like him,” she said, as her attention focused on Ivan. Her
large eyes filled with pleasure and longing as a wicked smile
appeared on her face.
“ Ivan, I think Mother Death
wants to dance with you,” I said, as I glanced behind
me.
Ivan uncrossed his arms and stepped
away from the tombstone he was carelessly leaning against.
Apparently, the sight of dancing, cigar smoking skeletons didn’t
bother him at all.
“ If Mother Death wants to
dance with me, bring it on. Ma Cherie, how can I refuse?” He bowed
and extended his hand even though he had no idea where Maman
Brigitte was.
Maman Brigitte dropped her rum bottle
and took Ivan’s hand. Having felt her presence, instinctively, Ivan
placed his arms around her back and they started to move. Maman
Brigitte placed her head on Ivan’s shoulder and buried her face
into his neck. They madly danced in sync with the beat of the
drums. Ivan spun Mother Death around and she let out a low,
carefree laugh that was seductive yet threatening. She ran her bony
fingers through Ivan’s hair and gently stoked his stubbly cheek. He
laughed as he spun her around faster and faster. She took a pepper
out of her mouth and shoved it into Ivan’s. Ivan laughed as he
chewed the pepper and bent over to pick up a rum bottle from the
ground. He continued to laugh as he took a sip from the bottle and
then afterwards gave Mother Death a big old kiss on the mouth.
Maman Brigitte continued to laugh and laugh like a maniac and the
pair continued their odd dance.
Meanwhile, the sound of drums grew
louder and the smell of cigars thicker. A skeleton separated its
self from the crowd and approached Lucus. It extended its hand.
Without question, Lucus took it and gave it a small kiss. I
scratched my head as I watched Lucus dance with the skeleton
without a hint of repulsion or hesitance. He turned to look at me
and mouthed. For Sabrina. Be strong.
“ Shall we?” asked Papa
Ghede, as took my hand into his. At this point, all I could think
of was Sabrina and how scared she probably was.
“ Yes, but I need to know if
my friend is okay. Can you tell me where she is?” I asked
innocently. Around us, the drums grew louder and the skeletons
started to dance faster.
Papa Ghede wrapped me in his stick-like
arms and we started to move. “What if I say it’s too late for your
friend?”
My heart stopped beating for a second
and my blood froze, but I didn’t want to panic. So I took a deep
breath. “With all due respect, Papa Ghede, I don’t believe
you.”
Papa Ghede let out a deep laugh and
flashed me a pair of rotting teeth. “So stubborn! How dare you
challenge me? If I say it’s too late for your friend, then it’s too
late.”
I sighed. “No. I’m not challenging you
per se, I’m simply making sure that you have all of the facts
right.” I tried to think really, really hard back to the LaRue
spell book and tried to dig up some facts that would help me deal
with Papa Ghede. Think, Arelia. Think.
As Papa Ghede continued to spin me
around and drag me from one end of the cemetery to the other, I
remembered that although he loved to party, Papa Ghede was also
wise and protective. I figured that maybe I could play up to his
emotional side and reason with him. Surely even Father Death was
open to negotiation. “Sabrina’s innocent in all of this; whatever
she’s gotten herself into is my fault. The whole thing. I should
have been honest with her from the start. If you give me a chance
to make it right, I promise I won’t disappoint you. I’ll do
anything,” I said with the most sincerity and passion I could
muster under the really odd circumstances.
He merely laughed. “I don’t want to
talk about your friend; I want to talk about you.”
“ Me?”
“ Yes. Now, tell me, why are
you so afraid of dying? Why is everyone so afraid of dying?” he
asked, as he popped another pepper into my mouth.
After forcing the pepper down my throat
and slightly enjoying the slow, painful burn, I