"Oh . . . I'm more of a coffee kind of guy. Sorry." "There's another question in your mind, my friend, and you don't know how to put it into words."
Jonah looked across at Decker and made a face that meant "don't ask me."
Decker said, "How do you know that?"
"Because an unspoken question, what's that like? It's like a bird sitting on a wall. It won't fly away until you clap your hands."
"It's not important."
"I think it cuts close to your heart, and this is why you decided not to ask it."
"Forget it, it doesn't matter."
"I think it do matter. Because what would a police detective with a slave-owning name want to know from a santero? Let's ask ourselves that."
"All right," Decker said. "What about Saint Barbara? Were any of the orishas named for her?"
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"And you ask me that because . . ."
"I ask because I've been having bad dreams. I've been hearing my girlfriend, who was killed two years ago. I hear her talking to me, in my sleep. Or maybe not in my sleep, I don't know. Maybe she's really there."
"And she talks to you about Saint Barbara?"
"That's right. She says that Saint Barbara wants her revenge. A couple of days ago, when I got home, I found the name Saint Barbara written on my wall, in human blood."
"And . . ."
"I saw her again, last night. She was standing in my apartment, covered in a sheet, like she was playing ghosts."
Moses took off his glasses. His eyes were bulgy and unfocused, but somehow Decker felt that he could see him better without them.
"Sit down," Moses said. "Let me tell you this. Saint Barbara is the name that we gave to Changó, who is the mighty and terrible orisha of fire, thunder, lightning, and war. The cult of Change:, came from the city of Oyo-Ile, the ancient capital of the Oyo kingdom. Changó reigned over the city for seven years, but he was always interested in magic and he had great magical power.
"One day Changó caused a great thunderstorm that destroyed his palace and killed many of his wives and children. He was so remorseful that he hanged himself. His enemies rejoiced, but soon afterward a hundred thunderstorms destroyed most of the city of Oyo-Ile, along with Changó's enemies. Changó's followers made sacrifices in his honor and declared that he was an orisha, a god. Oba ko so,' they sang. 'The king did not hang himself.'
"Changó is the most powerful and popular of all the orishas. He has millions of followers all around the world. His priests keep his power in `thunderstones'—which are the bricks of buildings that have been struck by lightning, and
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kept in a wooden bowl. You can see that I have one over there, on my shrine. If you wish to make a sacrifice to Changó, to propitiate him, you have to wash the bowl in herbs and palm oil, and then sacrifice a rooster and sprinkle its blood over the thunderstones. This is one of the oldest ceremonies in Santeria, and goes right back hundreds of years to Africa.
"You can also give Changó chicken meat and bananas, although his favorite food is a freshly killed ram."
"Chicken meat and bananas?" Decker suddenly thought of the face that he had seen in his kitchen.
"That means something to you?" Moses asked.
Decker told him. Moses listened, and nodded, seemingly unsurprised. "I think your dead girlfriend is doing everything she can to protect you."
"From what? From Changó? What have I ever done to
Changó?"
"I don't know . . . but it's pretty clear to me that he's looking for revenge. And when Changó looks for revenge, he makes double sure that he gets it. I hate to tell you this, my friend, but you in acute trouble."
Jonah asked, "Is there any way to find out what this Changó's so mad about?"
"I'm not sure. But I could help you to make an ebbó to Changó, which might make him forgive you. Right now, the only thing that's standing between you and some very horrible consequence is the spirit of your girlfriend, and she's putting herself in very serious danger by daring to mess with such a seriously powerful orisha. Every time she appears to you, she's going to have to suffer the moment of her death over again, and if she upsets Changó too often, he'll give her to Oyá, the watcher of the doorway between life and death, so that she spends the whole of eternity trapped in that moment, and never being free."
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In his mind's eye, Decker saw Cathy's head exploding, again and again, and the thought that she would have to experience that forever was more than he could bear. He had seen enough and heard enough to believe now that there was an afterlife, and that the spirits of the dead were still among us, even if they only made their presence known in times of crisis.
"This ebbó," he said. "Tell me what I have to do."
"You have to be cleansed. I sacrifice this rooster you brought me to Chanel. Then tomorrow you must come back and I will give you a bowl with the rooster's blood in it, mixed with an omiero for Chango."
"An omiero?"
"An omiero is a sacred elixir, my friend, which we use for bathing and also for drinking. Changó's omiero is a mixture of blood, rompe zaraguey, zarza parilla, and paraiso. You will have to take the omiero home and bathe yourself with it. Then take a second bath to wash off the blood mixture. Into this second bath you will have to stir some alamo and some prodigiosa, some holy water and some honey. I will give you all of these things. While you are bathing, ask Chango for his forgiveness for whatever you have done to offend him, and ask for his protection."
"And you think that could work?"
"You will have to believe that it is going to work, or else it won't. You have to have faith. You still love your dead girlfriend, don't you? Think of her, and what you are doing to save her from Changó's anger."
He tinkled his bell again, and Aluya reappeared. Moses said, "Bring me my cuchillo and a white bowl. And maybe some more of those cookies."
"That's some perfume she's wearing," Decker remarked, as Aluya went to do what she had been asked.
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"Esencia Pompeya, one of the three sacred perfumes of Santeria."
Aluya reappeared with a white bowl, a white cloth, and a long sharp knife, as well as a brown paper bag of cookies. Moses stood up and indicated with a wave of his hand that Decker and Jonah should do the same. "I will be invoking Changó. We must show respect. Aluya, the candles."
He spread the cloth on the coffee table in front of him and placed the bowl in the center of it. Then he held up the knife and kissed its blade.
Aluya brought over two white candles in silver candlesticks and lit them. Moses then waved at her to leave the room. He stood in front of the candles for a while, with his eyes closed and his head tilted back. Then he began to chant. "Babamo Changó ikawo ilemu fumi alaya tilanchani nitosi ki ko gbamu mi re oro niglati wa obinu ki kigbo ni na Orin oti gbogbo omo nijin gbogbo . . . "
After a while, he opened his eyes and said, "Please give me the rooster."
Decker pointed at himself. "Me?"
"Yes, you. You are the one who is seeking forgiveness from Changó."
Hesitantly, Decker knelt down and unfastened the catch on the lid of the basket. As soon as he opened it, the rooster exploded into feathery fury, flapping and squawking and pecking at him. He managed to grab one its legs, even though it was scratching him with its claws. Jonah came over and seized its wings and at last he got hold of the other leg, so that he could lift it upside down into the air, still struggling and clucking.