Birth of a Dark Nation (31 page)

The music stopped and everyone cheered.
Dominique curtsied low and her curls cascaded from the back of her
head to the front. Ariori bowed deeply and they came up at the same
time. He clasped her hands again and brought her over to the piano,
where many of the rest of us were congregated.

"Who are you, really?" Eşusanya asked. Horn
players across the square had taken it upon themselves to keep the
party going while everyone outside of the Razadi continued to
dance.

"Dominique Rabaut," she said.

"Does the name Bellanger mean anything to
you?" Aborişade asked.

"Of course," she said. "That's my family's
name on my grandmother's side. My grandmother's maiden name."

"How did you get the name Dominique?" I
asked.

"Not that I have to explain anything to any
of you, but Dominique has been a name in my family for years,
starting with my grandmother's grandmother. She was the first to
visit the new world, but she was brought back. Her grandchildren
settled in America a hundred years ago. And that's how I got here.
Any further questions?"

"She's feisty," Babarinde said.

"And who exactly are all of you? Why are you
so familiar to me?" Dominique asked.

"Touch her," Babarinde commanded Ariori. He
faced her and inched toward her cautiously.

"May I?" he asked her.

"I shouldn't…but yes."

Ariori wiped his hands on his pants and
carefully cupped her cheeks in his hands. Again, her eyes fluttered
and she instinctually held on to Ariori.

Eşusanya, Ogundiya, Aborişade, and I each
touched a portion of Ariori's bare forearms while the rest of our
brothers crowded around us in concentration. In the span of
seconds, the entirety of Dominique's life on Dominica was
transmitted back to her. Tears streamed down her face.

Ariori released her and stepped back. We
lowered our hands and waited.

She opened her eyes.

"
Ariori, mon amour
," she sobbed. She
slowly raised her arms to embrace Ariori.

"It's really you," he wept. He ran to her,
embraced her, and spun her around. We all rejoiced, cheering and
weeping at the same time.

"I'm back," she said in between her tears.
"I'm only 19 years old and all I know is America. But somehow, I'm
back. I've returned to you."

"I thought I lost you forever," Ariori
said.

"I thought I lost you, too. I can't remember
everything. I can't remember much at all. But all of my life, I've
had these flashes, these dreams of an island and of a Negro man.
And I thought it was madness. That I would ever love a black man
the way I loved the man in my dream. But it wasn't a dream, it was
a memory."

"You were reborn," Ariori said. "God wanted
us to be together."

"That's impossible," Eşusanya said. "People
can't come back to life. Once they're dead, that's it."

"I know someone who can solve this riddle,"
Babarinde said. "Dominique, who accompanied you here?"

"I came alone. I attend Sophie Newcombe
College. My chaperone Carmen would kill me if she found out I
slipped away to Congo Square."

"Then we don't have time to spare. Come with
me. Eşusanya, Ogundiya, stay with the piano. Take it back to
Pontalba when this is over. Aragbaye and Aborişade, come with
us."

"Where are we going?" Aborişade asked.

Just twenty minutes later, we were seated in
the parlor of a witch: Marie Laveau III.

Aborişade and I sat on a bench in the far
corner of the parlor, suspicious of Marie and her abode. Her
hardwood floors were impeccably shined, so much so that we could
see our reflections in them. Candles in their holders ringed the
room, but none were lit, as the early evening sun still filled the
room with reddish light.

Marie Laveau III was a voluptuous and
vivacious woman of about 50 years, with her long black tresses
hidden by a white head wrap. Gold rings adorned most of her
fingers, which she clasped politely on the table in front of her.
Babarinde greeted her with a kiss on the lips, surprising all of
us.

"Is he courting this woman?" I whispered to
Aborişade.

"Who knows? I didn't know he ever left the
plantation."

"Are you really Marie Laveau?" Dominique
asked.

"Of course I am, child! I am the third Marie
Laveau and the reigning Voodoo Queen of New Orleans!"

"Oh," Dominique said.

"Babarinde, what can I help you with today? I
know it must be important for you to come to me unannounced and
with visitors in tow."

