A story of Brujeria, shovels and a baby chick

It was a Thursday. A normal Thursday for me. I went to work and came home like always. It wasn’t too hot yet in our Central Texas town, so comfy pajamas and a soft blanket were calling me. My husband was going to be at work for a few more hours and my 3 teenagers were out with friends. A rare evening where no one was there to bug me about nonsense or ask about dinner. In other words, a perfect evening for an overworked mom. I looked at my watch and it said 6:15pm. The perfect time to start my perfect evening. With my pajamas on I walked to the kitchen and had mentally decided on a pint of buttered pecan ice cream and a show to binge watch until I passed out. I was about to silence my phone when my older sister’s name popped up on the screen. I was going to let it roll to voicemail, but she rarely calls me, and I felt happy to hear from her, so I answered. The second she said my name and not my nickname, the hair on my arms stood up and I felt nervous. She asked if I had anything super important planned for the evening. I looked at my ice cream and was about to say yes when guilt set in and I said no. She thanked the heavens with relief and then proceeded to tell me I needed to pick her up in my SUV. Then she tells me that I can’t ask any questions until I pick her up and that I need to wear darks jeans, boots and a hoodie. Oh, and bring some bottled water, plastic bags and a couple of shovels and gloves. Time stood still for me because I always told her I was her ride or die. She was calling to collect, and I don’t know why, but I said OK. I never thought I would have to make good on it. As my mind came back from my mental pause, the truth finally registered at the forefront of my mind: Oh. Crap. She finally snapped and it is going down!

I wasn’t lying when I said that to her as youngsters. As I got older, I stopped saying it. We’re both in our 40’s and my priorities have changed. Here I was, a suburban wife and mother with a pint of ice cream and the TV remote in one hand and my phone in the other hand and I have just agreed to be an accomplice in something illegal. My sister is a very impatient person so I couldn’t worry about all that. Before I lost my nerve, I hurried up and got dressed in my very specific wardrobe assignment. Then I casually walked to my shed, grabbed the 2 shovels, 3 pairs of plastic gloves and a massive LED flashlight because why not? Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it right? I grabbed the bottled water, some chips, plastic bags and on my way out I spotted a baseball bat and decided to add it the haul. That all went on the back seat of my black, 8 seating heavily tinted SUV and I jumped in, started the engine and started driving to her apartment.

The drive was quiet and peaceful until I pulled up into her complex. Then my mind went into overdrive. Panic set in and I started telling myself I should have brought hand soap, more water, wet wipes and possibly a first aid kit. Then I started cursing myself for not folding all the back seats down to make it flat for the dead bodies. I was sure I would be helping to transport them to a hidden location and bury them. I texted her and told her I was outside and for her to hurry up. She texted me the thumbs up emoji which she knows I hate. I get out and decide to go ahead and fold all the seats down and organize my supplies. As I was getting back into the driver’s seat I saw her walking towards me with a silly smile on her face. I was about to start my inquisition when the gas sensor went off telling me I forgot to get gas as well as all my other forgotten items. She gets in with a medium-sized black backpack that she gently places on the floorboard next to her feet. I told her we needed gas, and she told me which station to go to and that she would fill up my tank. I knew she didn’t know it took $70 at that time to fill up my tank, but since she was the one asking for a favor, I decided to be quiet and let her figure that out on her own. And she did when I heard her cussing outside as she saw that the gas kept on pumping after the $50 mark.

She gets back in looking flustered but doesn’t comment on what she just spent. Instead, she tells me we are driving to a cemetery about 15 miles away. My body stiffened at the word cemetery for some reason. It isn’t as if I didn’t know we would be going to a place along those lines. I asked her why and if that is where we are picking up the dead bodies. She cracked up laughing telling me we weren’t picking up any dead bodies. She starts to say something else, and I swear I heard a chicken cluck or at least a little chick cluck. I asked her what that sound was, and she said she didn’t hear anything and asked if we could listen to some music while we drove and I said yes. Music would be a great distraction because I was starting to get increasingly nervous. If we weren’t picking up dead bodies, then why are we going to a cemetery empty handed?

