The Unrequited Ch. 06

"God Damn it SAM, or whatever the fuck your name really is. This piece of shit wifi system your company set up in my new house SUCKS!" Gus screamed into his cellphone to the tech from Bangalore. Irritated that yet again his phone started to die as it perpetually lost charge, he plugged it into the charger cord and kept yelling. "And another thing. What the fuck is going on with these routers that cause all of my batteries to keep dying? Hello... Hello..HELLO... OH FUCK IT!!!"

Slamming his phone down on his desk he looked down at the screen and scowled. Once again, like it had doing all week, it was black. Only the slight red flash at the bottom remained indicating that the battery was now almost completely dead. Sitting down in his office chair he sighed as Angeline came over and put her paw on his leg. Petting her he calmed down and said "Sorry for yelling girl, but this is starting to affect Daddy's work."

It was true, it was. Everything had been a dream with the house but this was a major issue. For someone else it may not have been such a big deal to have their mobile devices constantly drained of juice and their wifi erratic, but for someone who made their living on the internet, this was a killer. That morning he had been on a long overdue call with his programming team in Kazakhstan and the call dropped off right in mid-sentence. Despite repeated tries he never was able to reconnect and the rest of their conference had to take place over email. The constant computer problems he was having kept him perpetually pissed off and only the frequent late night visits from Jasmine kept him off the edge. Normally Gus was very even keeled but his calm demeanor cracked when all his electronic devices declared war on him simultaneously.

Seeing his phone finally get charged up enough to receive, he answered it quickly when it rang. "Serge? Serge? is that you?"

"No Mr. Le Blanc" spoke the heavily accented Indian voice on the other line. "I am so sorry for your inconvenience I have contacted one of our local technicians and he assures me that he and his team will be over to fix your problem by the end of the day. You should be up and running by late afternoon we promise."

Shocked that the tech actually called back, Gus's mood brightened. "Thank you "Sam", I look forward to getting this resolved." Hanging up the phone, he smiled. At least there was going to be a resolution to his computer problems which as a good thing but given that it was already mid-morning he realized that the whole day was shot. Walking out of his large office he approached the staircase to go upstairs. If he could not work at least he could work out, and having just gotten his home gym set up in one of the bedrooms upstairs the day before, Gus was anxious to try it out.

"Come on girl!" he called to Angeline who crouched at the foot of the stairs growling.

Staring up the staircase, the red fur on her back stood up bushy as she stood fixed to the ground in terror.

"What is with you?" he sighed as he saw her shaking and growling. It was obvious that his dog was not taking to the new house readily as this pattern had repeated all week. Angeline, a friendly and happy dog normally had been a nervous wreck since they moved in. Always right on his heels, she did not like to be away from him ever. It became almost dangerous to walk around inside as she was constantly almost tripping him as she hung close to his legs. Only when he wanted to go upstairs did she stop and he knew that if he did not pick her up and take her she would howl and bark incessantly until he did.

Scooping her up into his arms he began walking upstairs as she shook and whined. "You are quite the queen aren't you?" he joked as he ran his hand over her shaking head. When they reached the landing and passed the wall of rosaries, he put her down on the ground and she scampered rapidly into the open door of his new home gym. Tail down and whimpering, once inside the room she sat in a corner and shook.

"Angeline, what is it baby? What has you so spooked?" he said soothingly as he took off his shirt to get ready to work out. Grinning, an idea popped into his head and he walked across the hall to his bedroom and returned with his hands behind his back. Squeaking the toy once, Angeline's ears perked up and as he tossed the rubber squeaky toy at her feet she happily attacked. Hearing her playing like she used to he smiled as he climbed onto the brand new elliptical machine.

Gus prided himself on his physique and much of his lazy success with women was due to his well sculpted body that he worked on frequently at the gym. Now that he had a big house, he could finally create his own personal home gym and as he looked around at the large sunny room he had chosen to use for that purpose he was pleased. Against one wall he had his weight bench installed next to a long row of weights. In addition to his elliptical machine he also had a stationary bike and a treadmill. Best of all was the large flat screen HD television he had installed against a mirrored wall. Turning it on and firing up one of his favorite adult movies, "Amazing Anal Asians", he snickered.

