Ch10
Preparation:
Huge plastic carpet (If you don’t bring this, your carpet will be ruined.)
4 Eyes of black birds (Just buy black birds, I will take them out)
5-6 bundles of straw
Pig and cow brains/hearts
Alcohol, 19 oz
At least more than one bucket of thistle
Mugwort
10 garlics
A live chicken.
(These will be easy to find in a Chinese medicine shop)
4 dried spiders – bigger than 3inches
5 dried centipedes – 10inches long
3 living toads
Your hair, nails, and toe nails
Picture when you were young
And buy some food for me.
The butcher’s house was dark and dim. I smelt old animal carcass and iron. I was not sure if it was the smell of blood or not. I saw the butcher walking toward me.
“Here it is. Brain and heart of a pig and cow.” The butcher put down two bags on the counter and looked at me with weird eyes. I gave him $100.
“What are you going to do with these?” The butcher asked me.
“I am making traditional African food.” I made an excuse.
“Ok, then. This one is heart, and the other one is brain. Enjoy your food.” The butcher turned back and walked back to his work. I walked quickly out of the butcher house.
I never believed in miracles. I never wanted them, and I had not expected anything from God. Actually, there was one time I prayed; when Neal was in his accident, I had prayed a lot. But God did not grant my prayer. I definitely did not believe in supernatural stuff. I did not know why I trusted Boldo, or maybe I actually did not believe in him, but my stress and depression was making me run away from the reality.
Yesterday afternoon, I started buying ingredients that Boldo told me to buy. I am not sure if I was doing the right thing. It is not too late to turn back, but what would happened to me if I just turned back? Nothing. I am sick of living like this. After I give my money to Hannah, I will not have anything. Ah! How long was I waiting for the life in the beach house? My quiet and peaceful life, but it is gone.
Before I get into my car, I slowly looked up at the sky. It was full of dark clouds. I smelled the ground. It might rain pretty soon. I was excited yesterday, but today I am a little bit worried about my decision. My mind was filled with emotions that I could not explain. I did not know what to do. I started the car and drove to the store to buy the rest of the ingredients. There were not a lot of people in the store. I saw myself in the mirror in the store. White hair and glasses, white jacket and wrinkled pants; it was a gloomy looking old man. I sighed. I saw people around. I wished Sara was here. It is true. I cannot deny it. I really like her, and I am being sincere. I know, it is ridiculous, but I do. I do like her a lot. What good could possibly happen in my life? This is maybe the one chance I can get in my life! I reassured myself about my decision.
I drove back home. When I arrived at home, I did not see the light in my living room. It was weird thinking that a criminal/shaman was in my house. I was not even sure if he was still in my house. What if Boldo was just a scam and he stole all my stuff and ran away? Maybe all the magic stuff he told me was a lie. When I got into my house, I realized my house was full of a weird smell. It was like burning plants, but stronger. Boldo was not in the living room. I saw the light from downstairs. The downstairs was very dark. It was pitch black. There were only candle lights around in a few places and I saw the fire place was lit. It was hard to see the light around because of the abnormal dark around it. It seemed like those lights were about to be devoured by the darkness. I could not see any furniture downstairs. I felt a strange feeling on my feet and I realized the floor was covered with straw. I saw a black figure was moving. At that moment I saw it, I thought it was a devil; it was Boldo. He was not wearing a shirt and his face and body was painted with some kind of shapes and letters. He was staring at me and slowly asked, “Did you bring everything?”
“Yes…” I showed the bags to him. I could see his dark eyes glowing in the dark. It was like watching a cat in the dark, but only more malevolent.
“Then, let’s start right away.” He smiled; at least, I thought he smiled.
-R-
“W-what’s the smell?” Robert asked. He felt very uncomfortable.
“I made a space.”
“Space?”
“I filled your house with energy. Energy for magic.”
Boldo started searching the bags.
“Oh, good. Good.” Boldo liked what Robert brought to him. Robert could not see Boldo’s face, but he thought Boldo was excited like a child opening their presents on Christmas.
“You ruined my house,” Robert said.
“Don’t worry. It will be just fine.” Boldo spread the ingredients around. “Make sure you lock every door.”
Robert checked all the doors in his house and came back downstairs. This time, he realized there was some kind of dark smoke downstairs, but it did not spread anywhere else. It was very ominous.
