Chapter Three
Victor finally crawls out of bed the next day around midday, still in his clothes from the night before.
With one eye open, he looks around the room and sees Elliott and Frank spooning on the other side of the bed.
He gets up and walks into the bathroom, groaning all the way.
When he turns on the lights, he realizes it was the worst thing to do with a hangover.
Shuffling over to the sink to wash his face, he looks into the mirror and sees a woman with tightly braided hair smoking a pipe in the corner.
Victor freezes, unsure he’s hallucinating.
The woman smiles back and gives him a wink.
He turns his head, but no one is there. Victor looks back in the mirror and sees the woman smiling back at him before she turns and leaves the bathroom.
He rushes into the living room of his suite, but no one is there.
Lastly, he checks his door, and everything is locked.
“Who you talking to?” Elliott asks, rubbing his eye with the heel of his hand.
Victor looks around the room, “No one. I was talking to myself.”
“Well, could you keep it down?” Elliott groans, rolling back over to spoon Frank. “I’m trying to get some sleep.” Suddenly, someone knocks loudly on the door. “Oh, who the hell is banging on the door?”
Victor slides over to open the door. “Amber?”
Amber looks inside, “Why aren’t you boys up?”
“Because someone wanted to get me drunk last night,” Victor responds, looking over his shoulder at Elliott. Elliott gives Victor a smug smile.
“Well, you boys need to get ready,” Amber demands. “Lupe has the afternoon all planned out, and you know how prompt she is with her schedule.”
“But it’s my birthday,” Victor smirks, resting against his arm on the door.
“And it’s my fiancée. Do you really want to upset her?” Amber asks.
Victor shakes his head, knowing how Lupe can be if you’re not on time. “No, no,” Victor responds. “We’ll be down shortly.” Amber walks away before Victor closes the door. As he walks back into the bedroom, he flops back down on the bed.
“What did she want?” Elliott asks, his face buried in Frank’s hair.
“Lupe has the afternoon planned. We need to get up and get ready.”
“Can’t we sleep in a little longer?” Elliott whines.
“Why is everyone yelling?” Frank groans as he tugs Elliott’s arm to hold him tighter.
Suddenly, the phone rings in the room. All three of them cry in agony. “Make it stop,” Elliott cries out.
Victor reaches over and answers it. “Hello?”
“You boys got 15 minutes,” Lupe says on the other end.
“Got it.” Victor hangs up and lays back, looking up at the ceiling. “We got 15 minutes before Lupe breaks down the door.”
“Ugh! Who invited her?” Frank moans as he struggles to get up. “Why did she make plans knowing full well we were going out drinking the night before?”
“It’s Lupe. Just take a quick shower, drink some coffee, and meet them in the lobby,” Victor mentions as he walks over to the bathroom, undressing along the way.
“Hubba! Hubba!” Elliott jokes.
“Knock it off, and get ready,” Victor orders, tossing his shirt at his friends.
In the lobby, Victor and his friends gather while Lupe excitedly tells the group, “So, I got us booked on this Voodoo tour.”
“Hard pass,” Amber protests. “Why did you do that? You know I don’t like stuff like that.”
Lupe nudges Amber with her shoulder, “Come on, babe. It’ll be fun. I read up on it, and it talks about the history of Voodoo in New Orleans and the Voodoo Queen.” Lupe takes out a pamphlet and opens it for Amber. “They even take us to the graveyard where they say the Voodoo Queen rests.”
“I think it’ll be fun,” Victor responds. “I don’t think anything will happen to us, and I’ve heard that Voodoo is misunderstood.”
Amber gives Victor a pointed look, “I’m a good Christian woman. I don’t think we should go.” After a short pause, everyone begins to laugh.
“You are far from it, my friend,” Elliott says.
“Come on, Amber, where’s your sense of adventure?” Victor asks.
“I left it back home because I thought this was just going to be a weekend of drinking and flashing my boobs for beads,” Amber responds as she dramatically turns up her nose.
Lupe playfully caresses Amber’s shoulder, “I got some beads if you show me your boobs.”
“Eww! Gross!” Frank gags, holding his hand over his mouth, pretending to be disgusted.
Victor wraps Amber in his arms and nuzzles his face against hers, “Please, for me? It is my birthday, after all.”
“It’ll be fun, Amber,” Jon reiterates. “And if you need someone to protect you, Lucas volunteers.”
“I do?” Lucas questions, unsure if his husband is joking or not.
Amber grimly gives Victor a side-eyed glance, “Your birthday was yesterday,” Amber groans as she pushes Victor off her. “Fine. But if I get cursed, this is all on you, birthday boy.”
