unfriendly either. “Right this way,” she gestured with her hand and began walking toward the gym.
“So what’s your name?” said Rosemarie.
“I’m Mallika, and I know you’re Rosemarie.”
“You can call me Rose if you like,” she said. All the sudden Mallika heard sneakers behind her and David’s voice.
“Hey Mallika wait up!”
She paused and turned around slowly,“hey why don’t you stop gabbing with your friends and get to class sooner David?”
“Oh come on don’t bust my chops girl. So what did you do this weekend?” he asked.
“Shopping with mom, spent Sunday at Gramma’s and watched a movie yesterday, the usual.”
“So are you going to introduce me to your friend?” David asked.
Mallika felt like saying, “she’s not my friend I just met her,” but she didn’t dare. “This is Rosemarie David.”
“You can call me Rose,” Rose said.
“Well hello Rose, welcome to our school. You're in good hands with my friend Mallika, she knows her way around. If anyone gives you a hard time let me know okay?”
“Sure, is there someone that would give me a hard time?” Rose said.
“Well, I don’t know actually,” David laughed, “but some of my friends can be pretty aggressive so watch yourself, and Mallika can tell you who the catty girls are right Mal?”
“Sure David, meow!” She said and showed her pretend claws. David laughed and trotted off to the boy’s side of the gym.
Weeks went by at school. They planned their yearly class show, and the prom committee was formed. "Same thing different year," Mallika thought. Mallika and Rose hung out occasionally and sat near each other at lunch once in awhile. But Rose also did Math lab at lunch and Science lab and Mallika had her regular friends. She had to admit it Rose was actually okay to be around. She wasn’t the frilly, emotional type of girl. She didn’t talk much about fashion or makeup, but she loved books and shared a lot of her favorite authors with Mallika.
“Anne Rice is New Orleans, I just love her!” she’d exclaim. It was nice to talk about something different besides the usual chatter.
“Why do you work so hard?” Rose asked. “Well I want to get as many credits as I can for college before I start.”
“Wow, I haven’t even thought that far.” Mallika said. “I figured I’ll worry about it when it gets here.”
“You should Mallika, get as much done as you can so you can get your degree while your still young.” said Rose.
“I didn’t even know if I was going to get a degree honestly,” Mallika replied, secretly imagining carpools with David’s children and maybe a part-time job somewhere fun, like a museum or an interesting store.
“Well okay, sometimes that works for people too,” Rose said. “Talk to you later.” Off she bounced to her next class. If I could only be so excited about school Mallika thought. The week came and went and Friday night was here.
Mallika’s friend Cheryl invited Mallika to the Drive-In, the usual Friday night teenage ritual. Mallika thought, why not, she had nothing else to do. She went home and changed into a pair of comfy jeans and a pink sweater that brought out her skin and her eyes. You never knew who you would run into.
Cheryl picked her up about two hours later. “Bye momma,” Mallika called.
“Bye sweetie,” Sasha said. “I might be out still when you get home, be sure to lock the door when you come in.”
Amazing, Mallika’s Mother had more of a social life than her, and at her age.
Of course, Cheryl like many other teenagers, snuck a 6-pack of beer into the Drive-In with her. That was the best part of the Drive-In, you could bring anything you wanted, beer, cigarettes, extra people hiding in the back, and nobody ever checked the car.
The more amorous teenagers of course loved the Drive-In because that was the place they could work on getting to second and third base. Hopefully, not too many made a homerun, Mallika thought. Lord knows most of them were not mature enough to take care of a goldfish, much less a baby.
Cheryl and Mallika pulled in and put the seats back. Cheryl started on her first beer. Mallika decided that a cheap burger from the snack bar and small popcorn sounded delicious right now. She asked Cheryl if she wanted anything. “I have everything I need right here,” she replied. “But don’t get a soda and waste these beers, I had to ask three men before I found one that would buy them for me.”
Mallika headed to the snack bar, walking up and down the rolling pavement. As she got to the back row, she thought she saw David’s black Chevy truck in the last row. She hoped so, she’d love to see him tonight and invite him over for a beer. That would be perfect! Just as she was walking through the double doors, David came walking out.
“David, Hi!” Mallika said with a big smile.
“Hey Mallika how are you? So what are you watching here tonight?” “Oh Jaws II, same as you I think.”
“Your right we are.” David said.
