At the foot of Mt. Gimie, tourists go on the trails with their guides, and where there is a luscious forest filled with amazing species of animals. Mt Gimie was in the Canaries district. Plenty of tourists climbed the Mountain, but they could not see the spirits that lived among them.
Aimee had come to see Papa Bwa see if he could help her because he was one of the oldest spirits. Aimee loved the lush scene at Mt Gimie. She thought she heard the Amazona Versicolor coming towards. Her, as she walked towards the foliage to greet Papa Bwa and there, she saw an old short black man covered in donkey hair with a beard of leaves and trying to hide his cloven foot.
And Aimee said to him Bon jour Vyé papa (Good day-old father) and Papa Bwa answered her “Bon jour Ladjablès Ca va.” and Aimee answered, “Mal vyé papa.
I need your help. I need to get out of this curse. I met someone who is not afraid of me,” the Ladjablès said
Papa Bwa responded, “I cannot help you; I know nothing on how to break the curse ti manmay (child).”
“But there must be a way Papa to defeat this curse,” Aimee exclaimed
And the Vyé Papa replied, “I know of no way to break the devil’s curse. It would help if you went to the orishas and asked them to guide you and help you find a way to break this curse. But Ti manmay, you made a pact with the devil. It is hard to break the curse.”
Aimee nodded her and left Papa Bwa miserable, and she heard the Amazon Versicolor, but it was nowhere to be found as this one was hiding in the leaves.
Aimee then said, “come out, bird, what do you want, and why are you following me?”
The bird still did not come out, and Aimee continued to move out of Mt Gimie, and she walked towards the falls and could hear the bird following her, but the Amazona was elusive, and Aimee was in no mood for the games; it was playing. She was too tired to play this cat and mouse game because Aimee felt exhausted all the time. Sending men to their deaths was draining, even though she was immortal, but she guessed it was what Lucifer wanted, and she did not know what to do it. Papa Bwa did not have the answers and told her that she needed to head to the orishas, but not many people prayed to the orishas in Saint Lucia. The islanders were mostly Christian, Catholic, more specifically. She wondered if she prayed to Mother Mary would the mother of Jesus show up to her. Aimee said the Hail Mary, and after she fell asleep, she woke up a few minutes beside a waterfall and a woman who wore a blue head wrap and a bright blue dress and whose skin was very dark, and who had eyes that were very brown,
Aimee asked, “Who are you? “
and the woman looked at her and showed a rosary, “you forgot who I am even after you prayed to me,” and she recognized the woman was the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.”
Aimee said, “Oh Holy, Mother, I am sorry that I didn’t recognize you. I have a lot to think through.
“My child!” said the Holy Mother, “your curse can only be broken if you genuinely love and sacrifice yourself for love. That is the only way your deal with Lucifer can be broken and that you can be free from this predicament. When you find, someone you love, then this curse will be broken.”
“Take heed, ti manmay. It is going to be a long fight for you.” And the Holy mother disappeared, and Aimee woke from her sleep, and there she saw the Jacquot the (Amazona Versicolor) sitting on top of her.
It was still dark in the forest. Aimee had men to destroy but someone who was tired and spoke to the Jacquot. Get off me, Bird! I thought you were extinct!” The bird, with its green colour and its cobalt blue forehead and its turquoise cheeks and scarlet breasts, responded, “non-Ladjablès, not extinct, vulnerable” if the forests are saved. My kind and I will be forever.”
Aimee then glared at the Jacquot. What do you want from me? What are you doing here? “Well, I want to help you, Aja, the orisha of the forests knows more about your plight. Papa Bwa would not know much about the curse that Lucifer gave you. Also, since you agreed to become immortal of your own free will, you need to be cleansed of this wrong. Free will is huge with these deities.” Said the Parrot.
“So, bird.” Aimee retorted back to her, “do you think I can be free again?”
“Well, only Aja can tell you.
“Is she here?”
“You must come back another time to visit Aja. “
“So, tell me, Parrot, do you worship the orishas or this Christian God?”
The Amazona responded proudly, “I do not worship these deities. They did not create me. I am indigenous to the island. I worship the deities of the Taino and Kalinago. They are the ones who created me.”
And Aimee responded, “can the spirits and deities of the Taino and Kalinago (Caribs) help me? They can help me; they are the oldest in this land.”
