Kiss Me, Curse Me

Ahanu and Coreen hid amongst the tree line, spying on the men talking quietly on his porch. Seeing them clearly in tones of yellow that persisted with his vision, Ahanu recognized all of them.

“Who is it?” Ahanu hesitated. “Your father and Hank.”

“Hank? He’s there? What’s he doing there? My father?” Coreen ducked down, guilty. “They’re looking for me.” Ahanu said, noticing the sheriff with his shotgun. Kneeling next to her, he took her hand in his. “There’s something you need to know.”

Coreen lowered her head. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” She watched Ahanu’s sharp features, his nose twitch. “It is . . . I can tell. I can feel it.”

“I should have told you earlier, but there’s—”

“You can tell me now. I know, we have no control over what has happened today. I feel like I’ve been running for days now, months even. I feel like I’ve been lost, but I’ve finally been found. You found me. We’re here—together.

“They think you are dead.”

She went silent and covered her mouth in surprise. “Dead, not missing?”

“Dead. I left your dress for them to find. They think I killed you. Well . . . Hank does, anyway. I don’t know about the rest of them. That Ed guy told them some lie about me.”

“Ed . . . who’s Ed?”

Ahanu pinched his nose as he felt the anger rising up in him. He took long sighs to calm down. “He doesn’t matter. You’re obviously not dead. I don’t know where my mother is. I don’t see her there with them. I don’t know what to make of it.”

“They think I’m dead?” Her pretty face filled with sorrow.

“What did you want me to do? I mean, I didn’t know what to do. I had to buy time.”

“Oh, I’m not mad, just sad. My dad . . . my mom is already gone. He’s lonely as it is and— God, I just don’t know.” She stood up.

“Get back down, they’ll see you there. What are doing?” Ahanu grasped at her, drawing her back to him.

She squirmed underneath him. “Let me go. I need to see him. I can’t do this to him.”

“Shh. . . shh. . . we can’t go out there. My father is loose. We don’t know what’s going on. I can’t protect you if you run over to them. I have no control.”

Tears ran from her cheeks as she struggled. Knowing that he was right she eased up on her fight and relaxed back in his arms. “My dad thinks I’m dead. I—”

“Just let me think about this, okay? I need a minute here.”

The moment was a blur for her. When she looked up at him, his eyes were aglow. He looked beautiful in the dark. She pulled his strong arm back around her and snuggled into him, envisioning walking down the aisle with him in her dream dress . . . only to realize that her dream wedding wouldn’t be a dream wedding without her father’s acceptance. She sat up again to face him.

“What? You’re fidgeting,” he said.

“Nothing.” She glanced away and knelt up a bit to take another look over the bushes at the men on the porch, then glanced back at Ahanu.

“Relax please,” he said, knowing her curiosity often got the best of her. But he never expected what happened next as he watched his fiancée make a dash for his mother’s house.

Just missing the hem of her black tunic, he instinctively chased after her. If she was going down, he was going down too.

“Dad . . . Dad . . .” Coreen called out to her father, who turned in shock at the sight of his daughter tumbling toward him, wearing a black sack. “Coreen? Is that you? Is that really you?” Patty opened up his arms.

Father and daughter embraced in full force, joined soon by Hank. The three of them cried tears of joy and happiness under the glow of the moon.

“I’m so sorry, Dad. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what to do.”

Ahanu snuck up behind them all and stood at the foot of the porch.

Doby lifted his shotgun up. “Back up now. Back up.”

Ahanu stayed put.

Upon seeing the Ahanu, Hank took a run straight for him and hit him dead center in the gut with his head and arms. “I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you. What did you do to her?” He punched like a madman, and Ahanu took the beatings without resistance.

“Get off him, Hank. Get off him.” Coreen ran to Ahanu’s aid and tried to haul her old boyfriend off of her fiancé.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, break it up, guys. Break it up,” ordered the sheriff. “No . . . no . . .” said Patty. “I want to see this. Let them at it. I’d join in myself, but—”

“Dad! Don’t let him do this. That’s my fiancé.”

The beating stopped as Hank looked up at Coreen. She stood over him pleading with her eyes.

