Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 

Upon Sabrina’s return to the embassy, Sabrina received a message from one of the maids that Peter had called. She faulted herself for forgetting to give Peter and her mother the number of the new cell phone that her father had given her to use in Haiti.

When she called Peter, Peter’s happy mood from the morning had vanished.  “Are you Ok?” She asked.

“Something weird happened after I talked to you,” Peter replied.

“What is it?” Sabrina asked.

“It’s a long story.  You see, after my dad and mom divorced, my dad remarried and we moved from California to Fort Lauderdale to be close to his new wife’s family.”

“I didn’t know that’s why you moved to Florida,” Sabrina said.

“Yes, but we don’t talk about it much because she left my dad for another man after two months and took all his money.”

“But your father has money,” Sabrina interjected. “Did your father get the money back after they divorced?” Sabrina asked.

“Not really, they didn’t divorce.  Several weeks after she left, I heard that she started to get sick and her speech had gotten so slurred that people couldn’t understand what she was saying.”

“Do you think she was faking it?” Sabrina asked.

“I don’t know, but I heard she went to several doctors who thought there was something wrong with her brain.  But after they did tests, they couldn’t find anything,” Peter answered.

“So what was wrong with her?” Sabrina asked.

“No one knew,” Peter said. “She died a couple of weeks after that.”

 

  “I guess she was really sick and the doctors didn’t know.”

“That’s what I think,” Peter said. “Anyway, my dad just told me that the reason she died was because he sold her soul to a voodoo spirit.”

Peter’s last statement surprised Sabrina.  After recovering from her shock, Sabrina laughed and asked Peter, “You don’t believe that, do you?”

Peter, who didn’t laugh, replied, “Of course not. But that’s not all he told me.”

“So what else did he say?” Sabrina asked, now getting more curious.

“My dad said that after she left him, one day he went to a bar in Miami and met a man, and my dad told him what his wife did and how his wife took his money. The man told my dad there was a way to get back at her and get his money back.”

“Don’t tell me the man was a voodoo priest?” Sabrina said, skeptically.

“No. But the man took my dad to a voodoo priest where, apparently, the priest called a spirit for my dad. My dad told me that he thought it was a joke and agreed to sell his wife’s soul to the spirit.  Then, after that, she got sick and died. Two weeks after her death, my father won what was at that time the biggest lottery jackpot in the state.”

 Sabrina, who didn’t believe Peter’s father‘s story, then asked, “What’s wrong with your father?  Why is he making up a story like that?”

“I don’t know,” Peter replied. “He looked stressed lately. But that’s not all.”

“Don’t tell me that he told you that his wife has come back as a zombie?” Sabrina joked.
“No, but he said that during his meeting with the spirit, the spirit asked for the names of his

relatives and that the spirit said he wanted a soul every year for five years.”

“Now the time is up for the second?” Sabrina asked incredulously.
“Apparently, yes. My dad now believes that the spirit was real and that if he doesn’t follow

through, one of us will be next.
                “So what do you think?” Sabrina asked Peter, trying to gauge Peter’s mindset.

                “I think it’s a bunch of bull and if my dad believes in this, he will need to see a shrink.”

                “That’s what I think too,” Sabrina agreed. “Anyway, I’ll be spending some time with my dad’s girlfriend who knows a lot about voodoo. Maybe I can get some pointers from her to save you both,” Sabrina joked.

                “And maybe you can make me win the lottery too,” Peter joked back before both hung up.

 

##

                When Linda came to pick them up that evening, Sabrina had just woken up from an afternoon nap. She felt refreshed and couldn’t believe all the events that had happened already on her first day in Haiti.  After she spoke to Peter earlier, she spoke to her mother and got her mother very upset when Sabrina told her that she wanted to know more about voodoo and to write about it.

“Can’t you learn something else?” Her semi-religious mother had asked. “Getting into voodoo is not something you want to do because it’s not what God would want.”

“I cannot talk about the Haitian culture without talking about voodoo,” Sabrina protested. “What you’re thinking about is what you see in the movies. My dad told me of a proverb that says that Haiti is ninety percent Catholic and one hundred percent Voodoo.  So if I have to write about my experience in Haiti, I have to write about voodoo as well.”