“I must say, this will be painful,” Boldo said while he was mixing ingredients.
“How? Physically?”
“It will be both physically and mentally. Have you been burnt by fire before?”
“Yes.”
“It will be similar. Your mind and body will feel a similar pain, however, it is not actually burning you. There’ll be no scratches on your body.”
“Alright.” Robert felt nervous. It was serious, and he was still hesitant a little bit.
“Take off your clothes and lay down,” Boldo told Robert.
“Is there a chance that this won’t work?”
“Generally 40%, but it won’t happen. I have never failed. I am one of the best.”
Robert exhaled.
“Are you afraid?” Boldo asked.
Am I afraid? I don’t know but this is just strange. Robert did not answer.
“You can still stop if you don’t want to.” Boldo grinned.
I am afraid of living the same life I’ve lived for the last few decades. “No, I want to do this.”
Boldo turned his head to Robert and smiled. He put down some kind of rack. It was filled with letters that Robert could not read.
“Sign it with your blood.” Boldo gave him a small knife.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a contract for transferring my curse to you.” Robert cut his finger and wrote his name on it.
“Good, now, I want you to lie down.”
Robert took off his clothes and laid down. The straw on the floor was very hot.
“Drink this. It’s a potion to change your body.”
It tasked like mud with blood. Robert almost gagged, but he finished the potion. While he was drinking the potion, Boldo filled the bowl with blood from the pig and cow’s hearts, and then he pulled out the eyes from the birds and ground them into the bowl. Robert could not watch it anymore, so he laid down, took off his glasses, and closed his eyes. Soon, Boldo started pouring liquid on Robert starting with his feet and working his way upward. Liquid came into Robert’s mouth and he tried to spit it out.
“Stay still. You should not move,” Boldo said.
Robert felt very uncomfortable, and after a minute he realized he started feeling drowsy. Boldo started chanting a spell. As Boldo’s voice got quieter, Robert was losing consciousness. It was dark. After a while, Robert saw the red light. From the red light he saw a big goat-looking animal with big horns. It stared at Robert with yellow eyes. Suddenly, Robert felt a really hot fever covering his body. It was too hot and all around him was burning. The air was very heavy and pushed Robert’s body down to the floor. It was painful. Robert thought all of his skin and bones were being crushed. He tried to open his eyes, but he could not see anything.
Robert tried to scream, but something was in his mouth and he could not scream. He twisted his body, but he couldn’t move. What is this? Is he trying to kill me? If you want, just do it. Do it without pain! He started choking on his tears and snot. Robert could hear Boldo’s voice next to him. He regretted doing the ritual, and he cursed Boldo so many times. Boldo was chanting something and kept spreading something on Robert’s body. Is this pain from hell? Is Boldo doing this the right way? Maybe he is a liar! Let me out of this! Ah, why am I in this pain? What did I do wrong to suffer like this?
His memories were flashing back from the past. He saw himself when he was young. His parents, Neal, his sister Jane, his friends from middle school through college, Nancy, John, and Hannah. Robert became emotional and started crying. Lastly, he remembered Sara’s face. He missed her. He thought that no one would miss him or remember him after he died, so he at least wanted to see someone that he will miss; and it was Sara. Robert became sad. He thought he lived diligently, but he did not gain anything. Oh, why? Why couldn’t I gain anything?! My life meant nothing? My pain meant nothing? He became angry about his life, but he had no power to struggle anymore. Pain was still there and he repeatedly fainted, and woke up many times.
He felt like he was doing this for years and slowly, pain could not hurt him anymore. Next time when he was conscious, Robert found himself on the couch in the living room. He was not sure if it was real or not, and he realized it was his memory. This was from last Christmas…right it was. His house was dark and the television was on. Robert could hear sounds from the television. It was a family Christmas movie. On the table, a rarely touched frozen lasagna and chicken were on, and many beer cans and alcohol bottles were around.
Robert was drunk. He was lying down sideways, and he thought he was a sick and dying dog. He closed his eyes, and slowly, the sounds of television and smell of food were gone. Everything around him turned into white fields covered with snow. His tears were falling down from his face to the ground and it became a stream. Soon, next to that stream, grass and flowers started growing. Small trees and branches grew from his drying body. Trees became big, and fruits were flourishing. It became a forest, and birds started singing. Robert was satisfied with these changes, and all of sudden, it started snowing. Everything was covered with snow, and there was nothing.