As the music played, she started to tell me the plan. That she was meeting a bruja/curandera at the cemetery because she was going to get a spiritual cleansing of bad dreams, vibes and thoughts from said bruja. I was kind of relieved but when I looked into the rear-view mirror to change lanes for the upcoming exit, I saw my supplies in the back. Supplies that don’t go along with what she was saying. I asked her why at a cemetery and she started giggling like a schoolgirl. At this point I started to get mad, and I heard that clucking sound again. She said I was being silly and there was no sound. Just the music and her laughing. I told her to start talking or I was going home. She stopped laughing and the tone in her voice changed. She said she really was meeting a bruja at the cemetery and she was going to do a positive cleansing but also an offering to break a curse she was convinced someone put on her.

We were raised very Catholic. I told her no. We don’t believe in that stuff. And she said we do; I just never looked at it that way. She goes on to tell me how she came to know all this spiritual stuff and, that by coincidence, she ran into an old acquaintance at a party that just so happened to have a successful career as a bruja/curandera. She told me all the candles I lit with Saints on them was a form of paganism. I just kept shaking my no. My spiritual beliefs were being crushed. I felt guilty for doing something I believed to be good. I never thought praying and lighting candles of Saints could be interpreted as paganism. But I guess maybe it could. I was educated enough to know that the word pagan wasn’t necessarily a bad word. Like most things, it is all about interpretation and perspective.

While I am still reeling from all this information, she tells me at the next street make a left. By this time, it is super dark outside and getting close to 9pm. I knew 4 people would start blowing up my phone soon because it is rare for me to be out late. I turned my brights on and I saw the “street” was not a street. It was a narrow, gravel road. I turned and drove for several miles with only the music playing. She and I had stopped talking. I could see guilt on her face, so I decided to reach out and playfully shove her. I told her I preferred burying the dead bodies of whoever pissed her off. We laugh and joke for a few minutes before I see a cemetery to my left and cattle stables and a well-lit, but creepy looking parking lot to my right. I pulled into the well-lit parking lot and asked what’s next? She said for me, nothing. She gets out and very carefully takes her backpack and goes to the back of the SUV. Feeling extremely disappointed and like I had just been slapped by my sister, I get out too and open the back and help her get the shovels and gloves out. I ask her why I couldn’t have just worn my pajamas if I was just going to be her chauffeur. She tells me to shut up and quite being dramatic. That she needed me for moral support as she had never done anything like this before. I was about to tell her we still have time to turn around and go home, but a sports car with a beautiful woman driving pulls up next to us like this was her usual spot. Liked she owned the place. She gets out of her shiny car, and I immediately smell pot and incense. She walks up to my sister and my sister hands her a wad of cash and she nods politely. My sister reaches out to hug her, but she steps back and shakes her head no. She said it's better if no one touches her for the time being. She rattles off a prayer asking for my safety, which irks me. She said once the cleansing and offering are complete, we will go our own ways, and she will call my sister in a couple of days to see how she is doing.

Noticing the glare on my face, she looks at me and rolls her eyes and shakes her head. The bruja walks to her car, opens her trunk and pulls out her backpack and what looked like a mini machete. My hackles instantly rise, and I tell her nothing bad better happen to my sister or I would make her regret it. I had my tough persona on display and showed her my war teeth. She just laughed at me, and I swore I saw her eyes flash a different color. She told me not to worry, that she would never hurt my sister. Even though I didn’t like her so far, I did believe her. I asked how long they would be gone and they shrugged and walked off with their respective backpacks, the mini machete, shovels and gloves.

Being alone in the dark at home is one thing. Being alone in the dark in a sketchy place with an old cemetery across from it is quite another. I started getting hot, sweaty, and sticky. Then I felt like a couldn’t breathe. Sitting alone with my anxiety and paranoia at an all-time high was agonizing. My phone rang and I jumped in my seat and let out an earth-shattering scream. One I knew no one would hear. Literally, no one. It kept ringing and I couldn’t bring myself to look at the screen to see who was calling me. Once it stopped ringing, I looked at the screen to see who had called. It was my husband. He sent a text. I still could not pick up my phone. I was afraid if I moved someone would see me. Then it started ringing again. This time I answered it and put it on speaker. My husband started asking me the usual questions: Why aren’t you home? Who are you with? Etc. I said my sister’s name and he said “Oh. Makes sense.”

