by Mark Tufo
“Whatever, stop crying. Why don’t you go to the cops?” Screw what Mindy said, I need to protect myself.
“She said she’d kill me.”
“She can’t kill you (or me) if she’s in jail, dummy.”
“Why are you being so mean, Talea? She said she’d kill me and I believe her. She was inside me.”
“Inside you? What are you talking about?”
“Talea, I don’t know what she did. I’ve been scouring the internet trying to figure it out, it’s almost like voodoo.”
“Wait did you just say Voodoo? What kind of medication did the dentist put you on?”
“Talea, she took control of me. I couldn’t even talk until she let me,” she sobbed again.
“Come on, what are you talking about?” Talea asked incredulously, fear creeping into her. She was thinking back to the initial hit Laura gave Mindy and in the lunchroom when Mindy smacked her own arm.
“You have to believe me, Talea, or else I think I’m going to go insane.”
Talea wondered if that would solve her own problems, and then came to the conclusion that would not keep Callis from coming after her. “Go on.”
“I was standing there and I couldn’t move because she didn’t want me to. She slammed my head into the sink without ever touching me. She made my own body do it. She told me she would kill me if I told anyone, and I could feel her. I felt the truth of those words.”
“Laura, this is hard to believe. I figured she had pulled a knife on you.”
“I would rather it had been a knife or even a gun. I would have told the police by now, but she can kill me whenever and wherever she wants. I’ll never be safe again.”
“And neither will I then because you told her about me, you stupid bitch.”
“Talea, please.” Laura was crying now.
“What are we going to do?”
“You need to tell Mindy. She won’t believe me. She’ll think of something.”
“Will she believe me?” Talea asked. “I was there, and I don’t know if I believe you.”
“There was no knife, Talea, and I did NOT hit Mindy!” She was almost hysterical.
Talea heard Laura’s mother. “Honey, I think you should rest now, give me the phone.”
“I’ll give you the goddamn phone when I’m ready to give you the goddamned phone!” Laura screamed. Next came the audible click of the connection being severed.
“Weird.” Talea said. Now what? Do I believe her? And if I do how much danger am I in?
She watched Callis as closely as she dared for the remaining two days of the school week. She saw nothing to lead her to believe Laura was telling the truth, but it wasn’t like she would just go around zapping people all over the place making them look like zombies. She finally broke down and related the story to Mindy who was doubly as skeptical as Talea.
“What else could she say, Talea? It seems mighty convenient that her hand was ‘possessed’ when she slapped me.”
“I know, Mindy, but what if there is some shred of truth to it? What if Callis is like some voodoo priestess.”
“Priestess?”
“I’ve been looking around the internet.” Talea shrugged. “I mean, we know nothing about her really. Maybe that explains how she’s so beautiful.”
That was a chord Mindy could hold on to – the possibility that Callis’ beauty was a mirage. That she liked, and if she could somehow pull down that spell, she could expose Callis for what she really was: an ugly witch.
“Okay, so tell me what you’ve learned about voodoo priestesses,” Mindy said with a smirk, finally feeling like she was getting the upper hand.
“You ready for your first game as a varsity starter?” Callis asked Kevin right as school ended.
“It’s still a little surreal. I can’t believe I beat Derek out, but I’m ready. You going to be there?”
“Of course.”
“I won’t be able to take you home today. Coach wants all starters to watch some game film before the game tonight.” He had passed his driver’s test and his parents had promptly rewarded him with a ten-year-old Jeep, which he already cherished.
“That’s okay, it’s a beautiful day.”
“I love you,” he told her before he kissed her.
Callis was happy as she headed home; so much so that she failed to notice Talea and Mindy tailing her. A group of three men were playing stickball on the side of a now defunct family variety store that had closed shop after competing and failing miserably when the onslaught of 7-Elevens hit town.
The pitcher, a tall, darkly tanned man in his mid-twenties, stooped down to pick up the battered tennis ball he had dropped. When he stood back up he caught sight of Callis as she was walking past.
“Hey, pretty girl, want to play some baseball?” he shouted.
She smiled.
“Come on, man. Who you talking to?” the batter, a man of mixed ethnicity, asked. “You always stall when you’re losing.”
“I ain’t stalling, man. You gotta see this hot chick.”
“He ain’t lying,” the fielder said, walking in to get a closer look as Callis approached.
“Where is...oh!” The batter involuntarily grabbed his crotch. “Hey, I got something for you!” he shouted.
Callis stopped walking and looked over to the man.
“Hey, I think she wants some,” the fielder said, smacking the batter’s arm.
“Should I pull it out?” he asked his friends.
“Can you find it?” the pitcher asked.
“Come here, little girl,” the batter said.
“What is she doing?” Talea asked as they watched Callis move towards the three men.
“I told you she was a slut,” Mindy said as they hid behind a parked car.
“You never said that.”
“Shh, I want to see what she’s doing,” Mindy said crossly.
“I wonder if they’ll hurt her?” Talea asked.
Mindy looked over at her friend. “Would you care?”
“It would solve my problem.”
