The Soul Compact (Now Free on Amazon)

Chapter 7

By the time Heather finished her tour of the temple and her talk about voodoo with Jackie, she did not have much time left before the party in the afternoon.  She rushed back to Linda’s house to change.  When she got there, her father had already come back from town.  He seemed less jovial.

“I just had a conversation with your mother,” he told Heather. “She wants you to call her.”

“Ok.  I will do it after the party.”

“We’re not in a hurry for the party.  Call her now because she is very upset.  She thinks that there is devil worship going on at Betty’s house during voodoo ceremonies and she doesn’t want you to go there.”

When Heather called her mother, her mother’s anger had not abated. “I warned you not to get into that voodoo stuff, and now your dad told me that you went to the house of the neighbors who are voodoo priests.”

“Mom, I was with Jackie, the neighbors’ daughter, and she was telling me about what they believe.”

“I don’t want you to get into voodoo.  Did you know that these neighbors are very well known voodoo priests, and that Peter’s father has been to the property?”

“I didn’t know that Mr. Egorov had been there,” Heather admitted, surprised at her mother’s revelation.  “But, it’s not what you think.”

“So, what is it then?”  

“What I’ve learned so far about voodoo is that it’s a bunch of superstitions, like Dad says,” Heather answered, before adding, “Peter told me that Mr. Egorov has been acting weird and saying crazy stuff.  So I’m not surprised that he had come here to Haiti to find answers to his problems.”

“Don’t talk about Dimitri that way. I can’t force you to come back to the states, since it’s your father’s turn to have you. But I’m coming to Haiti to put a stop to this.”

“It’s not necessary, mom.  I’ve already learned all the things I needed to learn about voodoo.  So, I don’t know how coming to Haiti will make a difference,” Heather responded, trying to reason with her mother.

Her mother would have none of it. “I know you don’t understand what’s going on.  You’re just like your dad, thinking you know everything.  So, I’ve decided to come to Haiti with Dimitri and Peter next week, to make sure this comes to an end.”

“Peter is coming to Haiti next week?” Heather asked, unable to hide the tinge of excitement in her voice.

“Dimitri said that Peter is very sick because of some voodoo spirit, but Peter refuses to believe it.  He is only coming because he wants to see you.”

“I’ll be glad to see him too. But what’s wrong with Peter? The last time I talked to him, everything was okay.”

“His speech has gotten slurred and Dimitri told me that was what happened to his wife before she passed away,”

Heather frowned. “Peter told me about Mrs. Egorov earlier and we don’t think it was because of voodoo. I’ll call Peter today.”   Then softening a little bit, she added, “Mom, I don’t like to argue with you.  You still treat me like a kid.  But I can assure you that I’m not into any devil worship.”

“I’m glad to hear that but I’m still coming next week.  You may not believe in these spirits, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.”

They spoke for another five minutes and then hung up. However, Heather’s efforts to change her mother’s views were in vain.  Her mother’s mind always saw everything in black and white, good versus evil.  Heather, on the other hand, also saw shades of gray.