Her body was made of faces.
Tiny faces.
Lots of little faces.
Heads!
Barely an inch in size, but with eyes that gaped back at me and tiny mouths that screamed and cried and stuck their tongue out and frowned in dismay. Some smiled. Most chewed on something. These heads formed her entire frame. They made up her body. Became the shape of her neck and rounded into shoulders. Some expanded out to form arms and legs and the creepiest feet.
Heads.
Millions of tiny heads.
All different races and colors. Hairstyles. Various fucking hairstyles. Had I not been shaking in my bones I would’ve taken in more of the details. Tried to make more sense of why some of the heads with braids were layered around her waists, but the bald ones were around the holes that served as her eyes. There would’ve been so many questions, after I stopped screaming in my head. Why were the darker skin heads near her cheeks? Why were the lighter complexions representing her knees and hips?
Was there a method to the madness?
I didn’t even know what the damn heads were attached to. I couldn’t make out their necks or arms and hands. There was no skeleton behind them or beating heart. It wasn’t like thousands of tiny people had their bodies stuck in a monster and was just poking their heads out of the flesh. There were no bodies behind the heads, just darkness that suggested something living behind it. Some sort of structure that no normal man could think of. Not even the sickest artist high off meth and downing booze could paint this image.
“Don’t worry.” Addie Mae’s voice sounded behind the heads. “It would take you years to understand this.”
I’ll never survive this night.
Addie Mae’s body and clothes continued to unzip at the center, and all of what I’d identified as this sweet, old woman fell to the ground.
I had no idea if my heart beat anymore. I was this numb shell of a man. If I made it out of this, God would give me a pat on the back and probably a chance to start my life over in a nice little mental hospital with gray walls and a cold floor.
So. . .
Addie Mae was now this tiny, framed body formed from thousands of little heads.
I gulped in cold terror.
And whatever the thing was that I once could’ve called her face, didn’t sit well with me either.
What could one call it? A head-face?
I guess I could say that it was the circular shape of tiny heads at the top of her frame. It haunted me more than the rest of her. The face didn’t have eyes nor mouth or nose. Just holes like a skeleton. Big holes that were missing heads. Hollow darkness where a person’s eyes, nose, and mouth should be.
I was more afraid than I’d ever been in my life.
The mouth hole moved. “Most would’ve ran by now.”
It hurt my chest to speak. “I can’t feel my feet to run.”
“That could be considered a good thing. I need you.” The creature pointed at the bucket. “Pick that up. I can’t touch it when I’m like this.”
I did. I picked the bucket up so fast, I impressed myself.
What else can I do? I will do whatever this creature wants.
“I’m still Addie Mae. You’re just seeing a different part of me. Don’t let these heads creep you out. They’re good.” She didn’t walk away. She slithered down the path. Those bottom heads rolled around and around. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the hows and whys. I just followed it. . .her. . .the creature. . .Addie Mae, out of that garden, leaving her old body in a pile on the ground.
“A good conjure bag will let you do all types of things.” She continued down the path and headed toward the pantry opening. Once she left the garden, she talked some more. “I called on our ancestors. They’re here with me. They’re always here with us. In our skin. I pulled them out of me. That’s all you’re seeing. The energy of others. They’re spirits, love, and protection.”
My stomach churned. “I have heads inside of my body?”
“You have their blood. Their spirits. Everyone you’ve connected with on an emotional level. Spiritual level. Sex. When you have sex with someone you get their energy and the energy of who else they’ve had sex with. That’s why I don’t get in bed with no one unless they sage themselves first. I have sage right next to the bed.”