SWNOVELS Chapter 16: The Plan
Chapter 16: The Plan
1 WEEK LATER…
Desi and Bri arrived home from school one day and were immediately shocked to find that Rez and their mother, Eva Marie had returned home from their trip to New Orleans. As soon as they walked in, they heard Eva Marie’s loud cackle from laughing. Desi and Bri dropped their bags at the door and ran directly to the living room. There, they found Eva Marie, their father, Jackie and their sisters, Toni and Rez, sitting on their circular, black sectional. Mama Red was also there, sitting off to the side, in her rocking chair, smiling. They were all in the middle of catching up, as Eva Marie and Rez were telling everybody about their trip.
“Mom!”, exclaimed Desi and Bri as they ran up to Eva Marie and hugged her. Eva Marie laughed and hugged her girls back.
“We missed you,” muffled Desi, as she laid her head down in her mother’s lap. Rez interjected sarcastically by clearing her throat and asking, “And what about me?”
Bri lifted her head up from laying on Eva Marie’s shoulder and said, “Oh yeah. You, too, Rez.”
Everybody laughed at this. Rez rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, “Heifers.”
Mama Red, who was sitting right next to Rez when she said this, immediately popped Rez on the thigh with an open hand. Rez, who was wearing denim shorts that exposed her thighs, instantly snapped her neck to look at Mama Red and exclaim out, “OUCH!”, as she rubbed her thigh.
“Aw hush!” Mama Red stated, as she began to fuss. “You know good and damn well that didn’t hurt you. Now, I’ll tell you what. I may be blind but I ain’t hard of hearing. That’s for damn sure.”
Eva Marie, Jackie & the girls laughed at this for a while. After things settled down, Desi felt herself become anxious and she finally blurted out by asking her mother and sister, “So, what’s the plan?”
Eva Marie raised up from the sectional and walked over to her and Rez’s suitcases that were still standing by the entryway. She reached and grabbed the handle of her suitcase and rolled it over to the sectional and sat back down. Eva Marie unzipped the front compartment and took out a wooden box. It almost looked similar to a jewelry box but very plain. Eva Marie placed the wooden box on the glass table that sat in the middle of the living room.
As Desi watched her mother closely, she noticed there was a metal lock on the front of the wooden box. Eva Marie reached into her front pocket on her t-shirt and pulled out a single silver key.
She handed it to Desi and said, “Go ahead. Open it.”
Desi grabbed the key out of her mother’s hand and looked at all of her sisters. Bri and Rez smiled at her, while hugging each other. Toni scooted closer to Desi and rubbed her back, lightly. Desi began to unlock the wooden box. When she opened it, she found two items: a small cotton tree branch with pieces of cotton still stuck to it and a small glass vial filled with what she assumed to be the rattlesnake venom. Eva Marie began explaining to Desi what she needed to do to reverse Lady’s evil actions.
“For the next week, you are to continue to keep your gris-gris on you like so and you need to sleep with this cotton tree branch under your pillow every night. The cotton tree branch is to signify that throughout all of this heartbreak and pain, you continue to remain cool, calm and soft. No matter what.”
Eva Marie continued on.
“The vial of rattlesnake venom needs to be mixed into some food or drink for the lover. In this case, the lover would be Darren.”
“I understand, mama. But how am I supposed to get them to drink this?” questioned Desi.
Suddenly, Toni’s phone rang out with a notification alert. She took her phone out of her back pocket and unlocked it with her face. She checked the notification and tapped Rez on the shoulder to show her. Rez looked at the notification as she silently read it, slowly smiled and made eye contact with Toni. They both nodded their heads in silent communication as they waited for the right time to interrupt their mother.
“You will find a way, Desi. I’m sure of that. Once Darren drinks this and it’s in his system, he should instantly lose interest in Lady. He isn’t even going to remember Lady or, let alone, dating her. Now, he may or may not get sick, but don’t worry. He may even have to miss school for a few days but he’ll be fine. At the end of the day, it’ll be up to you, Desi, if you want to continue to be with him or not.”, stated Eva Marie, as she made direct eye contact with Desi.
Desi nodded her head and replied back, “I understand, mama.”
Then, Toni cleared her throat and spoke up.
“I think I may have a way of getting Darren and Lady to drink the vial.” Toni pulled out her phone and showed Desi the notification she received. It was a DM from Della, inviting her and the girls to her 31st birthday party. It was going to be at Michael’s house, of course and it’s supposed to be a costume party.
Toni instantly got excited all over again and exclaimed, “We have to go. This could literally be our only shot. I’m sure Darren and Lady will both be there. Why not take our chance?”
Eva Marie smiled, stood up and said, “Well then. I’ll leave you girls to it. This mama’s going to go upstairs, unpack and unwind.” The girls acknowledge this and go back to discussing amongst themselves about the party. Before Eva Marie left, she grabbed Desi’s face with both hands and said, “Je t’aime, mon amour.”
Desi smiled at her mother and replied, “I love you, too, mama. Thank you for this.”
Eva Marie smiled and turned to leave the living room. Desi turned her attention back to her sisters, as they continued to talk about costume ideas, makeup and of course, the plan.