What the fuck is going on?
Voodoo dolls shouldn't be this conscious. They can't act on their own. "What is this?"
"I said I needed help killing my father!" Rim's brow creased. "This is fucking crazy a bunch of dolls are trying to kill a vampire King?"
"Fuck Qiao!" The voodoo doll vanished for a minute and reappear to hit July's spirit with a pot from the stove. July blocked the pot with his forearm. He zipped to the bathroom door. The puppet ran at him with his mouth open. July zipped away. "Thoughtless!" My throat burned. The puppet rose their hand, "EXIT!"
As the word hit me, I flew out the body and the vessel disappeared. "Heel!" voiced the nigga full of cotton. I couldn't get up. Rim came out the kitchen, slouching holding a stake. "I have it!" she said in a high pitch voice.
"Stab him!" Rim rushed at me. I kick towards her feet and she lands on top of me. How is she gripping the fucking stake!
I'm wrestling a fucking muppet! "Give me your fucking soul!"
"Get the fuck off me!" I'm blocking her arm from putting the stake in my soul. "It's ok! It'll be refreshing!"
"FUCK! NO!" I kick her off me and hurry to get to my feet. "It's just a matter of business." something thin comes out of her mouth to act like a tongue. FUCKING CHINESE!
"Body bagging!"
"All I need to do is stab you," she titters. "Just hold still. Being human isn't so bad."
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?
"MA--GRAB HIM!" the puppet tries to grab me from behind. I bolt from him and stand near the exit. "BLOCK!" Rim yells. The word is printed on the door.
"I'm not a very good rapper." she leans side to side. "But at least I know the bear minimum."
"What the fuck I got to do with it!"
"A LOT!" Ma-Zhu races at me. His puppet body isn't normal. The fabric unravels and shapes long claws. His hand tries to strike my neck, I dodge it. He brings his other hand up, I move back further to save my chest.
I am a soul. There is nothing I can do.
I turn into a ball of light and good into the kitchen. This is a horrible time. I never ordered anything-- WAIT I NEVER GOT MY ORDER!
Rim tries to cut me off from the kitchen, stabbing the air with the stake.
That fucking things brings a vampire back? Absurd. That's not what we get told in school.
I go into the cabinets and my energy rubs off the plates. Smacking Rim in the head. "Stop playing!" Another dish hits her square in the face. I zip towards the oven, the flames turn on.
Being a soul ain't that bad.
I swirl the fire and fly into Ma-Zhu. "BURN!"
He explodes with the fire consuming his body. His scream is gurgled but as long as I can hear it, I'm motivated. "LORN!" The word itself comes ramming at me. I barely dodge it. "FELLOW!" The floorboards creak.
A piece of wood burst from the floor. I look below and see an eye. "WHAT IS THAT!" my soul vibrates. "THE DEVIL!" Rim dances. It smiles at me with an arm sticking out it's teeth.
It's lips make an O. It blows smoke, covering the food joint. "I'm feeling dizzy."
"AH!" I shake off the heavy feeling. "Fuck this!"
I go upstairs. It's three rooms up here and I can't help but think about the house. I feel heavy again… Mokiri…
I keep hearing crying. I take the door on the right side and my soul jitters. A giant puppet has Rim's father hanging from the ceiling. "What is going on!"
"It's that time of the year again…" the puppet turns their neck. "We accept payment plans."
What is happening? "Hold the fuck still!" From my own vision, I can't see a thing then I see everything, clearly. My breathing is rapid, I have a breath.
I can breathe…
.
.
.
"Did you call him?"
"Growden or the Arab?" Rim puts her single puppet hand on her mouth. "Same thing." Ma-Zhu shrugged. "Who shot Hee?"
"It has to be Monty" the phone rang. "I think he wants to steal from us. We had a whole conversation yesterday. And one of the bags is missing."
"I'm tired of talking in confusion."
"It's the fucking eye. Torielle looks at everything."