“What do you mean?” Hank said, bewildered. “Oh, Hank . . . I . . .” Coreen put her arms out to him. “I don’t know where to begin.”

“You’ve been cheating on me?” Hank looked back at Ahanu. “With him—this guy—right here?”

Coreen covered her face with her little hands and began to sob. Patty took her in his arms, helpless to do little else. The news had bottomed them all out.

“I’m going to kill you,” Hank yelled even louder, even angrier. He began to strangle the life from Ahanu. Pointing the shotgun right at his face, Doby ordered Hank to back off. But Hank stayed focused, withdrawing from his belt the knife Ed had given him earlier.

“Back off, Hank. Back off,” Doby warned. “I don’t want to shoot you, but I can’t watch you kill him in plain sight. Back off.”

“Listen to him, Hank. Please don’t do this. Don’t kill him. I love him,” Coreen cried.

“You can’t marry this Indian. What are you thinking?” Patty said to her, but no one seemed to be listening.

“I was going to marry you.” Hank cried. “I love you. I bought the ring. I was going to propose the night of the fair, but you ran off, Coreen. You ran off and you left me. I thought you were dead. We found your bloodied dress on the bank, and we searched for you there.” Hank tightened his grip on Ahanu’s neck with one hand, holding the knife steady with the other. . The tears ran hot across his face. “I love you, Coreen. I want to marry you. I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead, and here you are just like that, and I’m just a fool.”

“Let me go,” Coreen screamed at her father, squirming free. She fell before Hank, begging. “Let go of him, Hank . . . please . . . if you truly do love me, then let go of him.”

“I can’t,” said Hank, consumed with rage. “You’ll have to kill me.”



***



“Did you see that?” asked Raska—her Russian accent thickening the more uneasy she became. “I keep seeing something moving amongst the trees ahead.” She bopped her body back and forth behind Betty who kept a quick pace.

“You didn’t see anything. You are tired.” Betty stopped and the whole group fell into each other behind her, worried more about what might be in the woods than where they were going. “Come on now, we keep going. We’ll be lucky to get there by dawn at the speed we’re going.”

Before continuing, Betty quickly scanned the line, noticing Rose slumped into Doc. He was supporting her. “Doc?” Betty called out.

“She’s been shot. We need to get there soon; I’ve done what I can for now to stop the bleeding.” He tried propping Rose up a bit more, but she could barely stand. “I won’t be able to carry her.”

Biting a knuckle, Betty gave him a nod in acknowledgement and ordered a few girls next to him to help out, taking turns aiding Rose along. They tried to pick up the pace even though their feet and legs ached, their bellies rumbled, and their hearts sagged. With Rose injured, they ended up just slowing to a snail’s pace.

“We’re going to have to stop,” said Doc. “I’ll stay here with her if you can go on ahead quicker and get me supplies. If they even have any. Where are we headed?”

“Doc, we can’t stop. They will be following us, and we have to get there. We need to keep on here; we need to lose them now. You can’t stay behind. They’ll find you, then they’ll be hot on the rest of us, and before you know—BAM! I don’t think we can hold up another attack, Doc, not yet anyway. It’s been awhile since I’ve been out where we’re heading, and well. . . I’m not sure on the supply situation.”

He shook his head in disagreement but knew the woman was stubborn and he’d never win the argument. Her reasons did make some sense anyway, so he stumbled along with Rose. The girls weren’t much help to him, though they tried.

They were all tired—the situation dire. Raska muttered along about old stories of Russia and the war and her mother. Betty tried to listen, but her mind wandered. She thought about her lost girls—Singapore and Sammy—their bodies burning away without a proper burial. She thought about the rest that died on that field or were still alive, bleeding to death.

It was tragic. She’d had to shoot that preacher. There was just no way around that. The image of the madman swirled about her thoughts, crashing amidst the sad tales of war from her seaberry.

It wasn’t too long before Betty noticed a figure farther up ahead of them. “Girls, wait . . . just a sec.” It was too dark to discern much other than it was a man.

“Who is it?” said Raska, going up on her toes to see.

