by Eli Easton
Bram tried going outside instead, first sitting on his porch and then strolling around the little paved area that passed for a backyard. But the sun was again too bright and the shadows too sharp. He drove to a coffeehouse a couple of miles away, an independently owned place with funky furniture, surly baristas, and delicious desserts. He and Jim used to go there on weekends and sit at one of the tables, sipping and nibbling, reading over their various documents from work. Bram hadn’t been there since Jim died.
Maybe the barista recognized him, because she looked slightly startled to see Bram standing at the counter alone. “Yeah?” she demanded.
“I’d like a large dark roast, please.” He and Jim always went out of their way to be super polite no matter how the baristas growled and snarled at them—sort of a silly game they liked to play.
The girl filled a paper cup, slammed it on the counter, and poked viciously at the cash register. She didn’t even tell him how much to pay, just held out her hand impatiently. Clearly she felt that customers ought to read the total on the cash register screen themselves.
Bram handed her three one-dollar bills, which she snatched away. “Thank you,” he chirped. “Keep the change.” He grabbed the coffee and walked to an empty table.
The place wasn’t especially crowded, maybe because the weather was fine. Bram hadn’t brought any work to do, so he played with his phone for a while, then gathered and read abandoned newspaper sections from other tables. He still felt disconnected from the world around him, and his mind kept wandering—to the dream he’d had the previous afternoon, to the expression on the face of the woman in the red sedan, to the way Daniel’s inviting lips curved when he smiled.
After Bram returned home, he spent a long time standing in his living room, staring at nothing. Then he picked up his phone and dialed Daniel.
Chapter Five
FOR THE first time ever, Bram called in sick on Monday. And it wasn’t even much of a lie, seeing as how his stomach was tied up in knots and his skin felt clammy. It didn’t help that the weather had turned sultry again or that all he’d managed to choke down for breakfast was a piece of toast and some coffee. He hadn’t even attempted lunch. At least the low-hanging dark clouds prevented the sun from bothering his eyes as he drove across town.
Daniel lived in a quiet neighborhood where older houses perched on large lots. His house looked resolutely ordinary—a neat little brick bungalow with overflowing planter boxes hanging on the porch railings. Instead of grass, the front yard sported an attractive mixture of green, yellow, and purple foliage.
Daniel stepped onto his porch, smiled, and waved as Bram parked. Daniel was shirtless, and due to the porch wall, Bram couldn’t see what he was wearing below the waist, making it easy to imagine him naked.
“Get a grip,” Bram growled as he cut the engine. He grabbed the paper grocery sack from the passenger seat, exited the car, and proceeded up the walkway.
“Nice house,” he said as he climbed the front steps. He was both relieved and disappointed to see that Daniel wore shorts.
Daniel beamed. “Thanks! I grew up here. It used to be kind of a mess, but I’ve been fixing it up.”
“And gardening.” Bram gestured at the front yard.
“Yeah. Did you know everything you’re looking at is edible or medicinal? And there’s lots more in the back. I’ve got—” Daniel stopped himself with an embarrassed smile. “Sorry. I get a little carried away. I know you don’t care.”
Except for some reason Bram did care, maybe because Daniel was so adorable in his enthusiasm. “I think it’s pretty cool, actually. Maybe you could show me around after, um….” He waved the paper bag slightly.
That made Daniel beam. “I’d love to.” He had a more businesslike expression as he gestured at the bag. “Did you get everything?”
“Yeah. It was a really weird shopping list, though.”
“You’re lucky. I already have several items we’ll be needing. I sometimes give offerings to Ghede Nibo too. He’s good for abundant crops.”
“The whole life-death thing, huh?”
“Yes. He’s a healer as well.”
They stood for a moment on the porch, Bram feeling a bit awkward. He wiped sweat from his forehead.
“Do you want to come inside and have something cold to drink first?” asked Daniel.
“No, thanks. I’d rather get it over with.”
“It’s not a dental exam, Bram. Vodou ceremonies are joyous, especially when a Ghede is involved. Ghedes like parties.”