"did he really kill his daughter?" asked Ma-Zhu. "The man is deranged."
"He doesn't have a body--Yes, hello?" Rim tapped the wall. "It's Rim Yoo. Can I speak to Attuallah?"
"What happened to Childhood?"
"Hood area." she answered quickly. "We have July. A few other bodies from the business as well."
"What the fuck!" I'm so tired of saying that! "Who are you people?"
"Hired hand!" Ma-Zhu shouted. "Blood trafficking. We're from the Ghytto, nigga!"
"Are you fucking with me!" I got my goddamn legs and arms tied. "What is all this for!"
"Growden type shit!"
"Yes sir, that's him in the background. What would you like us to do?" Rim's puppet mouth covers where her nose should be. She puts her hand on her hip. "I don't know anything about the King." she snaps at me. "Where's your fucking grandpa! I'll give you your memories back if you tell me!"
"Remember fucking what! What is going on!" I scream. "I'm tied up like a fucking pig I thought y'all niggas put cats in soup!"
"Wow…" Ma-Zhu looks at Rim. "My chinese people put honest work into what they do…"
"I'm not Chinese…" says Rim. "I'm a whole puppet out here. Most people are."
"That's true. I'm not Chinese either. I'm white… or used to be."
"WHAT!"
"The Growden Family. I'm Linus."
"WHAT!" I'd stab myself. "Daddy's been doing this for years. It gets easier and easier."
One more time from the fucking top. "WHAT!"
"Who the fuck is that!"
"Val." she smiles eerily. "Valentina Growden. Cool trick, right."
"White ghost." says Linus. "But I'll tell the truth."
"Aww, well," she thinks which is amazing. "I'm tired of lying. But the antichrist is real."
"Yeah, that's really real." they snort.
I am astonished. "It's a really hard trick but we made it this far. Right, Val?"
"All thinks to me having a black mother."
"The family's favorite secret." I bet they fucking. That's what white people do. They fuck they kin without a condom, build a whole family of questions and concerns. "Where's the fucking baby!"
"At church." Valentina smiles. "I look like Alexis, huh?"
"What…" I utter.
"My nose isn't as wide and my face kinda long."
"Cause you an urchin!"
"Well my body is gone. So daddy started war with yo grand daddy." she points at me. "So, my ex is somewhere but he fucking with my twin. I don't know what Rhad is doing. I need a ride home."
"What about the other one?"
"I'm sick of fucking Darlene."
"WHO!" I'm tired beyond words. "Experience. She got shot remember, but as long as she follows fucking Chauncey around she keep coming from the bridge."
The what?
"Let's talk about something else," Linus bends to my level. "My name is Linus and I'm my father's oldest kid. Sadly I don't know my daddy's first name. It's something tho. Val is my youngest sister, our little antichrist."
"Oh stop…" she covers her cheeks which are purely fucking fabric. She looks like a fucking sofa.
"My daddy can't y'all niggas."
"Cracker fuck you!"
"Amen. So anyway. He had an idea that we could steal y'all bodies and--I don't know--" Linus bobs his head. "Rule. The Black State. Probably turn into a big ass plantation. Where the rest of you foul ass niggas are."
"Excuse me?"
"You're buried on our property." he blinks, his appearance changes to what he looks like. "You remember me Juls?"
"What…"
"Say what again." he growls. I don't know him. His hair is a dirty blond shade in the bowl shape of about neck length. "This is because you killed my sister."
"Fuck you. Fuck the family you in. Fuck her, fuck grandma to the tenth bitch high!" This over a fucking dead white girl that honestly extraordinary. "Y'all started it!"
"My daddy asked for help from you ungrateful people."
"At least I appreciate my own ass." I can't even bare my fangs. "My mother died. And Val's mama… couldn't remember."
"And! What happened to Simona."
"Y'all niggas breed like goddamn bunnies--oops" he puts his hands over his mouth. "Cause y'all wanna fly now."
