Mississippi Mudd by Rosa Johnson (ereader android .TXT) 📕

12:58 A.M.: Wednesday
Palmers Crossing, Mississippi
The legend was that old lady Lucy travel the asphalt road around midnight on her daughter’s Ruth’s birthday: October 31.
Why, asked one of the girls. Derrick was about to finish when he looked over at his homeboys. He looked at them for a moment, shuck his head. They were typical boys weren’t they he thought before speaking.
The three adolescent boys listened, while each of them grinning as they gawked at the mature girls breast, Derrick, looked at them, and said man if you guys don’t stop being such jack asses. By the time he had almost finish the sentence, Marco said aw dog, I am listening to this crap. It ain’t true ya’ll let’s go back to the ball court I want to play ball or I am outta here, you hear?
The girls were sitting very close upon each other. They were fearful. They had been told by their parents the legend of old lady Lucy. She was a witch they had thought because she could say something would happen, and it would. They didn’t want to hear no more of this crap. Anita said, “Look guys I have to go, I told my dad I would have the trash out before he got off of work from the lumber mill”.
Nikki and Koco said “hey we have to go too, neither one of us made our beds this morning before we headed to class. Momma will kill us, ringing her hands; they were sweating, as she looked over at her sister. Her sister was annoyed at all of them. She wanted to really hear this version to write in her journal before bed. But she knew she couldn’t rebuttle her sister or else she would be the one get into trouble, so she said “yeah, we had better getter moving”.
Derrick, who was the great grandson of Lucy, knew the trouble with having friends, yet he tried to prolong them. Truth is he hated being in this predicament all the time: alone. His fate was that. Why did that old hag have to be so evil and superstitious? People are afraid of being his friend. Derrick said “ok, I understand that you all are chicken shit”. “Everyone who’s made an excuse are afraid, now say that you are”! No one answered. He was laughing at them, but really he was angry that no one saw the loneliness of living this jellified lifestyle-an heir of evil. Hell sometimes even he was afraid.
He listens to them as they whispered on the way out of the door. Koch said to her sister, “I don’t believe all these myths, do you”? She was asking her sister. Her sister said nonchalantly, “naw, I don’t believe it; I just like to listen for entertainment”.
The boys ran all the way to their houses. No one wanted to even think about what they were about to hear.

Koco finished her chores. She ran to her room, grab her journal and turn to the last entry: The Dark Night

was what she titled it.

The Legend is about this old creole woman who hated living. She was miserable, and everyone around her could feel its taunting hiss. She had children, but one by one they all disappeared: but no one ever found them. So, she was never charged with their disappearance.

The story went like this, she would allow them to get to the age of two, and then she would cut them up: in to fine little pieces. She would prepare them for consumption- season the pieces and fried them like some one would fry chicken. She would later feed it to her demon-looking -strange- dogs she kept around that shack that she called a house.

One day she was poisoned- supposedly by her neighbor. She swore on her death bed that no one on this street would ever rest. The reason she walks up and down the road on October 31st is because her daughter, who she mutilate lived, however, some evil men, raped and kill the little girl when she was 11- years- old. The old woman swore because of the offset of her yearly ritual, that she wouldn't rest until she had found the monstrel who did this evil to her possession. So, each year since someone has been missing around this time of the year.

Since that day, the older people said it’s not safe to go trick-o-treating, for she would appear as some normal looking person, and would place a spell on them. They would go about as some savage beast and then dissolve without anyone ever noticing.
She heard her sister footsteps coming down the hall. She closed the journal, put it under her pillow. The door open. “Don’t you ever knock”? Her sister said, “You never cared before if I knocked what are you doing anyway”? Koco said, “nothing”. Well, said Danita, Momma said for you to come put away the dishes. It’s time for bed we have school tomorrow, and I am tired. Good night. Koco glanced over at the nightstand where her alarm clock set. It read 8:45P.M. Where had time gone she thought?

After putting away the dishes, she took a shower, brushed her teeth, but suddenly she heard someone standing outside the bathroom door. She smiled to herself. She thought Danita thinks she is slick. She took a step to the door, turned the knob slowly, and yank it opened, no one. She went to Danita’s room, open the door about to tell her off, when she didn’t see her in her bed. She went to the front of the house-no one was in the kitchen, the living room or the den.

She went to her mom’s bedroom door, knock, enter and said, “Mom, where is Danita”? Her mother, turned her face to her, and it wasn’t her momma it was Old Lady Lucy sitting at the vanity table. "What the hell", thought Koco? O my GoDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!

She ran to her room, slam the door, looked clumsily for her cell phone, but the room look different. Her bedspread was old and musty. The floor had plan tile, no carpet. She screamed, she cried. She thought where am I?

At midnight, the church bell chimed. It disturbed Koco sleep. She touched her face, bolted to the dresser, it was her. She investigated the room, she was in her bedroom. Her bears were in her rocking chair. She felt sick, lost, confused.

Her cellphone barked. She answered it. She said, “Hello”. The voice she recognized it, it was Danita’s. "Hey where are you girl"? "We have been waiting on you at Derrick’s house, he was about to tell us the story of the Legend of Old Lady Lucy". “We are waiting, are you coming”? She hung up the phone bewildered.

Koco, reached under her mattress, retrieved her journal, then turned to the marked pages- where she had written her last entry, tore it out, and said “nope I think I am going to read the book by Mark Twain -The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- tonight”.

She thought, nope, I will see you when you get home.


Koco said, looking behooved by the whole situation, to Old Lady "if I am going tonight, can I at least finish my book first"?. "Ma'am", she said, "I only have two more chapters left, and it's really interesting". The Old Lady gazed at her daughter, while just smiling. she knoded her head at Koco as saying yes she could finish reading her book. she was estatic for all this time she had found her daughter. She wouldn’t be traveling the roads anymore.

When Danita made it home. She was laughing and talking to herself. She was almost at Koco’s door, and said girl that Derrick almost scared the ever-loving shit out of us, she turned the door knob to Koco’s room, looked in and no one was present. The book was laid on the bed: a note was inserted in the middle which read…

Dearest Danita and Mom,
I found my family. I know you said for me not to search yet, that I was too young, but I longed for them, and they found me. I understand why you cared about me being confused, but I understand who I am, and what I am now. Granny came to get me, so I will see you all in the next life- Koco.

Danita thought, Oh no Koco, Oh no!

Danita threw the note down, and began the scream: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmooooooooooooooooooommmmmm

The End.

Publication Date: 10-11-2011

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