Jackson’s feet got heavier and heavier the closer he came to the house. It seemed like his old runners weighed at least 700 lbs. By the time he got to the barn he could barely move.
“Kokum, you go to the house; I’ll come in a little while. I need to go to the barn and get my new runners,” he said in a quiet voice.
“Where did you hide them?” Kokum asked casually.
“Between the bales,” said Jackson, hoping his grandmother would go to the house without him so he could stall for time. Facing Mom and Dad was not on Jackson’s list of favorite things to do before supper. He already had a terrible day being chased by a bull and a rooster, ruining his new Nikes, getting teased by the two hottest girls in the class and being yelled at by his teacher. Now, Kokum wanted him to end the day by explaining to his parents that it had all happened because of his disobedience. Ha! Like he really wanted to do that!
“Nosisim, what are you doin’ in there my boy? Did the horses eat your runners or what? That deer meat stew your Mom is makin’ for supper sure smells good. Hurry up with the shoes. I should really be bakin’ the bannock by now. Do you want to eat it with jam or honey?”
Jackson put his hand over his stomach to keep it from growling. He hadn’t had a snack all afternoon. Deer meat stew and bannock? Kokum sure knows my weaknesses, he thought. And I fall for her tricks every time.
He dug his filthy shoes out of the crack between the bales. They were covered in bits of straw and smeared with cow poop. Jackson carried them as far away from his nose as possible. No wonder he had to sit all alone on the school bus!
“What’s that smell?” Mom exclaimed as soon as the screen door opened. “Get whatever that is out of my kitchen and go talk to your dad. He wants to ask you about why all the bulls got out of the pasture this morning.”
“They didn’t all get out. . . ” Jackson said, hoping that would make a difference to the expression on Mom’s face. It didn’t.
“Are those stinky things your new runners? The new runners I spent a whole day’s wages on? What on earth? Put them out on the porch!”
Jackson threw the runners onto the back porch, looked sideways at Kokum and blurted out. “Austin and I decided to jog to school and threw a few rocks at the flies on the bull’s ears so they chased us out of the pasture. One of them headed for the laundry line and got tangled up in Kokum’s dress and broke down the chicken fence. Then the rooster chased me while I was trying to catch the chickens and I accidentally ran through the manure pile and that’s what happened to my shoes.” He glanced at Kokum again.
“I’ll go make bannock,” was all she said.
“Barry!” Mom yelled for Dad, “Did you hear that?”
“Sure did,” said Dad who had suddenly appeared in the kitchen doorway with arms folded across his chest and a frown on his face. “How many times have I told you not to tease those bulls? What am I going to do with you?”
“You could forgive me.” Jackson said weakly. Wrong thing to say. “I mean . . . will you forgive me?” He tried to smile but his face didn’t work.
Dad just grunted, stared at Jackson and leaned on the door frame for a long time. Finally he said, “Mosom and I had to waste a whole morning rounding up those bulls and putting the fence back together. How are you going to make up for that?”
“Umm . . . I could . . . umm . . . go to bed without supper.” Wrong thing to say again. “Or . . . um . . . wash your truck?” Still the wrong thing to say. “Or . . .”
“Or . . . ” growled Dad, “shovel all that manure into the back of the old red Ford so I can take it to town and sell it for fertilizer.”
“Ok Dad.” What else could he say? Jackson could actually see some justice in that. It would take as long to shovel the poop into the old red Ford as it took Dad and Mosom to round up the bulls and fix the fence.
“Supper’s ready,” announced Kokum. She pushed her grandson over to the table and gave him a plate of stew and bannock. Then she sat down next to him with her plate. For the first time that day someone actually chose to sit next to Jackson. It felt really good. Especially since Mom and Dad didn’t feel much like talking to anyone but his little sister Jessie.
“Ok God. . . Jackson prayed in desperation when he went to his bedroom, I’m in trouble again. Mom and Dad aren’t really talking to me after I messed with their bulls and chickens and I still have to face everyone at school tomorrow. Maybe you could make tomorrow disappear somehow or let me come down with stomach flu. And, what is Kokum doing here in my bedroom this time of night?”
“Nosisim, are you in your room already? Tonight you shouldn’t forget to say your prayers. You could sure use God’s help tomorrow.”
“What do you think he could do for me? I already asked him for the stomach flu. Do you think he’ll answer my prayer?”
Kokum walked across the room and turned toward Jackson. “Do you want the stomach flu? What do you really want Nosisim?”
“I really want tomorrow to disappear. No. I want today to disappear. I want to start the whole school year over. I want my teacher to like me and the kids to like me and I want to be the fastest runner in the school.”
Kokum leaned close to Jackson’s face and looked into his eyes. He never dared to look away when she did that. “God is not a magician my boy. He doesn’t make our mistakes disappear. But he will go with you tomorrow and stand beside you and help you start the school year over. He might even make you the fastest runner in the school if you’re willin’ to put some work into that.”