"Definitely takes the boredom out of working out!" he laughed as he began to synchronize his steps with the action on the screen. An hour into his routine, sweat was pouring off of his body as he reached a new milestone on his brand new machine he kept going. The tech was not due to come until afternoon, so he thought he might as well be productive while he waited.

He was very pleased with his new setup. The erotic images flashing on the screen made this the most enjoyable time he had ever had during a workout ever. "Better than Sports center at the Y eh Angeline?" he called out as he watched her continue to bite the rubber toy. Feeling his muscles ache and seeing the miles tick by on the readout, he knew with his new ability to watch whatever porn he wanted to as he worked out would soon put him into the best shape of his life. With no one else in the house he had no compunction blasting the video at full blast, the moans and panting of the actresses on screen still almost drowned out by the increasingly frantic squeaking of the toy pig Angeline was gnawing on. Suddenly the squeaking stopped.

It took a few minutes before Gus noticed the change, but a sudden drop in temperature caused him to shiver despite the buckets of sweat pouring off of his body. Looking over at his dog he stopped running as it was obvious she was distressed.

Her fur standing on end Angeline stared intensely at the open door behind him. Growling and crying she shook as she pointed towards the hall. His body too suddenly started shaking as he felt a cold chill run up his spine as a cold wind blew into the room. As he got ready to get off the machine and pet his dog, Gus glanced at one of the mirrors on the wall that faced out into the hall behind him.

"HOLY FUCK!" he screamed as he jumped off of the elliptical. Out of the corner of his eye in the mirror he thought he saw a thick black mist in the hall. His mind instantly thinking his house was on fire he spun around and ran out of the room towards the supposed fire. Now standing in the empty hall with his pulse pounding, he saw nothing. His heart racing, both from his intense routine but mostly from the thought his house was on fire. Confused and sniffing the air for smoke he jumped as he felt something brush against his ass.

"JESUS!" he jumped as he thought he felt a pair of icy fingers stroke his left cheek. Spinning around and looking frantically down the hall he saw nothing. Now turning back, he found himself looking straight ahead at the wall of rosaries. Another shiver ran down his spine as he watched the light from the large hall stained glass window dance across the thousands of beads and cast a dazzling display on the floor.

Sniffing the air again for any sign of smoke the sound of his front doorbell ringing caused him to jump again. Looking back at Angeline, who now seemed less stressed, he laughed as it appeared that the crisis was all a figment of his imagination.

"Girl, your canine paranoia is starting to work on ME!" he cried as he walked over to the landing. Walking down the stairs he opened the front door.

"Package for Mrs. Laveau." The UPS driver said as he passed the brown box to Gus and asked him to sign.

"Uh, she doesn't live here anymore." Gus replied as he took the box in his hands.

"Sign here please." The driver continued, purposefully ignoring this new tidbit of relevant information. Constantly monitored for efficiency he had one goal on his mind and that was to get a signature and get back on his way. The fact that Mrs. Laveau did not live there anymore was not something that concerned him.

Signing the paper, Gus opened his mouth to repeat his statement but was rebuffed when the driver quickly bounded down the stairs and out into his truck. Standing alone on the porch he looked down at the box. He did have a morbid curiosity as it is not every day that one gets a package meant for a dead woman and he considered opening it. As he pondered his options, the silence was broken by the voice of Maxine Clark from next door.

"Good Morning Mr. Le Blanc."

Looking up and seeing his blue haired old money neighbor Gus smiled. Waving back, he returned her greeting. Although she had made a bad impression on him when he moved in, he decided to try and be nice. He knew he would be living here for a long time and he might as well be nice.

"Good Morning Mrs. Clark." He replied with a wave as he turned to go inside.

Sensing he was about to leave, Mrs. Clark spoke up louder. "I see old Mrs. Laveau got one last package delivery. Bless her heart, I doubt she knew it would be the last." She smiled as she continued. "I bet the poor old Monks at Saint Benedict's won't know what to do when they have to stop sending their monthly rosary. I suppose she must have ordered this one right before she passed." Stopping before he went inside, his curiosity was piqued and he paused.

