Chapter 2

Julian believed I was his good luck charm. I was more than that. I was his guide.

My bayou wisdom, what he called my "uncanny intuition," became his sharpest political tool. I' d listen to the whispers on the wind, the patterns in the water, and I' d tell him who to trust and who to cut loose.

"He smiles too much," I told him once about a potential donor. "His eyes don't match his mouth."

Julian dropped the man a week later. Two months after that, the donor was indicted for fraud.

I used my meager savings from my waitressing job to fund his initial comeback. I bought him new suits, paid for his first ads, and rented a small, respectable office. I lived on cheap noodles and coffee so he could dine with powerful people.

My brother Leo was my world, and Julian became a close second. Julian was kind to him, at first. He' d bring Leo small toys and sit with him, even though Leo couldn' t talk back. I thought it was a sign of a good heart.

Blinded by love, I gave him everything. I helped him craft his speeches, turning my folk wisdom into soundbites that resonated with voters. He rehabilitated his image, going from a disgraced addict to a charismatic man of the people. He launched a campaign for a Senate seat, and against all odds, he was winning.

The betrayal came during the final, critical week of the campaign.

His main rival, a man with no morals and deep pockets, had dug into Julian' s past. He found me. He found out about my "primitive" bayou background, my family's Hoodoo. He threatened to expose Julian as a man saved by "witchcraft."

It would have destroyed him.

I was at our small apartment with Leo when Julian' s security team showed up. They were big men in dark suits. They didn't knock.

"There's been a report of a disturbance," one of them said, his eyes cold and empty. He was holding a small bag of white powder. "We have a warrant."

They planted the drugs. They said I was a dealer and that my disabled brother was my accomplice. It was a public diversion, a minor crime to distract the press while Julian distanced himself.

Julian had framed us. He sacrificed us to save himself.

As they dragged me out, I saw him standing across thestreet, hidden in the shadows of an awning. He was watching. He didn't move. He just watched as they put me and my brother in the back of a black van.