“They ain’t back yet?” Roy asked nervously as he entered his sister’s kitchen. His knee had been bouncing nervously as he sat on the living room sofa since his nieces left for Monroe.
“Roy, you would hear them before I would,” Bonita said as she watched the espresso machine on the counter top. She said it matter-of-factly, no real annoyance, but it made Roy take a deep breath and apologize.
“I’m sorry, I know I’m acting…”
“Weird as fuck,” Bonita finished for him. “Yeah. Whatever is going on, you can talk to me about it. I may not have wings like Ariel, but I’ve been to the Fonlands, I know the Supremes that come to Earth.”
“I know, it’s just…this thing is dangerous. I shouldn’t have read that book, I just couldn’t help myself. Even with all the crazy Fonlands stuff around now, I didn’t think this would be real. I didn’t want to involve Ariel in this, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“What was the book?” Bonita asked.
“Do you really want to know?” Roy asked and he sat on a stool at the bar where the espresso machine was working. He looked much older than he was, the normally youthful skin of his face sagged into wrinkles that worried his temples. Bonita had never seen him look so shaken.
“Will something come after me if I know?” Bonita asked. “Well damn, Roy, now I’m curious.”
“The book isn’t harmful in itself, its just where I learned that about…him. He is an Fonlander, not a Vodun, but as old as them, as powerful as them. You know about Lêgba? Some people say he’s the devil.”
“But he’s not,” Bonita said. “Lêgba is the Vodun of the crossroad, the arcana at the nexus. He is mysterious, shape shifting, a trickster. Describing him as a devil might fit, but not as the devil.”
“Right, but the Fonlands has a devil. Actually, devil doesn’t really describe him. He is the literal root of evil, vile and cruel for amusement.”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Bonita said. “I ain’t heard of an Fonlander like that.”
“Speaking his name makes you susceptible to him,” Roy said flatly. He was watching the espresso machine, not blinking. “You appear on his radar, but humans are not able to summon him. He only comes when he has need of you, or when you touch his things. If you touch his things, then you become his plaything. I stole his spoon. I don’t know why, but when I saw it, I couldn’t help myself.”
“You took the Fonlander’s spoon? You were in the Fonlands?”
Roy nodded his head, never making eye contact with his sister. “The book told me how to get there, and I found the spoon. I didn’t intend to take it, but when I saw it, I grabbed it and I kept it at that house. It’s supposed be demolished and if the spoon is damaged, I don’t know what he will do.”
“What is so special about this spoon?”
“He used it to feed humans to other humans,” Roy said. “When he plays his games, he tricks people into eating their loved ones. He finds it funny. When I saw the spoon, I knew that it was true, and I took it because, in the moment, I thought maybe I could save someone else. But I was just stupid, bringing the wrath of a thing worst than the devil on me, so I hid the spoon in that old house. And its been there for years, before the shadows started harassing me and kept me from going back. But I need to find a new hiding place before they demolish that house. If it is destroyed, he might do something rash.”
“Does the Fonlander know you have it?”
Roy nodded. “He knows I took it because I touched something that belonged to him, but when I took it from the Fonlands, he couldn’t find it. And I don’t think he can find me physically, he only threatens me in my dreams. And he has warned me of the wrath that he can bring to the city to make me watch before he drags me back to his prison in the Fonlands. He will torture me for eternity.”
The espresso machine finished its work and Bonita shook espresso martinis in silence. She put two glasses on the bar and then poured two drinks. She sat in the stool next to him, lifting her glass.
“Raise it up brother,” she said.
Roy turned towards her on the stool and lifted the glass.
“Ariel will be back soon,” Bonita assured him. “Zana is with her, they’ll be alright. The house is supposed to be demolished tomorrow, so there’s plenty of time. They won’t even need a lot of time. When they bring it back, you go with Ariel to the Fonlands and let the Mmoatia figure it out. It sounds to me like you were trying to do something good, so I think we got karma on our side. It will work out.”
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