Evil in Hockley (12 page)

“Were you here then?” asked
Harry.

“Yup, and another reason to get the
hell out of town.”

“How did you get through it? I saw
films of people housed in the Louisiana Superdome. Were you
there?”

“Nope. When the reserves came to
evacuate the French Quarter mom refused to leave. Neighbours did as
she did. The soldiers somehow forgot about her…

“A mind thing she had a talent for.
Anyway the storm knocked out all the levees except for the ones in
the French Quarter. Mom stood proud and tall defying Katrina to
enter her sector. The edge of the storm passed. The rain and gale
force winds bypassed us. That’s the story, believe it or not.
Katrina wouldn’t fuck with mom.”

“Do you believe it?” asked
Harry.

“I was there, remember?”

She found a place to park and Harry
paid an outrageous fee. Karma assured him it was insurance as well
as the spot itself.

Karma said,

“Now for hotel rooms. They’re sometimes
hard to get.”

Harry asked,

“Because of Mardi Gras?”

“
Yes and no. Mardi Gras day, or “Fat Tuesday,” this year was
on March 4
^th
, long
passed. It falls on the day before Ash Wednesday. But Mardi Gras
festival can start as early as January and last until the end of
July.”

Karma laughed then said,

“It’s a festival that lasts half the
year. There are spring and summer parades, always something to
celebrate. It’s a tourist industry all on its own.”

She waved her arms to indicate the
surroundings then said,

“New Orleans is a very diverse city. It
has a modern harbour, oil refineries, industry, a high rise
skyline, and the old French sector which has retained its culture.
And Jazz, can’t forget about that.”

Karma found two double rooms, one for
Harry and Sandy and one for herself and Shelley.

“Now for the real hard part. Seeing mom
and living to tell the tale.”

“I’ll go with you,” said
Harry.

“Not a chance. Not unless she invites
you.”

“What about me?” asked
Sandy.

“Same for you. If I’m not back by dark
then you know I won’t be back at all. So get out of town if you
don’t see me. Got it?”

“You’re kidding? She’s your
mom.”

“She’s also Lenea’s mom. And has some
kind of relationship with John Dean. You may have killed him,
remember? I truly don’t know where I stand with her. I left home
when I was very young.”

Karma walked the streets to her
mother’s house as childhood memories played in her mind. She
remembered the crowded streets on Mardi Gras day and the colourful
costumes people wore: the floats with fairy tale characters and
jazz bands that marched along the street playing their
tunes.

It was evening and couples were walking
to restaurants for a taste of Cajun cuisine. There were restaurants
that advertised Creole dishes which were a mixture of Haitian and
French ingredients. Karma would never forget the Creole language
spoken in Louisiana which was losing ground to English as the old
generations passed on. Creole was still used in Haiti and other
Caribbean islands consisting of a mixture of African languages and
French.

Karma had let her mind wander trying to
delay the moment when she’d have to knock on her mother’s door. She
was standing in front of it when it opened and, her mother, Marie
stared into her eyes.

“Well, come in child. Don’t stand out
there with your mouth open catching flies.”

Marie turned and walked into the house.
Karma followed.

Karma sat at the same kitchen table she
had almost ten years ago while her mother fussed with the tea pot.
She looked around the room with its furnishings her mother had
inherited: and her mother before her. Dried leaves hung from one
wall beside animal bones. Or were they human souvenirs? With mom
one never knew.

Marie brought two cups of tea to the
table. Karma switched them. Marie laughed.

“I knew you were going to do that
child. That’s why I put the poison in mine.”

Karma knew there was no sense in adding
sugar or cream. The tea mom made was so strong it would never be
tasted.

“You’re not here to visit your old mom,
are you?”

“Yes and no.”

“Hah. Same Karma, evasive as always.
With your mom anyway. So tell why you’re here. I know it has
something to do with my talents.”

“I did want to see you again. And
you’re right there is an another reason as well. Have you talked to
Lenea?”

“What does that have to do with
anything? I have a relationship with you and another with your
sister. I keep them separate because you two never got
along.”

“Lenea and I are still at odds. I’m
trying to save someone and she’s trying to kill her.”

Without a second’s hesitation Marie
said,

“Thanks for reminding me, I raised two
girls, one a whore, the other an assassin.”

That comment brought cause for a moment
of silence. Finally Karma said,

“I have a woman that Lenea put in a
trance. I brought her out of it but she’s still sinking as though
she were in quicksand. Can you help her?”

“Can I? Possibly. Will I.
No.”

“Why? You can save a life.”

“If I do I take your side against
Lenea.”

Karma stared into her mother’s
eyes.

“Is that it child? If so I have work to
do.”

“Please mom. Just look at her. Tell me
how to help her. I’ll do it.”

“Same thing. I choose you over
Lenea.”

“But she’s wrong. She wants to destroy
and I want to save a life.”

“Lenea obviously has a reason for what
she’s doing. Maybe she’s right.”

“Her reason is money.”

“Is that why you’re a whore, for money?
What makes you so high and mighty? You’re both no good. You want me
to choose which one of you is worse. Fine decision to have a mother
make.”

“Who is John Dean?”

That question set Marie back in her
chair. Her face turned red and Karma could almost see the smoke
rise from her mom’s hair.

“That’s none of your business. Now get
out of here.”

“All right I’ll go but I want to see
you again tomorrow. I’ll bring Shelley here and you can tell her
you won’t help her, to her face.”