“Then we’re in agreement. If something happens to Callis, we aren’t going to do anything or say anything. The cops would want to know how we knew.”
“Agreed,” Talea said. “That is one stupid chick, though, those guys look shady.”
The pitcher was scanning the area to see if anyone could be considered a witness if this should turn into what it was setting up to be. He was satisfied they were alone.
“What’s she doing?” the fielder asked.
“Shh, don’t ruin this, man,” the pitcher said. He was turning back to look at the beautiful girl that was going to satisfy his needs when his nose collapsed under the attack of a thick wooden handled stickball bat. He went down on one knee as his nose splattered blood all across the pavement.
“What the hell, man?” he howled as he placed his hands protectively across the smashed orifice. His eyes were tearing and he could barely make out the form of his friend as the heavy stick came down on top of his head. He saw white splashes of light as he fought to stay conscious.
“Vinnie, why are you smashing the shit out of Silas?” the fielder shouted as he passed in front of Silas in an attempt to keep the batter from bashing his friend’s head in.
Vinnie turned the bat on the fielder, catching him in the shoulder. “I’m going to mess you up.” The much larger fielder said as he brought his fist up into Vinnie’s eye.
“Are you seeing this?” Talea asked incredulously.
“No, I’m not. I’m staring right at it, but I can’t see it,” Mindy said sardonically.
“That big guy is beating the shit out of the guy with the bat,” Talea said. “His face looks like my mom’s meatloaf after I coat it in ketchup so I can eat it.”
“That’s gross, Talea. But I agree her meatloaf is horrible.”
Vinnie was on the ground fighting a losing battle to hold on to consciousness, and yet the bat still swung, almost as if it had a mind of its own. Th
e fielder kicked Vinnie hard in the ribs, the cracking of them clearly heard even from the girls’ hiding spot some fifty feet away.
Silas stood up woozily; he grabbed the bat out of Vinnie’s hand, his arms still making a swinging motion.
“What is wrong with him?” the fielder asked.
“Broken face I suppose,” Silas said as he brought the stick down on the fallen man’s head five…ten times…until his hands lay by his side. “What did you see?” Silas asked, pointing the bat in Callis’ direction.
She smiled. “Everything.”
Silas began to advance; the fielder grabbed his friend’s arm with the sound of distant sirens approaching. “Come on, man, we gotta go. I’m sure this is a violation of both our paroles.”
Silas made a threatening step towards Callis. She didn’t flinch.
“You didn’t see nothing!” he shouted at her, starting to turn around.
“But I did, Silas,” she replied.
“You’re loco!” he shouted before taking off with the fielder at a trot. He turned twice – she was still watching their retreat.
Callis waited until they had turned a corner before she left the scene.
“Holy shit,” Mindy said, sitting down heavily on her ass as Callis turned back around, almost catching them watching her. “She is a voodoo priestess. I thought you were full of shit. That maybe you and Laura had thought something up to make me like the cow again.”
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Do you like her again?”
“Talea, I never liked her. Her family has money I was kind of forced to become friends with her.”
“What about me?” Talea asked indignantly.
“You’re poor…I have to like you for who you are. We need to find someone that can help us.”
I wish I could like you for who you are, Talea thought.
Callis almost dropped to her knees as a spike of pain shot through the base of her skull. She closed her eyes as popping stark white images flashed on her eyelids. She took three deep breathes before moving on.
Chapter 7
Callis was acutely aware that Mindy and Talea kept turning from their cheering routines to seek her out, and even Laura sitting in the stands was caught more than a handful of times staring at her. She didn’t care as she watched the Kevin Denton-led Rebels squeeze out their first victory of the year in a 22 - 20 scrap fest. Her voice was raw after the game from so much screaming.
“I’m glad you believe me, Mindy,” Laura said, tears forming in her eyes. Talea had called her earlier and told her to show up for the game tonight. Laura had nearly burst into tears during the call. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“I missed you so much,” Mindy said. “It hurt me to have to do what I did.”
Talea could not believe how adept at lying Mindy was. There was not a hint of anything but syrupy sweetness in her voice. The two girls hugged. Talea looked for some telltale sign, like a stiffening from Mindy, but there was nothing. She suddenly felt less secure about her and Mindy’s relationship. She had a sneaking feeling that the only person Mindy cared about with any great degree of significance was Mindy.
“Come on, it’s almost halftime. We need to warm up for our show,” Mindy said to Talea switching effortlessly from the mask of relief to that of determination.
“When can I come back on the squad?” Laura asked Mindy.
“When you stop looking scary,” Mindy said, laughing at Laura’s discolored and still swollen face. “We’re cheerleaders, Laura, not prize fighters. God…you’ll scare little kids if you go out like that.”
Mindy grabbed Talea’s hand so they could go do their show. The cheerleaders for the most part really had no idea about how exciting the game was; they did what they did so that the other girls at the school could feel jealous and the boys could dream about things they couldn’t have. To them, that was the only game that mattered. When the celebration at the end was over and most of the fans had left, Laura, Mindy, and Talea were under the bleachers sharing a cigarette. It was Talea that caught sight of Callis first.
