Foiegrass Church

Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky......

That sentence

Along with the name and occupation:

Alex trammel - wizard

These were the last indicators of my father's presence that I found. Dad had officially disappeared three days ago and that odd sentence and somebody named Alex Trammell, supposedly a wizard was scratched on the pad by the phone in Dad's kitchen.

I hadn't talked to Dad all week; I had been busy and had kept meaning to call but hadn't gotten around to it. Now I stood in his kitchen and felt the waves of guilt crash over me. I should have called. Now my only lead was this name. It was time to go in search of Alex Trammell- Wizard.

I went through the phonebook on Dad's end table and found Trammel’s ad

Alex Trammell- Wizard.

Lost items found, check your aura, and remove hexes.....*no curses, hexes, love potions or endless purses

Call 515-555-2765

I couldn't believe this garbage!

What the hell Dad!? What did you get yourself into?

I searched for Trammell on my phone and there was nothing, he might as well have been a ghost; Siiiigh! I took a picture of Trammel’s ad with my phone and left through the weathered back kitchen door, waving at Sammy as I left who was out watering his back lawn.

Sammy was a good guy, for a Crocodile who spoke with a Creole accent....he generally looked out for Dad since I wasn't always able to. I had already asked Sammy about what Dad had been up to over the last week, and he had confirmed that up until 3 days ago it had been Dad's usual routine.

Take the bus around to run errands and check his Post office box early in the morning, back home for lunch, then off to the bus again for his AA meetings and such. Nothing out of the usual.....until he didn't come home from AA. Sammy just figured Dad had gotten lucky with a waitress or something and hadn't paid any mind to it, it happened a lot. Dad was always hooking up with some gal for a few days and then parting ways with them. He seemed to prefer it that way, and the ladies never made it to his door.

Three days was nothing, but three days with no calls from Dad on my phone was trouble.

Not being able to get a hold of Dad for a day, meant trouble.

I just had to figure out what kind of trouble. Dad never messed with married women or ladies who had boyfriends so that ruled out the jealous lover scenario....so what had happened.

I ran a hand through my hair in frustration, some of the coppery strands coming out in my fingers, and climbed onto my bike. I slid my helmet on while going through the places Dad usually went in my mind. While I let the sound of the bike's engine turning over soothe my chaotic thoughts, I saw in my mirror that Sammy was waving at me a little frantically from his back porch.

"Cher!! It was 'is meetin night at da church....tha there woman Lettie run it. Name's Lettie Bledsoe. Check wit her!"

I nodded my thanks to Sammy who inclined his snout and went back inside, I sped away from the suburbs and off towards the FoieGrass Church on 100th, and hoped Lettie was in a conversational mood.

Dad would never disappear without a word. It had been Dad and I since Mom left when I was 6.

I couldn't blame her, Dad was a hard soul to be married to, it had hurt that she left both of us but in the end, it was better. Mom needed her space and I guess a kid would have cramped her style.

Dad, on the other hand, had really wanted a child and had been willing to stick it out and do the work necessary to raise me. Even dealing with those dreaded teenage years seemed to come naturally for him. I was so worried, Dad was my whole family.

He had initially been against my chosen vocation. He had wanted me to be an artist; not a private investigator! However, painting didn't pay the bills.

I loved painting and making things, I grew up helping dad make things all of the time.

Dad was always happiest when he was helping people.

So in a way, I told him that being a P.I. was helping people too, I knew that Dad was just worried about all of the danger I would potentially get myself into and I reminded him that he had had me in Martial arts since I was 10 and had been taking me hunting & trapping since Mom left. I could take care of myself, and Dad knew that but I would always be his baby and while he was proud of me. He still had a hard time with the thought of me having to take care of myself.

It was why I hadn't told him when the Doctors informed me that I was sick, really sick.

I had never wanted to burden Dad and I definitely didn't want him to fall off of the wagon because of this.....it was one of the reasons I hadn't called him, I needed time before I gave him the news.

I didn't know what I was going to do, the treatments were expensive and they only have a 60% chance of working. Dad will help me financially, that wasn't even a question.

Telling him though......what will I say, hey dad I’m potentially dying but at least it wasn't the P.I. work that got me right? Yaaayyyyy!

