Dragons Wild

Twenty-four

It was a beautiful evening as they emerged from Irene’s. Griffen had resisted coming out, as he was still uneasy about the idea of Stoner’s men shadowing him, but the others had insisted and, in afterthought, he had to admit that it had been one of the most pleasant evenings in his memories.

Irene’s was a small neighborhood restaurant frequented mostly by locals and a few tourists willing to wander off the beaten track, and it had a family-run feel to it. The decor was nothing to brag about, but the food had been excellent and reasonably priced.

There were only four of them, Griffen, Jerome, Valerie, and Fox Lisa, but the conversation had been easy and as enjoyable as the food. Griffen had been surprised at the range of subjects they had touched on, from books to Broadway theater, to food, to music, to the inevitable gossip of who was doing what to who in the Quarter. By now he was used to Jerome and Fox Lisa holding their own on an amazing number of topics, but Valerie had surprised him by her knowledge and depth of perception. He realized now how seldom he had actually sat down and talked with his own sister.

They lingered over coffee and dessert of bananas Foster, a flaming ice cream concoction that he had never heard of before but had just become one of his favorites. He was informed that it had been invented right here in the Quarter at Brennan’s. Their waiter, overhearing their discussion, commented, “That’s right. They invented it at Brennan’s, and we perfected it here.” That earned him a round of applause from the diners and an extra large tip.

A rare cold front had come through while they were dining, and, while it was still warm by Griffen’s standards, they walked out of the restaurant into a light fog that thickened slowly as they made their way down Chartres Street to Jackson Square. Despite the hour and the chilly damp, the Jackson Square street entertainers were still working. A hammer dulcimer player was working a small audience, flanked by several tables with tarot readers.

“That reminds me, Big Brother,” Valerie said, glancing at the readers, “did you ever find out anything about that tarot card that got slipped under your door back in Detroit?”

Involuntarily, Griffen and Jerome glanced at each other.

“Nothing definite,” Griffen said with forced casualness. “I’m still looking into it.”

Valerie had caught the glance between Griffen and Jerome, and cocked a suspicious eyebrow at her brother. Warnings about female dragons aside, Griffen still agreed with Jerome’s and Mose’s earlier advice. Sometimes ignorance was bliss. It certainly would keep Valerie from rushing toward danger.

“I still can’t believe how good the food was at Irene’s,” Griffen said, trying desperately to change the subject. “A little place like that.”

“You’ve got to get out more, Grifter,” Jerome told him, picking up on the cue. “I shouldn’t have told you about phoning out for food. You’ve been living on ho-hum junk food just like you used to up in Ann Arbor. New Orleans is a prime dining town. It’s almost impossible to get a bad meal unless you’re stupid enough to eat a Lucky Dog. Places that don’t have good food and big helpings don’t last long down here.”

A figure emerged from the fog, shuffling toward them. The reminder of the George still fresh in his mind, Griffen eyed it suspiciously for a moment, then recognized it. It was one of the street people who seemed to exist by begging money from tourists. The hair was so short and the face so wrinkled that, with its body wrapped in a shapeless jacket, for a while he had been unable to tell if it was a man or a woman. He had always brushed off advances in the past and got ready to do it again.

“Is that you, Mr. Jerome?” the figure said. “Praise Jesus. I was hopin’ to see you tonight.”

“How you doing, Babe,” Jerome said, coming to a stop. “You liking this cold weather we’ve got now?”

“Oh, I love it,” the beggar said. “Mr. Jerome, can you help me out a little? I just need another seventy-five cents to get into the shelter tonight.”

Her voice took on a slight whine, and she glanced around as she spoke. The police did not take kindly to beggars who bothered tourists in the Quarter.

“Sure, Babe,” Jerome said, passing her a bill. Griffen caught sight of the corner of the bill, and it was a five. “But you watch out for yourself now. Hear? There are folks out that will take that away from you if you give ’em half a chance.”

“Praise Jesus. Thank you, Mr. Jerome,” the lady said, backing away with a smile. “You have a nice night now. You and all your friends there.”

The fog swallowed her up as though she had never been there.

“Why do you do that, Jerome?” Griffen said.

“Do what?”

“Give money to the street people,” Griffen clarified. “I’ve seen you do it a dozen times.”

Jerome was silent for a few moments.

“Have you ever been hungry a single day of your life, Grifter?” he said finally, in a soft voice.

Griffen hadn’t, but fought off the moment of guilt.

“That isn’t the point,” he said firmly, almost as much to himself as to Jerome. “I mean, I’ve always known you as a savvy guy. Somebody would have to be pretty sharp to put one over on you, and I’d be willing to bet they never caught you with the same scam twice.”

Jerome flashed a smile.

“I like to think that’s true.”

“So how come you’re willing to give away good money just because someone walks up to you on the street and just asks for it?” Griffen pressed. “I mean, I don’t want to sound like a hard case, but somebody down here told me that begging down here is a real racket. That some of these supposed beggars pull down a good buck from sympathetic tourists. I hear some of them have their own cars that they drive down to the Quarter and park on side streets before putting on their homeless act. Aren’t there all sorts of government programs to help the homeless that our taxes are paying for? Why should we reach into our pockets again to pay for their booze or drug habits?”