We? Mallika thought, then she realized, of course David wouldn’t come to the movies by himself, he had to have brought a buddy. Then the double doors opened and Rosemarie came walking through backwards, with a big bucket full of popcorn. It finally hit Mallika, like a punch to the stomach, David wasn’t here with a buddy, he was here with Rosemarie! She couldn’t believe her eyes!
She managed to recover, barely, and instead of screaming at the top of her lungs, or yelling, “What are you doing with him!” she managed to say “Oh hi,” as if Rosemarie’s very presence hadn’t thrown her sideways.
Rosemarie gave her a big smile and said, “Oh great you’re here tonight too how cool.”
“Yes it’s great, come over for a beer if you get a chance we’re up front.” Mallika managed to say, then she pushed through the double doors as fast as she could. Only then did she let the breath out she was holding. She felt her face turn red and a slow throbbing began in the middle of her forehead.
What the heck was going on?! She had been friends with David since preschool, and that girl has been here two weeks and now she’s sitting in his truck, watching a scary movie with him! She had never even considered the possibility, and now she didn’t know how to handle the anger and shock that were coursing through her.
Mentally, she decided keeping her cool and changing her battle plan was the best defense. Hopefully she could keep that promise. Maybe they’d come by for that beer. She’d prefer that rather than those two cozying up during all the scary parts of the movie. She bought the burger and skipped the popcorn. The greasy smell was making her nauseous.
When she got back to the car and plopped in the seat, Cheryl asked her if she was ready for that beer. Mallika said dryly, “I’m ready for two.”
The movie took forever, all Mallika could think was that Rosemarie, this average looking tomboy who came from nowhere, and rarely had anything interesting to say, was sitting in a truck with her David, her future husband! Why the heck hadn’t he ever invited her to a movie? The most they ever done was burgers or ice cream, always with other friends, or with a group after school.
Mallika began to feel a buzz from the beer, and she stared up at the moon that was hanging over the drive-in screen, framing the movie. A song her Mother used to play all the time, flitted through her mind, “Blue moon you saw me standing alooone, without a dream in my heaaaart, without a love of my own. Blue moon you know just what I was there for, you heard me saying a prayer for, someone I really could care for.” The song had a happy ending. She hoped and prayed she would too.
“Hey what’s a matter Mallika? You don’t look like your having fun.” Cheryl said.
“Everything is fine.” Mallika said, and gave Cheryl a fake smile. She had a feeling she’d be doing a lot of that in the future.
On screen, Jaws was chasing a male and female diver through the water at breakneck speed. Mallika thought the shark might win this one. She couldn’t help but wish one of those divers was Rosemarie, and that shark was having her for a midnight snack. That thought brought a real smile to her face.
The following Monday at school, David, Cheryl, Mallika and Rosemarie found themselves at the lunch table. Rosemarie and David didn’t seem affectionate or anything and the conversation continued on as normal. They discussed algebra, what classes they were going to take next year, and the upcoming play
Rosemarie got up early and said, “I have to get to lab and finish an experiment see you later.”
“Okay,” David said.
Mallika couldn’t stand it, “So David, what’s up with you and Rose?” She tried to sound as casual as possible.
“Oh you know she’s new in town, only has her Mom for company, so I thought I’d show her around,” he said with a smile.
“Oh that’s nice of you.” Mallika replied.
“Hey I do it for anyone.” David said. “Hey I have to head to the gym and get my gear on, see you later.”
“Later.” Mallika and Cheryl said in unison. Mallika couldn’t stop the slow burn in her gut though. David being alone with Rose was not the same as being out with the gang. She didn’t like it; she didn’t like it all.
The rest of the week, Rose and David were seen walking together, sitting by each other at lunch, and occasionally talking by the door after class. At night she went to sleep thinking about them, and thinking about Rose and wishing she would go back to Tennessee.
Whenever, she found herself alone with David or Rose, she managed to talk about unimportant things and act as if their new companionship wasn’t driving her crazy, but it was more than Mallika could stand.
By Friday she was burning with rage of the unfairness of it all. She felt like she would burn from the inside out. She took a bus to her Gramma’s the only person in the world she felt she could talk to. The moment she reached the doorway, she threw open the screen, slamming it against the outside wall. She opened the door just as ferociously and ran into the kitchen where her Gramma happened to be. Without even saying hello, Mallika wailed, “Gramma this girl is ruining my life!”
“Goodness gracious, what are you talking about child?!” Gramma exclaimed.