"It is very important," Babarinde explained.
"You know my people are…very old. We have seen much over the years.
But we've never seen this. Dominique believes—and several of the
brethren also believe—that she's been here before. And we've never
encountered that before. Not sure if I believe it. But as sure as
you and I are sitting here, she looks just like a woman we all knew
well many years ago. Many, many years. Years before Dominique was
even born."

"I see," Marie said.

"So what I'm asking is, is this girl the
reincarnation of the woman we all knew so many years ago?"

"How many years did you say?" Marie
teased.

"I didn't say." Babarinde winked.

Marie cackled.

"Link hands," she instructed. "Boys, you as
well. Join us."

Aborişade and I rose from the bench and stood
at either side of Marie. We linked hands, forming a circle around a
wooden bowl of water on the table.

"You know why we're here," she said. "Show us
the answers."

This was an interesting approach, I thought.
If she was searching for answers, she surely didn't have much
reverence.

"I said tell us something! We don't have all
damn day!"

The sun disappeared and the room went dark.
Wind blew from parts unknown. The table shook.

"Who is there?" Marie asked.

Obatala.

A voice filled all of our minds
simultaneously.

"You lie!" Marie said, angered. "Tell me your
name!"

The table shook violently once more and the
bowl of water overturned.

Eshu.

The table settled once more.

"I humbly greet you, Eshu, trickster of the
Orishas and messenger of all that is divine."

What do you want?

"Who is the girl present before us?"

Her body is Dominique Rabaut. Her soul is
Dominique Bellanger, wife of Ariori.

Ariori looked at Dominique and they both
smiled.

"Why has she been sent back here?"

This is where she belongs.

"What happened to Dominique Bellanger after
she was taken from us?" Ariori interrupted.

Be grateful that she has come back to
you.

"Yes, yes," Ariori said. "I am."

"Thank you, dear Eshu," Marie concluded.

The sun came out once more and the winds
stopped blowing. A bird chirped out on Bourbon Street.

"You have the answers you want. Dominique is
the real deal."

"I'm the real deal? But I don't even know who
I am anymore, or what this all means," she said.

"Neither do I," Ariori said. "But I know that
what I'm feeling now is as real as it was when I lived in Dominica.
And I'm never letting you go again."

"You better not," Marie said. "Chances like
this don't happen in most people's lifetimes. Make the most of
it."

~

xt several weeks, Dominique and Ariori indeed
made the most of their relationship. She spent her days in class,
studying to become a teacher at Sophie Newcombe College and
learning how to be a lady. Her chaperone, Carmen, held close watch
over her since the day she had snuck off to Congo Square. However,
Dominique outsmarted her by sneaking out late in the evening, under
the cover of darkness, after Carmen was fast asleep.

They spent every hour of the evening
together, whether dancing, talking, or just sharing stories of the
years of their lives so far.

One evening, during a late supper Ariori made
from the herbs and vegetables from our plantation, she confided
some of her plans with us.

"I've been working with nine other girls at
my school," she began. "We want to create a society."

"A society?" Ariori said, as he wiped his
mouth with his napkin. "Some sort of religious order?"

"No. Have you ever heard of a
fraternity?"

"Yes, I think so," Ariori nodded.

"Well, there are fraternities for women, too.
Sometimes they're called sororities. We want to have a way for our
girls to talk about topics of the day, safe from the faculty.
School is very repressive, actually, and we want to organize
better. To serve our campus and each other."

"Sounds silly," Eşusanya said.

"Easy for you to say," Dominique retorted.
"All of you are already organized like a fraternity. You have a
leader, rules, your own ceremonies and traditions. Why can't we
have the same thing?"

"Because you haven't been through what we've
been through. Our rituals keep us alive."

"And what's to say the girls in my school
don't need the same sort of family? Many of us are far from our
homes."

"Don't compare your little girls' club to me
and my brothers."

"You don't scare me, Jacques!" Dominique
sharply stood up at the table.

"Who are you talking to like that?!" Eşusanya
bared his fangs. Without hesitation, Dominique threw her glass of
water across the table and drenched Eşusanya. In a rage, he leaped
across the table and pushed Dominique up against the wall,
squeezing her throat with his hand.

