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The Exorcism of Little Billy Wagner (cont'd) Having finished one of the seven-dollar steak lunch specials, he went over with drink in hand and took a seat at stage No. 2, and as he was the only guy there, she turned in his direction after twirling about the pole on the stage. Eve was medium-height, in her early 20s, with a supple and beautiful body, or so Bill noticed, as she slowly shimmied out of her plaid skirt, lowered her sculpted bottom, so he could get an eye fall, and snapped the elastic of her black panties against her jauntily turned out hip; her long stemmed legs on the high clear heels then pranced back towards the pole. After a spin or two, she danced back towards him, got down on the stage and contorted her body and legs about. He hurriedly placed several crisp dollar bills on the stage and resumed regarding her with his wide-eyed, mouth slightly opened expression. She crawled over on all fours towards him and regarded him in that intimate way of hers. She had long, full raven dark hair that fell below her shoulders; a pale Irish completion, green-piercing eyes that were accentuated by her long dark lashes; red lipstick on her lips that spread into a playful smile until she kissed him on the forehead. She pulled back, unstrapped her bra, causing the healthy bounce of her pendulous breasts; her black bra casually fell to her waist side. She took his hands and led them on a tactile tour of her breasts. Bill -- who was known for his impatient and fidgety demeanor - had not been this still for so long, even considering the time in high school he was momentarily paralyzed from a cheap shot in a high school football game. And they talked that whole afternoon. Then there were private dances. And then they just kept talking; he drinking Jack and diet; she vodka and juice. He learned that Eve came from a fundamentalist Pentecostal Christian family and was a product of home schooling, a background that she said was similar to many of the other girls in the industry. She told him that this was only her second night of working there, which was what she said when the customer seemed like a nice guy or girl. She was only doing this job for short period of time so she could have money to go to college. Bill found her to be so full of ideas and vibrant with energy. She explained in great detail about her enthusiasm for crystal power and the healing potential of crystals and about her independent research into this subject at the nearby university. As he listened, he realized that this was one of the problems with his first wife (his secret nickname for her); she never came to him with this kind of energy and told him about some exciting subject that she was doing independent research on. Rather, she was always prattling on about some lifetime movies she saw, what was that one she kept watching - something to do with an underground railroad of mommies, what was that all about. Eve was explaining that all organisms have these vibrational energy systems, and she said a whole bunch of stuff about that, and then she took him through Egyptian history, the Pyramids and what they meant, and how crystals were first used for their healing potential, and about the Ebers papyrus, which was like the physician desk reference for gems in Pharaoh's time; and then they were in India and then they were in China, and she kept saying stuff, historical facts and stuff like that, and he just sat there, in his cushioned chair, angled towards her, occasionally sipping his Jack and diet, and just mesmerized at all the interesting and historical facts about crystals and pyramids and things on the dollar bill along with cited authorities from books and articles, etc. that came out of the perfectly formed and beautiful mouth of this essentially naked twenty-something with the exception of her black panties and clear high heels. Eve said that numerous male professors at the University were offering to mentor her in her independent research project. She was a little self-conscious that her work would be a little bit 'out there' until she heard about their projects. When Eve was explaining all this to Bill, she was amazed, not just how attentive he was, which she was accustomed to, but how well he paid attention to her and that he seemed genuinely interested in her. When Eve went to use the bathroom, Bill checked his watch: four o'clock, in the afternoon? He asked people around him. Four in the morning? Where was his cell phone? In the car? When she returned, he gave her his business card. His other concern was his diminishing cash account. He started off with private dances and the accompanying large tips; the next thing he new, he had refurnished her apartment and was making her steep monthly payment on her SUV that was ironically a Jeep Cherokee. The shopping trips for clothes could be the equivalent of a mortgage payment. Then there were all the jobs. He had to strip all the paint off the walls and repaint the interior of her spacious apartment. He asked Eve why they were going through so much trouble to repaint the apartment when it was an apartment. He didn't think that she gathered his point. Then he had to leave the strip clubs every four hours to walk her very temperamental and enormous dogs -- one that looked like a German shepherd and another that look like a golden retriever. The dogs had a somewhat trying habit of knocking him over by jumping on him when he came into the house and when friendly, licking his face or, if angry, growling and snapping their teeth in his direction. She liked the Hardee's thickburgers, so he was always bringing those over for lunch for her and her other nine or so stripper friends who also wanted food. He would occasionally think -- while sitting around with the club's DJ with his resonant voice, the bartender, a group of essentially naked women, small talking about their industry and eating their half pound thickburgers -- the lights flashing, the dance music driving with that catchy beat, and Eve gently holding his hand as she tried to get her lips around the 1/3 low carb. thick burger -- I might regret a lot of things in my life, but this - and would burst out laughing. Bill always had a lingering concern about possible repercussions at both home and work. As it turns out, Mrs. Wagner did not seem mind his long absences. She liked to watch her