I then started unloading everything that had happened so far. He started laughing at me and told me I was being silly and to just wait for my sister and get home. I agreed that maybe I was being a little silly. So far nothing bad has happened and it seems harmless at this point. Then I noticed I only had 20% battery left on my phone and I told my husband to hold on because I needed to find my charger cord. He said, “about that”. I accidentally took your android charger and left my iPhone charger. I found the cord and sure enough. It didn’t fit. So, we said our byes and I decided to listen to the radio. A few minutes later I drifted off to sleep.

An hour later I woke up because my phone kept ringing. I looked and saw it was my sister. I answered and she asked if I could drive down the road because their flashlights stopped working and they decided to keep walking, but now they weren’t in the cemetery anymore. I started driving the way we came with my brights on, but I couldn't see anything. When I got back to the main highway, I turned around and drove back in and this time I passed where I had been parked. About half a mile down the road, I see them. They looked dirty. I stopped so they could get in and as they were shutting their respective doors, we heard gun shots. Not any type of gun shots. Those were warning buck shots. Once those doors closed, I put in reverse, busted a bitch and took off fast towards the bruja’s car. She jumps out and hurriedly gets into her car when we hear a truck coming towards us and another round of buck shots. The bruja opened her trunk and pulled something out and was holding it close to her mouth. She closed her eyes and said something to the object and then it started glowing like the moon. Then she opened her eyes and threw whatever it was towards the direction we just came from. Then she looked at us and in Spanish told us to get the F outta there. We did just that. I took off like a thief in the night towards the main highway and even though I could see the stop sign, I did not stop. I swerved onto the highway and floored it again. My sister and I sat in silence for about 10 minutes. She broke that silence by saying we weren’t done. That we needed to drive out to the country a little bit and find a heavily wooded creek or ditch. I asked why. She started laughing and I was so not in the mood. I asked again, why? She said that she has to throw something in the creek or ditch, but it has to be heavily wooded. I told her I had enough and that we were stopping at the first creek or deep ditch I found. She got quiet and said OK. About 20 minutes later we spotted just what we were looking for. I pulled over and put my brights on again and my flashers. She gets out with the backpack and walks over to the railing. She opens the backpack and takes a plastic bag with something in it. It looked like a small ball or something. She had wrapped it in a few bags. She threw it hard out into the creek, picked up her backpack and got back in. Then she looks at me and smiles and says “It’s finished. Now we can go home”. It was almost 2am by this time. I was exhausted and I still had another 2 hours before I got home.

The drive home finally had started and even though I was mad at her, I was also glad she was ok. We were sitting silently again when I blurt out “What the F was in that plastic bad?!?!”. She told me not to ask questions I don’t want to know the answers to, but I insisted on knowing. She said I wasn’t imagining things when I heard a baby chick clucking. She said it was used in the cleansing ritual and the innocent chicks blood cleansed her bad luck and “ojo”. That poor chick died for this supposed cleansing. And I drove it to its’ death. I felt awful. She explained everything and none of it made any sense at that time. I couldn’t get past the fact that I had been unknowingly roped into an animal sacrifice ritual.

We get to her apartment, and she gets off with all her things like nothing. Like we had just come home from bar hopping or something. And swear I saw her skip to her front door. It only added to my anger and frustration. Not at her, but myself. Next time, I will let that call go to voicemail. Next time I will just watch Netflix and chill.

As I am driving home my phone rings and I look down and see the battery flashing. I answered it, but before my husband could say anything, I say “I am headed home. My phone is about to die, so I can’t talk, but please do something for me?” He said “Ok, what?” I said, “Leave the lights on for me. I will be there soon.”

When I get home, he opens the passenger door and looks inside and then at the floorboard and squints. He looks at me and aggressively asks/shouts, “Why does it smell like boiled eggs in here and why is there blood on the floorboard?!?!”

Yeah. That was fun explaining. But I kept my promise to my older sister. Even if it is against my beliefs, my morals, my everything, SHE is MY sister. I am her ride or die and she is mine. I had to be ok with the baby chicks’ blood, because my blood was more important to me.