Bram gave a wan smile. “I’ve never been much of a party animal.” Sometimes Jim had dragged him to some celebration or another, but Bram tended to skulk in the corners, clutching a drink and glancing anxiously at his watch.
“Well, this will be a very small party. Just you, me, and the lwas. Come on.” Daniel had offered to invite some of the other members of his spiritual group, but Bram had demurred, not feeling very social. He trailed Daniel down the front stairs and onto a narrow path that followed the side of the house. Daniel opened a gate to the backyard and ushered him through.
“Wow!” Bram exclaimed as they rounded the house. “You weren’t kidding. You have a farm back here.”
“It’s less than an acre.”
“Maybe. But it looks like every inch is crammed with plants.” Not to mention butterflies, buzzing bees, and twittering birds. Spiderwebs decorated the branches of some low bushes, and a squirrel chattered at them from the branch of an apple tree.
“It’s what I enjoy doing,” Daniel said with a smile.
“Is all this stuff edible too?”
“Most of it, yes.”
“What do you do with it all?”
Daniel plucked a sprig of something and handed it to Bram with a small flourish. Bram recognized the scent even before he took it—mint.
“I use a lot of it.” Daniel chewed on a leaf he’d picked for himself. “And I donate most of the rest to the youth center where I do some of my work. Some of those kids, that’s their only chance to eat something that isn’t junk food.”
“That’s… that’s really nice,” said Bram sincerely. He remembered what Ghede Nibo had told him about exercise with a purpose. No disadvantaged kids ever benefited from Bram’s jogging—that was for sure.
Daniel ducked his head slightly, looking pleased and embarrassed. Then he motioned toward the back of his property, at a long, low wooden building. As they got closer, Bram saw that the area in front of the building was free of vegetation, just hard-packed dirt covered by a thatched awning. Several brightly painted wooden poles supported the awning, and the front of the building sported murals done in vibrant colors.
“We use this as a dance space, a meeting space,” Daniel explained when they reached the clearing. “If the entire société were here today, we’d do the ceremony here instead of inside the ounfò.”
It felt like a friendly space. Cozy without being cramped, and surprisingly cool even in the day’s heat. “Did you build this?”
“My parents did. But now I keep it in good shape.”
“Your parents….” Bram vaguely remembered Daniel speaking of his mother in the past tense.
“Gone. Papa died when I was in high school, and Mama passed a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not so bad. They still speak to me sometimes. Your parents?”
Bram snorted. “They’re still alive, but they don’t speak to me at all.”
Daniel patted Bram’s arm lightly. “Well, then I’m sorry.” He opened the door, which was bright blue and covered in yellow and red words Bram didn’t understand. “Please. Come inside.”
Nobody had ever told Bram what to expect inside a vodou temple. When Daniel flicked the overhead lights on, Bram saw a room with a dirt floor and wildly painted walls. A thick pillar rose from the center of the floor to the ceiling, every inch of it covered in complicated paintings. Daniel walked to the pillar and patted it fondly. “The poto mitan. The lwa c
an use it as a path to the earthly world.”
“Oh.”
“We’ll return here in a moment. But let’s give the lwa their gifts first. We’ll begin with Ezili Freda. I don’t know if she’ll join us today, but I have to pay my respects. She gets jealous.” He pointed at the grocery sack still clutched in Bram’s sweaty hand. “Leave that out here. Freda won’t like a ghede’s things in her room.”
“She has her own room?”
“More or less.” Daniel grinned. “The lwa are a bit like humans—they don’t all get along. They have families too. Most of the other families tend to look down on the ghedes. Too crude, I think. So we give them their separate spaces, and everyone’s happy.”
That made sense, Bram supposed. He placed the bag on the floor near the pillar, then followed Daniel through one of several doorways. They entered a small close room that smelled strongly of floral perfumes. The walls were turquoise and lemon, a large table draped with a pink-and-white cloth—an altar, Bram assumed—took up most of the space. Bottles of perfume stood in neat rows on the bedspread, accompanied by a white vase of fresh pink roses and several brightly embroidered squares of cloth. Three bowls brimmed with food. Daniel pointed at them. “Rice with cinnamon. Fried bananas. Coconut pudding. My lwa has a sweet tooth.”
