Things are finally going my Way

Chapter 4

Rhett’s POV

I was still happy about Evie agreeing to tutor me when I get back home after school. My mom is a stay at home mother, but she is also a manbo, or mambo as some call her. Her mother was the last high priestess, and her grandmother had started the practice of Voodoo over 80 years ago. My mother is a wise woman, and my father is quick to support her in all that she does. He believes that the success that he currently has and will ever have in business, and in life, all resulted from blessings from the God's and our ancestor’s blessing us. I think he is right. After my mother took over the temple almost 9 years ago, we have had even greater success and wealth come into our family. Dad is a firm believer in what mom is doing and although he and I do not usually go to the temple or participate in the ceremonies or rituals, we go when she tells us to.

My mother had been a believer all her life. She knows a lot about both the history or Voodoo, as well as what is needed to be done to please the both the Gods and our ancestors. To most Voodoo is dark, and violent. That is not what it is, but I have to say that even though most say they are not intimidated, or scared of it, they don't like coming to my home. They are all terrified of pissing my mother off. I doubt mmy mother would do anything to them, but she could, if she wanted to.

My grandmother died about 5 years ago, and since that time my mother has gotten even deeper into the religion. She spends a lot of time at the temple, and she makes sure to kept the temple clean and ready for the service. There is a lot of prep work involved. You don’t just show up and have a regular church service. There are several God’s that can participate in one ritual, it depends on what your current needs were, as to who you would be calling upon. They each like different colors, different objects being given as tribute, and even different foods being placed onto their alters.

There are God’s for protecting your baby. Single mothers wanting to have protection have their own. If you wanted love and romance, you would call on Erzuli Freda. My grandmother drilled the god's into me every summer, so I would know who to pray to specifically, for what I needed throughout my life. I remember very clearly her mentioning Ogo to me, who is the God of justice. There are many more, but I have to admit the older I got, the less I listened to my mother and grandmother about it. Plus it has been 5 years since I have been given a reminder, so my memory is hazy. My mother keeps a shrine to each, with all their favorite things, and tribute's that they like best on it. The devotees of all of the temple are allowed to go and pray at the alters of the God's that they need help from, after their rituals are complete.

Mom handles all of it, without us. We just end up reaping the benefits of what she is doing. Voodoo is more mainstream here in New Orleans as the religion is not how it is depicted or protrayed in books and movies. It is a religion and God's play a large part in it, but it also includes the ancestral spirits. My mother explained that Voodoo is a way to open the door to the spiritual realm, allowing it to come through and interact with us. She reminds me all the time that we can still learn so much from the spiritual realm. She said that asking the spirits of our ancestors will allow us to make better choices in our lives. They inform us, and influence us, in ways that most cannot possibly understand. My mother is very passionate about her religion, and I know that she has been praying for my safety and protection while I have been playing football. I am the only one on the team who has not been seriously hurt. I know that her prayers, and the prayers of her devotees are what has kept me both safe, and helped me get the scholarships. I know that they will also be praying for good results for me to get the grades I need in calculus.

It sometimes comes as a surprise to some that my mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother have all been Voodoo Priestesses with their own congregation, devotees, and have a temple. Most people are surprised that my mother is a high priestess. Even more surprising that she comes from a long line of high priestesses. My family has loved and valued the religion for many years. Well before I was even born, as my great-grandmother was very knowledgable of the practices, and rituals of it. At its core it is about healing, not just yourself, but your family, and your community. You just needed to pray to the specific God that you need help from. No matter what area you need help in, they can get you the results that you need

You may think that I am joking, but the nondescript woman, or man in front of you at Whole Foods might be a member, or devotee. Religion is taken very seriously by many down here in the deep south. There are a number of different types, up to and including Voodoo, and Hoodoo, which is similar, but not exactly the same. New Orleans Voodoo is a mix of the practices, taking influences from African ancestor reverence, Native American earth worship, and European Christian occultism. A lot of people just assume that Voodoo is just something evil, because of just not knowing about the subject. Books and movies have always tried to put an evil spin on it. It seems like they are actively trying to make it seem like it is devil worship, or something bad and or dangerous, but it is not. With over 60 million practioners worldwide, it really is a valid religion.