That Christmas was terrible. I don't want to experience that again...I want to be happy. His thoughts echoed in his head. Everything was becoming dark slowly.
Robert slowly opened his eyes. I am alive. What happened? Everything was dark. He could feel the ground and his limbs but, for some reason, he could not move. He felt straw around him. He realized that he was covered in straw. Did it work? If it was all a lie, I will go to the police. Robert knew the pain he had suffered could have killed him.
He was staying like that around half an hour and he finally could move slowly. He took the straw off of his face. He found his glasses right next to him. He sat up; everything was still very dark. The fire was almost dying in the fireplace. His view was still very distorted. Everything seemed to be a mess. His body was covered with dark muddy stuff and so was everything around his basement. Everything around him smelled burnt and the straw actually looked burnt. He realized the body he was looking at was not his. He rubbed his eyes, and he realized that he could see clearly without glasses. He saw his hand. There were no wrinkles or age spots. It was a young man’s hand. He touched his face. It was clean and elastic. It was his face a long time ago. He was in shock and tried to stand too fast and almost fell.
He stumbled to the restroom. He found the light switch. Did it really work? He was nervous and breathing fast. With the sound of a click, the light turned on. The light was too bright for his eyes at first, but slowly he could see the young man standing in front of the mirror. His shaky hands slowly touched his face. “Ah…Ah…” That was the only word he could say. He pinched his arm because that was what people say normally, but it was not helpful. He was still not sure if it was real or not. He washed off the liquid from his face. He saw everything very clearly. He stumbled, and slowly ecstasy filled his heart. It worked. I made it. It really worked!
“AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” He screamed with excitement.
I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young. I am young!!
Robert was running around the floor screaming. He fell down, but he did not care. He stood up and kept jumping around. That was the only thing he could do.
Sara! Now I can see her face and talk to her. Robert was just so happy and this time he started laughing.
“I guess you like how you look now.” Robert heard the deep voice and looked back; he saw Boldo walking down the stairs.
“You! You are a true wizard.”
“I am a Romany gypsy, technically.”
“Thank you so much!” Robert tried to hug Boldo but he stepped back.
“You need to take a shower first, put something on.”
Robert was still covered with muddy liquid, but he realized he was not wearing anything. He didn’t care. He was too happy.
It took around four hours to clean up everything. While Robert was cleaning he thought about many things, but nothing was clear. He still could not believe everything really happened. There were piles of trash so he could not put everything in the dumpster. Robert looked around his neighborhood. Everything seemed new to him, even the air that he was breathing. He closed his eyes and felt the sun, wind and sound around him. Everything was lovely.
“You have 80 days,” Boldo told Robert while they were eating lunch.
“80?” Robert pulled up his shirt and found the petals on the side of his belly.
“It took two days?” Robert asked.
“Yes.”
“Will it be this painful when I die?”
“No. When you die, you will die like you sleep. No pain.”
Robert remembered he would die in 80 days. He sat on the couch in the living room. Before he became young, the sound of time clicking was a boring repetitive sound, but now it sounded like a foot step that was chasing him to the end of his life. What should I do first? While he was thinking, he fell asleep. He opened his eyes, and saw his hands right away. It was not a dream that he became young. He exhaled.
“Hey, you are up.” Boldo was walking up from the downstairs.
“Yeah, I can’t believe I fell asleep again.”
“It was a hard ritual. You must be tired. By the way, are you not going to see her today?”
“Yes, I will. I am just thinking how.”
“Just go knock on the door.”
“And then say what? That’s kind of creepy. I need an excuse.”
He started thinking of something coincidental and also natural. He remembered something and went to the kitchen. He pulled out two plates.
“Are you hungry again?” Boldo asked.
“No. These are hers.”
“What? Did you steal from her?”
“No, no. She gave me food before, so I can bring them back.”
“Oh, that’s a smart move. However, I think you should do something about your clothing.”
“What?”
“Look at yourself in the mirror.”
Robert realized he was wearing the clothes he was wearing before. They were drowning him.
“What about these?” Robert was not sure what Boldo was talking about.
“You are not an old man anymore. You are going to see a girl looking like that? She will freak out.”
“Alright. I will go buy some clothes.”
“Can you buy mine, too?”