“Shh. I don’t know,” said Betty, putting her arm up in a protective stance, knowing she had plenty of bullets for whoever it was. She cocked the stiff hammer.

“Now, now . . . no need to shoot.” The familiar, southern voice came like a hot knife cutting a juicy steak.

The smile on Betty’s face was remarkable, her relief and happiness obvious. “Roy, Roy . . . where on earth have you been? We sent you out yesterday. What happened?”

He didn’t answer, pushing the horrible experience in the cave deep down into the depths of his soul, and just went straight for the hug. He picked his dark-haired beauty up with both arms, spun her around, then gently put her back down. “I would tell you—if only you don’t shoot me. I don’t take kindly to that sort of treatment, especially from a lady.” He smiled too, taking a smooth pause. All eyes were on him. “But first I have to ask what y’all are doing out here?” He scanned the small group. “Doc! You too?” Then he noticed Rose slumped over on the old man’s rickety frame. “Oh, Doc, let me do that. I’ll take her.” To the rescue, he swept the redhead up into his strong arms, realizing something terrible had happened, seeing the blood, the blackened faces, the blackened clothing. He raised his brows at Betty, waiting for an explanation.

“Roy, we’ve been chased out of town by fire. We need to keep moving. I’ll tell you the rest when we get to where we’re going.” He conceded, and the group pace finally quickened.



***



“Hank! I’m telling you now, you let go of him. I will shoot you. I won’t kill you. You’ll just be in all sorts of pain—pain you’ve never felt. I’m going to give you to the count of three.” said Doby, aiming at Hank’s back.

Ahanu’s face was almost purple as the blood trapped in his head, but held strong under the grip.

“One. . .”

“Hank, just do what he says,” said Patty.

Coreen stayed on her knees by her two partners.

“Out of the way, Coreen. Back up,” Patty yelled.

“Two. . .”

Quickly Patty yanked Coreen out of the way. She fought him, but he was too strong for her weak muscles.

“Three. . .” Doby approached Hank and smacked him in the back of the head with the butt of his shotgun. Hank rolled to the side, unconscious.

“I thought you were going to shoot him,” said Patty.

“Naw,” said Doby, dragging Hank’s body next to Ahanu, who choked his way back into the present. “You’ve got a lot to answer for, son. You better start talking. We can do it here or at the station.”

“My mother . . .” was all Ahanu could sputter out.

“She’s not here, son. We’ve been looking all around, but no sign of her,” Doby said. “You tell us the truth, and we’ll tell you what we know.”

“She’s in her room.” Ahanu said. “She’s there. Did you look for her there?”

“How do you know where she is?” Doby asked, looking back at the cabin.

“I know,” Ahanu said. “I need to go to her. I can’t explain right now. She’s going to die if I don’t get to her.” He scrambled to sit up, but Doby pointed the long barrel directly at him.

“You heard me. You don’t explain, you’re not going anywhere,” Doby said.

“Let him up,” Coreen cried out, squirming under her father’s hold. “He needs to save her. Let him go.”

“Calm down, honey. Calm yourself,” Patty said. “Speak now, son. Your mother can wait,” said Doby. “I looked in her room myself. She’s not there. Now talk already.”

Reaching up and crying out, Ahanu felt all the pain and agony of the world wash over his being. He knew his mother was going to die in a few moments. He could see her blood draining across the floor, spilling down into the cracks. He wanted to go to her, and at the same time, he didn’t want to reveal his true strength in front of those who viewed him as an enemy. He fought with this. “I faked Coreen’s death to buy us time. She was injured, holed up in Betty’s bedroom at that place in town. Let me go now.”

Patty’s jaw fell open at the unexpected news. “Betty?” He let Coreen go. “You were at Betty’s?”

Just as appalled that her father even knew of Betty, Coreen scrunched her face in revulsion. “You know her?”

Patty looked down, distressed, torn at the thought of his little girl being held in that place, that the woman who had recently warmed his heart had known the truth and not told him. His expression suddenly turned angry. “I need to go now.” Ahanu said, watching Patty, watching the confusion in all their eyes. “Wait a second,” Doby said, “All this trouble to hide an injury. The two of you did all this, caused all this chaos and pain . . . for what?”