He hissed at her relentlessly, but she showed
no fear on her face. After a few tense seconds, they began to
giggle.

"It's good to have you back, wench," he said
as his fangs retracted.

"It's good to be back, you old bastard,"
Dominique responded.

~

She stood before us in the field beyond our
house, her face illuminated by the full moon and the torches
planted in the ground that formed a circle around all of us. Her
hair was crowned with a wreath of white roses. She held hands with
Ariori in front of Marie Laveau while we all looked on.

"…may Olódùmarè ever bless this union.
Ariori, you may now kiss your bride."

Weeks of courtship had led to this inevitable
moment between them. Their love was as strong as it had been all
those years ago; even though this was a new person, her spirit was
the same. They wanted to be together as soon as possible.

The ceremony had been an amalgam of our own
Razadi, Voodoo, and Catholic traditions, representing the beliefs
of the couple as well as the place where we now lived.

We were treated to a midnight repast of
fruits, salads, and an assortment of baked goods, including a cake
and bean pies. We drummed and danced in celebration. Even Eşusanya
smiled at the union of our brother to our sister reborn.

Just as I got my turn to dance with the
blushing bride, we heard the sound of a horse racing in the
distance; it grew louder and louder.

"What's that?" she asked.

Ariori took her side and we turned around,
facing the cloaked figure riding directly onto our property.

"What's the meaning of this?" Babarinde
asked.

The figure jumped off the resting horse and
removed her cloak. It was Carmen, Dominique's chaperone.

"You tell me the meaning, boy!" she shouted
at Babarinde.

"Boy?" he laughed.

"Don't laugh at me, boy! Dominique, get on
this horse right now!"

"No, Carmen. Go back home," Dominique
responded.

"Right now!" Carmen shrieked.

"I am here with my husband, Carmen. Now run
along home."

"Husband? No, I won't believe it. I won't
believe that you've married a…a…"

"A man," Ariori said. Carmen scowled at
him.

"You really did it, didn't you?" Carmen
asked. Dominique slowly nodded. Carmen began to sob.

"Please, walk away from this! The law won't
even recognize it!"

"Absolutely not! I am staying married,
Carmen. Forever."

"How can you throw your life away like this?
Where did I go wrong? Don't you know this will break your parents'
hearts? And they'll kill me for letting it happen!"

"You don't have to tell them," Dominique
said.

Carmen's face immediately turned from anguish
to anger.

"Of course I'll tell them. I'll tell your
father that you married a Negro if you don't come home right
now!"

"Tell him! I don't care, Carmen! This is my
life! I'm an adult now and I can do what I want!"

Carmen took a step toward Dominique and drew
her hand back as though she was about to slap Dominique. I grabbed
her forearm and pulled her toward me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you,
ma'am."

"Get off me!" she yelled. I let her go and
she hurried to her horse.

"I am going to tell your father, Dominique!
And your mother! You have shamed them! Shamed! Your life will never
be the same!"

"Good!" Dominique shouted back.

Carmen hurried off into the night on the
horse she rode in on. We stood around in silence.

"Well, what are we all standing here for?"
Dominique asked. "Isn't this a party? Let's dance!"

We laughed and began drumming and dancing
once more. Dominique was wholly unbothered by the threats of her
chaperone, even though, perhaps, she should have been.

Carmen made good on her threats to snitch to
Mr. Rabaut, who immediately had his daughter withdrawn from Sophie
Newcombe. Soon, Dominique was alone and living with us at Pontalba
fulltime, and meeting with the sisters of her society on the
weekends. She never broke a sweat and adjusted well to her new
routine over the next few weeks.

~

One day, after the sun had set, we took the
buggy downtown to the pharmacy. Although we grew our own herbs
based on our family knowledge, the world was discovering
pharmaceutical remedies from other places. Ariori was revving up
his research and hoped to discover what impact various Chinese
herbal supplements would have on an African diet, particularly a
Razadi diet. New Orleans University was open to his research,
hoping to find the next big name to come out of the school and give
it some national notoriety.