“I’ve been in love with David since Kindergarten and she just walked in last week and is taking over! I’m scared we’ll graduate from High School and she’ll get pregnant and force him to marry her or some other plot. She could never love him like I do! I’ve always cared about him! Always! How can she just crawl out from under some rock in Tennessee and come here and ruin my life?!”
“Calm down child, calm down. Now sit down and have some tea and cake and we will talk it out.” Gramma said.
Mallika couldn’t wait. “Tea and cake?! No, Gramma please help me!” “Please, please,” she begged. “He just has to love me back, he just has to. He doesn’t even look at me hardly anymore, it’s as if the last 16 years of our friendship never happened.”
“Okay,” Gramma said, putting her hand on Mallika’s shoulder. “Calm yourself, take a deep breath and a sip of tea.” Mallika did as she said. Gramma sat down and then looked in Mallika’s eyes. “Now I have to ask you a question, and you have to tell me the truth Mallika.”
“Okay, absolutely.” Mallika said.
“Did this boy care about you romantically before this girl came about?”
“Yes, very much, very, very much Gramma.”
“Did he love you Mallika?” “I don’t know Gramma, I think he would have, he was closer to me than anyone, until she came along. It’s just that we are so young. We feel comfortable around each other, he tries to make me happy, he can’t stand to see me sad, isn’t that as close to love as someone our age can get?”
“Yes, yes child that is as close to love as it gets, if this boy loves to see you smile, he care’s about you and maybe you could have blossomed into something more.”
“What can I do Gramma? I just feel like I’ll shrink away to nothing if he doesn’t care about me anymore, just like I’ll shrink away to nothing."
“Well what do you want me to do child? Tie him up, tie her up? There’s some things in life you can’t control.”
“Can we talk about the old ways? Can we try it? If it doesn’t work who cares, no harm done, but please, let’s try Gramma, please tell me some of the old ways. You said Great-Grandma was able to help you when you needed extra special help!”
Gramma looked serious for a second, as serious as Mallika had ever seen her. “Here’s what were going to do child, here’s what were going to do.”
Eugenie got up and wiped her hands with a dish towel then she opened a drawere and pulled out a wooden box. Then she looked at Mallika and said. “There is something we can do, we can work the left hand of voodoo. Voodoo can help and also it can jinx someone. I haven’t done this since I was a teenager myself. There was this rotten boy, Steve, who wouldn’t leave me alone. He would torment me because I had no interest in him. He started following me home from school, tripping me, dropping dirt and leaves in my hair, stealing my books, you know that sort of thing. After I came home upset too many times, my mother decided it was enough, and she banished him from our area for good.”
She sat down in front of Mallika and put the box on the table. “Okay, the way we will start out is soft. We will give her a little push to keep away from the boy that she wants to be close too. Their relationship is young, so it should not take much. Now you just relax and calm yourself, being upset will not make it better, if anything it will push him away.”
Mallika actually felt a little calmer with Gramma’s soothing words. “First, we’ll try salt.”
“Salt?” Mallika asked skeptically.
“Don’t doubt our ways Mallika, that is the worst thing you can do.” Gramma opened the box and and grabbed a clear bottle with salt from it. The bottle had a little metal spout. “It keeps better this way.” She said. “Come out on the back porch with me and I will show you how.” They walked out onto the porch. “Now grab a big handful, in your left hand, here.” She poured a nice big fist sized amount into Mallika’s left hand.
“I feel silly Gramma,” said Mallika.
“Now you listen to me child, Great-Great Grandma Betsy, was almost the wife, of one of the most powerful General’s during the war. She put a drop of her blood into his coffee every morning. No matter how far away that man traveled after that for his duty, he always came back to her town. When any of his people came and said anything against her, she would take a handful of salt and throw it over her shoulder. She never did anything more to them, but she never saw them again. Imagine how many soldiers and powerful men tried to talk him into leaving a black maid during that time?”
“How do you know someone was talking against her? How do you know what she did?” Mallika asked.
"How? Why she told my mother, Gracie all those years and we have her journals. Your Great-Grandma Gracie kept them her whole life, and she passed them onto me. I’ve always known the stories. Your mother knows some of them too, but she doesn’t care about them. Betsy learned to write. The children of the family Betsy worked for, taught her. At the same time they were learning their A,B,C’s, they were sneaking into the kitchen when their parents were out, and practicing and teaching Betsy the same thing. She was able to make simple words in a short amount of time, enough to get her stories across. What she didn’t know how to spell she would draw careful pictures of, like herbs and spices. She would draw the plant, and then two spoons next to it, for two teaspoons. She also drew the veve symbols, carefully with instructions on how to use them."
