Chapter 3: Bonsoir

As Jackie lay on his back, he could feel himself slowly gaining consciousness. In his surrounding environment, wherever he was, he could hear the sound of voices and pots and dishes clanging together. As if someone was cooking or preparing a meal nearby. The voices. He could tell he was still in New Orleans, by the sound of the southern Cajun accents and the subtle mixture of English and Creole being spoken. One was a deep masculine voice, older for sure. Then, there were two different feminine voices, both sounded mature but he could tell there was a younger woman present, as well. He could smell the faint scent of spices and seafood. Shrimp or crawfish, maybe? This is what awakened him.

Jackie couldn’t remember the last time he had a decent meal. All of the hours that he spent walking from Baton Rouge to Tremé, he never stopped for a meal. He really didn’t have the money to. That’s the thing about prison; you literally leave out the same way you came in. Jackie was broke when he got locked up and he for sure walked out the same way, with only $5 to his name. That was courtesy of Isis. Every now and then, she’d put money down on his and Smitty’s books. He was always thankful for that because Isis wasn’t his girlfriend or his baby mother. They shared no type of history or anything like that. She just had a big heart.

Jackie’s stomach began to growl and he slowly opened his eyes to try and make out his surroundings. As he opened his eyes, he found himself looking up at a wooden ceiling that fell into blue bricks as the walls. Jackie could tell the bricks had been painted and suddenly, he began to remember. The blue bricks from outside of the voodoo shop he was standing a couple of feet from earlier. Jackie attempted to lift his head and raise his body when all of a sudden, he felt the warmth of a palm on his forehead, slowly nudging him back down.

“Shh shh, there, there,” said the light but feminine voice. Jackie laid back down and began to blink his eyes as he felt the weight of someone by his legs where he lay. Jackie was finally able to gain vision and realize who it was that was sitting by him. The young woman he was staring at through the voodoo shop. He knew it was her from recognizing the green and black skirt and her dark red curls that were now flowing down her back. She had removed the head scarf she was wearing earlier. He watched her stir a wooden spoon into a steaming pot that sat on a table directly across from where he lay.

She looked back at him and smiled and said, “Well, hello there, mon ami. You took quite a tumble a couple hours ago. How you feeling?”

Jackie looked at her and was at a loss for words. He wanted to respond but, from where he lay, he could really notice her features and see that she was quite a beautiful young woman. Long, dark red curls flowing down her back, as she would take a piece and put it behind her ear every couple of seconds. Her skin was a light coffee color, like a piece of butterscotch candy. She looked at Jackie and smiled. He noticed her teeth were white and straight and her lips were full, hidden behind a lip gloss that shined.

“Can you hear me?” she questioned Jackie, while still smiling.

Jackie continued to look at the young woman as he watched her lean over him to remove a washcloth that was laying across his forehead. Jackie could smell a faint lavender scent on her and he began chuckling to himself. Jackie responded faintly in a scratchy voice, “Why, yes mam. I can hear you and smell you. You smell amazing.”

The young woman leaned back, smiled at him and took the washcloth and dipped it in the steaming pot she was stirring around. Jackie watched her wring the washcloth out, fold it and lay it across his forehead.

“This here, is an elixir of lavender and mint herbs that my daddy made. It helps to soothe and calm the nerves down, especially after a faint spell.”

Jackie watched her reach over the table and grab a white coffee mug that had two tea bags in it. She blew over the tea to cool it and she passed it to Jackie.

“Drink up, mon ami. It’s just peppermint tea. It won’t hurt you.”

Jackie grabbed the mug from her and slowly sipped on the warm drink. He continued to stare at her but, this time, out of confusion. He wanted to know her name.

It seemed as if she could read thoughts, as well, because she instantly said, “Oh yeah. I was so busy trying to tend to ya’, I forgot to tell ya’ my name. I am Evangeline Marie-Celestine Boudreaux. But my mama and daddy call me Eva Marie.”

Eva Marie leaned back and sat down by his legs.