“Go on now or in a minute Lenea will be
the only daughter I have. Life will be simple.”

Karma broke into tears and ran out the
door. What a disaster she thought.

She raced along the street. People
stopped and stared but she didn’t care.

Someone grabbed her as she passed an
alleyway.

“What’s wrong?”

It was Harry.

Sobbing she said,

“I told you to stay out of
this.”

He had a hold of both her
arms.

“After what you said do you think I’d
let you do this alone, for me?”

She broke free, shook her head, and
stroked his cheek. What a friend. He had no idea what or who he was
dealing with.

It was totally unexpected as both Harry
and Karma were tossed into the alley like a pair of dolls. Karma
saw the face of John Dean, eyes non blinking and a cold icy stare.
He grabbed Harry and slammed him into a wall then proceeded to
choke the life out of him. Karma realized immediately that he was
what the movie makers called a Zombie. Not quite as invincible as
they made out on the late night shows but difficult to kill. She
used the same spell on John as she did on Tony. As she chanted she
could feel it was being blocked.

Lenea.

Karma searched the alley for her sister
to no avail. She physically pulled on John’s left arm and using all
her bodyweight yanked it free of Harry’s throat. Harry’s punches
did little to the semi dead John Dean so he wrestled John to the
ground. Karma searched the alley for a weapon and found a split
board. Harry was on top of John but losing ground as the stronger
zombie lifted him.

Karma shoved the sharp end of the board
into John Dean’s chest then put all her weight on the blunt end.
Harry pushed on the board as well then all of a sudden a last sigh
escaped from John. It was the way one killed a vampire. A little
overkill for this situation but kill it did.

From a rooftop ten stories or so high a
voice echoed through the alley.

“I’ll kill you sister.”

Harry was breathing like a freight
train.

“Is that it? Or do we have to kill him
again?”

Karma answered,

“I believe it’s the end of John Dean.
The idea was for John to kill you and Lenea would keep me busy. I
didn’t get sucked into playing mind games with her. She didn’t
expect that.”

Karma looked high at the rooftops then
added,

“That’s how I’ll beat her. Never play
her game.”

“I’ve seen her Karma and you never want
to wrestle her either. She outweighs you by thirty pounds, all
muscle.”

“Thanks for the vote of
confidence.”

“You’re welcome. Let’s get out of
here.”

Chapter 22

The following morning Karma and Harry
walked Shelley toward the house of Marie Bastille. Sandy shadowed
them at a respectable distance. There were few onlookers but those
who were there, stared. Shelley’s skin was greying rapidly and it
was difficult for her to walk. With her eyes and hands bandaged she
looked like a trauma case for TV paramedics.

“Here goes nothing,” said
Karma.

She knocked on the door and waited, and
waited.

“Once mom has made up her mind, there’s
no changing it,” said Karma.

She knocked again and again.

Finally the door swung open and Marie
stared daggers at Karma.

“Be on your way and don’t come
back.”

Karma’s heart sank but then she noticed
her mother had frozen like a statue and stared at Harry. Minutes
seemed to pass as Marie locked eyes with him. She backed out of the
door and said,

“Come in young man.”

After he entered she looked at Karma
and said,

“Well don’t just stand there, come in
and bring your friend.”

Karma guided Shelley into the living
room and sat her on the couch.

“I didn’t mean that one. The one across
the street,” said Marie.

Karma waved for Sandy to join
them.

Marie pointed to a chair and offered
Harry a seat. There was silence for a moment as Marie glared at
Harry. She acted as though she’d never seen a man
before.

Harry finally spoke,

“We were wondering if you could help
Shelley.”

Marie walked to Shelley and unwrapped
the bandages on her eyes then the ones on her hands. She examined
the wounds then said,

“Lenea did this?”

“Her and John Dean,” said
Karma.

There was silence as Marie took a
closer look at Shelley’s eyes.

“She’ll never see again. This is John’s
work. Lenea supplied the spell that kept her alive. Made her a
zombie.”

Karma said,

“John Dean won’t do anyone any more
harm. Not unless Lenea can bring him back after we shoved a spiked
one by four through his heart last night.”

Marie looked alarmed then shrugged and
continued examining Shelley. While working she said,

“John was your older brother
Karma.”

“What? I killed my brother?”

“He was never much good that boy. Just
like his father,” said Marie.

“You know what mom? I didn’t have to
make enemies in my life: seems I was born with them.”

“Sibling rivalry, dear,” said
Marie.

“Sibling rivalry? I shoved a pointed
board through my brother’s heart and you call it
rivalry.”

“Hush now. I’ll tell you what happened.
It was my fault. I fell for the reverend Jimmy Dean when I was
fourteen. He used me and John was the result. Your grandmother
killed Jimmy for what he did. We’re Catholics so an abortion was
out of the question.

“I married Jules Bastille. Jules gave
John to his brother Ramone and his wife to raise. Jules wanted
nothing to do with another man’s son. Then you were born. Jules and
Ramone’s wife died four years later in a car accident. He was
taking her to the hospital for X-rays. I married Ramone and wound
up with John in my house. Seems I couldn’t get rid of that boy. You
left some years afterwards. Then John Dean ran into trouble with
the law and I threw him out. Lenea went with him. That was the last
I saw of either one. Then you showed up on my doorstep and here we
are.”