Eight Letters

Charles Baker made his way down Bourbon St. in a daze, shouts of laughter and louder than needed conversations burst out of each establishment that he walked by and out of the people on the streets around him. The shots of bourbon that he had indulged in earlier, on an empty stomach no less, added to the dizzying effect of his surroundings.
Charles, or Chizzy as he friends called him, was reeling from a recent divorce. The business trip to Louisiana was a nice break from life and the allure of the local culture should have been even more distracting from his woes, but the whiskey had seen to it that he was running through the pains of his recent months and his wife's infidelity that had put him in this awful place.

"Come ease your pain, set things right. Tonight's the night!" a voice proclaimed.

Chizzy looked up, but saw noting, his head spinning as he shifted his equilibrium. "Yes! Amen to that!" he shouted back , but actually came out in a slurred mess.

" Come to the dark and choose your mark." came the voice again.

Charles giggled at the circus like demeanor of the voice and again looked around, squinting as he scanned the streets for the voices source.

"Where are you? Guide my shoe!" he chuckled, amused by his mockery his callers rhyming.

"Here, in the alley."

Charles waited for a "you frigging sally" but none came. Only the voice bellowing again...

"Over here, in the alley"

Charles turned down the alley and saw a small wrinkly black woman, head and body adorned with will all kinds of scarves and various bones and claws hanging off of her.

"Come to me ... let Madam Hill ease your pain" she beckoned.

Charles stepped into the darkness of the alley.

Mindy Baker was just finishing a hot shower after a long day at work and preparing for an even longer night of drinks and dinner with her new friend Steve. Miserable in marriage, Mindy had fallen quite easily for the older partner in the firm, her husband, though, had fallen harder. She deserved better though and continued to remind herself of that. She couldn't feel bad for him. She had a future to tink about and Charles didn't afford her the security that she needed.

Her phone interrupted her musing with a ring, which made her smile more. She made her way to the phone and looked at the display expecting to see a message from Steve. Instead, it was from Charles.

"Miss you" it read. She keyed in eight letters and put her phone down to continue getting ready for her night.

"So...my sorrowful friend, how can I ease your pain today?" the old woman asked.

"Be better if you could cause some." He muttered.

"Ahh, so revenge is what you seek? Madam can help you with this." She cooed, reaching down under her table. "You know this?"

Charles smiled at the ridiculous doll in her hands. A poorly sewn, non descript rag doll, complete with X's for eyes. " A Voodoo Doll? Seriously?" he scorned, noticeably deflated.

"Oh yes, my boy. Very serious. Be sure that you are too if you are going to use it. Madam has the best dolls." She flashed him a crooked smile. "The doll is 20 dollars. The cost of the magic is a kiss for the madam." She replied,

"Why not?" he replied, handing her the bills.

"Ahhh... remember that if you use it, there's no turning back" She said, practically singing.

"Yes. I get it" he replied.,

Madam Hill worked ritually at wrapping up the doll, in plain brown paper. "Mind the pin." She warned. "When you want to use, you need to write the name on the doll and speak the name 3 times. Then you stick it."

Charles laughed a bit at the frankness of the woman's instructions. "Thank you Madam, I hope to ease my pain."

"Your pain will be healed. Kiss Madam Hill now please." She lifted her head up and closed her eyes. Charles leaned in, pecking her on the lips as quickly as possible. Madam hill giggled. Charles turned and started back toward the street, shaking his head with a smile.

Charles Baker fell back to his room and flopped on the couch, head swimming again from the alcohol. Looking down at himself, he saw the half empty bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and the wrapped up doll in the other. The process of association began, working back to the root of his issues and what began as sobbing, slowly turned to anger and yelling. Charles tore into the woman's package and revealed the doll. "Pen...I need a pen" he whispered to himself as he began searching the hotel room. He found one, nestled in the bedside table drawer, leaning up against the Gideon's Bible. He paused to admire the irony then hastily made his way back to the couch. He picked up the doll and wrote.

MINDY


"Mindy, Mindy, Mindy!" He yelled at the doll. He reached over and tore the wrapper off of the pin and jabbed it straight through the doll's heart. He sat staring at the doll breathing heavily. As he sat in silence, he started to become aware of his lips feeling numb. He threw the doll aside, sobbing again and grabbed his phone from his pants pocket, wanting to check on his wife.

"Miss you" he typed into the phone. As he was waiting for her response, he felt the tingling in his lips spreading across his face and through his whole body. He glanced again at the phone and noticed that his hands had started to turn blacked and he dropped the phone onto the ground. He tried to stand, to no avail, and fell to the ground like his phone. He saw the phone light and vibrate and the previewed message had just eight letters.

"DROP DEAD"

Chizzy then did just that.


Roland Bontempo
1000 words.