And the bird replied, “they might be able to help because they are the oldest of Hewanorra, but that does not mean that they know about this curse and how to get you out of it. Your best bet is with the orishas and this Christian deity. “
“Parrot!” Aimee said to him, “are there any Kalinago people left on the island?”
And the Amazona started chuckling, “they never left. Yes, they are still here, in the forest and in the mountains but not many. Why do you ask? The Kalinago cannot help you with this. This is not a curse of theirs or our deities. Find Aja, and she would help you find answers.” Then Amazona Versicolor flies off to hide in some foliage
Aimee left the forest to lure more men to their deaths. She will have to find Aja another day and find a way to break this curse because she could no longer live like this. She saw how people looked at her, how the locals were afraid of her. Everyone was afraid of her women, children, and even good men. However, the men she demolished were evil, and if they were not evil men, they were not good people, but she was feared, and her face was that of a dead person even she was horrified of herself. What could she do? Was she stuck this was way for eternity?
***
Present Day
Nikita decided she would go and look for Aimee, it was late, and it was not even 4 am Monday yet, and she was drunk. She did not mean to upset Aimee. She was not ashamed of her. It was just that the cow’s foot bothered her, and she could not have sex with her thinking of that cow foot. Nikita puts on a pair of green shorts, and a white tank top., got her mask and put on a pair of slippers, and headed out of her apartment to walk that Corinth/Marisule gap stretch. She took her phone because it had a flashlight, and she needed it if she had to call someone to help if she needed a ride or call the ambulance if she was injured. All these negative thoughts were coming into her head. She was walking up the gap to reach Glace, but she felt that she was burnout, breathing hard, and realized that she had forgotten her inhaler. Walking up the gap was tiring. She thought herself crazy that she would break curfew in the dark for her upset girlfriend, who can surely take care of herself. It was so dark, and her phone did not have much light.
Aimee had told her there were a few Island Caribs in the rainforest and had promised to bring her, but that was months ago. Nikita was very scared; she passed all the houses and the bridge, and she thought she saw the gas company’s building and finally, she was finally at the edge of the gap. And curfew got the highway like a ghost town. There were no cars, no vehicles, nothing. Nikita decided to go down the road to Marisule beach because that is where she and Aimee had their first date. Well, it was not really a date; they had just watched the waves, the clouds, and the sunset until it was dark. Aimee would go lure men into ditches to let the wild dogs eat them. Nikita did not think there were wild dogs in Saint Lucia. She thinks they were stray dogs that Aimee used magic on to tear these cheating men to death. She knew Aimee could also lure them into the rivers or even into the sea so they could drown themselves, but she did not have time to think about that.
Nikita turns into the gap by the Adventist church to walk down to the beach, she sees the church, and she is like, thank Mary, she has not entered an Adventist church in years. She respects all religions, but Pentecostals and Adventists rubbed her the wrong way. Nikita had a few bad experiences with these two groups. They tried to say her depression, her sexuality, and anything that was different about her were all demons. Although she was not accepted as a lesbian by the Catholic Church, her experience with the church concerning her mental health and vaccination for Covid was wonderful. She really likes Pope Francis. He was the best Pope the Roman Catholic Church has ever had in centuries. She gets shivers when she passes near the holy ground, including her beloved Catholic church. She always felt that if she set foot in a church, she would be burnt to death, but that is just the conservative theology she was raised on. She did not believe that Jesus would burn her or send her to hell because of her mental health or her sexuality. Her friend Gabrielle who is now teaching at the seminary in the U.S., is a New Testament Scholar and always says that Jesus never said anything about same-sex activity, and the apostle Paul has been misinterpreted.
Nikita wondered what those religious hypocrites would have thought of her relationship with Aimee. It was bad enough she was a lesbian. Still, she was in a relationship with the devil’s woman. That would be sacrilege. Even her beloved Catholic Church would condemn her. Nikita was still a devote Catholic in many ways. She says her rosary honours Mary and the Saints, and she believed in much of the Catholic theology and social principles.
But Nikita could not think about that right now. She had to find Aimee and explain. She walked into the road that would take her to the beach. It was very dark, and no one was around. She remembered her great aunt told her that someone was murdered there a few years ago, and she thought the person who was murdered was a transgender woman.
Nikita was not part of the LGBTQI community in Saint Lucia, but she had been gone from the island for so long, so she had no idea about the community and culture, but she would like to learn more.