"Monthly Rosary?" he said as he walked to the edge of his enormous porch and smiled as he looked over at his neighbor. The contrast between the two of them could not have possibly been more extreme. Maxine Clark looked impeccable as always, her hair done up in a tight beehive hairdo and glinting slightly violet in the morning sun. The color of her hair almost matched the hue of her linen dress tastefully topped off by a set of impossibly large pearls. He by contrast was wearing only tennis shoes, loose shorts and nothing else. With his whole body dripping in sweat he looked more like her gardener than her neighbor.

With a slight twinkle in her eye, Maxine looked Gus up and down and smiled. Although well over eighty she had to admit that her new neighbor was quite handsome, especially in his half naked state. Having been a widow for twenty years and despite having not felt the touch of a man for decades she still had eyes and they were enjoying the sight.

"Yes dear. Every month to the day for years, decades even. In fact, possibly even longer I am not sure. I only lived next door for fifty years." She replied with a laugh. "Quite an interesting old gal she was." Looking towards his open door she continued "So...are you and the Missus settling in ok?"

"The Missus?" Gus replied and then smiled as he remembered. "Oh, that... I do owe you an apology Mrs. Clark."

"Maxine, please."

"Maxine. No, I am not married. That was just a, uh, a friend of mine. I fear I played a little joke on you pretending she was my wife."

"OH?" she replied as she raised her eyebrow. "Well, I never do understand young people these days." Pointing at the box in his hands she asked "So, are you going to add Mrs. Laveau's rosary to the wall with all of the others?"

"The wall, oh yes, of course! The wall!" Stroking his goatee, he asked "Very odd I think. I haven't done anything with that wall yet, but it is quite odd. I have to admit that I am quite curious about Mrs. Laveau. Did you know her well?"

Now that they were in a conversation, Maxine smiled. She, like he, wanted good relations with her new neighbor and despite his joke on her at their first meeting, he seemed generally nice. "Dear, where are my manners. Why don't you join me in a cup of coffee and I will tell you all about her?"

Blushing slightly as he covered his chest he said "I would love to, but, maybe I should go get."

"Nonsense deary!" she laughed. "I have four boys, all about your age, and you have nothing I have not seen before." Winking she shocked him when she added "Plus, you would not begrudge an old lady a little peek at such a fine handsome young man now would you?"

Winking back, Gus instantly un-tensed. Obviously his new neighbor had a sense of humor he had not expected, and even a devilish side. Glad for the invitation he walked over and joined her on her porch.

"Mable!" Maxine called out loudly as she escorted him to a small table. "Bring out a big pitcher of Mimosas". Patting his bare knee, she added. "It is far too hot for coffee this morning, and I say that any day that starts with champagne is a good day in my book."

Smiling broadly Gus replied "I could not agree more."

After Maxine's uniformed maid Mable brought out the drinks, looking quite surprised at seeing a half-naked white boy sitting on the front porch, she went back inside. Mable, dressed immaculately in a freshly pressed white uniform looked almost as old as Mrs. Clark. Slightly stooped and a bit on the heavy side, her hair was silver and her facial expression did not betray her amusement which were quite apparent in her dark eyes. Noticing her maid's amusement, Maxine giggled as she went inside.

"No doubt you will be the talk of the day with my help!" she smiled as she raised her glass in a toast. Clinking his glass back, Gus could not wait to hear about the prior owner.

"So, how long have you lived here, Mrs. Clark."

"Maxine dear, Maxine. Oh, Ed.." crossing herself she continued "God rest his soul. Ed and I moved here back in 59, or was it 60. Anyway, it was a long time ago. It is funny, Mrs. Laveau seemed so old to us both back then and now here I am an old lady myself. She was always old, but a very great lady, very religious. I used to take her to Mass every day in lent and every Sunday."

"I guess that explains the Rosaries. From the looks of the number of them she must have several thousand there. Do you know how long she collected them?"

"Oh, I asked her about that once and she bit my head off. It was odd, but she was the sweetest most polite woman I had ever known, a true genteel lady of the old school tradition, but when I asked her about her wall of rosaries she shot me an icy stare that would have iced over the pavement on an August afternoon. After that, I never brought it up again."

"That is odd."

"Definitely very odd. In fact, the only other time it ever came up was back during the storm."

"Storm, uh, you mean Katrina?"