What do you say to your Dad when you don't know if you're going to be around for Christmas or his birthday next year?

I didn't know, so I didn't say anything…and now Dad was missing and I was wishing that I had said something....anything.....I just wished he was back at his house making steak and potatoes and watching C-Span or some documentary on war or something. I just wanted him back home.

I felt the tears blur my vision before they got too bad and was able to pull over to the side of the road before I got into an accident. I had to keep it together, I was all Dad had. I knew the police weren't going to be much help and I knew that if I didn't get some leads quickly...there was a good chance that dad would go from missing to being permanently gone.

Fifteen minutes later I was pulling up outside the shabby church, I saw that it had once been an architectural marvel …it must have shined like a beacon in its heyday. It had fallen into extreme disrepair over the last few decades or so...Dad had been fundraising to help fix this church up as he felt that it helped a lot of people, himself included. I took a deep steadying breathe to try to clear my head and stop my heart from racing from the anxiety and went up the churches steps and through the worn wooden doors.

I found Ms. Lettie in the main foyer cleaning and putting away the coffee station fixings from the just ended NA meeting. People filed out of the church after putting chairs away and such, they seemed happy and in good spirits. All of them said goodbye to Lettie, some stopping to help her or give her a hug.

I knew of Lettie from pictures Dad had taken with her and some of the other people at his AA meetings, and Dad talked about her a lot and the great things that she was doing for people.

I had often wondered if Dad was sweet on her but even if he was, he would never make a move on her…….he held her in far too high esteem.

Lettie’s dark brown hair was cut into a bob style, she wore a beige crocheted cardigan over an olive green broomstick skirt and she moved with surprising speed for her age, I knew she was in her 70’s.

“Ms. Bledsoe?” I called from a few feet away; I didn’t want to startle her.

She looked up with a smile on her face that grew as she saw me “Casey!! It’s so good to finally meet you dear. What brings you here tonight? Are you working on a case?” At the last sentence she looked excited.

“Uhhh...” I was a bit taken aback at her familiarity….but I remembered that Dad had a tendency to talk about me.

“Oh dear, I’m sorry. Your father talks about you so much that it feels like I know you. He is so proud of you.” She then came around the cabinet she was working at and offered me her hand in a handshake gesture.

I smiled and took her hand, I wished I had come with Dad to one of his meetings…it sucked that we had to officially meet this way.

“Yes I'm on a case; I wish we were meeting under better circumstances Ms. Bledsoe.”

“Lettie, Please”

“Lettie. Thank you. My Dad has been missing for 3 days and I'm trying to find him….have you seen him or do you know where he might be?”

The smile fell from her face and she squeezed my hand “I was a little worried that Jerry had missed last night’s meeting. I’m sorry; I haven’t seen him or heard from him. I had hoped that we would get a chance to talk on Friday night when we went over the fundraising for the church. Your father is amazing at fundraising and advertising by the way, he has helped this church out so much; but I haven’t seen him since Sunday’s meeting. He has been missing since Monday, you say?” Lettie looked genuinely concerned, which I appreciated. She seemed so nice…and very sharp minded.

“Thank you and yes Dad loves it here at the church, he lives to help non profits that he feels a connection with. “

“He does light up when he is helping people. He is a good man….hmmmm you know…He has been hanging around with a man by the name of Jeff Connors, they are in Sunday and Wednesday night AA meetings together and Jeff didn’t show up either last night. I wish I could be of more help, but that’s all I have dear.” Lettie looked sad and frustrated.

“Thank you, that helps a lot actually. Do you have contact information for Mr. Connors?”

“Yes, let me write it down for you” She went to get a pen and paper from her office.

While she was gone I took in the energy of the church…it felt off somehow and I was curious as to what was happening here. I shrugged and decided to investigate it later, Dad came first.

As Lettie came back toward me with paper in her had, I decided to ask her on the off chance that maybe Dad had mentioned something during the meetings “Just out of curiosity…did Dad ever mention an Alex Trammell to you or did you happen to overhear him say anything at a meeting maybe?”