Bram remembered all the packets of sugar Daniel had poured into his tea, and he smiled.
Although the room seemed scrupulously clean, it was crowded with other items as well, the purposes of which were unclear to Bram. Pictures of a female saint surrounded by hearts. A gilded mirror. Makeup. Things that looked like bottles covered with pink sequined fabric and topped with dolls, feathers, and artificial flowers. Several fancy dresses, mostly pink and glittery, hanging in plastic bags from hooks on the wall.
As Bram hovered near the open door, Daniel turned to give him a quick smile. “Just a moment, please.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No, of course not. This is about you, after all.” Daniel turned back to the altar. He swept the edge of his hand along the free spaces on the cloth as if brushing away dust or crumbs. Then he uncapped a small glass bottle and sprinkled some droplets of liquid onto the altar. Not water—the liquid smelled like sweet oranges. Daniel used a silvery lighter to light a fat pink candle. Then he murmured for a while, something quiet and rhythmic. Bram couldn’t tell whether it was in English, but he suspected not.
Then Daniel began to speak clearly. “I’ve brought you gifts today, Ezili Freda. Do you see the new bottle of perfume I’ve left you? And your favorite foods. I made my mama’s pudding, the kind you like so much. And I ask that you help me and my friend Bram today. Help us find out how to protect him from danger. If you do this for us today, I will give you this ring.” He dug in his shorts pocket for a moment before pulling out a small gold circlet that glittered in the candlelight. “It’s a very good ring, lady. Beautiful, like you. Serve us today, and I’ll leave the ring here for you.” He slipped it back into his pocket. Then he blew out the candle and exited the room with Bram.
“See?” Daniel said when they were back in the main room, the door to Ezili Freda’s room closed. “No zombies.”
“You were… bribing her. Can you do that?”
“Oh you have to, or she’ll become spoiled. She has a taste for expensive things, and she’s a little greedy.”
“But that seems… I don’t know.” Daniel struggled to find the word. “Sacrilegious?”
“The lwa aren’t gods, Bram. They’re spirits and they have needs and desires, just as we do.” His eyes were big, and he stood very close to Bram. It seemed to Bram that they were suddenly speaking about something quite different from jewelry and sweets. His throat felt a little thick, as if the air were heavier than normal, and sweat glued his T-shirt to his torso. Daniel was sweaty too, but in his case, the droplets slid down his skin, glistening like jewels.
Daniel’s voice was a little raspy when he spoke next. “Let’s pay our respects now to Ghede Nibo.”
The ghedes’ room was larger than Ezili Freda’s and contained several altars, as well as a canopy-draped bed. “Do you sleep here?” Bram asked. Squeaked, really, because his voice came out a good octave higher than usual, mostly because he pictured Daniel lying naked atop the bright yellow quilt.
“Not usually. But once in a while, when I want a message from the lwa.” His gaze lingered on the bed, making Bram wonder what Daniel was picturing there. Then Daniel shook his head slightly and gestured at an altar. “This is Ghede Nibo’s.”
Judging from the items on the altar—cards, dice, poker chips, and a tidy stack of cash—Ghede Nibo liked gambling. In addition, the altar contained cigars, a straw hat, and several gourds decorated with beads.
“What’s that?” asked Bram, pointing at a bottle.
“Rum with habanero peppers. A drop of that stuff could probably peel your skin away, but Ghede Nibo likes it.”
Bram wasn’t especially fond of spicy food, but he licked his lips.
Daniel made a slightly strangled noise. “Let’s give him his gifts,” he said quickly.
After fetching the bag, Bram unpacked the items he’d brought. He handed each to Daniel, who set them carefully on the altar. A pair of sunglasses with one lens broken out. A bag of pistachios and a jar of pickled herring. A package of coconut cookies. A yard of shiny purple nylon fabric, a plastic bag of black feathers, a stuffed black-and-white toy goat. And a bucket of KFC Original Recipe, which Bram had bought the day before and refrigerated overnight, per Daniel’s instructions. Bram was relieved that fast food would do and that he wasn’t expected to sacrifice something instead.
