Heres an older piece I put together earlier this year, for those who may have missed it. Please enjoy. SUKEY AND THE ALL-WANDERING EYE Deep in the bowels of the Louisiana bayou, where the black water wreaks from the death of lost souls, lives a craggy old toothless soothsayer named Malvina Susannah Vernier. Her ancestors originally hailed from France, where a member of her family accompanied La Salle’s 1682 exploration of Louisiana, which was named for King Louis XIV. Her family came from old world money, and grew with the knowledge that cotton excelled in the deep south. Malvina Susannah, or Sukey as she is called, wasn’t fortunate enough to reap or inherit any of the profits from the plantations success. Sukey’s Father was very promiscuous with the slave women, during the time before the Civil War, and thus Sukey’s family was raised in obscure poverty. Now, one hundred years later, in the year of our Lord, 1950, Sukey is a withered old half French, half Black woman, dirt poor, living , and scratching up a few dollars here and there, by selling tonics, telling fortunes, and reading palms. Some say she is psychic, and has the gift, while others simply say she’s crazy as a bed bug. After each reading, she collects donations, and then to the enlightened customer she gives a business card that reads, Madame Sukey, Palm Reader, And Foreseer Of Your Future. She feels that the Your line in her card will promote repeat business. Sukey lives in a weather beaten log cabin nestled deep in the woods along a bayou trace in Vermilion Parish. The Parish sits twenty five miles southwest of Lafayette, Louisiana, and approximately eight miles northwest of Vermilion Bay. Sukey spends most of her day in the outdoors, working her tiny vegetable garden, or searching the wooded area nearby for edible roots and berries. Some say she concocts her potions and magical elixirs from the gifts received from Mother Nature, while others believe she toils over a black cauldron, casting spells and such. There are those that believe Sukey is over one hundred years old, and it’s her magic that keeps her youthful. These true believers in the occult, are the ones who supplement her tonic sales, and also spreads the word of her uncanny abilities to look into the beyond. Sukey withholds secrets that not even the craftiest of Cajun Magi possess, and if the truth be told, was handed down these secrets from a wiley old gypsy passerby. One evening, some ninety years ago, a traveling caravan of gypsy’s were passing near the Vernier Plantation, when one of their wagons lost a wheel. Master Vernier allowed the gypsy’s to camp down by the river, while repairs were made. That night after supper, Sukey snuck down to the campsite and hid in the bushes, awaiting the magic she was sure that these people would conjure up. It wasn’t long before Sukey happened to look beyond the fire, and there, sitting alone beneath a dimly lit lantern, sat a craggy old hag staring straight at Sukey. This startled Sukey so, that she up and started to bolt away, but there in the path blocking her retreat, was the little gray haired woman. Sukey’s breathe caught up in her throat, and just before she was about to scream, the old woman said, “steady my child, or you’ll wake the dead.” Sukey’s eyes were as big as saucers, and her heart was pounding louder than the music being played around the fire. “What is your name child, and why are you lurking in the bushes?” Sukey found her voice, and sheepishly replied, “I’m Sukey, and I didn’t want to disturb anyone. I was just curious and wanted to see. I’ve never seen a gypsy before.” The old woman told Sukey that her name was Madame Grizelda, and later that evening, after gaining Sukey’s confidence, they sat alone outside Grizelda’s wagon, while Madame Grizelda filled Sukey with one magical tale after another. Soon, as the fire burned low, Sukey decided it was time to head home, but before leaving, Grizelda took Sukey’s hand and said, “My child, I see the spirit in you, a strong powerful being that will fill your life with the all wandering eye. The eye that can see into the future, and because of this I want to share with you a very special and powerful book. This book of incantations has been passed down through many generations of my family, but seeing’s how I have no children of my own, I wish for you to have it. I myself have seen into the future, and knew you were coming tonight, and so I pass this gift on to you. Sukey accepted the gift graciously, thanked the little old woman, and started to leave, when suddenly she turned around to give Grizelda a hug, but Grizelda had vanished. Sukey never saw her again. Several years later, with the gray hairs of age creeping about Sukey’s head, she was soon to discover how important this magic book was. On the night of Halloween, Friday as it were, Sukey was just preparing herself for bed, when there came a knock at her door. Sukey, unafraid, opened the door, and there standing on her front stoop was a young woman. She stood there bedraggled, visibly shaken, and covered from head to foot in mud. Sukey said, “Yes my child, what can I do for you?” In a quivering voice the woman replied, “Please ma’am, may I use your phone?” Sukey then replied, “I’m sorry my dear, but I haven’t one. Please won’t you come in? You appear to have had some trouble.” Now the flood gates opened, and the young woman began to sob relentlessly. Sukey helped the young woman to a chair by the fire. While the woman tried to compose herself, Sukey went into the kitchen and made them both a cup of hot apple cider. When Sukey returned, she sat the mugs of cider on the coffee table, handed the woman a damp towel to clean herself off a bit, turned and said “What is your name child.” And the young woman replied, “Grizelda Beauchamp, but people call me Grizzy.” With a smile on her face, Sukey took up her mug, sat in her rocking chair, and said, “Now Grizzy, what sort of troubles have brought you to my doorstep?’ Grizzy told Sukey a tale of fortune, greed, and death. It seems her boyfriend, John, and she, were at a nightclub in Lafayette, where John was gambling with some money he had received from an inheritance. “Well,” Grizzy said, “As with most sordid and backstreet establishments, the games weren’t exactly on the up and up, and John soon found himself on a losing streak. As John continued to lose, I became concerned, and began pleading with John to stop. At this point, John was so inebriated, he became angry, told me to leave him the hell alone, and then screamed, “Who’s running this damn crooked joint, Al Capone?” It was then Grizzy said that she and John were escorted into a back room office, where sat a greasy fat man in a suit too small, with sweat stains about his collar, and an air of disdain that dripped from his cotton coated tongue. He looked up and said, “Do I look like Scarface?” As John started to reply, the owner waived him off, and continued, “Well, it seems you’ve run up quite a tidy debt in my est, uh, joint was it? So tell, me sir, just how do you intend on paying this bill? I mean five thousand dollars ain’t exactly chicken scratch.” John, being as drunk as he was, couldn’t hold it in any longer, when he blurted out, “I ain’t paying you shit. Every game in this joint is rigged, and if you lay a finger on us, I’ll have the law down on your heads faster than you can say Elliot Ness.” “Well, Grissy continued, this was more than the owner could stand, and with a snap of his fat stubby fingers, John and I were bound, gagged, and shoved into a back alley van. I’m not sure how long we drove, but it seemed like maybe thirty minutes, when suddenly we stopped. As we were escorted from the van, all I noticed were the bullfrogs and crickets, and the putrid stench that invaded my nostrils. I knew then we were near the bayou swamps. Now, while we were being taken to this desolate location, I managed to losen the ties on my wrist, so as soon as we were taken from the van, I freed my hands completely. Unnoticed by the henchmen, and while they dragged John to the murky waters edge, I slipped off down the embankment on the other side of the road, and ran for my life. I could hear them shouting, and thrashing through the underbrush, trying to find me, but I was running as fast as I could, trying to make as little noise as possible. I don’t know how long I’ve been running, but suddenly I found this dirt road, that carried me to your doorstep.” Sukey, listening intently, finished her mug of cider, sat it on the coffee table, reached across the table, and taking ahold of Grizzy’s hands smiled and said, “Your troubles are over my dear.” “What do you mean” said Grizzy, and Sukey replied, “I’ve known you were coming for quite some time.” It was then that Sukey told the story of Madam Grizelda, and the wandering Gypsy caravan. Then Sukey got up, went into a back room, and returned with the book of incantations that had been passed on to her by Madam Grizelda. She told Grizzy about the all wandering eye, and how she was able to see into the future. “You see,” said Sukey, “You’ve been on the path to my doorstep ever since you were born, and now it’s time I passed the book onto you.” Grizzy looked up at Sukey and asked, “But what about the men chasing me, and the owner of the nightclub?“ Just then there came a screaming sound that reverberated through the moss covered trees, and as Sukey and Grizzy went out onto the front porch, all that could be heard was the chomping sounds of alligator jaws, and the bones that snapped like twigs. Sukey was smiling as Grizzy turned around, and Grizzy said, “Okay, let’s say I believe this tale. If it’s true, then what about the nightclub owner?” Sukey took up a hurricane lamp, that was sitting on a table by the door, raised the wick, lit it, and said “Follow me my child.” They went around back of the cabin, to the doors leading down to the cellar. As they descended into this cavernous black room, Grizzy noticed the strong odor of burning hair. As the room lit up, Grizzy could see hanging about the walls, all sorts of herbs, snake skins, animal heads, and on one wall were shelves covered in bottles and vials of who knew what elixirs or concoctions. There were no chairs or tables in the room, but sitting smack dab in the center was a stone hearth, with a big black cauldron sitting atop some glowing red embers. Sukey and Grizzy made it to the center of the room, and standing before the big black pot Grizzy said, “But Sukey, I don’t see what this has to do with the nightclub owner.” Sukey told Grizzy to lean over and look into the pot. When Grizzy leaned over and looked in, there floating about in the gurgling green froth was the nightclub owners head. Grizzy, startled, and taken aback, whirled quickly about to ask Sukey how this was possible, but Sukey was nowhere to be found, and Grizzy would never see her again. Grizzy then knew what her future would hold, and so she rushed upstairs, picked up the book of incantations, and started learning all about the all wandering eye. THE END
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 00:45:00 +0000
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