Chapter 2: "I Knew You Before You Came."

On A Fall Day In 1994…

After walking on foot for over 30 hours, Jackie finally arrived in the city of Tremé. As he kept walking, it suddenly began to lightly drizzle rain and he could feel the painful blisters on his heels and feet that came from all of the walking he had been doing. He had never walked that long for anything or anywhere. Then again, he never had to. What with his history of stealing cars and what not. Weary and tired, Jackie continued to walk the streets of one of the French Quarters in New Orleans.

Jackie marched along N. Rampart Street, admiring all of the little boutique shops and restaurants that were filled with black people and culture. Jackie started to think back to a time when black people had to endure endless hard labor and abuse from white people to make enough money to shop in these nice stores that sat on N. Rampart. Jackie could feel himself becoming humble yet, proud with every step he took as he strolled. It made him feel good to see black people doing good for themselves, being business owners and just regular working black people, enjoying the fruits of their labor. He couldn’t wait to be a part of the crowd.

Finally, Jackie found himself coming to a complete stop when he saw the sign for this peculiar shop called, Dr. Aggie’s The Healing Pointe. There was a sign that hung above the entrance door that read “Specializing in elixirs and bonne magie since 1955.” Jackie found himself going through a mixture of emotions as he stood outside of the store. First, Jackie was surprised because as a young Creole man, he instantly translated and knew what bonne magie meant.

Who in the world is still practicing voodoo? Especially bonne magie, Jackie thought to himself. Then, he felt himself become suspicious and confused. Jackie questioned the mention of bonne magie in a public shop, after all of the many stories he heard growing up in Baton Rouge. He could never tell the difference between noir and bonne magie as some people have often said that it was evil to practice both, regardless. Lastly, Jackie felt fear. He got scared because he always correlated the thought of voodoo with one of his ex-girlfriends, Cherie. It gave him a dark feeling all over his body.

When Jackie had just turned seventeen, he had just been released from juvenile detention. He had spent the past six months before his birthday doing community service and taking GED classes while serving time for getting caught in the chop shop after a robbery. Jackie was released the day after his seventeenth birthday and his best friend, Smitty, was waiting for him in the parking lot as he walked out.

Smitty stood about 5’3, dark skinned with two front gold teeth. He always wore his hair in braids, straight back or he’d rock a fro. On this day, he definitely wanted to look his best, so he had his hair in braids while wearing a beige Dickies jumpsuit and matching Timberland boots. As soon as Smitty saw Jackie walk out, he stood up from being posted against the driver’s side and threw his hands in the air.

“Wassup, brutha? Welcome home!”, Smitty yelled, while laughing loudly. He was so happy to see his longtime friend.

Jackie rushed and ran down the steps, across the parking lot to Smitty and his car. He and Smitty embraced each other while laughing.

“I knew they couldn’t hold my partner down for long!” said Smitty, as he broke the embrace. Smitty stood back and looked at Jackie. “How you been, man? You been good?”

Jackie smiled and nodded his head, in agreement. “A brutha just glad to be home, man. I need some real food, some drank and some bread, my G!”

Smitty chuckled and responded, “All in due time, my man. All in due time. I got you on the real food and drank because I know your ass ain’t had a decent meal in months!”

Jackie laughed and walked around to the passenger side and entered the car. “You got that right, G!”

Smitty entered the car and cranked the ignition. He began to drive to the exit of the detention center and start the 45 minute trip back to Baton Rouge.

“It’s a party going down tonight and since your birthday was yesterday and you just got released, I figure we need to get you back out here in these streets, G!”, exclaimed Smitty.

Jackie rubbed both of his hands together and nodded his head. “Oh hell yeah, brutha. It’s gon be biddies there, of course, right? I ain’t tryna be surrounded by a whole bunch of dudes. Been stuck around nothing but men for the past six months. I’m tryna see some poon tang, ya feel me, G?”, questioned Jackie.

Smitty busted out laughing.