"How do you use them?" Mallika asked, interrupting again.
"You draw them in the sand with corn meal and other things and it takes a lot a practice Mallika, they must be drawn carefully and properly to work and their meaning has to be understood or you can curse yourself! Now back to my story,” Gramma said, giving Mallika the warning eye, meaning control your mouth. “When a soldier came to spend time with the General and the General mentioned Betsy was a fine woman or some such thing, and the soldier would say something against her, her ear would itch. When the inside of your ear itches, and you suspect someone is talking against you, they usually are.”
“I’m ready to try it now, I don’t know what else to do, and Gramma, I believe you,” Mallika stated.
“Okay then, throw the salt over your right shoulder and shout the name of the person you want to banish. The person you want far away from you. Say it, say it!” Gramma commanded.
Mallika threw the salt as far as she could over her shoulder and said the name of the person that was going to ruin her dreams, her plans, everything she cared about, “Rosemarie!” she hissed, with a vengeance she didn’t even realize she was feeling.
“Now take this charm." Gramma put her hand in her pocket and took out a charm. It was gold and had a symbol of a heart with other lines and symbols etched into it. "Now go home and meditate on it, you're going to come back in three days and bring some things with you. Let’s go inside and get a pen.” Eugenie said, while moving toward the door.
She grabbed a pen and some paper she kept by the phone. “Now the next time you come over I want you to bring the following, 1 gallon apple cider vinegar, garlic cloves, crushed or whole one bunch, and about ½ cup of the rest, black peppercorns, crushed black mustard seed, and crushed red pepper. Okay you got that?” she asked.
“Yes Gramma, but why? Won’t it work, what we just did?”
“It may or it may not child, it depends on a lot of things. How much they like each other, the strength of the girl that’s come into town, the way you feel and what is meant to be. If it’s not meant to be, something will always get in the way. Now head home and be happy, you relax okay, whatever will be is right.”
“Yes Gramma and Gramma, I love you.”
“I love you too, remember don’t be longer than three days now.”
Mallika went home and did some homework, read a few magazines and tried to rearrange her hair in a different way, it didn’t quite work but it gave her a few ideas. She thought tomorrow, she’d wear all white, it made her skin and eyes teeth stand out so much more. Maybe David would see her in a different light.
That night Mallika had a dream. She had a dream that she was walking down the road in New Orleans. It was evening and the streetlamps were on. She walked down the main street, to Bourbon Street and along the river. As she walked the scenery started to change. Plants shrunk away, and new plants and trees grew in, changing the boundaries of the road. The road started to curve a little more, a building disappeared, replaced by a smaller building. As she continued, the street turned to into a dirt road. There were glimpses of people, walking in and out of saloons. Their clothes got older and older. The buildings became smaller and had horses tied out in front. She kept walking toward the river.
She could see the river was full of boats and there were piles of wood and boxes and supplies of all sorts framing the river. She could see men bent over the task of loading and unloading the boats.
Then she saw her. She saw a woman standing in the middle of the road looking at Mallika. She looked familiar somehow to her. She was dressed all in white and had her hair in a kerchief. Mallika recognized her family features in this woman. Somehow, instinctively she knew that it was Great-Great Grandma Betsy. The woman smiled at her, as if to say “Hello my dear Great-Great-Granddaughter.” She smiled again, and then turned and slowly pointed over to the right. Mallika looked to the right and saw a cemetery with a tombstone glowing white, in front of it was a woman she did not recognize. She was shorter than Betsy, and as Mallika watched she seemed to grow to an unnatural size. She held her hand out and blew something into the wind. Mallika could see the white powder as it blew in a circle that grew bigger and bigger until it was a large enough circumference to reach each side of the road. It touched the plants and it touched Mallika. In her dream, she could feel the soft powder touch her skin.
Mallika looked toward Betsy again. Betsy held her right hand up to Mallika and stared at her as if trying to tell her something, but what it was Mallika could not say. Then she faded away like smoke and was gone.
In the morning, Mallika felt herself shiver as she remembered the dream, but she didn’t quite know why. It made no sense to her. But the dream felt clearer and more colorful than most dreams she had. She brushed it off to a reaction to the stories Gramma Eugenie had been telling her. However, the dream did seem very vivid. On her way to school she thought over what she and Gramma had done and wondered if there was any possibility in the world that it could actually have any real effect.