“Mindy.” Talea cautiously pointed behind the other girl.
Mindy turned and tensed. “Why is she coming this way?”
Laura was physically shying away, taking a couple of paces back just in case Callis tried to make her hit Mindy again. She had just gotten back in her good graces. Her fragile ego would not be able to take another hit if Mindy gave her the boot again.
Callis paid them no heed as she walked within a few paces from them.
“Bitch,” Mindy said once Callis was clearly out of range. “She acted like we weren’t even here. For God’s sake, she’s going out with my brother.”
Talea for the life of her couldn’t figure out what Mindy had expected the other girl to do.
“How do you think she’d look in a cheerleading outfit?” Mindy asked.
“What?” Talea and Laura said at the same time.
“Earlier today you were hoping she died,” Talea replied, “and now you’re talking about putting her on the team?”
“What if we made her our friend and then she taught us her voodoo shit. We could have the world,” Mindy said with a gleam in her eye.
I’ve got a feeling you wouldn’t share, Talea thought.
Callis was by Kevin’s Jeep waiting for him to come out of the school when she heard someone approaching. She immediately grew wary when she noticed it was Mindy.
“Hi, Callis,” Mindy said, half raising her hand. Callis said nothing in return. “Can we talk?”
Callis turned towards the school hoping Kevin would show, quickly. The confrontation today had been both exhilarating and agitating, but it had left her exhausted. She had loved being able to take control of random events in her life, yet she was dismayed at how she had hurt those men – whether they had warranted it or not. She was scared of her power and her willingness to use it to harm others. Maybe her mother had it right when she had tried to kill her. She shivered off the thought like a wet dog does bath water.
“I don’t have much time, Mindy,” Callis said, her eyes narrowing. Mindy was up to something, that much was obvious. What it was, was a different matter.
“Great, this won’t take much time. I’ve done some soul searching.”
As if you have one, Callis laughed in her head.
“What I’ve done to you is wrong. I honestly don’t know what got into me.”
The demons have been there all along.
“I just want to apologize for everything.”
Callis thought she sounded sincere enough; the extended hand was a bit of overkill. Callis merely looked at the proffered appendage until Mindy pulled it back in.
“Great…you’ve apologized. Now leave me alone and we’ll call it even.”
A slight frown creased Mindy’s face, followed immediately by a tempest of emotions that she quickly iced over. Ah there’s the Mindy I know and loathe. I wonder if I should make her do a pirouette and a curtsy before I send her on her way?
“I have to do more than words, Callis. Words can’t express everything, so I want to show you through my actions. There’s a spot on the cheerleading squad and I want you to try out for it.”
“Why? So you can make fun of me in front of all your friends?”
Mindy put on an expression of hurt that would have fooled a cop, a priest, and her therapist.
“Listen, you gave me an apology let’s go with that.”
“I think we should be friends,” Mindy blurted out weakly.
It was the first thing she’d said that Callis didn’t think was staged. “Why? Why would you think that? Up until two minutes ago, I was convinced you hated me. What’s changed?”
“You and my brother…he talks about you all the time. And if he’s a part of your life, then so should I.”
“Hey!” Kevin called from the school entrance, he was hustling to get over to his car and end whatever showdown was happening. “Everything alr
ight?” he asked Callis as he got close, scowling at Mindy.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Mindy asked.
Kevin scowled.
“Mindy was apologizing,” Callis said.
Kevin pulled up short, “Really? My sister Mindy apologized?”
Callis raised her eyebrows and nodded her head.
“It’s not that unusual, you tard,” Mindy said playfully to her brother.
He looked at her like she was a pod person from another planet. “Mindy, I’ve known you my entire life, and the only time I’ve ever seen you apologize is when mom or dad forced you into it. Even when we were kids, nothing has ever been your fault.”
Without skipping a beat. “Maybe I’ve finally learned.”
“What else are you putting in those cigarettes you’ve been smoking?”
“I don’t smoke,” Mindy said indignantly.
“Lies until the end. Do you think nobody’s noticed you under the bleachers? Come on Callis, let’s get going. I’m starving, want some pancakes?”
Callis hopped up into the Jeep.
“Think about what I said!” Mindy waved enthusiastically as they pulled out of the lot.
“Think about what?” Kevin asked Callis.
“Slithering into the snake pit,” Callis cryptically replied as they headed to the IHOP.
Talea and Laura watched as Kevin’s Jeep left the school grounds and then went to meet Mindy who was walking back towards them.
“What’d she say?” Talea asked
“You can’t be considering this?” Laura asked before Mindy could respond.
“She didn’t say no,” Mindy said with a calculating whisper. “And yes, I am considering it, Laura. She brings more to the table than you do.”
Why did I want back in so bad? Laura thought morosely.
“I waited the whole weekend for her to call,” Mindy seethed as the girls sat at their table during lunch. “How dare she!” Mindy watched Callis laughing with her brother. “Well, I’m going to find out.” She stood up, putting her fruit cup down.
Talea watched the transformation as anger quickly melted away to the bubbly persona of a true cheerleader. “She’s a chameleon.”