I can't really think o anything to say against that. Oh wait, yes I can. "The pig flew the coop first."
"Clever. Police and pigs."
"Also y'all never mind the speed limit like 95 in a 20 don't matter but if the great lord lets a nigga drive. FLOOR IT!"
"Ha-Ha, you making phone of my sister?"
"The one that's a fish or the handicap one?" I gasp. "That's the same thing."
"I'm tired of you talking shit to me."
"You literally started it with me! Untie my ass!"
Valentina shows herself, she does look like Alexis. Like a really ugly version. Her eyes are blue with this brown middle, unlike Alexis who has almond shaped eyes; Valentina's eyes are droopy. Compared to Alexis, Val doesn't have eyebrows either. Her nose is long and narrow while alexis has a nubian shape. But Val is half black. That's identified in her curls.
Growden has some strong genes. She has freckles all over her face and big teeth. Valentina's face is more oblong while Alexis herself, has a round shape.
"So, you keeping me to switch bodies with?"
"That and murder." she fantasizes while holding the stake. "The Chinese were hiding this."
"What the fuck do they have to do with you dying?" I charge. "Y'all broke into the Ghytto for some hypocritical shit."
"Yes and no. Daddy opened the door. This shit goes back years ago." adds Linus. "The church…was owned by my great grandfather. He gave it to daddy."
"Stop saying that."
"Ugh, let me do it." Valentina brushes him to the side. "Daddy! Had a church full of black people."
"That's illegal…" I say referring to the fact that sounds fucking weird. Black churches have black pastors. It's just a matter of familiarity. Slaves were beat, brainwashed with the bible. Africa has it's own religion. Why would they need Christianity?
"Y'all fucked up my baby and my mama dead."
"Who in the great fuck is that. Yo dusty ass look like you been in the attic."
"Whatever--My mama is Shiloh! She cut a deal with the company after my granny kicked her out." she started to speak in low tone. "I was a special baby. I couldn't breathe but mama knew how. Too bad my sister, Cedrica, is the way she is. She still follows the same path I do."
"Cedrica?" That baby is dead. "Can't be."
"Is your memory coming back?" I just give Linus the side eye. "Cedrica died, everyone in church knew that."
"Because?"
I had to be with myself for a moment. Where the fuck is my mind? Linus summons a jar in his hands and opens it. It looks like flowers. A white flower with four large petals and a ball in the middle. "Your memory is the most precious thing."
He takes one out the jar. Linus holds the flower near my ear. I hear the sounds of crackling fire. "You hear that? That's your mother."
If I had teeth his face would be gone.
"So," Linus twirls the flower inbetween his fingers. "I'm going to bring back my family."
"We have a whole slave." Valentina folds her arms. "All Monty wanted was the statue. There are two."
"Why am I being told about this?"
"If yo black ass don't learn, you'll never know. Too bad most don't get to college." he smirks. "There is a statue of a Medicine woman. She believed that snake poison could cure wounds. The other is of a mermaid with one eye. She gave birth to a human baby and another was a shark. The human couldn't swim and eventually eaten by the shark."
"It's some grand ass symbol for fertility. Did you know African-Americans have twins more?"
"Y'all sick as hell. How did you get in the realm?" I am beyond sicken. This is nasty.
"My mama black.
"Yo mama is African!" I blurt. Valentina lifts her shoulders, "I never thought so. I guess my skin came from death. I'm a real vampire."
"Go outside and feel the heat."
"I could crack…" she rest her cheek in her palm. "Speaking of, we had to kill Jose."
"You did that?"
"We had to." she looks at her brother. "He was gonna snitch on us. We have a no snitch rule."
"That's a strangest fucking thing-- you kill a black mexican for trying to snitch--What did you do--"
"You can't even talk right. Simona, is Thankful, he asked for his daughter back." says Linus.
"Y'all held a nigga's child hostage right in his face?"
"We need somebody to work." he smiles at his sister. "I mean, it's better than yard work."