“Yo, you still crazy as hell, my G. Hell yeah, it’s gon be biddies there, brutha. Trust and believe. You know I got you.”, stated Smitty.

Jackie laughed and dapped Smitty up once more.

“You right, my G, you right. Never steered me wrong.”

The two friends locked eyes with each other and bursted into laughter together. They know they’ve been nothing but trouble since the day they linked up in sixth grade.

Smitty welcomed his best friend home the right way. He went and bought him a couple of outfits from the local parish, got his haircut, all nice and spiffy. Finally, they made their way back to Smitty’s home he shared with his baby mother, Isis. As they both took turns showering and getting clean and dapper, Jackie couldn’t do anything but think about what the night would have planned for him. And what a night it would be indeed. Jackie and Smitty arrived at the block party right on time, just to be able to find a spot somewhere and post up, looking fly and fresh. Awaiting the ladies to come to them. By the end of the night, Smitty was smooth talking to a fine little Puerto Rican chick named Juanita and Jackie became immersed in a young woman named Cherie.

Cherie stood about 5’1, slim build with skin the color of golden honey. She wore her natural blonde hair in an asymmetrical bob that night but she would also switch it up occasionally. Jackie and Cherie might’ve danced all night until Cherie asked him towards the end of the party, “What you doing after this, love?”

Jackie thought about it and looked over at Smitty who was in a whole nother world, with Juanita all in his face and lap. Jackie looked down at Cherie who stared back at him intensely with her hazel-green eyes. Something about her eyes had him hooked from the moment she walked over to him and started shaking her behind on him. He felt entranced, as if she had put a spell on him.

Jackie ignored his feelings and responded with, “Nothing, unless you wanted me to leave with you…?”, he questioned.

Cherie chuckled seductively, grabbed his left arm rather aggressively and replied, “Oh yeah. You definitely coming back home with me.”

The next morning, Jackie found himself walking out of Cherie’s one bedroom apartment, after spending the night with her. This would be Jackie and Cherie’s relationship for the next couple of months or so. Sometimes, they never even had a conversation. It would simply be him showing up whenever he wanted to have sex with Cherie or vice versa. They would always talk and caress one another afterwards. Sometimes, they would just lay together in silence until Jackie decided to get ready to leave. Eventually, Jackie found himself beginning to fall in love with Cherie.

What went from two young people just casually meeting up for a good time slowly turned into an intense and extremely toxic relationship. Over the course of two years, Jackie and Cherie would date, make love, fight, both physically and verbally, just to make up and continue the pattern all over again. It took for Smitty, Jackie’s best friend to try to talk some sense into him after realizing who he was messing around with. One day, while Smitty and Jackie cruised along the streets of Baton Rouge, they got into a deep conversation about why Jackie should leave Cherie alone.

“So, I heard you and Cherie are together, yeah?” asked Smitty, as he pulled over into the parking lot of a gas station to rest for a minute.

“Yeah, I guess you could say we together. Even though one minute she act like she can’t stand me but, the next minute, she want me around.”, replied Jackie, while shaking his head.

Smitty nodded his head in agreement and said, “Yeah, I know what you mean. We all go through that. Hell, even me and Isis. I mean, you know we ain’t together but, we is cause we stay together. So, we go through it, too. Ya feel me?”

Jackie nodded in agreement, as well. “Yeah, you right, my G.”

Silence.

Then, Smitty started in. “You know, I meant to warn you about ol’ girl.” Jackie’s head popped up instantly. “Who? Cherie?”

“Yeah man, who else?”, questioned Smitty. Jackie shrugged his shoulders and looked at Smitty.

“What’s up, man? What you need to warn me about?”

Smitty took a deep breath.

“Man… Word around town is ya girl be gettin down with all of that voodoo and noir magie shit, man. This is real shit. You know, Isis works downtown in the beauty parlor and she be hearing all type of shit about that damn girl from the women in there.”

