Sean Chercover - The Trinity Game

But there was something wrong about the way she said it. Daniel had seen a lot of religious grifters over the years, had grown up with one of the best, and until a minute ago Ory had seemed completely sincere. But that last line, about Shango speaking directly to Trinity…she seemed to be selling it.

He stole a glance at his uncle as Ory took their mugs to the altar. Trinity was moving with the drumbeat, a serene smile on his face, like everything was right with the world.

And now there was something wrong about the way Ory refilled their mugs at the altar, the way she turned her back to them…like she was purposely blocking their view.

Daniel shifted to his left in order to see.

The rum bottle was in her right hand…but something else was concealed in her left, hovering over Trinity’s mug.

An eyedropper.

Daniel’s heart filled with despair. Had he really seen that? Was she really spiking Trinity’s drink with something?

Damn. He really had, and she really was.

Priestess Ory returned with the mugs and handed them over. She raised her own mug. “To Legba!” She drank.

Daniel slapped the mug out of Trinity’s hand just before it reached his mouth.

The drumming followed from the backyard as Daniel stormed through the gate and toward the car, digging the keys from his pocket.

“I don’t know what you’re so riled over,” said Tim Trinity from behind. “It wasn’t poison, she put it in her own drink as well.”

Daniel stopped in the middle of the front lawn and spun around. “You knew?”

“Hey, remember who you’re talkin’ to, son. I’ve seen all the moves.” Trinity smiled. “I may play a yokel on TV, but very little gets by me.”

“But you were gonna drink it.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a con, that’s why. Because the woman is just another grifter.”

Angelica Ory stepped out from behind Trinity. “Watch your mouth, boy. Grifter ? Did I ever once ask you for money? Did I even mention money?”

“Mama Anne, let me apologize for my nephew,” said Trinity.

“Excuse me?” said Daniel. “I didn’t slip drugs in your drink, I have nothing to apologize for.”

“Before you make an even bigger ass of yourself,” said Priestess Ory, handing him a small tincture bottle. “Extracts of passionflower, mugwort, kava-kava, and wormwood. All natural ingredients used by indigenous root doctors for thousands of years.”

“And hallucinogenic,” he said.

“Sure, if you drink about a cup of the stuff. We use about twenty drops. At most, it enhances your sense of connectedness to the world, boosts your awareness of your own mental imagery, and causes a slight numbing of the tongue.”

“ Loa-in-a-bottle ,” said Daniel, handing it back to her. “Very clever.”

“It is an aid to spiritual insight. It does not render that insight false.” She sighed deeply. “We agreed that the goal was for Tim to receive what I provide. You may not like it, but this is it.”

“Exactly right,” said Trinity. “You can wait in the car. I’m going back in for my date with Mr. Shango.”

Ory shook her head. “I’m sorry, Tim. You left the peristyle in the middle of a possession. You walked out on Papa Legba. The crossroads are no longer open to you tonight…and I don’t think he’ll open them again to you any time soon, after such disrespect.”

Daniel could not detect any insincerity in her at all. He didn’t know what to think. He said, “So you actually believe that old man in there is possessed by Legba?”

“What does it matter? He believes it, and I believe he gets something of value from it. Daniel, you’re looking for absolute knowledge about the ultimate reality of the universe. I don’t have that knowledge. Nobody does. What I have is faith. And what I do know is, people have an inborn need to believe in the spirit, and ritual helps sustain that belief. And that is what I provide.”

Daniel gestured toward the sound of the drums. “So all this is just a ritual to sustain belief in something we can’t understand. That seems pretty hollow to me.”

“Not hollow at all,” said Priestess Ory. “It’s healing, and it’s very human. Listen, I didn’t come up in Voodoo, I was raised a good Catholic girl, but I always knew I wanted to be a healer of some kind. I tried the conventional route, got a PhD in clinical psychology at Loyola, spent fifteen years as a therapist. Fifteen years of frustration…successes were too few and too fleeting. Then I found Voodoo, and it just spoke to me. And I’ll tell you, I’ve helped more people by waving a chicken’s foot over their heads than I ever did in endless discussions of how their daddies were mean to them as children. I don’t deny there’s an element of performance in the ritual, just as there is for a priest giving communion, just as there is in all human ritual. But whatever the ultimate reality behind it, the bottom line is, it works.” From the backyard, the drums changed tempo and the singing stopped. Priestess Ory glanced toward the gate. “I must get back to my ounfo .” She turned and walked away.

Trinity stepped forward and snatched the car keys from Daniel’s hand. “Walk with me.” He marched off down the middle of the street.

Daniel caught up and fell in beside him. Trinity kept marching in silence. Daniel said, “I know you’re angry, but wandering around the Lower Nine in the middle of the night is a very bad plan. Let’s at least get the car.”

“I’m not angry, I’m thinking. I always think better at a brisk walk. Be quiet a minute so I can hear my thoughts.”

The skyline of downtown New Orleans glowed faintly in the distance, and the sound of drums faded away as they walked the empty streets, Trinity listening to his thoughts and Daniel listening to their footsteps and watching for trouble among the ruins.

They reached an intersection and Trinity turned right. Daniel stopped him.

“Not that way. No streetlights.” So they turned left instead.

A few blocks later, Trinity stopped walking. “Can you find the way back to the car?” he said.

“I think so.” Daniel pointed down the next block.

“Let’s go.”

And as they walked, Trinity shared his thoughts. “I’m not angry with you…I actually think everything happened tonight exactly the way it was supposed to. Think about it: We all react to things according to the people we are. God knows who you are, and he brought you into this knowing you’d react exactly as you did. I wasn’t led here to commune with Shango at all, I was supposed to experience this night just as it happened.” His hand swept across the devastation all around. “I was supposed to see all this.” Even in the dim light, Daniel caught the glint of his smile. “Nothing tonight happened by accident. And I’m beginning to understand what it means.” He stopped at the intersection, looked around. “God, I wish there were some street signs. Which way?”

Dawn was now breaking, and everything looked different bathed in its dim blue light. “Right, I think. No, wait.” Daniel scanned for something recognizable, came up empty. “Damn. I don’t know.”

Trinity dug into his pocket, pulled out a quarter. “Heads it’s right, tails left.” He flipped the coin, caught it, and slapped it on the back of his hand. “Tails.” He turned left and resumed walking. A foghorn moaned somewhere in the distance.

Halfway down the block, Trinity came to an abrupt stop, his mouth hanging open.

Daniel reached for the gun. “What?”