Lettie perked up “Alex, yes…Jeff and Jerry were paling around with him for the past 3 weeks over at Jeff’s house. Jeff is very interested in the Occult and Alex claims to be a wizard, your father was fascinated by some of what Alex had to say. Jerry is very skeptical so he must have gotten some sort of proof from Alex because those three became thick as thieves. Alex is a good lad, he drinks a bit but I wouldn’t consider it a problem….and he doesn’t go to a bar unless he is with his other friends. Speaking of which, he should be at the bar up the street tonight…it’s called Tap out. Tonight is free beer for ladies night. Alex is a bit lonely.” Lettie winked and I caught her drift. She gave me both Connors and Trammell’s info and a description of each man and directions to Tap Out.

I thanked her and left the church, I heard her wish me luck on the way out.

Jeff Connors had introduced Dad to Trammell, they had all been hanging out for weeks and

I hadn’t heard anything about this. Hmmm, now I really had to wonder what Dad had been up to.

I climbed off of my bike and pulled my Helmut off-more hair came with it, I knew it was just a symptom of my illness but I found it more intensely annoying right now than ever before, maybe it was the stress - setting it on the bike and went inside the little dive bar.

It was the typical cramped, dark, stuffy vibe of the kind of bar my dad had started to frequent again once I turned 19...and the overall stench of cheap beer that permeated the place was enough to make me gag. I was praying Dad hadn’t gone back to drinking....he had been doing so well!!! He had gone my entire childhood without so much as a drop of alcohol....and then after a few years of falling off of the wagon hard. He had met a woman who had been his gateway back to boozing, she drank her days away and he thought that he was stable enough to not be affected. He was wrong and when that relationship was over he had found another woman who was even worse to hook up with. It had taken him a long time to find his way back to the light. He had come back here and done the work to stay sober. I was really proud of him.

I had always felt bad because I wasn't very understanding when Dad fell off of the wagon......Dad was a hard case and never accepted excuses for bad behavior and that attitude had transferred onto me. Looking back, I should have been a lot more understanding, but I learned and have come by a great deal more compassion then I had 10 years ago. Perhaps I was finally maturing.

I mentally reviewed Lettie’s description of Trammell, mid 30's, jet black hair and goatee/greasy looking with blue eyes and a flair for western vests and ripped jeans, and I spotted a guy fitting that description perfectly. He was sitting mid bar and chugging down some cheap looking ale. He seemed to be having a good time.

Good, he was in a good mood so here’s to hoping that he feels chatty.

I made my way over to the fellow matching Lettie’s description and stood a few feet behind him so as not to get accidentally elbowed in the face but to keep him from running if there was trouble.

"Alex?"

The guy kept on about his business, laughing with a few other people at the bar.

Maybe I had the wrong guy, but my instincts told me that this guy was worth the time,

"Alex Trammell!?"

His back went stiff and he set his glass on the bar. He turned around and looked me up and down "Where did you hear that name?"

I was right "Lettie over at FoieGrass church passed me your name.... "

Just then a buxom blonde barged passed me and grabbed onto his arm "Jed, who is this?" she had fire in her green eyes.

"Cindy! Good timing!" he wrapped an arm around her and went in for a kiss when she turned her cheek and focused on me.

"Who might you be?" she asked nicely but I could hear the venom in her tone.

"The daughter of Jerry Anders who went missing three days ago while hanging out with your friend here. I’m here to find out about my father’s whereabouts." I held her gaze steadily and her eyes went wide.

"Cindy" rounded on "Jed" and started hollering "Jed Wyman you stupid jackass! I told you messing with that spirit crap was going to bring nothing but trouble. I’m out of here, be a dear, and lose my number!" with that she grabbed her purse and pulled away from "Jed" while he stood limp and stupefied.

Cindy hustled out the door, while he was still in shock I decided to try to get some answers.

"Where’s my Dad?"

Jed's trance broke and he tried to bolt, ending up tripping over my outstretched leg and doing a face plant on the unwashed bar floor...yuck! This was not this guy’s night!

I leaned down while he was picking himself up and offered my hand. He took it and held his nose with the other hand, which was bleeding from the fall.

I asked the bartender for ice and a beer and handed the ice over to "Jed", he nodded his thanks and pulled himself to a seat away from the crowd, I followed suit.

I set the beer down in front of him and noticed that this guy couldn't have even been 175 lbs soaking wet, I felt bad for tripping him, but I needed info and he obviously knew something and that something was bad enough news to make him try to run.