Jackie shrugged and said, “Yeah but, you know man that’s just gossip. That’s all them biddies do down there anyways. They talk and spread lies. As far as I’m concerned, I ain’t seen her pull no weird ass shit out on me. Or put a spell on me or some shit.”

“But how would you know, though, my G? You wouldn’t, right? Even if you saw some shit that made you question it, right?”

Jackie sat in silence and continued to listen to Smitty.

“Listen up, man. One of the girls that comes in the shop faithfully told Isis about Cherie. She knows two men in particular who Cherie fucked up off of that noir magie, shit, man. Just listen. Isis said her name was Maya, a girl from Monticello. She said her brother and her cousin got caught up behind Cherie. Her brother’s name was Johnny and her cousin’s name was Lil Mike. Johnny and Lil Mike went to a party together and both of them danced with Cherie. By the end of the night, Cherie had told both of them that they needed to make a decision on who was going to go home with her that night.

Anyways, Johnny and Lil Mike both played a game of rock, paper, scissors. They decided that whoever won that last round, would be the one to go home with Cherie. Johnny ended up winning and he went home with Cherie. When he came back home the next morning, Maya said he wasn’t the same. Said the man was walking around talking in Creole backwards, almost as if he was speaking in Pig Latin or some shit. Maya said her and her mama took Johnny to church and had the pastor pray over him but, by then it was too late. Johnny had become possessed by an evil spirit. Maya’s pastor said the only way to heal Johnny is to keep him away from that Cherie girl. But, every night like clock work, he would sneak out the house when Maya and her mama were asleep to go see Cherie.

They even tried tying the man down to the bed, hoping that he would give up trying to escape and just lay in bed. But somehow, someway, he would get loose and be under some type of spell. It even got to a point where the only name Johnny would say was ‘Cherie’. Over and over again. ‘Cherie, Cherie.’ Like, he was in a trance or something. Maya’s little cousin, Lil Mike, was no different. He became a lovesick victim of Cherie. Before you know it, he ended up jumping off of the Wilkerson bridge, after his mama and them tried to take him to church to get prayed over. His mama would literally sit in his room with him every night and fight him to make him stay so that he wouldn’t go see Cherie. Meanwhile, Maya and her mama had to admit her brother Johnny into a mental institution because he wouldn’t stop chanting Cherie’s name.

Call me crazy for believing in that shit but, it ain’t a lie. Why you think Cherie living here in Baton Rouge and not back in Monticello? If that’s even where she from?”

Jackie sat back in the passenger seat and tried to take everything in that Smitty just told him. He still felt as if it wasn’t real, especially since none of that had even happened to him. Jackie looked at Smitty and bursted into laughter.

“No offense, my G, but, I’m just not believing that. Ain’t none of that shit happening to me. I mean, she put it down good but, not to the point where a brutha walking around, chanting her name like I’m in a trance or some shit. Nah man. That shit ain’t real.”

Smitty shook his head and palmed his face. He began to crank up the ignition to leave the gas station.

“Alright, my man. You ain’t gotta believe me or the story. Just watch ya’ self around that biddy, man. Ain’t tryna be burying you or nothing no time soon. You feel me, brutha?”

Jackie laughed and replied back.

“I hear you, my brutha.”

For the next year or so, Jackie’s life was an uphill battle, due to being involved with Cherie. Cherie knew that Jackie was into the fast life and had no problem with him committing crimes for a huge payday. Jackie continued to steal cars to break bread for the stolen car parts and occasionally, he would sell drugs with Smitty around the Baton Rouge area. Sometimes, Cherie would put him on to certain licks or plug deals that would seem like it was pushing Jackie and Smitty into a play but it would never get far. That’s because Cherie also felt like she needed Jackie to be a part of her life, every single moment.

Jackie and Cherie would argue about this something terrible. The fights would usually start with Cherie playing the victim. Then, Jackie would mention something about the intense yet toxic sex they would consistently have with each other, followed behind the arguing. There were even times when the fights would turn physical, with Cherie having to nurse a black eye or busted lip or even Jackie having to do the same thing. They never called the police on each other and sometimes, they would have to convince Cherie’s neighbors not to do so, either.

