by Gerald Lopez
“I said you’re pulling my hair,” A second later she came into view.
“It’s Donetta,” I said.
Then there was the loud sound of someone being slapped. Alex covered his mouth to keep from laughing, then turned to me and whispered.
“That’s Donetta, alright.”
“I told you not to pull my hair, didn’t I?” Donetta said.
The man carrying her sat her gently on the stone table, then put his hand up to the cheek she’d slapped. Even though it was too dark to see, I was sure it’d be red judging from how loud the slap had sounded. Good for Donetta.
Two more men came into view, one carrying Esther and another carrying Georgie.
“Boy, don’t you go grabbing my bootie or I’ll whoop yo ass!” Georgie said as he was put down on the stone table next to Esther and Donetta.
“Georgie, don’t be stupid, you know that man was just sitting you down,” Esther said.
“It’s not his fault your bootie’s so big it got in the way,” Donetta said.
Now I had to keep from laughing. Those kids weren’t scared at all, and they weren’t about to put up with much. Margo walked up to the circle dressed in the same clothes she’d had on earlier at tea; there were several people behind her. I’d expected them to be wearing something a bit more ceremonial, such as robes, but instead they wore normal street clothes. Even more people came up from behind Margo.
“Keep the rest of the group by the dock,” she said to someone, who turned and went back toward the dock. “How did they get away from Ross?” Margo said to the man next to her.
“When he walked toward their vehicle, they spotted the cars we had tailing them,” the man said.
“Where are Layton and the crown prince now?” Margo said.
“They were leading our men on a wild chase around town and heading toward the road out.”
“This isn’t good,” Margo said. “Jessica’s already having a fit about how things are going. She’s having our people energize all the bones on their estates and in town. If need be, she’s prepared to take everyone in this town out and leave nothing but dust in her wake.”
“That old skank won’t do nuthin!” Donetta said. “She ain’t nothing but a hooker, like my daddy would say.”
“Well, your daddy’s not here right now, Donetta, so shut it,” Margo said.
“Oh no you did not just tell me to shut it!”
“Oh, my goddess. Why did Jessica have to kidnap these children?” Margo said to the man next to her.
“Because she knew we’d be the ones stuck with them, princess,” the man said.
“Princess Pig is more like it,” Donetta said.
“Donetta, that wasn’t nice, she’s just seriously misguided, that’s all,” Esther said. “She didn’t mean it, Miss Margo—you don’t have a face like a pig, you’re alright. I’m sure you could get a man. All you need is a lil psychosis help.”
“That’s psychiatric help, Esther,” Donetta said. “And what makes you think she could get a man… look how old she is?”
“She’s no older than your auntie Neelie and she found herself a man,” Esther said.
“You two are driving me crazy with all your blabbing,” Georgie said. “If I gotta hear anymore of it, I’m gonna beg Miss Margo to kill me or kill the two of you.”
“And I’d be more than happy to oblige,” Margo said
The kids were a real hoot and a half. They made the bad guys seem much less threatening than they probably were, or maybe the kids knew something we adults didn’t. Something else distracted me. There was a blue light coming from the mausoleum. Things were escalating and so far I didn’t have a plan. But the good thing was they wouldn’t be expecting us to already be here. Their men still thought Hans and Jerhome were Alex and me… and that was a great thing. I took my cell phone out, covered the light with one hand and quickly texted Noelle to tell her the children were in our sight.
Two guards standing by the open gate of the mausoleum started to glow from their hands. The energy coming from that mausoleum must be immense. Margo raised her hands in the air and addressed her people.
“The blue light energy is growing strong. The other sites have been energized and are feeding this one. I can feel the energy coming into my body.”
“Sounds more like you got gas and are gonna need a massive fart,” Georgie said.
“Don’t show disrespect for our religion, Georgie Hall,” Margo said.
“Shut it kid.” an obese man standing closest to him said.
“Make me shut it, fat man.”
The man shook a finger in Georgie’s face and the kid bit it, making the grown man scream before he fell to the ground still moaning.
“I’ve just about had enough of this,” Margo said. “You children need to behave and show respect.”
“Yeah, aren’t you children afraid of the power of the blue light,” another man said.
“We’re not afraid of your little blue light… we’re Christian,” Esther said. “We’ve got Jesus, his angels and God to watch over us. All you people got is a lil blue light.”
“Well, sit there and witness how powerful this ‘lil blue light’ can be,” Margo said, raising her hands again. “Come to me energy of the ancients, inhabit me and my followers, show us your power.”
I watched as her hands began to glow. The others with her lifted their hands, which began to glow blue like hers. The light coming from them further illuminated their space, but we were far enough away that it didn’t permeate our area. The obese man with the bitten finger was standing now and his hands were glowing like the others. He waved them in front of the children, but they just yawned in defiance.
“Oh, girlfriend!” Donetta said. “All that drama over some itty bitty blue light.”
“Maybe you’d like to see the power of that light first hand,” Margo said.
“Bring it on, bitch!” Georgie said, snapping his fingers.
“Ooo, Georgie’s cussing!” Donetta said. “I’m gonna tell Momma and Daddy when we get out of here and they’re gonna whoop yo butt.”
