Witch Clan: Matriarchs by John Stormm (best beach reads of all time TXT) 📖

meet in a dark alley at night. He had to be the tallest Mexican he had ever met, and spooky too. At well over six foot tall, the muscular Latino was also known as “El Brujo,” a shaman or witch doctor of some local renown. He had his own booth at the cantina, where special customers came to consult with him in occult matters.

Dave had met Miguel here at the cantina some months ago. He and some of the guys stopped here for a few drinks after work and Miguel had taken their money in an arm wrestling contest. Being a gracious winner, he offered to tell their fortunes. Some of the guys wanted to laugh it off, but “Big Mig” was not the kind of guy that anybody laughed at and expected to go home in the same condition they arrived in. So, they all sat quietly as the giant did his hoodoo act for them.

Miguel had told Scoop that his wife was cheating on him with his cousin, Bill. Lo' and behold, it turned out to be true. Scoop had left the bar that night and caught them in the act. He shot cousin Bill in the pants and was currently serving time for it. The big Mexican had revealed to Todd, that he would get promoted up to the design department, where his machining skills would be used to make prototypes. A week later, Todd was crafting wing components for supersonic jets at a hefty pay raise. Maybe Miguel had connections in the aircraft company and could get him promoted too. He’d listen to any kind of mumbo jumbo to get an advancement. Dave had a rapidly growing, new family to support and a new mortgage to consider.

He had excused himself from the guys, to go to the men's room and dropped by Miguel's booth on the way back. Miguel had some strange things to say. The first was that Dave's career was jinxed by a child with a devil for a father. If allowed to go on, this child would not only nix his chances of ever getting promoted, but usurp his wife and baby daughter’s affections in the home. The giant sized shaman had taken off his own obsidian arrowhead charm and gave it to him to wear under his shirt for good luck and protection. It was uncanny how much Miguel knew about him.

That very next weekend, Johnny had gotten into a fight with Deacon Green’s son and broke the older boy's nose. The deacon had threatened legal action and if that wasn't bad enough, Green was a manager in another department at the company. His chances of ever being promoted were drifting completely out of reach. What was worse, his daughter seemed to prefer Johnny to playing with her own father, and even Ted and Patty were beginning to express a preference for Johnny's company. They called the boy their little hero. He was desperate. The bone jarring slam of a tequila bottle on the table next to him, startled Dave out of his reverie.

“Jeffe, you asleep or what?” the big man said smiling. “The night is still young and you want to nod over a beer?”

“No, I was just thinking, is all,” Dave said. “I’ve got a lot on my mind these days.”

“I would have a lot on my mind too,” Miguel agreed, “if I had such a devilish creature living under my roof and eating my groceries. Si, I would be very worried.”

“But what can I do?” he implored the big man. “I have to be careful, he’s my wife’s son by a previous marriage. I’ve got to keep my family together.”

“She was never married to the boy’s father,” Miguel said. “That was a lie. But what’s done is done, as they say. Si, you should keep your family together. However, the boy is not yours, and should not be your problem. Now, should he? I have here, a little something that could help you.” He held up a small, green glass bottle of powder in his big fist.

“You...you can’t expect me to poison him,” he stammered.

“No, no,” the giant said with a smile. “This will drive the devil right out of him. The local Indians use this stuff for conjuring spirits. It won’t poison him, but let’s just say, he won’t want to stay with you for much longer. Your problems will all be taken care of and you can get back on the right track with your family. I see some big changes in your future with Rohr Aircraft Company. But you need to see that this ends up in the boy’s food and milk. A little here, a little there, until it’s all used up. Comprendo?” To make his point, Miguel poured a little of the powder in his tequila and drank it down.

“This stuff will give him the heebie jeebies until he has to leave?” Dave asked, accepting the bottle.

“More or less, that’s what it does to the devil’s children,” Miguel agreed amiably.

“My friend, you have saved my family’s future,” he said. “What do I owe you for this?”

“Oh, Senor Dave, I couldn’t accept any money for this,” Miguel replied, shaking his head. “Under the circumstances, it is my sacred duty to help you rid yourself of this devil in your very midst. I am sure you would do the same for me if the situation were reversed. Please, accept my humble gift to bless your family.” Dave pocketed the bottle, paid the tab and left the cantina in much higher spirits.

Arriving home a little late and reasonably sober, he kissed his wife and daughter and brought Johnny some milk and cookies with a discreet dash of Miguel‘s powder added. The boy was sitting on the couch, wearing an imitation coonskin hat and watching Fess Parker as Davy Crocket on the television.

“A peace offering?” Lorry asked, watching the display.

“It’s not that I don’t love the boy as my own,” he said. “I just have some serious concerns about his behavior. With his violent attitude, will our baby girl be safe around him? Did his father have a family history of such behavior? As parents, we have to consider these things, hon.”

“Well, I didn’t know his father’s family,” Lorry admitted. “In fact, Lee and I weren’t married at all. He was my first real love and it didn’t turn out very good. It was pretty bad. I try not to think about it.”

“You still miss him?” he asked.

“No. Of course not,” she said. “He was an evil man. Charming, but very brutal.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to draw up bad memories. What’s done is done, as they say. The past is past and we have a bright future together as a family now.” He kissed her and stepped outside to have a cigarette and clear his head for a while. Miguel was right again. Lorry and Lee were never married, and Lee was a devil of a man if ever there was one. If the big man had been right about so much, then it stood to reason that he was right about this too. The boy would be gone soon, and his future with the company would change for the better. He might even be able to buy a pool and a wet bar and host a few of his own parties. Life would be so good.

It wasn't until Davy Crocket was finished that he began noticing a change in Johnny's demeanor. He had lost interest in the television and was looking about the room and the walls, as if seeing them for the first time.

"Why don't you go fix yourself a bath," Lorry told the boy, "and get yourself cleaned up and ready for bedtime." Johnny looked at his mother oddly and then wandered into the bathroom and ran the water in the bathtub. About ten minutes later, Dave jumped up off the couch at the sound of Johnny's screams. Throwing open the bathroom door, he was greeted by a billowing cloud of steam. As it cleared, it revealed the boy standing in the tub with the hot water tap turned up full, his feet and ankles beginning to blister in the scalding water. Snatching the boy out of the tub and setting him on the toilet seat, he grabbed a towel and soaked it in cool water from the sink and wrapped it around the boy's burned feet.

"What happened?" Lorry asked worriedly.

"It seems he tried to boil himself," he replied. "He was standing in the tub screaming with only the hot water on when I found him."

"Is he alright?" she asked.

"Those are second degree burns," he said. "We're going to have to take him in to the hospital for treatment."

"He's run his own bath water before," she said. "I can't understand what's gotten into him to pull this foolish stunt."

"Who knows what goes through kids' minds these days?" he replied. "You're going to have to stay with the baby and call Ginna to give us a ride to the hospital. Don't worry. This is not life threatening. He'll be okay once we get those feet treated."

Ginna came quickly with the car and everybody made a fuss and remarked on the boy's strange and self destructive behavior. Dave was being made out as quite the quick thinking hero for once. It would not be long before he had one less mouth to feed and his jinx would be gone. As he sat in the waiting room at the hospital , he hummed to himself a happy tune.