“Sure.” Robert drove downtown. He realized people were looking at him when he walked around the store. He was not sure if it was because of the way he walked or because of his clothes. Robert went into the first clothing store that he saw. He felt awkward walking into the shop. It was very new to him.
“Hi. What are you looking for?” One of the employees asked Robert. Robert felt that the employee saw him in weird manner.
“I want to buy some clothes.”
“Ok, are you looking for pants or shirts?”
“Uh, anything that a young man wears.”
“Young man?”
“I mean for me.” The employee seemed a little bit confused.
“In here, you can find some of our new designs.” Employees lead Robert to the new clothing section.
“Ok, thanks.” He started grabbing any clothes that he saw and went into the changing room. He bought anything that fit. He bought more clothes for Boldo and paid the cashier.
“It’s $1060.” Money did not matter to Robert, so he did not care about the price of clothes. The cashier looked at Robert suspiciously. After Robert bought his clothes, he saw a Sprint shop. He went in and bought a smart phone with a new number. He walked around and bought stuff that looked nice; shoes, cologne, more clothes and so on. He put everything in his car and came back. His car was full of shopping bags.
“Wow. You bought the world,” Boldo said.
Robert started trying on clothes.
“Try this one.” Boldo handed Robert a blue and yellow colored t-shirt. He helped Robert choose clothes. Robert put some gel in his hair and wore cologne.
“Wow. You are a good looking man. I didn’t expect this from you.” Boldo was surprised.
“Well. Thanks.” Robert sat down on the couch, looking at the plates.
“So what’s your plan?” Boldo asked him.
“Plan? It’s simple. Just…go to her house and give these to her.”
“And then?”
“Then…I don’ t know.”
“What’s your name?”
“Robert.”
“You can’t be Robert. You need a new name.”
“You’re right. Hmmm….” Robert was glad that Boldo was next to him. He was giving good advice. Robert started thinking about stories. He saw the Roman’s Holiday DVD next to the television.
“My name is Joe. Joe Mitchell.”
“How about Jason or Adam?”
“No, I like Joe, and I am a nephew of Robert.”
“Alright. It might work. So, how is she? Do you have a picture of her?”
Robert showed him a flier from the festival.
"She looks...ok. Kind of looks like.. .Audrey Hepburn."
"Yes, she does."
"Is that why you have a crush on her?"
"No, she has...something special. I don't know what it is, but it is some kind of energy or her soul. I don't know how to explain it, but just being around her makes me happy and alive."
"So, how much do you know about her?"
"I actually don't know anything. You might think I am stupid, but I want to know about her.
"Let's find her on Facebook."
"What?"
"Facebook. Social networking. You don't know? Even many old people are using it these days." Boldo looked at him as if he was dumb.
"I think I've heard about it."
"Do you have a computer?"
"I have one that I use for work." When Robert spoke about work, he realized that he did not go to work for three days. However, it was not a matter anymore to him.
"Here. Make your account."
After Robert typed some information, he made his account.
"Ok. So what's her last name?"
"I... don't know. Possibly Olverman."
There were similar names but they could not find Sara.
"Ok, so what else do you know about her? Does she have a boyfriend?"
"I don't know."
"Wow. You are the worst stalker I've ever met."
"Hey, I am not a stalker."
"If you know her Facebook, you can get basic information, so go ask her full name."
Robert was curious about Facebook.
"So you can find anybody there?"
"Yeah, if they have an account."
Boldo looked at Robert's eyes and told him.
"You want to see your children."
"You know what? I don' like when you do that without permission."
"Sorry, but here. I will teach you how to use it."
When he was an old man, it was not easy to learn new things, but after he changed, it was much easier. He had one problem using Facebook which was he did not have any pictures to put on, and he did not have anyone to add. However, he found Nancy's Facebook page. On the main picture, there was a family photo of her, Gary, John, Hannah, Hannah’s husband and their daughter.
"Nice family," Boldo said.
"Yeah… they are." Robert sighed.
"Those are your children? She looks sick," Boldo said about Hannah.
"She does."
"Your son isn’t married yet?"
"No."
"What does he do?"
"He is a cop."
"Oh, really? I better not be around him."
"Don't worry. Neither one of us will ever see them again." That was true. Now, Robert could not meet any of his family. It's ok. Nothing good would come from meeting them. Robert closed the window on his computer screen.
