206 - Violin

206 - Violin
Steele, I need something and I don’t want Gator or Zydeco to know. It’s a surprise for Darkness for our wedding… - Camille

Darkness stood in front of a crowd of Saints, Cajuns and a few Renegades in the garden of Sinner’s Shack. When he walked out to where Trigg had indicated, he was surprised to find the Erzulie Freda Veve in white and red sand. The large intricate heart was laid out where Trigg usually had his small podium that he used to hold his notes and occasionally the book of scripts.

The whole area was a mix of the Dutch traditions that her family held on to and the Voodoo and Creole aspects of his heritage. Along with the sand art there was a wishing tree in Nessie’s Kitchen. Darkness had never heard of this before but liked it. Small leaf shaped pieces of paper for guests to give the couple well wishes and were hung on the branches of the carved tree.

Camille had been excited when she discovered that one of the colors for love and Madam Erzulie was red. He knew that the bridesmaids’ dresses were all red, but they had been told to pick their own dresses. The flowers that were spread around were wildflowers not only from Massachusetts and Louisiana but also from The Netherlands.

Like so many others, Darkness was surprised to find out that there were more than just tulips in The Netherlands. When Sid started listing off so many different flowers, he thought that they were the ones from Louisiana. His mother-in-law just patted his cheek and said the phrase that she had picked up from Rosie and Momma Dee with Evie’s condescending attitude.

“Oh, sweetheart, bless your ignorant little heart.”

He burst out laughing and pulled her in close for a hug. “Oma, you would have made a wonderful southern momma.”

“I could definitely do your spicy food, I like that heat,” she had admitted. “But the weather? Hell. No. How do you not fucking melt in the summer?”

Standing next to Vin and Mitch, Darkness coughed into his fist to hide his amused laughter. The sound system began to play a song by a local symphonic rock band. At the far end of the patio, the door opened and he looked over expecting to see the bridesmaids entering.

He watched in confusion as several of Camille’s younger nieces and nephews walked out and put daisy-like blue flowers on certain chairs. As he stood there in shock and awe, he realized that she was putting chicory flowers on the seats that would have been occupied had the person not died. He had only asked that they leave the seats open for their spirits to know that they were welcome.

Camille had gone one step further and got the flower of the ancestors. Turning towards Mitch, he found that Vin had already pulled his younger brother into a hug. Pulling both of his boys into a hug, Darkness looked at the three small bouquets that were placed in the seats for his parents and Momma Dee.

Zydeco and Gator must have helped because small pictures were attached to the bouquets. Looking at the bouquets that were for Jasper and Keisha, he saw the pictures that the three kids said were their favorites. He glanced over and watched as one of the girls put a bouquet with Brute’s picture. She placed a bouquet with Becks’ picture.

A woman in an outfit that Nicki would love, walked out to stand to the side of the gathering. Layers of lace and another sheer material made up the short shirt and floor length train. A blue and black brocade corset cinched in her waist over a sheer shirt that he was not certain if it was blue or black. Platform boots had the buckles and chains that most of Nicki’s boots now had.

“You’re going to love this,” Vin said as the boys moved back to their places.

The woman in the back opened the violin case and removed a violin that looked like the neck had been carved out of bone. A bow was removed that also looked like it was carved from bone. He racked his brain trying to think of the band poster on Nicki’s wall with a woman holding a remarkably similar violin and bow.

She nodded at someone; Darkness was unable to see who was speaking to her and wondered why he had not heard anything. Raising her violin to rest under her chin, she closed her eyes just before she began to play. It only took a few notes for him to recognize a Taylor Swift song.

Rosie was the first bridesmaid down the aisle, and she blushed as she looked over at where Dutch and Spider sat with two of Dutch’s youngest children sitting between them. He was glad that she had finally found some peace and was able to settle down. The sharing surprised him as that was more of a Candi thing, but she obviously had found something with these two men that she liked.

Next out was Megan. Rosie’s red dress was a deep red, almost burgundy. It was short, but not as short as he had seen her down in Baton Rouge. Megan’s dress was a bright red and floor length. They both had wide straps and a high waist.

Their dresses were in contrast to Michelle’s dress. She wore a tight, knee-length, ruby red dress with spaghetti straps and a matching semi-sheer short jacket. They all wore black heels with red bottoms that Camille insisted on getting for their bridesmaid’s gifts.

Priscilla came out next and she wore a high-waisted dress to accommodate her growing belly. She had a shawl that was obviously bothering her because she stopped and handed it to her husband. Her little girl grabbed it and began to play with it. Her husband handed her a small battery-operated fan, and she took her place before turning the fan on and aimed it at her face.

When Nicki stepped out, her brothers laughed at the way that she nearly fell over at seeing her idol. The woman stopped playing and hugged his daughter as she did something with her hands and the woman nodded in agreement. Nicki rushes down the aisle to her dad where she hugged him tightly. Standing next to Priscilla, Nicki’s dress looked even more blood red than he remembered. Priscilla’s dress now looked slightly pink.

As the song started over for the second, or possibly third time, two of Camille’s younger nieces walked out with red baskets filled with red, white and purple flower petals. Dakota, Aramis’ oldest daughter, walked between them with a black pillow with red ribbons. They had debated having one of her nephews being the ring bearer, but Dakota wanted to carry her pillow. Darkness was certain that they were never getting that pillow back.

The violin song came to a natural end, the last notes fading. The player turned and looked down the aisle as if waiting for instructions. Toad stood up and motioned for everyone else to also stand.

Darkness looked at where his bride stood between her parents.