Between Jackie being a criminal and Cherie being his girlfriend, those arguments could’ve always ended up worse off if the police were called. And they never were, mainly because Jackie would also pay some of Cherie’s neighbors off, just to stay quiet. Jackie never wanted to abuse Cherie. He honestly felt like she was too beautiful to be nursing away the scars he put on her. But he also knew that he needed to defend himself and he was never going to let a woman feel like she could physically handle him in a way that he could also handle her.

One day, Cherie decided to leave Jackie in her apartment by himself while she went to visit her mother in Bossier City. Jackie knew in his mind that that would be a 3 & a half hour drive for Cherie to make in one day and she had already informed him that she would possibly be spending the night.

“So make yourself comfortable, my love. I’ll be back tomorrow morning or night, maybe. I’ll let you know when I’m coming back.”, Cherie said, as she packed up a medium sized overnight bag.

This was Jackie’s first time ever being alone in Cherie’s apartment since they had been together. As soon as she told him to make himself comfortable, he thought back to a year or so ago when he had that talk with Smitty in his car, one day. Jackie thought to himself, if she really practiced noir magie, she wouldn’t trust me to be alone in her apartment by myself, right? Because she would definitely try to hide anything and everything that would give away that she practices noir magie… Right?

Jackie carefully watched Cherie as she packed everything up, while he laid across her queen sized bed. Cherie walked over to him, with the overnight bag on her shoulder and kissed him on the cheek.

“I love you, mon amour. I’ll be back soon.”

Then, she walked out the apartment and locked the door behind her. Just to make sure she was really gone, Jackie walked over to her balcony and peeked behind the blinds to confirm she had pulled off in her car. When he saw her head to the exit/entrance of the apartment complex, he immediately began searching Cherie’s apartment, top and bottom.

If she really practiced noir magie, I’m either going to find something incriminating today and leave or I won’t find anything and I’ll stay, Jackie thought to himself.

He started in her bedroom, lifting her mattresses and rummaging through her clothes and things in her closet. Nothing but the typical female things. He continued to search her apartment, looking in the bathroom, living room and even the kitchen for anything that could implicate that she practiced voodoo. Jackie was about to give up until he looked across the kitchen and saw the pantry door. Jackie thought to himself how he had never seen Cherie cook anything before. They would always order in or go out to eat. There were even times when Isis would cook Sunday dinner and invite the two of them over to eat.

Jackie found himself immediately intrigued as he began to walk over to the pantry and pull on the handle to slide the door back. At first glance, you couldn’t even tell that it was a shrine inside. Jackie just thought it was a table up against the wall and could see pictures and small, neatly written stanzas in black marker under the pictures. Jackie leaned over to his left hand side and noticed the light switch. He flipped it on and his heart began to race immediately.

The light came on in an intense red color, from a red light bulb that was placed in the ceiling. Jackie walked over to the table and began to notice the most troubling details: melted black candles, rosaries laying across the table and in the middle of the table, laid a really old and heavy book. Jackie felt a chill creep up his body but he kept inspecting the shrine. His eyes traveled to the wall, where from a distance, he could see there were small, neatly written stanzas under pictures of young black men. Above the pictures of the young men were their names, Jackie assumed. Jackie quickly realized he was right as he noticed the names of the two boys that Smitty had told him about a year earlier.

“Johnny and Lil Mike…”, Jackie said to himself, as he touched the cut out pictures of Johnny and his cousin. Jackie felt tears well up in his eyes and he couldn’t believe it. His last straw was noticing his picture was the biggest one, blown up out of all of Cherie’s victims. Jackie noticed the small stanzas that were written in black were written in Creole and Latin. Some of it he was able to make out and some of it he wasn’t. As Jackie slowly walked backwards out of the pantry, he began to notice the items that were sitting on shelves along the walls of the pantry. A human skull, some animal bones that laid in patterns of crosses and dead tadpoles that were in a clear glass jar, filled with formaldehyde.