She gestured with her arms and said, “This here is my daddy’s shop. We call it The Healing Pointe. My daddy is the owner, Dr. Aggie. He’s a healer, declared so by dear Mère Mama Tine Fòtin.” Eva Marie smiled proudly as she stated this.

Suddenly, Jackie could hear where the deep, masculine Cajun voice came from and saw a man walk over to where Eva Marie sat. Jackie quickly noticed that the man had to have been over six feet tall. He stood wearing a red and beige flannel shirt, some brown slacks and dark brown slippers. The man smiled while showing off his thick, black and gray beard on his face. His eyes were a dark brown and they glared back and forth between Eva Marie and Jackie.

“Now, Evangeline.” he said, while standing next to her. “Don’t brag on your daddy or your dear Mère. You know, I don’t even like to mention that part of my past or our family history.”

“But daddy, I was just telling him where he was at. The poor man has a right to know where he’s laying his head at.”, snapped Eva Marie.

The man gave Eva Marie a look as if to say watch your mouth without not saying it. Eva Marie quickly averted her eyes to her lap and became silent. Jackie chuckled to himself seeing this, as it reminded him of being around his grandmother Irene when he was younger. He remembered how she had that effect on him and all of his cousins that he grew up with. That one look was a warning before you got the wind knocked out of you or worse. Just a part of growing up in the South.

The man walked across the room and sat down in a rocking chair that was adjacent from where Jackie lay and Eva Marie sat. He looked at Jackie and began to introduce himself.

“I’m Dr. Aggie and like my daughter said before, this here is my shop. I opened it up twenty years ago.” Dr. Aggie smiled and rubbed his beard. “Damn, twenty years ago. Seems like a long time ago but, it also feels like I just started. Anywho… What’s your name, young man?”

Jackie slowly raised up from laying down and leaned back into the sofa. He cleared his throat to speak and responded, “Jacques Benoit. My friends call me Jackie.”

Dr. Aggie nodded his head and asked, “You from ‘round these parts, Jacques?” Jackie took a sip of his tea. “Not from ‘round here, no sir. I’m from West Baton Rouge, Port Allen to be exact.”

Dr. Aggie nodded his head, rubbed his beard and sat up in the rocking chair. “So, what brings you here to Tremé? From what my daughter said, she saw you just standing outside, a couple of feet away from the shop. She said you stood there for quite a while, as if you seemed apprehensive about where you were going or what you were going to do.”

Jackie, who felt completely off guard by this question, coughed after taking another sip of his tea. He awkwardly wiped his hand along his nose and upper lip. He replied, “Sir, to be honest. I do remember feeling apprehensive. You see, I’m a Cajun boy myself. I grew up hearing all kinds of stories about voodoo and even had my own personal experience with it.”

Eva Marie slowly raised her head after hearing this and looked at Jackie.

“Anywho, I was just walking along the streets of Tremé when I saw the sign hanging above the door. It said that you specialize in bonne magie. Now, I’m not the smartest man in the world but, I was unaware that people even still practiced that sh–” Jackie cut himself off as he could see Dr. Aggie’s facial expression tensed up with what he thought he was originally going to say.

“Excuse me, sir. Didn’t mean to disrespect you. That stuff,” said Jackie, as he held up his hands, in defense.

Dr. Aggie slowly sat back in the rocking chair and continued to keep his eyes on Jackie. Jackie continued on.

“So, when I saw your sign I felt myself growing fear if I must admit, sir. I don’t know the difference between bonne and noir magie. And I don’t want to offend you, your family or your place of business but, I was always told that voodoo was bad, no matter how anybody may try to spin it. Or tell you something different.”, admitted Jackie.

Dr. Aggie sat up in his rocking chair and made eye contact with Jackie. “I hear you, son. Listen to me, Jacques. I am a healer, just like my daughter said to you a couple of moments ago. I normally don’t like to tell people about this part of my life but, sometimes you have to give a little background history. I am a descendant of the Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau. You ever heard of her?”