Third period English Literature, David was there but Rosemarie was not. Mallika enjoyed basking in David’s attention without the Rosemarie distraction.
She asked Cheryl where Rosemarie was. “Oh I don’t know maybe sick,” Cheryl replied. Mallika was dying of curiosity, could it have worked? The day went by uneventfully, and Monday turned into Tuesday.
Tuesday morning Rosemarie was back. “Rosemarie, where were you yesterday?” Mallika asked without hesitation.
“I wasn’t feeling well so I stayed home, cramps,” she whispered.
“Oh, yeah I understand,” Mallika said. She felt silly thinking salt had anything to do with that.
Wednesday, she decided to head to Gramma Eugenie’s anyway and carried her kit of herbs and a jug of cider in her backpack. Why not? At least Gramma and her were having fun. “Gramma, I’m here,” Mallika called.
“Well, well Gramma said, tell me what happened.” Mallika related that Rosemarie was gone one day but back the next.
“Oh dear," Gramma said, this is going to need a stronger push.”
"Oh Gramma you don’t really believe that the salt made her stay away one day do you?”
“Oh yes I do child, I’ve seen it before. Our spells take something natural that almost would be happening, and make it happen. Did you bring everything I told you to bring?”
“Yes I did, what are we up to now?” Mallika’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. She couldn’t help but be a little excited. Imagine Rosemarie gone a week or a month or forever! It would be a dream come true, if it could really happen.
Gramma got out a huge pot from under the sink and began grabbing the herbs Mallika spread out on the table. “This is an old spell, very old. First we make the Four Thieves Vinegar recipe. She poured in the whole gallon apple cider vinegar, and crushed up the garlic cloves and threw them in, next came the black peppercorns, black mustard seed, and crushed red pepper and garlic. She mixed everything with a big wooden spoon, while heating it with a low flame.
Mallika watched her and thought of old stories and poems about witches and kettles. She wondered how she got to this point to try something this crazy. But she knew, she was crazy in love and would try anything at this point.
When Gramma was done she put everything in a glass jar and sealed it then handed it to Mallika. “Now set this aside for two days Mallika. On Friday, after 7:00 p.m., you can take it out. Put the girls name on a piece of paper, fold the paper in half and put it in the jar. Make sure the paper is covered with the vinegar mixture. Then you take this jar and walk down to the Mississippi river, and throw it into the river as far as you can!"
“Wow what happens then Gramma?”
“When you do this, that girl will be carried away just like the bottle is carried away by the water!”
“I hope so Gramma,” Mallika said somberly. “I really honestly do. I really don’t know what will happen to me if she doesn’t go. I feel like it will change me Gramma for the worse, I know it will,” Mallika said somberly.
“Now, you listen, you can handle almost anything Mal, you will change with each experience but you’ll carry on, and better things will happen, no matter what, life is always the best it can be right?” Gramma said with a smile and beamed down at Mallika with love.
“If you say so Gramma.” Mallika smiled
“Now head on home your Gramma’s tired today, and call me sometime this week and let me know how your doing. Remember, it cannot be until 7:00 p.m., that’s when the New Moon rises. The moon is black so you won’t see it but its there. The new moon is very powerful. It will give your spell that extra power it needs.”
“Gramma, I know I tell you all the time but I want you to know I love you, I really do.” Mallika said. Then she walked out the door and headed for the bus stop, carrying her little jar full of promise.
Two more days at school, and finally Friday was there. Mallika saw Rosemarie at school occasionally, but she didn’t go out of her way to see her. She tried not to be too cool toward her, but it wasn’t easy. If Rosemarie noticed she didn’t let on. She was just as calm and bouncy as ever, much to Mallika’s dismay.
“Hi Mallika, how was your weekend?”
“Very educational Rosemarie,” replied Mallika curtly. She didn’t offer anymore details and just stared at Rosemarie in a bored way.
“Well that’s always good thing,” said Rosemarie. Nothing really seemed to ruffle Rosemarie.
Yes, good for me, bad for you, Mallika thought. As she walked by Rosemarie on the way home Friday afternoon, she hummed to herself, “I see a bad moon a rising, I see trouble on the way, I see earth quakes and lightnin', I see bad times today, well don't go 'round tonight, But it's bound to take your life, there's a bad moon on the rise.” She gave a little half-smile, thinking about what the moon was going to bring to Rosemarie.
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