He took a drink and then looked up at me meekly “Your Jerry's kid, huh?"

I eyed him "Yes; and I need to know where he is."

"Bad news Jerry's kid, he ain't with us anymore" he looked into his beer and wouldn't meet my eyes.

Now I was just plain irritated. This idiot took me for an idiot “Look JED Wyman, Why were you masquerading as Alex Trammell; aside from changing that terrible name and also more importantly, WHERE IS MY DAD!?"

Jed took a deep breath and seemed to contemplate what to tell me, seemingly weighing how much truth I could handle “You won't believe me....nobody does."

"Try me!" at this point I was going to need a beer.

"Ok Jerry's kid.......let’s see how open your mind actually is." Jed took a long pull from his beer.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I knew this was going to be a long night. "For future reference, my name is Casey." I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.

He looked at me and nodded "Ok Casey, your father is dead. Temporarily. He should be back with us as soon as he finishes up in the astral plane where he is currently hunting down a deity that has gone missing. Your father Jerry is a psychic medium and is one of a handful of people qualified for this job. If this deity stays missing much longer, the entire astral could collapse in on itself. Once this job is done, your father will have the cure to your illness as his payment." Jed held my eyes over his beer...waiting for my reaction.

Yep it was going to be a long night. "I see, and where is his body while Dad is floating around in the ether?"

He looked surprised that I hadn’t had more of a reaction "The astral and its over at Jeff's"

"Ok, now why change your name?"

"Technically I work for Alex Trammell."

"Technically?" I raised an eyebrow

"He is the one who needed to hire your father. He came to me as he can’t exactly do these things himself."

"And whys that?"

"Because he has been dead for 5oo years."

"Huh, ok then......."

"I told you that you wouldn't believe me."

"I believe that you believe you."

"Trammell came to me after I started going to FoieGrass Church. I’ve seen spirits ever since I was a kid and I thought he was just like any other spirit. It turns out Trammell is a wizard. Or he was one in life. Trammell had me contact Jeff so that he could work through Jeff for spells and summoning.

When all of this stuff went haywire in the astral plane, Trammell started looking for someone to help. I’m not strong enough to cross over and back without getting stuck in between planes. Your father, however, is. So Trammell made him a deal, find the deity and Trammell will cure you.

Your Dad didn't even hesitate Casey.

Right now Jeff has him in a trance within a spell that has him officially dead but revivable. Jeff is worried that something has gone wrong because it shouldn't be taking this long for Jerry to come back. “Jed twisted his lips and looked anxious.

I thought about it for a moment. I had always known that Dad was a psychic...it had kept me out of a lot of trouble as a kid and even more as a teen. I had some gifts myself....but they went largely unexplored due to my aversion to this area. I just wanted to live my life and work my jobs and ride my bike. Dating, being psychic, and dealing with my illness were all things that I didn't want any part of. Apparently the psychic area had caught up with dad again.....and now he was in trouble.

I twisted my lower lip between my teeth. Keeerist.........I hadn’t told anybody about my illness, granted somebody, like Jed could have dug through my trash and found a doctor’s note but it was unlikely. Dad had no idea that I was sick…so presumably this guy would have had to keep the note and find Dad….but Dad had no money or properties to speak of. Dad wasn’t exactly a prime target for a grifting.

“We are NOT trying to grift your father; and no, I didn’t dig through your trash. Your Dad got a call from your doctor as he is your next of kin and your emergency contact. You don’t answer your phone very much for a P.I.” Jed looked a little offended while he nursed his beer.

“Whoa…”

He pointed to the middle of his forehead “I don’t just talk to dead people; I also occasionally hear thoughts and get the random precognitive flash or dream. It’s a mixed bag…which you know as you have grown up with a psychic. “

I nodded, so Jed was the real deal. No wonder Dad had gotten mixed up with him. There were so many frauds in this area and when you were an actual psychic it made your skepticism 10 times worse. If Jed was real, then Jeff Connors was probably genuine as well.

Which also meant that Jed here; was actually working for the Ghost of a 500 year old dead wizard! Or at least a spirit masquerading as a 5 centuries plus wizard! Just because they were dead didn’t mean that they couldn’t lie and it also didn’t mean that they weren’t jackasses with ulterior motives; and it also meant there was a good chance that Dad’s soul was trapped in the astral plane….while hunting up a missing deity.

