My grandson got his big beautiful smile from me.
A man and woman pass before the window as a child's voice commands them to leave.
An old woman, Desi, walks through the house looking for her Rex Desi. She says that she knows he's there and has the devil in him, and tells him to come out. The boy hides in the shadows, and Www turns and looks in his directions. When he runs, Desi hobbles after him and falls, and Desi runs through the door as Desi struggles to his feet.
Desi searches through the room and finally finds a candle-lit room filled with paraphernalia. He picks up a photo of his family and examines it. Desi comes in and says that she has to release the devil, advances on her grandson, holds up a mojo bag, and chants. Outside, Desi's parents John and Emily listen as Desi yells for help.
Earlier
Desi moves in with her son John and sets up the voodoo altar in her closet. Rex comes in, startling her, and asks what she's doing. Desi says that first the build the altar to make room for good spirits. Rex points out that John and Emily claim that there are not ghosts, and Desi says that the spirits are their ancestors and they must respect them so they respect the family. She holds up mojo bag, blows smoke on it, and says that when they keep it close no evil can touch them. Rex says that John told him that Desi saw her mother killed by Papa Duvalier in Haiti, so they have to be nice to her. Desi is surprised that John told her about the evil man.
Later, Rex stands in the living room. Spirits whispers to him, telling him that it's his family and they do what he says.
Desi is in the kitchen when Rex comes up behind her, startling her by taking her picture with his flash camera. He insists that she smiles for the pictures, and Desi says to stop and sits down, breathing on her inhaler. Rex grabs her mouth and tries to force her to smiles, and Desi spanks him. John and Emily come in, and Desi says that he has to respect them. Emily says that they don't use the "no" word, and John insists that they love Rex and want him to trust them. he asks Desi to respect that, and Emily asks him to take a picture of her and John.
That night, Desi is sleeping and Rex watches her from the doorway. He moves in and looks down on his grandmother, and reaches for the mojo bag. he touches it and his hand burns, and Rex walks out. A few seconds later, Desi wakes up and looks around, but sees no one. She goes to Rex's room and peers in, and he sits up, his eyes twitching like a lizard's. Desi backs out in shock and horror.
The next day, Desi is using the computer in the living room, looking at photos of lizard eyes. She hears Rex behind her, giggling, but when she turns around he's gone.
Rex goes to the closet and picks up a photo of his family. he tears it up and throws the pieces on the floor, and then smashes the objects in the closet. Desi hears the noise and goes upstairs, and finds Rex spray painting the walls. He runs out and Desi stares at the ruins of her altar. Wheezing from her asthma, she gasps for breath and uses her inhaler. She goes downstairs and hears John and Emily talking with Rex. John says that Rex was playing, but Desi doesn't believe it and tells them that now evil will come. rex claims that Desi made her smoke her pipe, and John believe him. He tells Desi that he was afraid of her and now she's scaring Rex, and doesn't want to hear anything about the spirits. Rex apologizes to Desi and John tells him that the altar objects can be replaced.
Desi rebuilds the altar as best she can. Emily and John come in and tell Desi that they want to apologize. They say that they have respect and want to be respected, and say that Rex feels awful about breaking her "display". When they say that Rex has a gift for her to show his respect for his culture, she says that it's his culture as well.
Downstairs, Rex presents a presentation on Haiti. He talks about how the earthquake came and people died, and talks about how he thinks voodoo is reality. rex honors Papa Doc and talks about how he controlled the country with his army and murdered the voodoo priests, and asks Desi if she remembers. he whispers to her that his parents only answer to him like he's Papa Doc, and they stare off into space. Desi tells him that he has an evil inside of him, and Rex commands his parents to leave. They go, smiling, and Rex disappears. Despite that, Desi can still hear him, saying that it's only the two of them now.
That night, Rex commands John and Emily to walk out of the house and stand in the front yard. Inside, Desi looks for Rex and he hides and runs away from him. She calls on the spirits to release the boy, and chases him upstairs only to trip. Rex goes into Desi's room, closes the door, and yells to his parents to help him. Desi comes in, holding up the mojo bag, and tells the spirits to release rex. She grabs him and holds it to his arm, and the skin burns.
John and Emily come in, and Desi yells that Rex has the devil in him. John finally shoves her outside and locks the door behind her. When she gasps for breath, John reaches for the door knob and Rex commands him to stop. After a moment, John walks away and Desi hobbles away and looks in the window, begging her son for help. The family ignores her, and John and Emily gather around a smiling Rex. Desi realizes that she's lost her inhaler, and Rex holds it up. He waves goodbye to Desi and his parents wave as well, smiling mindlessly.
My grandson got his big beautiful smile from me.
It never wavers on his face as he watches me die.
Written by Gadfly on Sep 6, 2019