Victor gestures to Amber to take his arm.
She wraps her arm around his, and the group walks out of the hotel to tour the city and the oldest graveyard in New Orleans.
Forty minutes into the tour, they arrive at the graveyard.
As their tour guide walks them through, she explains why the graves are above ground and how the term “graveyard shift” originated.
While walking around the tombs, the woman with the tight braids appears, walking down another aisle of tombs parallel to Victor and his friends. She has her braids in a bun on top of her head and is wearing a green and purple flowy dress. She keeps her distance as she watches Victor.
Victor doesn’t notice her right away as he listens to the guide and reads the names on the tombs. He stops to read the names on one of the larger tombs. When he turns his head, he makes eye contact with the woman. She gives a bit of a mischievous smile.
Victor taps Lucas on the shoulder. “I think this lady is looking at me funny.”
Lucas looks over, “What lady?”
Victor turns his head back, and she is no longer there. He blinks a few times and looks around. “Nothing. I must still be drunk.”
Lucas tilts his head, pondering his friend’s mental state. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Victor lightly nods and mutters, “Yeah.”
Jon looks over at Victor and Lucas and asks, “What’s going on?”
“He’s just seeing things,” Lucas responds.
Amber jumps into the conversation, “Who’s seeing what? I told you this was a bad idea.”
“Babe, calm down,” Lupe comments subtly. “Don’t make a scene where I have to drag you off.”
“Oh, please do,” Frank encourages. “I always enjoy a good lesbian catfight.”
Lupe rolls her eyes, “I’m about to drag you off, Frank.”
Victor interjects, “Guys, I’m still hung over because of Elliott.”
“You’re welcome,” Elliott says proudly.
“Let’s just finish this tour and get something to eat. I’m getting hungry.” Victor’s friends agree and catch up with the tour group. Before Victor walks away, he turns back to where he saw the woman.
Later that night, the friends leave a diner and walk toward Bourbon Street. Victor slows down and stops to look down at one of the streets. “Let’s go this way,” he suggests.
Frank leans back on one leg to look down the street. “There are no bars down this street,” Frank responds.
“I know,” Victor replies. “The streets are like a grid. We’ll make it there eventually. Besides, I want to check out the architecture of the buildings.”
To their surprise, they enjoy the scenery and the small shops along the way.
When Victor comes upon one of the avenues leading to Bourbon Street, something tells him to walk down it.
Unbeknownst to this action, Victor gestures to his friends to follow.
As they walk down the avenue, they come across a painted sign offering tarot and palm readings.
Victor is intrigued and turns to his friends. “Let’s check this place out.”
Amber hesitates, “I don’t know. I’ve never liked the idea of having my palm read, let alone having cards tell me my future.”
“They don’t tell you your future,” Victor comments. “That’s a misconception about tarot. It’s more of a guide. You take it as you will.”
“You talk as if you know how to read tarot,” Lucas comments.
Victor shrugs, “My grandma used to read tarot cards. She did it mostly as a hobby.”
As Victor reaches for the door, Jon stops him, “Are you sure you want to go in there?”
“Why not?” Victor asks.
Jon looks over at Lucas with a worried expression, and Lucas shrugs in response.
“No reason,” Jon says as he steps back to stand beside Lucas.
The friends walk inside. The smell of incense and tobacco lingers in the air.
As they look around, tapestries and a couple of stuffed cats are on the walls.
Black metal light fixtures hang from the ceiling and look like they haven’t been dusted in months.
Around the corner, they can hear cards being shuffled.
Over the shuffling, they hear a woman’s voice.
“Come in, chers and chères.”
When they turn the corner, the woman Victor has been seeing is sitting behind a large round table. Five empty seats are already waiting, plus two more seats behind them. Victor stops in the doorway, the hair on his arms and neck standing on end. She is real.
The woman gestures for everyone to take a seat. “Welcome,” she smiles. “I’ve been expecting you.” As Victor’s friends gather around the table, Victor hesitates to approach her. The woman locks eyes with Victor and smiles softly.
A tobacco pipe sits on the table next to her. A plume of smoke hangs over the pipe as it slowly evaporates into the air. She keeps her eyes on Victor as she continues shuffling the tarot cards.
“I hope each of you are enjoying my hometown,” she comments, finally acknowledging the rest of the group.
Victor blinks a few times before he walks over to the table. “We are,” Victor responds as he takes a seat directly across from the woman, as his friends pair off to the other empty seats. Jon and Lucas take the seats in the back, keeping quiet as the woman speaks to the others.