In Dire Straights
Chapter 5
Victoria Coleman’s POV
I heard Rhett coming up the stairs, and schooled my features to not show Rhett the amount of stress that I am under. Our businesses have not be doing as well as they used to do. I do not want to cause Rhett to worry over our problems. He already had enough on his plate making sure that he keeps his grades where they need to be. He is a great kid and both James and I are so proud of him. I have been working on the puzzle of how to fix this for us for almost 2 months now, and I am really starting to get desperate.
I know that I have been struggling ever since my mother passed away unexpectedly almost 5 years ago. It took a toll on me, and I admit that I changed a great deal from that point on. I have managed to hide the pain, and anger over her loss in my heart from them for all these years. I should have been able to save her. I am worried that I can’t keep this up, and that when my secrets are exposed, that he and my husband, James, won't love me like they used to. There are things that I have done, and things that I am currently doing now that I know that they will be shocked to find out.
My devotees have changed over the past 4 years. I have been making a number of big changes especially here lately. These changes are always for the good, and betterment, of both my family and my devotees. I have doubled down on what I know works, the things that I know that the God’s demand for us to do, in order for us to get the reward that we are seeking. I have been listening to the voices that speak to me during my possessions during my ceremonies for the last few years. There are new voices coming to me. Voices that I have never spoken to before, in over 30 plus years of practicing this religion. These new voices are leading me to embrace the changes that I know are needed to make to my husband's businesses improve, and my followers get blessings too.
I know that I need to put my complete faith in what I know in my heart needs to be done. I have been fighting some of my devotees on what I was being told to do at first, I even lost several of them. But after a lot of reflection and prayers, I know that this is the next chapter in my life. I have to give the God’s the reward that I believe that they have been asking for, and I plan on giving it to them. I need to get us all back to whole again.
We have always done sacrifices to the God’s in Voodoo. Unusally it is animal sacrifices, with the practice going back for centuries. You can see them all the way back to biblical times. You cannot ask for something from the God’s unless you are willing to give something back to them in return. You cannot ask for favor, especially a large one like I am making of them, without making a large sacrifice of your own. I need to be restored back to where we were several years ago, when my mother was still alive. I already know that this will be my largest request since I became a high priestess. I know that you can’t maintain favor with a deity if you cannot appease them with a gift.
“Hey mom,” Rhett said to me as he threw his arm around my shoulder to give me a quick hug. He must have been working out since he got home from school. He hug was gone almost as quickly as it came and I headed over to the sink. I smiled and greeted him back moving over to start to clean the bell peppers, onions, and carrots for dinner. I am making jambalaya for dinner tonight, I know it is his favorite.
“Mom, I need to ask a favor, and I hate to ask, but can you, or dad, give me $1,000?” Rhett asked and I immediately stopped chopping.
“What do you need $1,000 for? Is something wrong with your car?” I asked him genuinely concerned.
“No, the car is fine, but I have to get a calculus tutor to make sure my grades stay where they need to be. I need a certain GPA and it is down to the wire now. I thought I had it, but Mrs. Larkin said if I don't get high grades on the next few exams, especially her final, I could lose my scholarship. I need to start tutoring tomorrow, and she only agreed to do it by getting paid. I need to give her the money tomorrow” Rhett explains. I can’t control the frown I get from hearing this. Things are pretty tight right now, but he has no idea how tight things actually are for us. I don’t want him to worry about money, he already has this hanging over his head.
“I believe we can do it. We will ask your father over dinner” I smiled at Rhett, and he relaxed grabbed an apple out of the tray on the counter and took off to go get a shower before dinner. I know that I have money in the safe for emergencies. I think that it might be best for us all, if I just grabbed the money he needs from my stash. That way we don’t have to stress James out at dinner. He is really at his wit’s end with how badly the businesses have been declining in the last few years. If it continues, we might have to sell his business off, and we will never get a good price for it. The vultures are circling and will never pay fair market for it. I need to go ahead and start making plans on how to fix this for both my family, as well as for my follwers.
I get the food in the large stockpot to simmer for the flavors to blend. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided to go head downstairs to get the $1,000 for Rhett right now. He has worked so hard to achieve his dreams and he is almost there. I am so happy for him and could not be more proud of the man he is becoming. I know that he will do great things, and I will make sure to be specific in my requests that I make, after I get my plan in place. I already know who I will ask to participate in the sacrifice with me. Not all of my followers will be on board with what I have decided to do. I just need to figure out how to get it done without getting caught while doing it.
I know what is best for my family, I will also be going in to speak to my ancestors again soon, before I make the final decision. In my heart I already know what needs to be done, despite me not wanting to do it again. I know that I need to go bigger with the sacrifice that I am offering. I have to save my husband's business, my son’s dream of playing professional football, and to revive my temple. My membership is down to about 25 people now, and it used to be over 45 of them. I am filled with shame as I know it is all my fault. I have twisted it from the healing religion that it originally was, and forced it into what I needed it to be. That is the real reason why my temple size is shrinking. The ones who knew what I was doing wrong ended up leaving me. They said that I was making it more about what I needed, instead of what I had been taught it was supposed to be, it was the beginning of the end for me.
That is the reason that I have to do this. I will swear to the God’s that once I get us back to where we were, that I will remain a loyal follower of this wonderful religion. I will make sure that I will follow what my mother, and grandmother taught me, to the letter. Right after I make sure that we are restored back into our rightful spot with the God’s. As soon as I have appeased them, and established my close relationship with them again, I know that they will give me what I am asking for. I know that they will also give my devotees that come along with me to carry it out that night, what they are asking for, as well. I got a total of $1,300 out of the safe, getting a little extra so I can give Rhett some money for the week, and some for me as well.
I head up to the kitchen, after putting my money into my apron pocket. No sense in him seeing that I have a large sum of money just laying around. I can see him stirring the jambalaya for me when I returned to the kitchen. I watch as he sneaks a taste from the spoon. I can see his smile from across the room. I take the spoon back from him and tell him, “Here is your money Rhett, we don't have to ask your father for it now. I was just gone for a few minutes, you need to wait for dinner, it will be ready when your father gets home from work.”
Rhett grabs another bottle of water and heads into the living room. I heard the TV come on, and I try to focus on what I needed to do to carry out my plan. This is really big, and I can never allow myself to get caught while doing it. I would be finished in this city, it would destroy our reputation. I have used some of my inheritance from my mother to buy some land about 35 minutes out of New Orleans. I never wanted James and Rhett to find out about what I am doing, but I am going to need their help. I know in my heart that this is exactly what needs to be done. I know in order to get something big, you have to give something big. I just need to stop dragging my feet and do it.
I know which members of my practitioners that I will approach to get this done. I have help from three of my male devotees, and one of my female devoteees the last time. The land I purchased is near a local gator tour and basically around here, if there is a body of water, there is probably a gator in it. I put a storage shed out there, and it has the tools we need to do this already inside it. I have been making plans for months. I put a fence around it to keep nosey neighbors out. We have everything we need ready for us to use. I need to stay focused to remind me why I need to do this. I refuse to feel guilty over this, the fate of everything that I hold important is at stake. I have to get this done, no matter if I like it or not.
Tonight at dinner, I will lay it all out for them. I already know that they will be shocked and probably disappointed in me. But I hope that they will listen to what I have to say to them. It is something that has to be done to save our family, our business, and my Temple. No matter what, I will just have to make sure that they both understand that I will be needing their help to find a proper human sacrifice to get us aligned back to where we used to be.