There were a lot of trees and bushes, although there were houses along the walk to the beach, Nikita was walking very quickly, and then suddenly, something raced across the road to go into the bushes. It made her jump, and she realized that she was a mongoose, she said aloud, knowing no one could hear and said, “Bondyé, that mongoose almost gave me a heart attack, just so that thing raced across and made me jump!”
The mongoose already on the other side of the bush heard her come out of the bush and raced back towards where Nikita was walking and stood up on its four legs and told Nikita,” te ye chouw la! (Shut Your Ass!)”
Nikita screamed, “Bondous, aa what I do you rodent! “
The mongoose started quarrelling, it had brownish fur, and Nikita thought it looked like a rat and she hated looking at it, but she could not believe that the mongoose stopped to argue with her.
The rodent looked more annoyed than her and was cursing her bad. “Coocoon Mamaw (Your mother vagina/cunt) and Boda mamaw (Your mother Ass). Before I was a value to Lucians, my ancestors were brought from India to take care of the rat and snake situation, but in yall mother cunt, yall compare me to a rat. What de Ass! And I cannot even run free because I make yall jackasses jump. So, te ye chow la! If it were not for my cousins and me, you would be walking towards the beach in a snake and rat-infested road, so move your ass there! “And the mongoose went back on its four legs and raced across to the other side into the bushes.
***
Nikita told herself, a mongoose just cursed me Bondyé, let me walk fast .and she started walking amazingly fast until she reached the beach and there, she saw Aimee. Still, it was not her beautiful Aimee but the monster. She could not see her corpse face, but Aimee was no longer in the 21st-century dress she came to visit Nikita with, but she had a stunning white hat that was wide-brimmed, and she had her veil that covered her eyes. Her eyes Nikita noticed were not human eyes, but her eyes were like burning coals. She was wearing a white bodice, with lacy puffy sleeves with a long petticoat, and she had a long green, red and gold skirt that covered her cow foot. She could not see the cow’s foot anymore, but she assumed the skirt was covering it. Aimee had a shawl around her shoulders, a colourful head scarf, and big ass gold earrings. There was a man she was lured into the ocean. He was following her. Nikita needed to save that man. Even though he followed Aimee to have sex with her, he was still someone’s son, brother.
***
Nikita threw her phone on the sand and headed towards them. She hoped the man could swim because when the spell was broken. He would need to be able to swim and save himself. Nikita was afraid of the sea. She could not swim too well, but she had to put a stop to this. “Aimee, she screamed! Aimee! Stop this madness now! “
Nikita went closer towards the sea because it was night, the tides had become very rough, and she was afraid. Aimee glared at her, and she went into the seawater and went to Aimee, touching her corpse face and said to her, “You are not this, Aimee! You are a good person, and I know you justify this because this man might be a wife-beater or a cheater, but it is still wrong. I love you! And I need you to fight this curse so that you and I can be completely together. Aimee, I accept and love all of you, and yes, I was uncomfortable with the cow’s foot, but I am not no longer.”
Aimee snarled at her, “Ou mantèz" (You are lying) You hate me, you hate this face, and you hate my foot because you think I am hideous”. Aimee shouted back at her.
“No, Aimee, I do not anymore. I realize that I am not ashamed of you. I just had a mongoose curse me on my mother while I came looking for you. So, I decided nothing about you is shameful.”
Aimee chuckled at the image of a mongoose cursing and said,” mongooses are rude. They feel they should be worshipped,”
and Nikita replied, “oh, they are like cats, thinking they were gods.”
“Yes, something like that,” Aimee replied, and Aimee broke the spell of the man, and then the man came into his senses and started to panic and yelling help because even though Aimee did not go further into the sea, her spell had lured him into the deep ocean. This man struggled against the rough seas and waves, and the waves were so strong that they almost covered him. Nikita thought he would drown and said to Aimee could bring him to shore please, and within a split second, the man was brought back onshore and back into his senses, and the man was asking them
“What happened? How did I get to Marisule beach? I was just up Gros Islet by this girl” “How did I get into the water? Bondyé, I am going mad. I am going mad! The man said. Bondyé, I am going mad Jezi help me.” The man continued to say as he started walking from the beach wet and talking like a mad man.