“That’s good,” Daniel said after he’d arranged everything. “Now some money, please.”
A tiny voice inside Bram’s head spoke to him—the last gasp of the Man of Science, maybe. See? That’s what he’s been after all along. It’s a scam. But he ignored the voice as he took out his wallet, pulled out three twenties, and handed them to Daniel. This would have been an awfully elaborate setup for a mere sixty bucks. Besides, money was barely a concern to him at the moment, when what he most wanted was to lick the salty moisture from Daniel’s bare skin.
Daniel fanned the bills out slightly when he put them on the altar. Then he drizzled some liquid from a bottle onto the stuffed goat. This stuff was sharp and acrid—medicinal, like something a person might swallow to treat a bad cold.
He chanted briefly before speaking in English. “I know you favor my friend Bram. Thank you. And look at what he’s brought you. But if you help him, we’ll bring you more. Tell us how to keep him safe, okay? Then I’ll throw you a party.”
Daniel took Bram’s hand and led him into the main room. “Is that it?” Bram asked.
“No. That was just the preliminaries. Sort of an invitation to the lwa. Now we do the ceremony itself. Well, I do. You get to sit and watch.” He pointed to a few metal folding chairs sitting open and lining one wall. But before Bram could walk away, Daniel grasped his shoulder. “I’m going to call the lwa. They might send me a message. But also, Ezili Freda might ride me. She often does. If she chooses that today, don’t be frightened. It’s not scary for me.”
Daniel’s palm was very hot, even through the cotton of Bram’s T-shirt. “How do I know if that happens?”
“You’ll know,” Daniel replied with a chuckle. He released his hold on Bram’s shoulder. “Now, just get comfortable, all right?”
Bram followed instructions, crossing the room and sitting on the center chair. The room, dimly lit in general, was even more shadowy near the seating, which suited him fine. However, as Daniel moved around the space, lighting candles and fussing with various small things Bram couldn’t identify, it was almost as if Daniel were on stage. This felt very real, though—a sharp contrast to the regular everyday world, which had seemed so artificial these past few days.
A small CD player perched on a shelf. Daniel pressed the buttons and drums began to play, a smooth and rhythmic pounding tha
t seemed to echo in Bram’s heartbeat. “If more people were here, we’d have live drumming instead,” Daniel said. “But this will work.” He opened an ornately carved and gaudily painted wooden armoire and took from it a garment that he slipped over his shoulders and buttoned up the front. It was a long cotton robe with wide sleeves and a deep V-neck. The fabric was a slightly dizzying design of fuchsia, white, purple, and canary. Daniel now looked like a vodou priest instead of just a beautiful social worker in a Midwestern city, and he flashed Bram a quick smile before reaching beneath the robe and stepping out of his khaki shorts. He picked up the shorts, set them on a shelf inside the armoire, and shut the door.
Objectively, Daniel was now clothed in more fabric than ever before in Bram’s presence. Yet Bram imagined the lithe bare body that was hidden beneath the loose robes, and he had to swallow three times just to clear his throat.
An enormous boom made Bram startle violently, but Daniel only looked up at the ceiling and smiled. “Thunder. That’s good. Ghede Nibo likes storms.” Then he picked up a gourd rattle from a shelf and began to chant and sway to the drumbeat. He watched Bram as he did so, and although there was nothing erotic about Daniel’s movements, he was easily the sexiest person Bram had ever seen. Bram shifted a bit in his chair as his cock filled, and Daniel gave him a small and knowing smile.
And then Daniel’s eyes turned brown.
His hair was suddenly lighter and straighter, and it hung in a thick curtain down his back. His cheeks grew slightly rounder and his chin softened. His smiling lips brightened—not crimson, like Ghede Nibo wore in Bram’s dreams, but a shiny pink like the Barbie aisle in a toy store. It was difficult to discern his shape beneath the flowing robe, but Bram could see Daniel’s chest swell until a pair of high, round breasts strained at the fabric.
