Special Place in Hell

Signs and Symbols

The drive home went by in a blur as my mind was reeling from everything I had encountered. I kept coming back to those symbols. It always irritated me when I couldn’t remember something. And this was important. As I pulled up to my house I took a frustrated sigh and checked my phone. 10 missed calls and six voicemails. Probably all from my sister wanting to know how my first day went. I swear she has no patience for anything. I shrugged, decided to check them later, put my phone in my purse and walked up to my door. As I put the key in the lock I heard Bells come running to the door. Her usual growl turned to panting and serious tail wagging when I opened the door and stepped in. At least she was happy to see me and it was never awkward with her. My Bells, always so loving and ready to bathe my face in her slobbery kisses. I took her outside where she tried to chase a bird, but fell; she’s as clumsy as I am. After twenty minutes of her trying to figure out how to get into the tree to say hi to her new bird best friend, needless to say the bird did not feel the same way, we went in. I gave her her dinner which gave me time to change clothes and sit down with my gazillion voicemails, emails, texts and social media posts that had come in. Everyone wanted to know how my first day was. I had more f*******: friends than people I have met in my life. It seems as though people feel more important the more friends they have on their social media accounts. One voicemail caught my attention right away. My friend Mike had called. He sounded even more off than normal. Something about Tandy, his girlfriend. I quickly dialed his number. After a half a ring he picked up, “Oh my God, what took you so long to call? Are you alright? Have you talked to Shaila? How is Bella? Have…..”

“Stop! Take a breath. Calm down. I said breathe! Okay, that’s better. Now, I was at work, it was my first day. I’m exhausted, but fine. Bells is good. She’s snoring next to me. No, I called you first, but I’m sure she’s fine. Last time I talked to her, she was working on a story. What in God’s name is wrong with you? Now you may speak. Slowly. Go.” As I finished talking, I heard a huge intake of breath and then he launched into the reason why he was so spaztic. Apparently Tandy, his girlfriend of five years, had a vision. She was an interesting creature, but she loved Mike and they complimented each other so well. She had had a hard life. Her daddy had run off with his mistress when she was five. Her mom worked three jobs to support her and her younger brother. When she was seventeen her mom died in a hit and run. To this day, no one has been charged with that crime. Tandy won custody of her younger brother Tomas. The two of them had lived in the poorer part of town, but they never had to worry. They had a voodoo priestess watching over them. Tandy had learned a lot about voodoo from her guardian angel and the neighborhood. She also chose to dress more on the gothic side of life and attended every comic book thing she could. Tomas had just graduated from high school and was off to LSU in the fall. He wanted to major in Religious Studies. He wanted to travel the world helping people. Tandy was sure his interests would change because one day he wanted to be a missionary and the next he wanted to be a voodoo priest and then the day after that he wanted to go into Politics. Tomas always followed his heart too much and had it broken more times than I can count. He was such a free spirit. Tandy was constantly worrying about him.

“Tandy called me in a panic. She said that during her afternoon meditation, she had a vision. A loa had come to her and warned her of impending doom. Something was wrong in the universe and it had warned her that dark times were coming”.

Tandy believed that Loup-Garou was alive and well in New Orleans and he was somehow coming for all of them. Mike wasn’t sure exactly what she was talking about since he tried very hard not to be a part of her voodoo life. Sometimes it got hard because she often talked about being visited by her spirit animal, as she was a dabbling Wicca, or about Papa Legba, who is the keeper of the crossroads. Sometimes she really scared him with all her talk and the mixing of practices. The jist of what Mike got was that Tandy firmly believed that they were all in danger and he very firmly believed in Tandy, so he started calling everyone he knew. Voodoo in New Orleans was its own religion, but still had roots in Haiti. The biggest difference is that it was largely influenced by the Creole people. Most of voodoo has been absorbed by Catholicism and isn’t practiced very much anymore, but those that do practice, do so in secret away from all of the tourism that has become Voodoo. Tandy made each one of us a gris-gris to keep us safe and we all wore them at her insistence. Knowing this, I asked Mike, “I thought that is what our gris-gris were for, so we didn’t have to worry about things like this. What makes this warning different from any other?” Mike didn’t have an answer for me, so we made a plan to meet the next day at Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter to discuss it. Tandy refused to go very far from her home until the danger had passed, however long it took. Mike told me to get Shaila and meet them there at one o’clock pm.

After such a strange conversation with Mike, I needed a Bella hug. So, I rolled onto my side and snuggled with my sweet girl. She could always cheer me up with just one of her goofy Pitty smiles. I loved the way her mouth was different colors. After I was ready and had done my research on which dog I wanted to get, she just seemed to pick me regardless of what I wanted and my perfect plan to get a dog went sideways. I looked at her beautiful brown eyes and her goofy smile and that was it, she was mine. I brought her home that day and we have been inseparable since then. It’s been three wonderful years. She’s been my companion, my trainer, my confidant, and my protector. My Bells has always known just what I need when I need it. She had a hard start to life, she was rescued from an abusive home where she was used as a bait dog. Some horrible human decided that she couldn’t be a fighting dog because she was too timid and sweet, so they used her to make the others meaner. She was their biting toy and when she was rescued, they thought she would have to be put down. Little did they know that my Bells was a fighter. She never held anything against anyone, always ready for kisses and hugs. It was amazing what she did. She had been at the shelter for about a month when I walked in, perfectly ready to get a small little dog that would fit into my life and my apartment. As I walked through and looked at all the dogs, she looked at me and I knew. I knew that this was going to be my dog regardless of if she fit into my apartment. I could get a new apartment. She was standard size for her type and all love and lapdog. She was a bit on the heavy side since she liked her treats a little too much and she knew just how to look at me to get one. Since she ran with me daily, she wasn’t too overweight, just a couple of pounds. I look at it as she just has a couple extra pounds to love me with and me to love her for. She has so many scars and is missing part of her ear, but she is beautiful. If it wasn’t for the scars one would never know she was so mistreated. She is always willing to trust and love all those I willingly let into our house and our lives. I do pity any person who tries to force their way in though, she is very protective of me. I have no doubt in my mind that she would defend and protect me until her death. I’ve often thought about our relationship, she would fight and die for me and I have decided I would do the same for her. Never again will she be abused and hurt.

Before I knew it, the sun had set and the evening news was playing on the television. I had been so content snuggling with Bells and thinking about my parents that I completely lost track of time. I switched off the TV and decided it was time for bed. It had been a long day and my psyche was spinning. “Come on Bella my baby, it’s time for bed.” Hearing the word bed made Bella get up and bound up the stairs in record time. She had her own spot on the bed with me. Most normal dogs would lay at your feet, but not my pitty, she had to have a pillow and blanket and loved to snuggle up to my neck as she fell asleep. I was always amazed at how long she could lay on her back without sneezing. She did like to snore, quite loud I might add.