Read The Seer Renee for Free Online

again."
    "I'm
glad. I believe everything will work out well for him." Certainly better than if he hadn't.
    "I've
talked Samuel into attending your celebrations and learn more about Vodou. He
liked the idea of you being available for counsel and medical treatment."
    She had
become a one-woman crusader for Mambo Renee. As of today, she had recruited
three of the ten members in my congregation. I felt pretty good by the end of
the day. My fortunetelling clients were growing as well as my congregation, and
my shop was showing a modest profit. My gut still ached when I thought about Granny,
but I was doing my best to move on as she would have wished. I was ready to
celebrate her life rather than mourn her death.
    I closed
early and wandered aimlessly down Bourbon Street enjoying being out, watching
the people, visiting with other shop owners, and talking with people I knew. As
I approached an alleyway, I heard someone pleading and crying. When I looked,
two older boys were pulling at a young girl. Without thinking, I shouted and
ran towards them. Suddenly, the girl jumped up and disappeared down the
alleyway. It had been a ruse, and it was too late to reverse course with the
two boys only a few feet from me. Their foreheads identified them as Locos.
    "It's
the bitch that has Hector by the balls," the lead youth shouted as he
threw all his weight behind a right hand punch to my face. From years of Bagua
training, I automatically threw my right forearm up as I turned clockwise. That
let his punch whoosh harmlessly by my face. As I rotated, my left fist smashed into
his temple. His head jerked left while his body tried unsuccessfully to follow.
Like a wound up spring, my body uncoiled counter clockwise, and my right elbow
met his face at his jaw line. Something cracked as pain shot down my forearm
from the impact. He flew backward into the other boy.
    "Well,
mumbo jumbo. We were each going to fuck you before we passed you around the
Locos, but Teo doesn't seem up to it, so I guess I'll have to do it twice."
He laughed as he took a knife from an ankle sheath, and his face turned into a
sneer. He was no longer a youth; he was a psychopath reeking of ugliness.
Master Jing had always said I should expect to get cut in a knife fight. The
key to winning was to accept that and concentrate on your attack. My attacker
was throwing his knife from hand to hand as he slowly inched towards me. I
wasn't a knife fighter, but that didn't seem like a good technique. What if you
dropped it...or... I focused on the throws, subconsciously timing the grab,
release, and time in the air. As the knife left his right hand, I moved. By the
time it hit his left hand my knee was waist high. And as the knife left his
hand, my foot drove towards his chest. I could see by his eyes what I was doing
had registered—a bit too late. My foot grazed the knife causing it to
spin away as my heel smashed into his solar plexus.
    I'd been
kicked there several times over the years, and each time it felt like my lungs
had collapsed. He staggered back against the wall fighting for air, and I
kicked him in the groin. When he doubled over, I grabbed his head and drove it
into my knee. I could feel his nose cave in and blood gushed over my pants.
When I let go, he fell backward against the wall. In the silence of the alley, I
stood trembling for several minutes. I had been lucky.
    I returned
home using as many back streets and shadows as I could find. My outfit would
have been perfect on Halloween as my shirt and pants were soaked with blood. Today
it probably would have brought out the SWAT team and got me arrested for
causing a riot.
    At home, I
lay on the bed, trying to understand why two Locos had attacked me. I thought I
had made peace with Hector and therefore the Locos. And I doubted Hector could
send Locos after me without looking weak. Maybe those two were trying to show
Hector how weak he was, or maybe someone hired them. Kweku was certainly mad
enough at me to want