Jackie’s heart began to beat a little quicker than normal. Of course, he knew who Marie Laveau was. Who didn’t? Especially being from Louisiana.

Jackie nodded his head in silence. Dr. Aggie continued on.

“Then, you know that it goes without saying. All of the history she carries throughout Louisiana alone. My mother, Mama Tine Fòtin, was a fortune teller. I would travel with her as a young child, going from city to city. Pillar to post, as she would make her money by helping the people. I, too, have had my personal experiences with bonne and noir magie, as I have seen my mother perform rituals and even hurt people by her power. When I was ten, she declared me a healer when she found out that I was gifted, just as she was. I learned at a young age that I was able to heal others by simply touching them and even creating herbal teas and elixirs. From that point on, it was she and I, helping the people for better and sometimes, for worse. I will always be ashamed of the things I participated in with my mother as a child but I knew no better. It never made me feel good to do it, either. When my dear Mère passed on, I promised myself to continue on with the practice of voodoo but, I’d practice bonne magie only.”

All at once, everybody lifted their heads at the sound of Mama Red’s voice, Dr. Aggie’s wife.

“Alright y'all. Supper is done. Y'all come make ya bowls. Jacques, you sit still. I’ll bring you a bowl.” demanded Mama Red.

Before Jackie could turn around to see who the voice was, he could feel Dr. Aggie’s rough, callused hand on his hand. Jackie looked at Dr. Aggie and could see he was smiling.

“You’re safe here, son. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of you.” Dr. Aggie walked off and out of the corner of his eye, Jackie could see Eva Marie walking over to him with two steaming glass bowls in her hands. She handed one to Jackie, winked and said, “Bon appetit.”

Jackie grabbed the bowl and began to scarf down the gumbo in one sitting.

Jackie ended up eating almost four bowls of gumbo. Mama Red didn’t mind, though. She had made enough in a big pot that would’ve been able to feed at least 10 more people or so.

“That’s how you supposed to make gumbo!” she laughed and exclaimed, earlier that evening.

After eating dinner with Eva Marie and her parents, Jackie found himself feeling comfortable. It was almost as if he was a part of the family, a long lost distant cousin or something. But in the back of Jackie’s head, he still had questions. Particularly about young Eva Marie. He admired her outer beauty and from the conversations during dinner, he also realized that she was funny. She liked to crack jokes and loved to smile even more. He also saw that she was sensitive and it made him feel for her, in ways that either she knew already or didn’t. He would find out soon enough.

After cleaning up the dishes and helping Jackie get situated for the rest of the night, Eva Marie also helped her parents gather their belongings to go home for the evening. Her parents always trusted her to close the shop down at the set time every night, 8pm. But with them having an uninvited guest, they closed the shop down early that day and tended to poor Jackie. Jackie was fresh out of the shower and sitting back down on the blue sofa when he could see and hear Eva Marie closing down the shop and saying goodnight to Mama Red and Dr. Aggie.

“Bonsoir, daddy and mama! I’ll be home soon!” she cried after them. They said goodnight to her and Jackie and began walking to their home, which was two blocks away. Eva Marie closed the door behind her and began tidying up the shop, while Jackie sat.

As Jackie began to make himself comfortable on the sofa, he stared at Eva Marie while thinking back to what Eva Marie had said to him before he passed out.

“I knew you were coming. I knew you before you came.”

It felt like an echo in Jackie’s head. He also remembered from earlier that night during dinner, when Eva Marie told him about her gift of being a clairvoyant. Jackie felt like he needed a little bit more clarification on it and he also wanted to know what she meant by ‘she knew he was coming’.

“Hey, Eva Marie.”

Eva Marie stopped in her tracks and looked at Jackie. She smiled and said, “Yes, Jackie?”

Jackie smiled back and said, “Ahhh. Now, that’s a turn from being called Jacques all night. Felt like I was back in elementary school, for a moment.”

Eva Marie laughed.

“I have a question. It’s something that just sprung to my head. Before I passed out, I remember you walking over to me and grabbing my face. You looked me in my eyes and said, ‘You knew I was coming. You knew me before I came.’ What did you mean by that?”