"Yes, during Katrina. I begged Mrs. Laveau to evacuate with the rest of the street but she would not budge. Mable and I even went over their personally to take her with us, but she would not leave under any circumstances. She said she had to protect the gate. I thought she had gone off a bit then, but she just sat in front of her wall of rosaries and prayed and prayed. Finally, we gave up and left but as it turned out, she was wiser than we were."

"OH?"

"Yes, as it turns out, this part of New Orleans was largely spared. Odd really as I thought for sure that once the levees broke we would be wiped out. Oh, it was so scary watching that coverage on the television from Baton Rouge, but we didn't even lose a single shingle from our house."

"Yea. I was lucky too." Gus replied. "I was still down in the quarter back then and, other than losing power for a month, everything worked out ok. I guess the people who originally built New Orleans knew where to put their houses."

"Absolutely!" Maxine exclaimed. "And your house, Magnolia Grove, was here BEFORE New Orleans even existed. Lordy knows how many hurricanes she has seen. It was really amazing, even that old bottle tree in your backyard survived the storm."

"Yes, I was going to ask you about that. What is that all about?" Gus asked, his questions only growing with their conversation. "That is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen."

"That might be a better question for Mable." she winked as her maid came out onto the porch. As she filled their glasses, Maxine asked "So Mable, our young new neighbor here wants to know about the bottle tree in his backyard."

"Oh that!" she smiled. "Good Gris Gris, very good Gris Gris."

"Gris Gris?"

"Amulet for protection dear." Maxine said as she grinned. "Mable, like me, is very old school. The bottles are supposed to keep evil spirits away."

"Kind of like the rosaries then?" Gus asked in increasing curiosity. "I wonder why Mrs. Laveau thought she needed so much protection?"

"Lordy, dat been going on a long time at Magnolia Grove." Mable interrupted. "My mother, grandmother and even my great grandmother all worked for the Laveaus and they used to talk Magnolia Grove constantly when I was just a little bitty girl. They used to always say that the Laveaus were a fine fine family, definitely very Christian, but were probably the most superstitious folk they had ever met, black or white."

"Interesting, really interesting." Gus exclaimed as he looked at the unopened box on the table. Turning to Maxine he asked "I wonder if I should send this to her nephew in New York then? Given that it obviously is part of a family trad—"

"—That little bastard!" Maxine exclaimed before quickly covering her mouth from her outburst. "Pardon my salty language but the less we say about him the better. He did not even come to his Great Aunt's funeral and was so anxious to get rid of this house that he let it go for no..." Realizing the harshness of her words she added apologetically "But of course, if he hadn't sold Magnolia Grove we would not have ever met now would we, so perhaps it was for the best."

Mable, listening intently suddenly spoke up, her deep Louisiana accent sounding oddly pleading. "If I were you, son I would put that rosary right on the wall with all of the others. The Laveaus might have been rich and crazy, but they were not stupid. Maybe there is a reason they did this ritual for so long. Who knows what bad juju might be bottled up in that house but I would be careful not to poke it. You sure don't want to go messing around with something beyond..." Realizing she was saying too much she stopped as the look of horror on Maxine's face told her she had said too much. Turning suddenly towards the door she sputtered "Well... let me go and clean up these dishes. Excuse me."

Pulling the box forward Gus grinned. "Well... now I have a real mystery on my hands." Grinning after he took a long swig of his drink he said "I guess the price of the house makes sense now."

"Yes. Perhaps." Maxine said her face twisted in a scowl of annoyance. "We all learned something today."

"Oh?"

"Yes, for one, I never knew Mable's family worked for the Laveaus before today." Looking back at her front door to make sure she was gone she continued "Funny... The woman has loyally worked for me for almost fifty years and she has never mentioned this fact until just the last five minutes."

"Stranger still, if you don't mind me saying, but... well, I wonder why she came to work for you instead of them? I mean, with her whole family working for the Laveaus I would have thought that."

Downing her drink, Maxine grinned. "No doubt It must have been my magnetic personality. Today has been quite illuminating. VERY ILLUMINATING. Not only did she not want to work for the Laveaus but she refused to set foot in the house. Once about twenty years ago I asked her to take over a package that had been mis-delivered here and she went crazy when I made the request. She actually threatened to quit rather than set foot in that house and actually broke down into tears. I thought for a second she was going to quit on me and to this day it is the only cross words we have ever had."