“Nice to know you don’t want to sound like a hard case, Big Brother,” Valerie said sarcastically.

“Hey. That’s why I’m asking,” Griffen protested. “I know Jerome, and I know he usually has a reason for whatever he does. When I see him do something that doesn’t seem to make sense, I ask him. That’s one of the ways I learn things. Okay?”

They all walked along in silence for a while, and Griffen wondered not only if Jerome was going to ignore the question, but if he had inadvertently put a damper on the mood of the whole evening.

“I’ll tell you, Grifter,” Jerome said at last. “One of the legends…stories they tell in voodoo is how sometimes one of the gods…Changul, I think…takes on the form of a beggar and walks among normal people to test their charity. It’s a way of seeing whether people really feel compassion, or if they just pay lip service to it because the doctrine demands it.”

Griffen didn’t know what he had expected as an answer, but this one caught him by surprise.

“Come to think of it,” he said, “I think there’s something similar in Norse mythology. I think it’s Odin who is supposed to disguise himself as a…”

He came to an abrupt halt.

“Wait a minute, Jerome. Are you saying that you believe in voodoo? That you’re a practitioner?”

“Why?” Jerome said, raising an eyebrow. “Would that be a problem?”

“Well…no…I don’t know,” Griffen managed. “I guess I never gave it much thought. We’ve never talked much about religion. I guess I just never thought of you as a religious person.”

“I’d have to say you’re pretty much right on that one,” Jerome said. “Just keep in mind the difference between religion and spirituality.”

Griffen shook his head.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to clarify that one a bit, Jerome,” he said. “I’m not sure I’m clear on the difference.”

“That’s two of us,” Valerie chimed in. “What are we talking about here?”

Jerome turned his head.

“You want to take a shot at this, Foxy Lady?” he said. “I’ve never been too good at explaining things.”

“There are a lot of very spiritual people around who are turned off by organized religions,” Lisa said. “They may be in tune with the world and believe deep down in a higher power or plan, but they are repelled by the ritualization that’s superimposed by so-called religions, particularly when the priesthood uses it to dabble in politics or for monetary gain.”

“I think it was John D. MacDonald in one of his Travis McGee novels,” Jerome said. “In it, the main character describes his view of organized religion as being marched in formation to look at a sunset.”

“That’s right,” Fox Lisa said. “For some, religion is going to church once a week and paying five dollars while paying lip service to things they don’t really believe in. For others…and I think both Jerome and I fall into this category…there are certain teachings that, while they may fall under the heading of religion, provide a code or a way of life. It’s not a matter of ‘practicing’ a religion, it’s living it day in and day out.”

“If you open yourself up to it,” Jerome said, “you’ll feel it. You know how, as each new religion gained domination, they would build their new temples on top of the places used by the old religions? That’s because there are certain focal points of energy in the world, and those who are sensitive can sense them. New Orleans in general, and the French Quarter specifically, is one of those kind of places. It practically vibrates with energy, and different people react to it differently. That’s why it’s always been a gathering point for creative people who express themselves with art or music…or theater. It’s also why we have so many people who are strongly religious or spiritual…or both.”

“Is that why everything down here is divided into parishes instead of districts?” Valerie said. “I wondered about that.”

“That’s part of it,” Jerome said, “but that’s only been because Christianity or Catholicism has been the dominant religion here for a long time. Another thing you can look at is Mardi Gras. Around the country, people think of Mardi Gras as the world’s biggest open party that runs for weeks with everyone getting drunk and flashing for beads. They miss completely that it’s a carnival and celebration for the start of Lent. I will guarantee you that on Ash Wednesday, most of the locals you’ve seen partying and working triples manning the bars and restaurants will be crowded into that cathedral right there and several dozen other churches around town for Mass.”

Griffen shook his head again.

“I don’t know, Jerome,” he said. “Like I said, we’ve never really talked about any of this before. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I always figured that if I ignored religion, it would ignore me. Isn’t there something in voodoo that says if you don’t believe in it, it can’t affect you?”

Jerome laughed.

“Actually, what they say is that if you don’t believe in it, you can’t summon the powers even with rituals or charms. Then again there are others who will tell you that just because you don’t believe in the gods doesn’t mean the gods don’t believe in you. I told you this is a focal point. Well, things that can’t be explained by science have a way of reaching out and tapping you on the shoulder down here. Wait until the first time you run into a ghost.”

Griffen and Valerie looked at each other, then looked at Jerome.

“Com’on, Jerome,” Griffen said. “Ghosts? Like white sheets and chains?”

“More like disembodied spirits,” Jerome said. “We’ve got a lot of them down here. Especially in the Quarter. Haven’t you seen those Haunted History Tours that are out on the street every night?”

“Of course,” Griffen said. “They’re hard to miss. But I always thought it was pure tourist hokum. Do you really believe in ghosts?”

“Look at it this way, Grifter,” Jerome said. “Every religion throughout time in all parts of the world have different burial customs. One thing they all have in common, though, is the basic purpose of the ritual. That is to lay the spirit to rest. As in if you don’t lay the spirit to rest, it will potentially hang around and cause you grief. That’s a lot of people believing essentially the same thing that can’t be explained by science. To me, that goes way beyond superstition. Think about it.”

Griffen did. For a long time after the evening was over.