Ahanu laughed at the sheriff’s words, “Because she was on her way to meet me. Me . . . an Indian . . . oh. . .” He shook his head and laughed mockingly. “Because you all are so accepting of the likes of me. She hates you all, you know.”

“You hate us?” Patty asked his daughter. “You hate us . . .”

Coreen started to cry. “You don’t understand. I just do what you all think I should do. I go on with my days and act the good little girl, like you want me to, but inside I hurt. I love Ahanu. I love him. I knew you would never accept that. I went around with Hank. I did care about him, but I don’t love him. I never have. He’s just there.”

“Coreen . . . Coreen. . .” The distaste in her father’s voice was apparent.

“See? Even now, even after all this. I knew this is how you would be. I’m alive, Dad. I’m alive. Ahanu saved me. I almost died, but he helped me. He deserves credit for this. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. You need to accept that. You need to accept him. We are getting married. I want you to be there. I want you to walk me down the aisle.”

Patty grabbed the top of his balding head in disbelief. He glanced over at Doby for support, something, but Doby was already heading into the house in search of the ill-fated Indian, who’d suddenly vanished.



***



“There it is,” said Betty, approaching the small cabin. “He has even more skulls . . . I thought he had plenty before.” She made her way onto the porch, turned, and faced her girls with her hands on her hips and a wink for Roy. She spread out her hand before them. “This will be our new place. Kanti owes me one. He can’t refuse.”

Some showing alarm, some still in shock, the girls stared at all the skulls dangling from the beams of the porch roof. “You want us to stay here?” said Raska.

Betty nodded.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” said Doc.

“Kanti, you said. The man who lived here? Ahanu’s father?” said Roy.

“Yes,” said Betty. “He owes me one—a big one.”

“He’s not here,” said Roy, pointing at the mess of dried blood Betty was standing in.

She jumped back from the wide streak, noticing the trail coming from the door back out along the grass. “Oh. . .”

“There was a struggle of some kind with his son. I don’t know the details really. We were on the search for this Kanti man, something about a curse.”

Doc gasped, “The curse . . . the curse. I told you.”

“What? That old Indian story?” Betty shook her head in disbelief.

“Kanti tried to kill his son. They were on defense; I was tagging along with them. I wasn’t quite sure of it all till we reached that cave.”

“Oh no. . .” said Doc. “You didn’t go in, did you?”

“I didn’t have a choice in the matter.”

“What are you all talking about?” said Betty. “I mean, I know Kanti well. It was just herbs and stuff. He was a kook.”

“Can we just go inside?” asked Raska. “Rose needs help, or did you all forget?”

There were murmurs amongst the girls—some didn’t want to go inside. “Sleep outside then,” said Betty, fed up with the nonsense. The madman flashed in her mind again, speeding down D Street. She shook the thought away and prepared to assist the pair of doctors with removing Rose’s bullet—after first making sure her two bags of money were tucked away in the back of Kanti’s room. She and Raska laid Rose on the makeshift bed of the Shaman. “Fur, aye?” said Betty. “His tastes have improved over the years.”

Raska and Roy searched the place for alcohol but found none. They did find some towels and knives. With Betty holding tight to Rose, Doc extracted the bullet from the girl’s shoulder as she moaned in agony. “There’s no fishing line in there? There must be fishing line. That’s all I can smell in this place. Look. Find something. I need a hook too.”

“You heard him,” Betty ordered Raska, as she watched Doc holding pressure to the wound until they could get something to stitch it up.

“Will she be okay?”

“If we can keep the wound clean, yes. I don’t know how, though, without any alcohol around.”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll find something in this place. I’ll go look too.”

“I’ll join you,” said Roy.

While the girls searched upstairs for fishing line, Betty and Roy took the steps down. They entered the sacrificial room.

“I don’t like this place,” said Roy. He shivered involuntarily when he noticed the python curling on the ceiling above them. “I have a bad feeling about staying here.”