Aimee then said to Nikita, “do you want to watch the waves until morning.” And Nikita replied, “no, I want to get home to my bed,” she said, and an in-flash, Nikita and Aimee were at Nikita’s apartment
“My phone! Nikita just remembered she left her cell phone on the beach
Aimee how back to her human face said I will get it.
***
Aimee told Nikita once that she had never watched a movie before or eaten popcorn before, so Nikita got her laptop, got Titanic on some free movie site, and started popping some popcorn on the stove. Nikita got out some Ting from her fridge and decided that Aimee needed to have a normal human experience if she was going to bring her spirits up about breaking the curse. They never really had a date, they mostly spent time together on the beach watching the waves and stars, or she would meet Aimee at one of the bars m where she would have met one of her victims, but they never really had a date where they would relax and watch a movie.
Nikita was going to show Aimee what it normally would be like. Aimee came back and saw Nikita on the couch and handed over the phone. And said here
Nikita said to Aimee, “please sit with me. We are going to watch a movie called Titanic and have some popcorn. Relax and sat while I got the popcorn, and Nikita got the popcorn, and the two women started to watch Titanic.”
“I cannot believe all these years you never watched a movie, Aimee?”
“Well, there was no need to. I was just roaming around and sleeping in forests or near riverbanks.”
Nikita and Aimee watched Titanic. Nikita always cried no matter how many times she saw Titanic.
Aimee then conveyed to Nikita, “I still don’t understand why there were not many lifeboats. It seems that because your ships are more advanced.”
Nikita responded, well, it is complicated. “So, Aimee, would you be like Jack and stay in the ice-cold water while I sit in the piece of wood, and you freeze to death. “
And Aimee then said to Nikita,” would you let me go on the piece on wood and freeze” and then Nikita said, “yes, but “first I would try to see if both of us can fit on the wood, and I am not Jack, I don’t have a suicide wish.”
She and Aimee laughed, and then Nikita said, “I am tired. I am going to lie down and go to sleep. Why do you not go to sleep? You do not have to sleep in the forest. You can sleep with me. I am not moving to my bed; I am staying on the couch,” Nikita said, yawning, and before she could respond, Aimee realized that Nikita was asleep, and when she noticed she was tired and fell asleep on her chest for the first time in over two centuries, Aimee felt safe and felt she could rest.
An entity was looking through the window looking at them but could not come in because Nikita had a cross hanging on her door, and Sage sprinkled outside her door. Nikita even had candles of different saints’ lights in her house, but they did not affect Aimee because, unlike the Majhi Nwè outside her house. Aimee was innocent.
***
The Majhi Nwè returned to repeat what he had seen to his master Lucifer. Lucifer was in the disguise of the blonde woman that Aimee had met two hundred plus years ago. The Majhi Nwè said to Lucifer
“The Ladjablès did not kill the man today, and her human lover had stopped her!”
Lucifer was furious. “I cannot have my curse broken. Aimee is too valuable to me, and this human lover of hers must be stopped. She can break the curse. I want you to find a way to infiltrate them and destroy their relationship if you can. Meanwhile, I will bring in the religious hypocrites into the mix to destroy this relationship.”
The Majhi Nwè knew it would be difficult to get into the apartment, but he would not tell the devil this.
A Maji Nwè is an evil spirit that would come into your home after midnight and sometimes harm people. You are usually finding scratches on you. He is a tall man dressed all in black because of his height. No matter how hard you tried to bend back, you could not see his head.
He would love to cause harm, but he could not go into the house for some reason, but he would soon. These women were going to be very afraid of him. The Majhi Nwè was walking towards the forest when Aimee stopped him
“Jacques, what are you doing near Nikita’s house”? Aimee asked, and he responded, “what were you doing there” he retorted back.
“She is my girlfriend. If any harm comes to her, you will pay dearly, “Aimee said.
And Jacques laughs, “You cannot do anything to me, I can do anything I want, maybe you should protect your girlfriend.”
***
“Wait! Aimee realized; you could not get into the house if you could have been in. Something is preventing you from coming into her house. If you came, you would have been burnt, but why did nothing happen to me?”
Jacques said to her, “I don’t know why it didn’t work for you, but I will get into that house; just wait and see Aimee and your precious lover would be finished.” Jacques laughed and then disappeared. The sun was already coming down, and Aimee needed to be there so that Nikita does not get and not see. Aimee then disappeared and went back home to Nikita’s apartment.