Chapter 2: Marie Guidry

I had lived my entire life on this farm. Really not a farm. I mean we never planted anything it was too small to be profitable. It was only 160 acres of pine trees that we sold every few years to the local pulp wood company. They replanted and waited another 20 years to do it all over again. The only planting we did was in the fire lanes, or game breaks as dad called them. We had plenty of deer, turkey, quail and rabbits. Dad and I always enjoyed hunting in the fall and winter when there was no business.

What business you ask? Well dad ran a harvesting business for years. I grew up throwing hay bales then driving tractors or grain trucks. Now I was sole owner of a business that I never planned on having.

When dad died I inherited two combines which could be used to harvest corn or soybeans, and a grain truck used to haul the grain to market. Along with two tractors, hay rakes, big bale balers and square balers, the house a barn and equipment shed and 160 acres. It was a pretty big operation and though I did not like it, it had made our family a living for a lot of years. I decided to keep it running.

It was a couple of weeks after the funeral that I was in the garage. Our mechanic, Virgil, a man about my age who I had went to school with asked about my twitch. I played it off as something I would grow out of over time. In reality it was getting worse. I was thinking about going to the V. A. hospital and getting some of those pills I had thrown away.

That’s when he said I should see if his sister could help me.

I knew his little sister. She was about 6 years younger than me. I had seen her at my ball games sitting with her family.

“Marie always had a crush on you.”

“I figured she did but she was what 6 years younger than us? I imagine your uncle, the sheriff, would had me under the jail if I even talked to her.”

He laughed and said I was probably right but now she was a pretty 22 year old girl who had her own store outside of town. I asked what she sold.

“Look I know some people don’t believe like we do. She sells herbs, charms things like that. She is somewhat well known around here with our people. She has helped lots of people with addictions and anxiety. Might work on you. Who knows? But I think you should try it before you get hooked on some type of drug that maybe you can’t quit.”

He made a lot of sense and I asked where her shop was located. He gave me an address which I knew. I asked if I needed an appointment and he said no. As he replaced an injector on a tractor I drove into town and over to Marie’s shop.

It was just as you can imagine. It smelled strange as I walked in the door. There were charms, dolls and everything you could imagine hanging not only on the walls but from the ceiling. When she heard the bells on the door ring she came out of the back.

“Brian I’ve been expecting you. So glad you came.”

The bewildered look on my face make her laugh.

“No voodoo involved. Virgil called.”

I laughed with her and then she did the unexpected. She put her arms around my neck and kissed me on the lips!

“I have wanted to do that for years. Now sit here at the table and tell me about yourself.” There was an old wooden table in the shop with two chairs. She pulled the curtains closed on the windows and locked the front door putting the closed sign in the window.

I started when I was in the hospital.

“No, start when you entered the Marine Corps.” So I told her my story.

She looked into my eyes the whole time I was talking. When I was finished she asked if I was hungry. It was lunch time and I had eaten breakfast before 7 am so yes, I was hungry. She took me by the hand and led me thru the door at the back of the shop. That’s when I realized that her shop was actually an old house. She used the front room as her store. The next room was a kitchen. I sat down as she put dishes on the table.

“I made some gumbo this morning. Hope you like it.” That’s what that smell was this morning! I haven’t had gumbo in years. And it was delicious! I had two bowls. Marie is a good cook.

Let me tell you a little about Marie Guidry. Her family moved up to this part of Mississippi years ago. Why? Who knows? It was known around town that her family practiced voodoo. Her mother had died when Marie was young and her grandmother raised her and Virgil. That woman did not get out much and there was a reason. She was a voodoo queen. She dressed the part, wearing black all the time and using white make-up on her very black face.

But back to Marie. She has grown up that’s for sure. She is as tall as me in her tennis shoes and me in my boots. She has long straight hair pulled back into a ponytail. She has amber colored eyes and a face that does not have a flat nose or big lips. If she was not so black she could pass for Hispanic. But she is black as a lump of coal. The thing that I cannot take my eyes off of are her breasts, 34-d! And to top it off I know she is not wearing a bra! Her nipples are trying to poke holes in that tee shirt.

I break my stare as she puts a cup of tea in front of me. She is not drinking a cup. I ask why not and she replies, “This is the start of your cure.” I look at it. It is a yellow color. It looks nothing like any tea I have ever seen.

“Drink it while it is hot.” I take a sip, it is bitter.

“What do you think is wrong with me? Maybe brain damage?”

“Your problem is not physical. The problem is with your soul. Brian you saw something and your mind is trying to forget it. I am going to help but you have to trust me.”

“Okay Marie. Do your thing.”

I was trying to be glib. I was again staring at those big tits.

“Finish your tea.”