When it was 6 o'clock, he was ready to talk to Sara. He was getting nervous. Ok. Let's go. He grabbed the plates and left. He tried to remember the line he was going to use to ask her out. When he opened the door, golden light showed through the doorway. It was a very bright sunset. He stepped out and put one foot in front of the other. He was so nervous that he tripped and almost dropped the plates. When he got to the door, he could hear her voice. It was very small, but he knew it was Sara's. He pushed the door bell, and when the door was opening he thought he was going to have a heart attack. It was Sara's roommate, Michelle.
"Hi. How can I help you?" Michelle shielded her eyes from the sun.
"Oh, uh, can I talk to Sara?"
"Sure. Just a moment." Michelle smiled and walked back. She was not like that when I was old. Robert thought, but then quickly dismissed it.
"Sara, it's for you." Soon Robert could see Sara walking to the door. Robert remembered when he first met Sara. How she was standing in front of his door. Sara also squinted her eyes because of the light, and this time Robert moved and covered the light with his right hand.
“Hi, I am Sara.”
“Hi, I am Joe. I live next door. Robert’s house.” Robert could not believe it was happening for real.
“Robert? You mean Mr. Mitchell?”
“Yes, right.” Robert could not take his eyes off of her.
Sara recognized her plates.
“Are those my plates?”
“Yes.” Robert handed her the plates and kept talking.
“I am Mr. Mitchell’s nephew. Anyways, he went on a trip, so I am staying there while he’s gone, and he t-told me to buy you dinner.”
Please just say yes. Robert was smiling, but his mind was blurring.
“Dinner? Why?”
“Oh, he said, you gave him brownies and burgers and he really appreciated that.”
“That’s fine. You don’t have to do that.”
Oh, no. I have to make this work. What should I say? What should I say?
“But he gave me the money, already, so, it’s my responsibility to buy you dinner. He’ll check on me.”
“Oh, well. You don’t have to…”
When Sara said that, Robert kind of felt like he had to back up. Ok. One last time, if this doesn't work, I will just give it up.
“He will call me and ask. I won’t know what to tell him,” Robert said nervously.
“Ok. I will go.”
Yeah! Nice! Bravo' Robert got really excited.
“That’s good. You just saved my life.” Sara laughed. “Is tomorrow good for you?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
“Ok. I will pick you up at 5.”
“Sounds good. You said you are Joe, right? Nice to meet you.”
Robert shook her hand and held it a little longer. Her hand was cool. He did not want to let her hand go. While walking back to his home, Robert wanted to scream. I talked to her. I can see her again tomorrow. This is not a dream. It is not...
"How was it?" Boldo asked him. He had changed his clothes and was watching television.
"I am taking her out to dinner tomorrow."
"Oh, it's your first date."
"I don't think so..."Robert realized Boldo was looking in his eyes and turned his head.
"You should stop that; it's really annoying."
"Alright. I'm sorry."
Robert sat down and turned his laptop on.
"So, what's her name?"
Robert realized that he had forgotten to ask her last name.
"I didn't ask. I forgot."
Boldo stood up and looked outside of the window, and left the house. Robert was surprised, but Boldo came back soon. He was holding mail.
"What is that?"
"She hasn't checked her mail yet."
"What? You stole her mail?"
"Hey, I am helping you. You also want to know about her. What if she has a boyfriend? Huh?"
Robert actually never thought about that. He felt insecure.
"Hey, it's Hale. Sara Hale."
That was a pretty common name, but Robert recognized her picture right away.
"She's cute, but normal." Boldo said, but to Robert she was gorgeous. He could not see all the pictures, but Robert was happy with what he could get.
"You’re acting like a teenage girl." Boldo laughed at Richard who was entranced.
"Shut up." Robert ignored him.
"I think there are more pictures but I can't see them."
"That's because you are not her friend yet."
"What do you mean I’m not her friend?"
"You have to send her a request to be her friend; if she accepts it you will get to know more information."
Robert saw the picture of Sara with a guy and they looked really close to each other.
"Keith..." He read the name.
Boldo clicked her profile and her status said 'single.'
"Don't be so sure yet though, you never know," Boldo said.
"Wow this is cool."
"Yes, it is." Boldo was changing the channel.
Robert still felt tired despite sleeping for so long. He wanted to check on his children, but he did not want to ruin his day. That night, Robert did not turn on the television when he was sleeping, and slept in his room instead of the living room.