Eva Marie stood where she was at and walked over to a shelf that had all of the different salves and lotions her father had made that were also on sale. She picked up The Healing Salve and walked over to Jackie. She sat on the table that was in front of the blue sofa, directly in front of Jackie.

“Well, mon ami, like my daddy said before. I’m a clairvoyant. Something he doesn’t know is that I’m an empath, as well. I can feel what others are feeling, even if I don’t want to. And sometimes, I sympathize. Sometimes, I’m able to overlook my feelings. But you? I could feel you coming. It’s like, something in my soul said you needed help. I don’t know how to explain it but, I knew you needed me before you knew yourself.”

Jackie looked at her confused and Eva Marie sighed.

“I knew you were looking for help and I knew you needed love. You just didn’t know where to find it.”

Eva Marie reached down and grabbed one of Jackie’s feet. She carefully took the sock off and as she did so, she could see the blisters and sores along his feet from all of his walking he had been doing.

Jackie winced in pain and Eva Marie apologized. She then reached for The Healing Salve, which was on the table next to her and opened it. Jackie could instantly smell the mixture of herbs from the container as she scooped from the container and rubbed the cream into her palms. She slowly began to massage Jackie’s foot. Jackie relaxed soon afterwards and she continued talking.

“Let me ask you a question, Jackie. Why did you really come to Tremé?” Jackie looked at her and said, “I needed work.”

Eva Marie smiled and shook her head.

“Let me tell you about my gift. I do readings here at The Healing Pointe. I take after my dear Mère and I call myself Eva Marie Fòtin. Instead of telling fortunes, I read people and try to help them, for the better or the worse. My gift doesn’t work unless I’m able to have physical contact with someone. For example, when I grabbed your face earlier, not only did I say that I knew you were coming but, I knew it was you because I touched you.”

Eva Marie looked at Jackie and made eye contact with him. She smiled as he stared at her with a straight face.

“Now that I’m massaging your feet, I can also tell that you’re lying. You didn’t come to Tremé for work. You came here for a fresh start. You wanted to change your life, after everything you’ve been through in the past. I know it. When my daddy asked you why did you come here, you hesitated on really telling him the truth. Because you didn’t want him to think of you what it seems like everybody else thinks of you: a jailbird. Yes, you’ve been in trouble pretty much all of your life.”

Eva Marie put his foot down and grabbed the other one. She slowly took the sock off and began to proceed with massaging the cream into his foot.

“When I do my readings, I always take the hand of the person I’m reading. Sometimes, if they come and say they’ve been having a pain in their body, I’m able to read them from touching wherever they’re hurting or having tension from. The good people I try to help. You know… I, too, want to follow in my daddy’s footsteps and practice bonne magie only. But I help the bad people, too.”

“Why?” asked Jackie.

“Well, for one, some bad people want to be good. I can always sense that energy. So, I help them make the decision that they know they should make. I try to give them an option. But some bad people can’t escape the way they are raised or the hate they may have in their heart. Those are the people I still give choices to but, they can’t say that I didn’t warn them. Plus, I’ll never turn down money for my family.”

Hearing Eva Marie talk about how much she loved her family and how she used her gifts to help benefit her and her parents, made Jackie feel proud. It also attracted him even more. He felt different about Eva Marie; it was different from all of the women in his past. Although she came from a family that practiced voodoo, Jackie could feel the good energy that radiated throughout this shop. Jackie could feel himself getting sleepy as he started to yawn.

Eva Marie was done with massaging his feet but she continued to sit in front of Jackie.

“I know you said you were scared earlier but, try not to be. We’re harmless and as you have heard, we only try to help our people. Which is why we have that sign hanging above the door.” said Eva Marie. Jackie laid down on the blue sofa and Eva Marie tucked him in.

As Jackie slowly drifted off to sleep, Eva leaned down and whispered in his ear, “You’re in a safe place, mon ami. Bonsoir.”