Fools "Rush" In

Chapter 9 - Crawfish and Voodoo

It surprised Elaina when she received a text back from Norman a mere two days later saying that he would be at her place the following Thursday. She replied and told him that she would text him the day before with a code to enter at the gate. She also told him that she would arrange for lodging at a place nearby.

She'd smiled at her own statement, knowing that she was planning to have him stay in one of the many small cottages on her property. They were filling up fast, but she still had half a dozen or so in the more remote sections of her land that were empty.

"Tess, I'm taking the Gator out to #3." She told her friend, and business manager, as she leaned into the door that led to the woman's office.

"What're you going all the way out there for?" Tess answered with her eyebrow arched.

"Got an overnight guest coming; thought I'd give it a cursory cleaning and make sure there are towels and toiletries."

"Ummmhmmmm," Tess hummed at her. "And who exactly is this guest? Is this the man you were telling me about, the one that accused you of stealing?"

"That's the one. He's going to be here Thursday." Elaina answered and at the look of stern disapproval, she walked into the room and held her hands out in an effort to calm the storm before it took hold. "Now Tess, hear me out. This man is famous... as in appearances on Late Night television, millions of social media followers, people tattooing his face on their behind kind of famous." She and Tess both giggled at that image, and then Elaina went on.

"He could bring so much attention to our cause; maybe get enough interest that other places like ours could be built all across the country."

Tess grumbled, "What makes you think that this man that you yourself said was, and I quote "an asshole", would do anything to help us?"

Elaina's shoulders fell a little because she knew that she was putting a lot of faith into a stranger, going off of nothing but a small little voice in her head. "I don't really know, Tess... there was just something in his eyes. His mouth was saying one thing, but when I looked in his eyes there was a feeling that I got..." she shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "It was almost like a child who's playing tough but is really scared deep down inside." She looked up and saw Tess roll her eyes, and she burst out laughing. "You're gonna sprain those things one day!"

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It was just past lunch time on Thursday when Norman pulled up to the gate and stared through the wrought iron bars. Ahead of him was a very long driveway, lined on either side by huge live oak trees whose branches came together to create a canopy over the narrow lane that veered off to the left after a few hundred yards. He couldn't see the home at the end but it was easy to imagine it would look something like "Tara" from Gone with the Wind.

The large plaque in the tall brick fence told him that this was the Macbeth Plantation. Of course, that immediately made him think of Shakespeare, which then made him wonder if this would be his own version of 'The Taming of the Shrew', which made him grin at the thought.

He lowered the window on his rental car and held up his phone to read the code that Elaina had sent him. He entered the 5 digits and hit * and heard the gates creak as they slowly swung open.

When he reached the house it was indeed the large white structure he was expecting. It had at least two stories in the central building and long single story 'wings' extending off the left and the right. The first floor of the main building and the wings had deep porches, chunky columns, and wrought iron railing. There was a matching balcony on the second floor of the main building, and a widow's walk on the roof, spanning the two chimneys. The enormous wrought iron chandelier hanging above the front door was powered by gas light, as were all the other light fixtures.

As someone who loved architecture, Norman was charmed by the both the setting and building. He parked in one of the parking spots to the right, in front of what appeared to be a carriage house or a multi-stall garage. The plantation was obviously some sort of business, as the parking spots were designated "guest" or "delivery".

Norman walked up the steps and rang the bell, and within seconds it was opened by a tall woman wearing jeans and a New Orleans saints t-shirt.

"Wow, that was quick," Norman remarked on how quick the door opened.

"I get an alert any time the gate opens." The woman answered with an arched eyebrow.

Norman was caught off guard by the woman's attitude, and to cover his discomfort he gave a nervous laugh. "Oh, yeah, that makes sense... Umm, so my name's Norman." He stuck his hand out and the woman just looked down at it and then back up at him. The eyebrow never relaxed.

"Right..." he said to fill the silence. "I'm looking for Elaina Blackhawk. Does she live... or work here?"

The woman let out a brief laugh, "Both, Mr. Reedus," she said and then smirked at the look on his face. "Oh yes, I know exactly who you are. Now, if I didn't know that Elaina's perfectly capable of handling herself I'd be running you right back out that gate for the harmful lies you spread about her." Norman actually took a backward step, feeling her anger as if it were a physical thing. She lifted her arm and pointed towards the northeast. "You start walking in that direction and you'll find her; she's working in the vegetable garden today." Once she'd finished talking she took a step back and shut the door, but not before he spotted something in her other hand that looked a lot like a voodoo doll.

With a shiver and the feeling of being watched, Norman walked down the steps and made his way around the building and in the general direction he'd been pointed in. As he rounded an enormous glass greenhouse he tripped over an aluminium washtub. Cursing under his breath, he regained his balance and turned to look at what he'd spilled and was momentarily stunned by chaotic movement on the ground. He'd tripped over a washtub filled with crawfish, which were now doing their best to make a getaway.

Looking around to ensure no one saw what had happened, he sat the tub back up then started trying to pick them up to return them to captivity. After being pinched multiple times, he rushed into the greenhouse where he found a pair of gloves. Slipping them on, he sprinted back out and began scooping up the miniature lobsters. Each scoop would result in another of the little bastards pinching his fingers and refusing to let go, causing him to fling his hands around until they flew off. In his mind, he knew he should just forget it and keep moving, but the irrational fear that the Voodoo Woman was in that house somehow causing this made him refuse to show any weakness.

Finally, he looked around and saw no more of the creatures on the ground so he took the gloves off and headed back in the direction he hoped would take him to Elaina so he could get his drumstick and get the hell out of this god-forsaken, spooky ass place.