Death's Excellent Vacation - By Charlaine Harris & Toni L. P. Kelner Page 0,74
a good heart and it involves her, you know?”
“How?” Justin shouted, spinning on his grandmother and talking with his hands. “Don’t do this, Grand!”
“Wasn’t till she walked in here and I got up close that I could see . . . but her daddy was the one messing with that swamp witch.”
“What?” Jessica shrieked and then tried to adjust her tone. “Ma’am . . . ?”
“Spells and counterspells—they was gun-slinging juju like it was the wild, wild West,” Grand said, waving an arthritic hand for emphasis. “First bad dose came when the wife hit my pregnant daughter . . . tried to make her have a monster—but as you can see, Justin is fine.” Grand raised an eyebrow and stared at him hard. “Satisfied?”
“Thank you,” he muttered.
“You just gifted, is all,” Grand said with a dismissive wave toward Justin before turning her focus back to Jessica. “But then, once my daughter realized what that hussy had tried to do, she did a reverse double-deadbolt spell on that cheating wife . . . sent that hatred right back where it came from. And you do know that a mother trying to protect her baby is stronger than a she-devil trying to do dirt, right?”
Grand waited for Jessica to nod and then squinted and pointed at her, vindicated. “Uh-huh, you know I’m tellin’ it right. Word is, that swamp witch, who by the way was quite a Jezebel, had a lot of bad IOUs out there, jus’ nobody would challenge her. But when my daughter did, the Lord worked in mysterious ways . . . All that bad she had out in the world came fer her all at one time. Turned her into what she was trying to make Justin. Your momma had a hand in it, too,” Grand said, nodding. “Uhhuh. That woman had worked roots on your daddy to get him to leave y’all . . . He was a lawman, had morals and principles, but once that she-devil got her hooks in him, it was all she wrote. So whatever your momma sent back her way added a little topspin on my Lula’s spell, and probably everybody else’s, too. It’s bad business to start root-slinging down here in New Orleans—never know how the juju is gonna ricochet.”
Jessica turned slowly and slumped against the counter, hugging herself.
“Your daddy loved your momma dearly, baby . . . loved you and your brother. But that bayou witch . . .” Grand shook her head. “She was built the way that’d make even a churchgoing man turn a blind eye to the Lord. Big bosom,” Grand added, using her hands to demonstrate. “Long legs, big ole Creole backside, tiny waist, pretty face, long black hair . . . and them green eyes—pure evil in ’em, though.”
“They said my daddy run off when we was young and they found him dead, tore up by gators. Sheriff Moore found him on the Louisiana side of Sabine Lake.” Jessica looked into Grand’s ancient eyes and blinked back moisture.
“Wasn’t no gators, baby,” Grand said gently. “Just like it ain’t been no gators eating people like they say on the news, and it sure wasn’t no hurricane that kilt my girl, no more than it was feral dogs that ravaged her body.” Grand lifted her chin. “For all them years, she couldn’t get to my daughter, because Lula had put down protections and barriers . . . but the storm, oh, Lawd, that storm washed it all away.”
“My momma got sick around then, but she passed two years ago,” Jessica murmured, her gaze going from Grand to Justin. “The doctors could never tell why she was getting weaker and weaker . . . never found out exactly what it was. They just said she was sick.”
“Uh-huh . . . that’s an old-time spell. Jus’ make a person waste away for no good reason. Mean. Your momma probably put something down here to keep that Jezebel and her evil ways kept here and away from her young’uns . . . just like my Lula did. Even evil got an uphill battle when going against a mother’s love.” Grand let out an angry sigh. “She prob’ly just sent evil your momma’s direction, seeing as how your momma died from sickness, not from gettin’ ate.”
Jessica’s hand flew to her mouth. “This witch cast spells so bad that she made werewolves?” Her eyes darted between Justin and Grand, and yet she couldn’t read Justin’s frown.