Sabrina and her mother then argued for an additional ten minutes.  When Sabrina realized that she couldn’t convince her mother, she gave up and decided that she would not talk to her mother anymore about her interest in voodoo. 

When Sabrina left her bedroom, after her nap, everyone was sitting in the living room waiting for her.  In the room, besides Linda and her father, there were also two other boys who seemed to be Sabrina’s age.  One was very good-looking and reminded Sabrina of the high school baseball player she had a crush on when she was in ninth grade, and who never noticed her because he was busy chasing girls on the cheerleading squad. 

“This is Ronald, my son,” Linda said, introducing the handsome boy, “and this is his best friend Marc. “

After the introductions, they talked another five minutes about the plans for the next two days, before departing for Leogane.

They were in Linda’s large blue Lexus SUV.  Ronald was driving and his friend Marc sat in the front passenger seat, while Sabrina, her father and Linda sat in the back.  Linda sat in the middle between the two of them. The road surface was in bad shape, causing Ronald to drive around several pot holes, while avoiding numerous Haitian Tap-Taps, which were large and colorful passenger buses.

“Sabrina, what did you want to ask me about voodoo?”  Linda asked.

Sabrina, who didn’t expect the question and didn’t have time to think, said, “I’m not sure yet.” Sabrina then thought for one moment to figure out what she wanted to learn, and then finally asked, “What are zombies? Do they exist?”

Sabrina’s question prompted Linda to laugh, and addressing Sabrina’s father, Linda said, “I like this girl. She gets right to the point. ”

“I told you,” Sabrina’s father mockingly warned Linda.

Instead of answering Sabrina, Linda turned to Marc, who was sitting up front, and asked, “what do you think Marc?”

“Me?” Marc asked, as if not understanding the question.  Sabrina was also confused.  Sabrina had learned earlier that like herself, both Ronald and Marc had just finished their junior year in high school.  She could not understand why Marc would know more on the subject than Linda. 

“Don’t be shy, Marc. Your mother told me that you have gone through the Kanzo process,” Linda said.  Seeing the confusion on Sabrina’s face, Linda continued, “Marc’s mother is married to the brother of the President and they own a beachfront villa next to mine.  Both are practitioners of the voodoo religion.   Marc’s mother was supposed to be at the brunch at the presidential palace today, but she had to cancel because her husband was not feeling well.”

“So, what’s a kanzo?” Sabrina asked, getting more curious.

“Kanzo is the second level of initiation that someone goes through before becoming a voodoo priest,” Linda explained. When Linda saw Sabrina looking at Marc, puzzled, Linda continued, “There is a misconception that voodoo is only practiced by poor Haitians.  It’s because most Haitians are poor.  However, voodoo is a religion also practiced by wealthy and educated people who are attracted by the mystery surrounding the spirits that appear in voodoo ceremonies.  It does not matter whether you are Haitian, or black or white.  In fact, besides Marc’s mother, there have been several famous white American voodoo priests living in Haiti.”

“Do zombies really exist?” Sabrina asked, still looking for an answer to her question.

“Of course,” Linda answered.  “There have been prominent cases of zombification in the past.  I don’t know if you’ve heard of Felicia Felix-Mentor and Clairvius Narcisse. They were dead and buried but were seen alive years later. Apparently, they were released from where they were being held, after the people who had turned them into zombies died.  However, this type of voodoo is rare and is practiced by less than 5% of voodoo priests.  The most common form of voodoo is called Rada and that’s what most Haitians practice,” Linda explained before adding, “If you have any more questions about voodoo, you can ask also Marc or his mother when you see her this weekend.” 

After Linda finished her explanation, Linda leaned her head on the shoulder of Sabrina’s father, who was sleeping, and slept herself, leaving Sabrina with more questions.  Sabrina looked at the back of Marc’s head and realized that for someone like Marc who knew so much about voodoo practices, he had not said a word, which made Sabrina wonder if he was hiding something.