“Wow, it must suck being you! You really don’t trust anyone do you?”

I raised an eyebrow

“Trammell is 575 years old, he died at 75. And he is the genuine Alex Trammell. Have you always been this way? Or was it a particular event…really bad breakup or something??” Jed made a sour face.

I sighed” Do you have a car Jed?”

“Yeah, red pickup outside”

“Great. Let’s go see your friend Jeff…..If we can’t get dad off of the astral plane then I will have to go in after him.”

Jed’s face turned pale “You can’t do that. You will get stuck!”

“I see nothing gets past your keen psychic perception of the obvious. Tell me Jed, what other options do I have?” I knew I was being mean, but I’d had enough. This whole situation was stupid, and I wasn’t about to leave my Dad under some spell.

Jed held up his hands in an “I give up” gesture “All right, All right you don’t have to be so mean about it. I’ve been drinking so you will have to drive.” He pulled the keys from his hip pocket and tossed them to me.

I nodded and got up, waiting for him to follow suit. He got up slowly, wobbled a bit and started out the door for the parking lot.

“Hey, you going to pay for this tab?” The bartender hollered at Jed

Jed grabbed the shoulder of a guy in a packers T-shirt and said “Your girl is sleeping with your best friend right now. Go home and you will catch them in the act.”

The guy shook him off and laughed”My best friend is a girl smartass.”

“Samantha, real pretty...Brunette. Friends since high school, Wanted to be a female wrestler until she blew out her knee.”

The guy’s eyes went wide.

“Better get going and pay my tab.” Jed walked past the gaping guy and out the door.

I stared for a few seconds at Jed’s back and then hurried after him.

“Do you do that a lot?”

“Yeah I do. People are pretty predictable, but once in awhile they surprise you. I guess I shouldn’t have given you so much grief about your cynicism. Your worldview is just a lot darker than mine….but we still use the same colors to paint it with.” He looked down at the gravel in the parking lot.

I eyed him “What’s Jed short for?”

“Jedrick.”

I looked around and spotted the beat up old red pickup and made my way towards it. Jed followed me silently.

I got to the driver’s side door and about whacked poor Jed in the face as he had come up too close behind me.

“Dude!”

“Sorry. I’m used to driving. I’ll go around to the passenger side.” He made his way around the front of the truck and I heard him open the passenger side door.

I climbed in, I was a little worried about my bike, but I wouldn’t be able to get dads body on the back of my bike and I would need to get him to a hospital if everything went sideways. Or if it had already.

I made sure Jed had his seatbelt fastened and sped off down the road. We went past the Church again and it still had that same weird energy to it. Like something was wrong or out of place.

“I thought that too when I first went there. I still can’t tell what’s going on in there, but its where Trammell first came to me so I guess it’s not all bad.”

“Did you quit going? What did you go there for?”

“I was going for church and then yes I quit….it didn’t give me the same mental quiet that I got at church back home.”

“Where’s home?”

“Louisiana.”

“Long way from home.”

“The farther the better.”

“I see.”

We trekked along to Connors House at a quick clip.

In no time we were pulling up outside the one story yellow & white house with a lamppost in its front yard. The house & yard were well maintained and there was a newer looking blue Chevy suburban in the driveway.

“Jeff’s home, he wouldn’t leave while the spell is in progress. Don’t worry.”

“Nice to know. But the phrase don’t worry isn’t one I would use in this situation.” I felt the energy rolling off of the house. Whatever spell Connors was using; it was most definitely still in progress.

I turned off the car, opened the door and climbed out. Connors also had warding spells all over his property.

“Call your friend.”

“I have a key. I don’t want to break his concentration unless I have to.”

“Gotcha”

Jed came around the pickup and headed for the front door, I followed him.

I should have just waited as it turned out that Dad was almost done with the job anyways.

The deity had a good reason to hide and would remain in hiding until the danger to its realm and existence had passed….but not before giving dad the cure to my illness. Making his deal with Trammell null & void.

Then we finally found out what was going on at FoieGrass Church, it always came back to that church. But all of this is a story for another time.