Gum on the Sidewalk

Chapter Eight: The Witch Doctor

We walked in complete silence and nervousness as we climbed the stairs of the courthouse.  I looked at Samantha and groaned inwardly, I still wasn't sure how she'd talked me into this, but I was already here, so there was no backing down.  Unless....

"Hey, wait a minute!  I think I forgot my purse," I lied.

"Oh, you did not!" she yelled back to me, "You just don't want to do this, well, believe it or not, but you're gonna," she informed.

"Why?  This was your idea, anyway," I explained.

"Oh, but you agreed to it," she reminded me.

"FIned, but if anything, and I mean anything, goes wrong, I'm blaming you," I said.

"It would be an honor," she said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"I thought that I was the sarcastic one and that you hated me for it," I sneered.

"Well, I guess I'm finally coming around, aren't I?" she asked.  I didn't answer.

"Hmph, I suppose we should go in, shouldn't we?" I concluded.

"I'll go in first if you want me to.  But get this, you're asking them," she declared.

"Oh really, You were the one who started this, as we just made clear," I reminded her.

"Just go in," she said simply.

"Okay then," I murmured.

I strode swiftly toward the front desk and asked to see the woman that cursed the dress.  I didn't know her name, so I just said that.  What else was I supposed to say?  She was hesitant at first, as I expected her to be, but, obviously seeing that we had business with the woman, she finally gave in and gave me directions.

"She said to go to the first hallway and up the stairs to the left, then take a right down the other hallway and she would be in the third room on the left," I thought aloud.

"Okay, just a recap, first hallway on left, then right, then a left," she said, "Who could figure that out, you'd have to be completely mental," she continued.

"I guess that includes you," I muttered.

"Hey!  I heard that!" she called after me.

"Okay, here it is," I said as I opened the door.

"You could have waited for me, you know," she huffed.

"No, I thought it would be more fun this way," I answered.

"Come in," answered a voice from within.  I hadn't really expected her to sound like that.  I hadn't expected anything, really, but not a deep southern, Louisiana accent.  It was like something out of a tacky fantasy movie.  But then, as I thought about it, so was everything else that had happened in the last few days.

"She don't sound too good," Samantha worried.

"She doesn't sound very well, Samantha," I corrected.

We walked in unsurely and I noticed a whole lot of strange mysterious things.  One of those people who collected antiques would have a field day in this place.  There were demonic paintings on the walls and what I hoped were clay sculptures of skulls cluttering the shelves.  Samantha looked scared, but I couldn't wait to see more.

"Ms..." I started.  I still didn't know her name.

"Gerickkson," she finished.  Not what I had expected at all.

"Ms. Gerickkson, I am Elise and this is my friend Samantha," I introduced ourselves, gesturing to Sam, who had fallen back toward the door.

"Nice to meet the both of you, but why did you come here?" she asked.

"We came because we read the..." I stuttered.

"Read the article in the paper, I figured as much.  You want answers, don't you?" she inquired.  "You want to know how to curse people so you can get back at your enemies at school or something, don't you?  Yeah, I know you young people and your sick ways.  Well, you can forget it becaue I'm not going to tell you.  Now get out before I curse you," she shouted.  Samantha started to leave, but I grabbed her arm.

"We're not going anywhere.  I need answers and I'm not leaving until I get them.  I'm not just a little kid looking to get revenge, I have reasons.  And I don't want to curse anyone, I just want you to uncurse this dress.  Will you?" I demanded.  At that, she turned to look at us and what I held in my arms.

"Where did you get that dress?" she asked as she got up.

"I bought it at a thrift store.  You didn't really think that they were going to keep this, did you?" I laughed sarcastically.  Yep, the old me was finally back.

"No, I didn't, I'm not stupid," she said through gritted teeth.

"Oh!  I never would have figured you to be stupid, of course not!" I laughed.

Samantha ignored my humor and asked, "Will you please tell us?"

"I shouldn't but out of the goodness of my heart, I will," she said, returning the sarcasm.

"Thank you, and would excuse my friend here?" Samantha replied.

"Here goes nothing.  I suppose I should start at the beginning, shouldn't I?  I grew up with the Johnson's daughter, Lillian.  We were best friends all the way up through school.  We told each other everything.  I could trust her more than I could trust even my own family.  When we were in highschool, I had a crush on a boy and I told her about it.  I trusted her to keep my secret and I knew that she would.  But when we went to the formal dance, she had a date, I didn't know who with, and I didn't have a date.  I was very shy and I couldn't even think about approaching my crush and asking him to the dance.  At the dance, I didn't see her at first, I thought maybe she got stood up or something, and I thought about going to her house to see what was wrong.  Then, I saw them together: her and my crush.  I was so angry, I didn't think I could make it through the whole thing, but she saw me and rushed over with her date.  I had to sit at the table almost the whole time, listening to her giggle and laugh with him.  I had to watch as she fed him soft pretzels and popcorn.  I could see it in her eyes that she did it just to hurt me.  I had no idea why she would want to hurt me, though, and I couldn't figure it out.  Then, I found out why.  See, she had heard from one of her other friends that I started a rumor about her, which wasn't true, I swear.  So, she wanted to get back at me.  When we were all walking home together, her, her new boyfriend, and his best friend were laughing at something.  I thought that I had some food in my teeth or something equally as embarrassing, but then, out of nowhere, a group of kids came out from behind some cars and threw eggs at me.  They kept throwing them at me, in my hair and face, all over my dress.  They wouldn't stop.  She told the boy that I had a crush on him after she'd promised not to.  After that, she wouldn't even speak to me or look at me.  And I didn't even do a thing," at this point, she started to cry and I felt sorry that it had happened to her.

"Anyway, I made new friends, and so did she.  She was still seeing him and I still didn't have a boyfriend. After highschool, I thought they had broken up, so I tried to be her friend again.  She pretended she didn't know me, all of her friends had abandoned her to become popular and I thought that she might need someone to talk to again.  Turned out she was still seeing the guy, whom I still loved, and they were engaged.  She was going to announce it at the wedding her cousin was having and I thought that was the perfect time to pounce.  So, I cursed the dress and went on my merry little way," at this, she turned away from us.

We took the gesture as a hint to leave.  After a few steps, though, she turned to us again, whispered a few words that I couldn't understand, and blew a soft powder at us from her chair.  She turned away again, staying silent the whole time.  I could still hear her crying as we went down the hallway.

"It makes me feel so sad inside.  I feel like it happened to me, too," Samantha related.

"I know what you mean, I'm just glad she'll finally get her freedom," I smiled, brandishing a tape recorder from inside my jacket.

"You can really be nice when you want to be, you know that?" Samantha observed.

"And that's what you like about me, right?" I asked, slyly.

"You bet, sister," she answered.