I rushed to take hold of his hand as he beckoned me, "Yes Papa, I'm here". In truth the man always seemed ancient no matter my age and everyone has been calling him "Papa Jocko" for as long as I can remember. "I see you boy," he said half attempting to appear agitated "I ain't a gone blind or deaf " he let out a small chuckle as if this were just another day."Tell me Boy, where ya been hidin your self?" "I'm afraid I've been somewhat busy of late,...mostly South America but I'm home now and ready for you to talk my ears off about whatever the mood strikes ya to speak on." I could feel the strength of his grip fade as I held his hand and I looked into his sad old eyes and said the only thing I could say without totally breaking down " I'm sorry Papa " He reached up with his other hand, his arm shaking as he did and put his hand to the back of my head pulling me closer in to him "You gone make me a promise boy , you gone make tis ole man happy yes?" At that moment I would have sold my soul for him so a promise seemed reasonable. " You gone stop all the woman chasin an marry my daughter" At his point ya coulda knocked me over with a feather, I couldn't believe my ears..."Papa you always told me I was never gonna be good enough for her?" He looked at me cross with his pale eyes "And did a ever stop ta think I mighta been tellin ya to see if ya was sincere? She is my..*A coughing fit took him and after several minutes he was able to speak again* Tat girl is my life boy, and you better than most know how to protect her from what comin..."He lay his head back on the pillow our brief conversation exhausted him. I looked to another old man in the room Thomas Dupree, he was almost as old as Papa maybe a little more than half as tall, and had lost all his hair ,most of his teeth and was a little too fond of the bottle but, was Papa's oldest living friend. Papa once asked me to sniff him out of a crowded street to find him, not something I was ever likely to forget no matter how many times I strolled through the ladies perfume shops. "What does he mean Mister Thomas?" He looked uneasily to me then to several of the other elders of the neighborhood in attendance.After they all nodded in agreement he spoke up in a timid voice..." That Beau laTraunte, he said he gonna claim Miss Joan for hisself and he gone a call up a dark spirit to do a killin on anyone gone stop him." I knew this fella a local swamprat a Bokor ,a sorcerer who traffics with dark magic. Papa always kept him in his place but now with him about to pass ,this lowlife must think its his time or some such nonsense. " He sayin we gonna be payin him to keep trouble away and he want Miss Joan so's every body knows he got Papa's baby. I thought back to all the times I could have killed this swamp scum and Papa stopped me ...I shoulda just gone behind his back and done it ."Over my dead body!" I began to get angrier and then I felt Papas hand on mine once more "Don't be droppin to that level boy you bette than him. "I felt the strength in his grip now like the iron hand grip I remember from him," He gone make ya angry, but done be stupid"..." Papa, I have to know did he come round again just before you got sick, did he do this?" There was dead silence in the room an then Mrs Olean a sweet old lady a Mambo, a female priest who worked with Papa to keep most folks around here doing alright. She put her arm around my waist and leaned into me I liked Mrs Olean she always smelled like gumbo, cornbread, and incense. She used her other hand to reach to my face and guide my eyes down to hers "Baby boy" To her I was always Baby Boy, no matter how old I got and especially if she thought it would embarrass me but I knew she loved me all the time. "Don't be asking questions dont need to be answered, it happen ole folk pass just like animals,trees an everything else" I knew she knew the real answer, her eyes so dark and usually full of life, were now dark pools of tears. I looked down at Papa and in a fit of anger and pain I swore "I'm gone skin that gator humpin , possum kissin, swamp rat alive an make a jacket outta hiz hide!" Its something others have commented on that in times of aggravation I revert back to a more cajun dialect I guess its all back to how ya really grew up. "NO!" Papa said it just like he did when he caught me doing something I shouldn't a been doing in the first place. In a meek voice he said " Lachlan Adam Bellraven" Oh, blast it ! my full name, I was 13 again and in trouble " Yes Sir?" He managed to chuckle a bit "it's good to know I still put a bit o fear in ya yeah ? Don't go lookin for tat ole catfish, he gonna put his head up soon enough . "But, ..." "NO" "Yes sir" Mrs Olean gave me a firm hug and said to me that" Baron Samedi has no mind to be seeing me anytime soon and to do as Papa asks." I know she meant well but right now all I could think on was vengeance.Just then Joan Marie came over beside me on my right side now I was surrounded Mrs Olean on my left and Joan on my right..."Don't worry Papa," Joan said " We gone keep him outta trouble" she looked up at me and smiled.
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