Eridan15

ERIDAN 15The ArrangementMike JansenShort storyCrazy Eddie knew his day was off to a bad start when he found Eleanor’s face in a jar bythe door. It was just one of many glass jars that a large African American was loading intoa U-Haul truck outside of Mammy Eleanor’s store.“What’s going on here, where’s Mammy?” he asked the other man.“She gone, whitey,’ he said and spat on the ground at his feet.Eddie’s shoulders slumped. Gone. The one person who listened to his rambling storiesand his crazy moods, the only one who really understood him. He blinked his eyes acouple of times and tried to speak.“You okay, mister?” the other man asked.He nodded. “She was always kind to me.”“And now she’s dead. I’m cleaning out the store,” he explained. “You wouldn’t believethe shit that’s coming out of there. I mean, come on, pickled alligator eyes?”“I believe you,” said Eddie. “I’ve seen some of her work. Many people feared her, calledher a voodoo queen. Me, I think she was just a nice old lady.”The other man smiled. “Voodoo queen? Old Mammy? Not likely. She was my greatgrandmotherand her time’s been up for a few dozen years. Nasty old woman. Still, toobad she went like she did.”“How so?” Eddie said.“Last week some crazed junkie sprayed her, right inside the door there.” The manpointed at the drywall of Mammy’s house. Bullet holes riddled the door and parts of thewall. “We buried her yesterday at Saint Vincent De Paul Cemetery, few blocks west.”Eddie walked to the wall and poked his thin fingers through some of the holes. Heimagined Mammy on the other side, hot lead slamming through her frail body. Next tohis left foot was the jar with her face. Carefully he tried to push it into a small bush, butthe other man caught the movement.“You want that?” he asked.With a red face Crazy Eddie stammered: “A… a mem… a memento. Of Mammy.”The man smiled. “Sure, why not. Take it. Keep it. Put it in a display case, whatever it is.Saves me the storage.”Eddie picked up the jar and smiled. “Thanks, mister.”“Yeah, off with you. I got work to do.” He resumed putting boxes and crates into thetruck. As he came out again he threw something at Eddie, which Eddie barely caught. Itwas a set of false teeth, Mammy’s teeth. “There’s a memento.”22