“Hey Stinky,” Beyonce Bear yelled across the playground the next day. “What are you doing way over there?”
“I’m practicing for the Olympics.” Jackson yelled back as he rounded the far corner of the school and picked up speed to impress the girls. “I’m going to be a long distance runner like Paul Acoose. That’s why I got these new Nikes. All the Olympic runners have them.”
“But the runners they had on TV were bright yellow.” said Rayna Delorme with a puzzled frown.
“This browner color is the newest trend.” said Jackson confidently. He glanced over at the girls to see their reaction. He sure hoped he looked super cool. Then he decided to jog right over to them and do the stretches he saw Husain Bolt doing on TV.
“If you really want to win races you should talk to my Auntie Iskwew,” said Rayna. “She could fix you up with some Indian medicine to help you run fast. She gave some to my cousin Donnie and he got two goals in the hockey game last weekend.”
“Really?” Jackson’s heart started to race as he thought of the possibilities. Of course he knew about Indian medicine. His people had used it for thousands of years to gain the spirits help. He had heard stories about how people used it for hunting and getting revenge and, yes, even to win hockey games. Would Indian medicine help him become the fastest runner in the school? “How do I get some?” he asked.
“I’ll tell Auntie what you need it for and she’ll mix you up the right thing. I can prob’ly bring it to school tomorrow. So bring money and some tobacco. It’s not free.”
Just then the bell rang and everyone filed back into school. Jackson’s head was spinning. He knew he could probably sneak a couple of cigarettes from Mosom Jeremy but where could he get the money?
For some reason his parents didn’t approve of using Indian medicine so they wouldn’t help him out. And he had spent every penny he earned that summer on a new iPad. Maybe Kokum had some extra money in the little beaded purse she kept in her night-gown drawer.
Later that night Jackson settled down to sleep with his stolen treasures hidden in his backpack.
“Get Out! Get out of my room! Help! Kokum! Mom! Dad! God! Help me!”
With his heart pounding in the darkness, Jackson scrambled backward against the wall beside the bed and pulled his blanket over his head. Where were Mom and Dad? His whole body was shaking. He didn’t dare make a move. What was that thing in his room? <
br /> “Nosisim, Kokum’s calm voice seemed to come from far away, did you have a bad dream?”
“I don’t know if it’s a dream or not.” said Jackson from under the blanket. “It sure seems real. It is . . . I don’t know what it is! It feels like evil and it’s coming to get me.”
“What did you do now my boy? Were you watching scary movies or playing compooter games with demons in them?”
“No,” said Jackson who was still shaking under the blanket. “When did I have time to do any of that? I came home right after school and shoveled all that manure ‘till supper. Then I did homework and went to bed.” Jackson finally worked up the courage to peek out at Kokum from under his blanket. “It feels like something evil is in my room right now Kokum.”
“Yes . . .” nodded Kokum wisely. She narrowed her eyes and set her face into a fierce glower. “That evil thing has sure been busy tonight. Mosom Jeremy said two of his cigarettes were missing from his brand new pack. He accused your Dad of takin’ up smokin’ again. And I think that thing was in my room too. It took twenty bucks from my little beaded purse.”
Jackson yanked the blanket back over his head again. Now he was scared of Kokum. How did she always figure stuff out? He kept his head under the blanket. “It’s all in my backpack,” he admitted.
Kokum shuffled over to Jackson’s backpack and unzipped the side pocket. She took out the two cigarettes and a twenty dollar bill. “It almost looks like you’re buyin’ some Indian medicine,” she said with a frown.
Suddenly the blanket felt like it was smothering Jackson so he flung it back. “Rayna Delorme said it could make me run fast.”
Kokum snorted in disgust. “Did she also tell you that you will pay a big price to use it?”
“Yes. She said to bring tobacco and money.”
“That’s the small price you pay. When my brother used medicine to give him good huntin’ he shot his moose alright. Then he fell down a hill and twisted his knee. He couldn’t work all winter. When you use it, sometimes bad things happen to you and sometimes bad things happen to your family. All the elders know this. You kids don’t know what you are playin’ with. No wonder you had a bad dream . . . or whatever it was.”
“But I just wanted to run fast and impress the girls Kokum,” said Jackson in a sad little voice.
“And to impress girls you would steal from me and your Mosom and allow that evil thing into your room? Was it worth it? Why didn’t you ask God for help? He does it for free my boy.”
“Will he keep that evil thing out of my room?”
“He will let you choose who will be number one in your life,” said Kokum as she tucked the twenty into the pocket of her robe and a cigarette behind each ear. “God is the greatest spirit. He made everything. He rules everything. He wants to help you but he won’t share that job with other spirits. If you want to use Indian medicine to get help, he’ll let you find out what that’s really like.” She turned toward the bedroom door. “I’m going to bed now,” she announced.
“Kokum! Don’t go yet,” pleaded Jackson. He wasn’t so sure that evil thing was really gone!