Jackie screamed and cried out in shock and quickly ran around the apartment. He was trying to find something to get rid of this shrine. He was already upset and embarrassed, thinking to himself ‘This whole time… This whole fucking time! Smitty was right! Oh God, I can’t believe Smitty and Isis were right!’

“FUCK MEEEEEE!”, Jackie yelled out. He walked outside to Cherie’s balcony and looked in the storage closet. He found a tank of gasoline and quickly grabbed it.

He knew exactly what he wanted to do; burn that apartment down to the fucking ground. He popped the lid off of the gasoline and began to douse everything in Cherie’s apartment. He worked his way around the apartment, furiously, starting in the pantry where her forbidden love shrine was until he made his way to her bedroom and realized he was out of gasoline. Jackie had matches on him but, before he set the apartment building completely on fire, he wanted to warn the neighbors if they were home. So, Jackie ran out of Cherie’s apartment and knocked on the 4 other doors within the building.

As he ran down the hallways, Jackie yelled out, “EVERYBODY NEEDS TO LEAVE HERE NOW! TAKE WHATEVER YOU CAN AND LEAVE!”

Of course, the residents were confused and scared at the same time. But they left the apartment building with all of the items they cared about that they could carry. Jackie ran around to the back of the apartment building and turned the gas levels up on each floor. Then, he took off running through a shortcut in the woods behind Cherie’s apartment complex. Within the next 5 minutes, Jackie could hear the loud explosion he set off as he continued to run through the woods towards Smitty and Isis’ apartment.

Jackie found himself still stuck in one place, standing outside of Dr. Aggie’s The Healing Pointe, while reminiscing on his past relationship. He remembered how after he ran all the way to Smitty and Isis’ house, he had to lay low for some months due to all of the neighbors reporting his voice and his face. He also had to lay low because he didn’t want Cherie to come looking for him, after she found out that her apartment had been blown up. Surprisingly, Cherie never looked for Jackie. In fact, Cherie never came back from Bossier City. She thought the building blowing up was a death wish or ill will that was meant for her and so, she never returned to Baton Rouge.

Jackie continued to stand in one place, while remembering his past. He chuckled lightly to himself, as he watched the people of Tremé continue to walk along the street, occasionally stopping in stores and even stepping foot off in Dr. Aggie’s The Healing Pointe. Suddenly, Jackie perked up as he noticed a beautiful, fair-skinned young woman in the window. Jackie looked at her and admired her beauty, noticing how softly she wiped down the wooden table she was about to sit down at. He could see her long, red hair was curly and pinned up into a scarf, wrapped around her head. She had on a white blouse that was buttoned up right to the point where you could see the beginning of her cleavage and a long, flowy dark green and black flannel skirt. Jackie could feel his heart beating faster and faster as he had suddenly scared himself, thinking the young girl would notice him. Jackie could see her smile and greet the customers walking through the door and then, suddenly, she paused.

Before he tried to look away, it was too late. The young girl did notice him. Through the glass window, the two made direct eye contact. Jackie noticed her light brown eyes from a distance and could see her gathering up her skirt as she began to rush out the door and walk towards him. At this point, Jackie realized how much of a fool he probably looked to her and everybody.

It was pouring rain, in the middle of the street. He was standing outside, just a couple of feet away from Dr. Aggie’s shop, soaking wet with clothes that were dirty and boots that were covered in mud. To others, it may have seemed as if he was in a trance or stuck in confusion, maybe. But to Jackie, it was more so of him just being caught up in the moment. Until he realized the young lady was standing in front of him. Jackie felt himself instantly become weak, as if his knees weren’t going to support him.

The young woman stood before him with a serious but straight face. She raised her hands up slowly and embraced Jackie’s face. She stared directly into his eyes and said, “I knew you were coming. I knew you before you came.”

Jackie abruptly fainted into the young woman’s arms and fell into a deep sleep.