“It’s fine,” said Betty. “I’ve been here before.” She shivered too then, recalling her darker days. “There’s more to this place than meets the eye. If anything, we can hide here for the time being. Besides, there’s nowhere else to go. East of here is just desert. You won’t be catching me going that way.”

“What are you going to do then?” Roy asked as he found a spool of fishing wire and a hook on the table with a myriad of other wretched tools. “Here we are. I don’t want to know what went on here. I’m telling you, this isn’t good. I don’t care what you say.”

“You let me worry about that, okay? In the meantime, we’re staying here. I’ve decided. I’m not leaving this town. I’ve been here longer than most of them. They won’t be rid of me that easily. I’m not scared of a little fire,” said Betty with her wicked grin.

Roy gave her one back. “Neither am I. I follow you.” He leaned in for a kiss, but Betty turned her cheek.

“Not now, my southern wonder . . . later.”

Arm in arm, they delivered the fishing line.



***



The moon glinted through the split in the brown curtains. Ahanu stood at his mother’s bedroom door as he had done a thousand times. Her room had been a sanctuary for him when he was young, snuggling into her under the sheets on a cold winter’s morning. The room didn’t look so comforting now. It was in shambles. Some force had been through there—some terrible force had ruined his entire home, the only place he’d ever really known besides the forest.

She was not there, as the sheriff had said, but he felt her there nonetheless. He moved over to her bed and sat there noticing the blood upon the floor—his mother’s blood. He stood in a panic, scanning for a sign of her. His heart sank. “She’s dead. I missed her. She’s gone.” Ahanu fell back onto the bed and sobbed uncontrollably. “I could have saved her. I am too late.”

A familiar, deep laugh echoed around him as he heard the sheriff in the background trying to get back into the house, which was now sealed, under a Shaman’s spell. “You killed my mother,” said Ahanu. “You said you loved her.”

The laugh quieted to a low, resonating voice, “She’s with me now,” said Kanti.

“Give her back to me. You can’t have her!”

“You can join her.” The voice beckoned all around him.

“Yes . . . take me too, Father. I can’t live this life without her.”

The voice laughed again, shifting from the ethereal to the physical.

Ahanu looked up to see his father standing before him in his bloodied mess, cradling the body of his mother in his arms. Kanti laid the delicate body on the bed next to his son. Even in death, his mother was beautiful, her simple white house dress covered in blood, her face untouched by the tragedy of it all. Ahanu glanced away to see the moon, to feel its pull, to feel its call—the wolf stirred in his loins. The wolf moved inside him. It wanted only one thing—

“Kill your father,” it said. “Take his place,” it ordered.

Turning to his father, who held up the same bloody knife he’d used to kill Dyani, Ahanu lowered his head in compliance.

“I knew you’d come,” said Kanti. “I knew if I took her, you’d join us.”

Ahanu stood very still waiting for his father to approach.

Kanti lifted the knife above his son, his eyes bright, his teeth white, his skin red, his motive known. As he brought the knife down, Ahanu grabbed his father’s wrist, twisted hard, and snatched the gleaming blade from his hand. He stabbed him in the heart, pushing the knife all the way in, to the hilt. Twisting the knife once, twice, he eased the dying man to the floor, covering his mother’s blood with the body. “Your blood, my mother’s blood—they are one—but you will never have her soul. I will find her, and I will save her. Go to the wolf, Father. He calls for you. I release you to him.” Ahanu still held the knife firmly, blade inside the man.

The Shaman held on to Ahanu’s shoulders, blood oozing from his mouth, while his own son watched his life fade. He took his last breath—the Shaman closed his eyes. Ahanu picked up his mother’s body from her bed and carried her outside and stood on the porch of his family’s only home, stood before Doby, Patty, and his girl.

“Coreen, this is my mother. I want you to meet her. She is no longer with us, but her spirit is near. I can feel her now. She is with us even in death. She gave me this life. She loved me with every ounce that she ever was. I want you to meet her.”

Coreen rushed to Ahanu and held his mother with him. He kissed them both. Together they cried. Together they grieved.

“Our town is cursed,” Ahanu decried. “And I’m the only one with the power to end it all.”