I really wish people would look into a religion before bashing it, as I have heard it over and over again how "wrong" it is for my family to be practicing Voodoo. Aparently it would be better for everyone, if we just belonged to another religion. I am glad that most here in New Orleans know more about it, and are more accepting of it. Even my girlfriends family is a little weary of my mother. Being a high priestess is a very imporatant position, one that is not given lightly. She knows a great deal, things that I have no idea about, honestly, I do not worry about what others think of my mother. I love her and I know that she doesn't have an evil bone in her body.

I can smell what my mom is cooking for dinner as soon as I reached the main level. I walked up and greeted my mom as she headed over to the fridge to grab some vegetables to cut up for dinner. Dad won’t be here for almost an hour, and from the smell of the kitchen, I can tell that she is making jambalaya. It is my favorite meal so I am even more excited about dinner tonight, I am really hungry. I grabbed a big bottle of water, and snagged some of the vegetable’s that she has washed in the sink. I am glad to see that she is also make some cornbread to go with it. Dad loves this meal too, and it will help him be in a better mood tonight when I ask him for the $1,000 that I need for Evie to tutor me.

My mom is a great lady, and she dotes on me and dad. We are her whole world and I know that she does everything she can for us to have what we need. There are only three important things in my mom’s world: me and dad, her temple, and how she appears to others. I have never seen my mother not totally put together. Even at 6 am she is down here cooking breakfast for me, completely dressed and in full makeup. She always looks great, no matter what she is doing. Mom has blonde hair and green eyes, and keeps on top of her fitness. Dad has brown hair, and brown eyes, and I take after them both, with Dad's brown hair, and my mom's green eyes. She also instilled appearance in us too, telling me to always try and look my best. She always tells me that perception is reality for most people, even more so than how we actually are. She feels like since we are an important family in the city that we need to at like it at all times.

My dad’s business is very successful, and she takes pride in showing us off. Even at the yearly summer BBQ that my dad throws for his employee’s each year, my mother always looks flawless, even in the sweltering heat. She always goes the extra mile to make sure that the employees know that we care about them. Our families name is important in this town, she reminds us of that all the time.

I have been thinking a lot about what Evie said to me, about her getting hurt being my fault. She is right, it is. I didn't care enough about protecting innocent people, I just let Hillary do what she wanted to avoid fights, and be able to have sex with her. I see now that I never realized just how mean Hillary actually is. I could see it today though, when she was laughing like a heyna as Preston damaged Evie's school books. She was very happy to have him do that, like she was happy that her friends physically assaulted Evie this morning. It is like I never knew who she was as a person. Admittedly, I only cared about her looking good, and our sex life, but I don't know if I want to be pushed together with her anymore. She has gotten really maen lately, and I wonder if some of the fault of that lies with me letting her do what she wants, and me backing her up.

It is not because I am interested in anyone else, because I am not. I had found Hillary to be the hottest girl at our school. I am not attracted to Evie at all, so I don't know why . She is skittish and shy, and yea, we may have picked on her. So what, we picked on most people at school. I don't see where the problem is with that. People needed to learn to stand up for themselves, they will be walked on their while lives if they can't figure it out. I think that if Evie can get more confident, that she can excel in both her school life, and personal life.

I think that I will try to give her pointers to help her. I will also make sure people stop picking on her. I didn;t know that she was having to go through all of this, but clearly Hillary has put a target on Evie's back for whatever reason. She has hated her from the moment she arrived in our school. Hillary loves to tear Evie down, and I am going to put a stop to it from now on. I will speak with Hillary about it in the morning, and tell her to chill out. I need Evie to be focused as the subject is boring to me, and makes it hard for me to focus on it. I will be needing all the help I can get.