“Those kids are fearless,” Alex said in a whisper.
I was worried they were pushing things too far, and it almost seemed as if they were doing it on purpose. Then a click went off in my mind. I remembered DeLonn had said something about the light not being able to hurt him. His faith had protected him from it and he inferred that people with a strong faith or belief would be protected. He practiced voodoo but that didn’t matter, it was about faith. That meant as long as the kids believed the blue light couldn’t hurt them then it couldn’t.
“Yeah, you know what?” Esther said. “I’m getting tired of this.”
“And I’m missing my shows, so do yo thing, Miss Margo,” Donetta said. “We’re covered in the blood of Jesus. You ain’t gonna be able to touch us with your funky voodoo.”
“Oh really,” Margo said. “You poor naive children really believe your patriarchal religion. It’s younger than most of the other religions on this planet, and you think it’s gonna save you? Well, let’s just put it to the test.” She raised her hands.
“Oh shit,” I said. I looked toward the children and was struck by how calm they seemed. Then I forced myself to do something very difficult…nothing. If we got involved the children would pick up on our fear and lose their faith. The real danger was that we’d cause them more harm then good.
A sphere of blue light left Margo’s hands and enveloped the children but they didn’t seem affected by it at all. Then, in a shocking move the three children waved their hands and brushed the blue light off themselves onto Margo. They must’ve had a mirror I hadn’t seen. As Margo, then the others, became covered in blue light they screamed in agony.
“Now,” I said. “Grab the kids.”
The three of us sprinted out of the mausoleum and to the kids.
“I’m going with the girl, I’ve had enough of being manhandled,” Georgie said, lifting his arms to Anjelica, who p
icked him up.
Alex had Donetta in his arms, but was looking at his sister, who was contorting in agony along with her followers.
“Good-bye, Alex,” Margo struggled to say as her body began to turn to black dust.
From the direction of the dock, I could see her other followers heading our way, then I heard the sound of airboats.
“We gotta get out of here—back the way we came!” I said with Esther in my arms.
Turning to leave, I saw more people coming at us from the sides. Anjelica head butted a woman in front of her. I’d just completed a roundhouse kick on an attacker when a gray blur went whizzing through the air.
“What was that?” Alex yelled .
Before anyone could answer his question the Mausoleum exploded. We ducked for cover just as the dock exploded in flames. Then I heard her voice amplified over a bullhorn.
“Git your asses outta there, Layton, we’re taking this island down!” Miss Lucy said.
“I thought I recognized that brand of rocket,” I said. “Run!”
Alex and I ran close behind Anjelica, children in our arms. When we arrived at the smaller mausoleum there was a group of followers waiting for us. But a rocket hit the mausoleum and distracted them so they couldn’t summon the blue light but they did have more conventional weapons. We had just enough time to put the children down in a corner and begin to fight. Anjelica was no slouch, slitting a couple of throats and faces with her knife while I took care of the people coming at me. Alex found a large branch and used it as a club on people. Another rocket hit the area, scattering the followers that were still alive. We picked up the kids again and ran.
We made it to the crossing path at the end of the island with no further resistance. Once we were on the other side we kept on moving without looking back. I knew Miss Lucy would make sure that there would be no sign of an island left behind when she was done. Adrenaline helped keep us all going until we made it back to the truck, jumped in, and hightailed it to Mother Watkins’s house. I knew that what happened on the island was just one small battle—we weren’t through by any means. This war wasn’t done yet, and Jessica was still out there somewhere.
Chapter 32
Preparations
We arrived safe and sound at Mother Watkins’s home, where the children were greeted warmly by their loved ones as soon as they walked in the door. Georgie and Donetta’s mother and father were there as were Noelle, Hans, and Jerhome. Georgie’s father, a tall and buff man with short black hair, let go of his son long enough to shake my hand.
“Thank you very much for rescuing my children, Mr. Shayne. I’m Don Hall, my wife Etta and I are forever grateful for what you and the others have done.”
Then he turned to shake hands with Alex and Anjelica.
“Your kids were brave little troopers—not scared at all,” Alex said.
“Why should we have been scared of those fools?” Donetta said from under her mother’s protective embrace.
“What can we do to help, Mr. Shayne?” Etta said. “I’m sure that cult will come after us all now.”
“Actually, there is something you can help with… and call me Layton.” I walked to the table, found the file on Mrs. Kennedy and handed it to Noelle, who immediately opened it. “We’ve got to minimize the cult’s power by finding and destroying their altars of bones.”
“We can do that… and call me Don. Where exactly are these altars located?”
“All over town according to this folder,” Noelle said. “This paperwork states that Mrs. Kennedy had the land this town sits on built up by at least several feet, probably more in spots. This whole place is a power point for the cult. Layton if there was an energy point at the Kennedy estate then we’ll have to assume there are more on the other estates.”
“There’s probably one on every estate, but they’re protected behind gates,” I said perplexed. “Okay, then. How about some specific places that we can tackle? If we can’t get to all the bones, maybe we can at least scatter enough of them to make a dent in their power.”