shows at night, and if Bill was there, he would insist on watching something related to sports; sure she could have watched in the television in the bedroom, but she preferred the larger screen in the living room. As for work, he was promoted twice and given two raises. He was able to keep this operation running smoothly and his numbers up by the strategic use of his cell phone. But as is so often the case between a customer and stripper, their relationship left the honeymoon phase. She was acting more erratic. He always accepted the fact that she was on drugs, in fact if she wasn't, he thought, it would be very unlikely that she would be working this job and sitting essentially naked on his lap discussing her independent research on crystal power and professing her love for him. Then she found religion, in a manner of speaking, the Wicca religion. Appearing disorientated and with her pupils dilated, she would talk nonstop about the Wicca religion and that she was priestess and pointed out other strippers who were in her particular coven. She got a pentagram tattoo, in her inner thigh, naturally. She wanted to take him to Wicca rituals. 'Will some of your other stripper friends be there?' She began casting what she called Black Magic spells on strippers or other people whom she believed were causing her harm. For instance, her postman, who did not say hello to her after she clearly said hello to him. Who fucken does that, and another tirade would follow. She qualified that the Wicca religion did not encourage 'black magic spells' to be used as a delivery system for curses and plagues but in the world we live in today you can't just wait for bad stuff to happen to you because God help us; you have to hit them first. And then there was the final night that he saw her; in the after-hours bar where they went after her shift at the strip club had closed. She probably hadn't slept for days; her eyes looked wild, her appearance was gaunt and she was smoking cigarettes and drinking and talking manically; apparently she had a falling out with the other girls in the Wicca coven. She came home at night and found a pentagram carved on her apartment door, and all her drugs had been stolen ('or was it the drugs that she didn't return?'); she couldn't go back there, her apartment was haunted. 'Can't get your security deposit back if you left the place haunted,' she said, lighting another cigarette in her shaky hand. 'I have something very very important to tell you. Tell no one.' Then she spoke the words that made him turn white and have disrupted his sleep ever since. He had told her in great detail about his troubles with his wife – their nickname for her was 'Whack job,' and his son, that he had named, 'Freak show.' ('No really tell me what you blew up today in the backyard with the M-16s that Whack job bought for you.') The bar was dark and smoky; the neon light from the window made her green eyes appeared lustrous, otherworldly. Maybe it was because of a recent cold or her cigarette smoking or the low tone she affected to convey the information, but her voice sounded gravelly, almost like that of an older man. She spoke quietly so the other patrons some seats away could not hear and hurriedly and told him that she met his son and put a spell on him and that he would be a problem no longer. He immediately turned white with fright, thinking this crazed woman had gone over to his house, and with her enlarged breasts and her barely there get-ups, and her six inch clear high heels, she might have raised eyebrows with the other soccer moms in the neighborhood. Eve explained that the spirit world has hold of him now, and that her mentor was looking for a medium to enter this world, and that she had recommended little Billy Wagner and spoke very highly on his behalf. As she continued talking, he felt relief because this was just 'crazy stripper talk' and she probably never went over to his house. Bill came back to the strip club the next day. Eve didn't come to work, and no one knew where she was. The next Sunday, Bill went to mass with his family and he listened to a sermon by Fr. Leo about the joys of family life and after mass they had free doughnuts and the three of them went to the park and threw the Frisbee around. His wife had surprised him by telling him that she had began taking a painting class at the community college, and she was telling him about the painters they were studying as a prelude for beginning their own painting. He was also surprised to discover that his son was interesting to talk to now that perhaps he was older. He had tried having a few discussions with him back when he was nine, and it was very trying - it was like talking to a nine-year-old, he complained to someone. But now his son was playing baseball and knew the stats of all the current baseball players in the major leagues, and they had a very interesting discussion about baseball and also about what makes a good jelly doughnut and other such things that fathers and sons like to talk about That Wednesday, his son was sent home to school for the knife incident, and the weird behavior including the violent fits followed. He never made any connection between what was happening to his son and what Eve had told him until the night that he checked in on his son after one of his fits. He slowly opened the creaky door and looked into his son's darkened room; his son was asleep, but above his bed, he could distinctly see a blood red pentagram. His mouth slowly opened as his heart stopped, his tight-lipped mouth mumbled out, 'that fucken Wicca stripper bitch.' While the demon boy was sleeping on the bed, two seminarians, Joe Allen and Juan Perez, a student from Mexico, held him down, and Father Leo began the Rite of Exorcism. He read the preliminary portions of the Rite, and the little Billy Wagner or what possessed him did not stir. But when Father Leo sprinkled the holy water on Billy and put the holy oil on his forehead, gently tracing a cross, his eyes suddenly awoke, and the bed began to shake. Father Leo began to pray in Latin, addressing such commands to the demon as da locum ('withdraw'), discede ('depart'), exi ('exit'). The two seminarians had difficulty holding him down, and a loud raspy, elderly man's voice came out of the boy, demanding, 'Get out of my room, I'm trying to fucken sleep!'
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