“The library has some old bones on display, so does the social hall,” Noelle said, “and there are a few other places mentioned.”
“We can tackle the library and anywhere close to that,” Jerhome said.
Noelle took a piece of paper out of the file and handed it to Jerhome. “There are some places listed on this paper.” She handed another paper to Don. “This has the social hall and places near there. My suggestion is to take out the bones however you can, whether that means damaging the building they’re in or by some other means. Just don’t let the cult members catch you or get close.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll drive,” Etta said. “Those bastards won’t even get near us.”
I looked over at Don, who laughed before responding.
“Her dad used to be a race car driver and she inherited his skills. My wife’s a real bad ass.”
“I’m going with you, Daddy,” Georgie said. “Stop by home and I’ll get my fireworks, cherry bombs, and smoke bombs so we can do some real damage.”
“I was about to say no,” Don said, “but it sounds like you can be a real help with that arsenal you’ve got, son.”
“I’m gonna tell you something, Daddy,” Donetta said. “Before you let him go with you anywhere, you need to spank his behind. He cussed, and called Miss Margo a bitch and he said some other nasty stuff too. You need to whoop him good.”
“Well, I think we can excuse him this one time; after all, Miss Margo wasn’t very nice,” Don said.
“I think he needs a whoopin anyway,” Donetta said.
“Listen here, Miss Sassy, your daddy decides who needs a whoopin and when,” Don said.
“Besides,” Etta said. “If your brother needs a spanking, then you do too for repeating some of those naughty words he said.”
“Like I said—have fun,” Donetta said. “I don’t wanna miss my shows—c’mon, let’s go watch TV in your room, Esther.”
“Go to my room, girls,” Mother Watkins said. “Mr. Layton and Mr. Alex have their stuff in your room.”
The girls left the room and Mother Watkins stood up to go after them.
“I’d better go and stay with them a while,” she said.
“I’ll tag along with you and Jerhome, if that’s okay, Hans,” Anjelica said. “I’m wide awake and ready to roll.”
“That’s fine by us,” Hans said.
Don, Georgie, and Etta started getting ready to leave.
“You might want to keep a mirror handy,” I told them.
“We will,” Don said. “Noelle brought us up to speed on the need for a reflective surface.”
“What do we need that for?” Georgie said.
“Didn’t you kids have a mirror when you were on that stone table?” I said.
“No,” Georgie said.
“Didn’t you have something to reflect that blue light back on the bad guys?” Alex said.
“What?” Georgie said. “You two are talkin’ crazy now.”
“Georgie, you’d better apologize and I mean right this second,” Don said.
“I’m sorry Mr. Alex and Mr. Layton, I just don’t understand.”
“That makes two of us,” I said.
“Make that three of us,” Alex said.
“All I know, Layton, is that God was watching after all of you this night,” Etta said.
“Speaking of which,” Don said, “we’d better go check on Father Joe and his wife, maybe they can help. Do you need Georgie to stay and answer some questions?”
“Naw, you go ahead,” I said. “I’ve got Esther and Donetta here if I need to ask any questions about what happened. Thanks anyway.”
As soon as they left, Hans and Jerhome walked up to me.
“There are other people in town that will probably help us,” Jerhome said. “Not everyone belongs to that cult.”
“He’s right,” Hans said. “A lot of the shop owners aren’t part of the cult group. I think if we need them
, they’ll help. And we may be needing them tonight.”
“Same with some of the wait staff and retail salespeople,” Anjelica said. “A lot of them don’t live here permanently and wouldn’t be caught up in the cult.”
“Do what you can.” I said. “Just try to be sure of where peoples’ loyalties lie.”
“There are quite a few people we can be sure of, we’ll get their help,” Hans said. “Good luck here.”
The two men left with Anjelica.
“What happened with the kids back on the island, boys? Spill,” Noelle said.
“They reflected the blue light back at the bad guys, big time,” Alex said. “They turned my sister into dust by redirecting the blue light back at her.”
“That’s exactly what they did, Alex,” I said. “They redirected the light without the use of mirror or reflective items.”
“How?” Noelle said. “Did they give you any hint of what they might’ve done?”
“No, none at all,” I said. “But they were so relaxed and so sure of themselves. They kept saying that they couldn’t be touched because they were Christians covered in the blood of Jesus.”
“The blood of Jesus is referenced quite a bit in prayers of protection and cleansing in some Christian religions,” Noelle said. “It’s sort of the ultimate protection.”
“And what?” Alex said. “Has it been made real?”
“Time to go question two little girls,” I said, heading to Mother Watkins’s room. The door was open, but instead of just walking in I knocked on the door frame. “Can I come in, girls?”
“We’re busy watching our show,” Donetta said.
“I’ll come out and talk to you in a minute,” Esther said.
“Okay, we’ll be in the living room waiting,” I said.
Alex and Noelle sat on the sofa and I was sitting on a side chair when Esther walked in and came straight to me.
“Yes, Mr. Layton.”
She had the face of an angel and didn’t look even slightly upset from the evening’s events.
“Honey, could you do me a really big favor and tell me how you and your friends were able to put that blue light back on the bad guys.”
