"Which way, mon pet.i.t?" said the girl.

I turned round. Round and round on the spot. I didn't know what I was looking for, but then I saw it. A light through the trees. An orange glow. Like the moon had fallen out of the sky and was sinking into the swamp.

"There," I said. "Let's go there."

We walked towards the light. Insects made a noise like a thousand rusty doors creaking all at once. Things moved around us. I remembered Glen telling me on the bus about the animals they get here. Alligators and snakes and poisonous spiders. He told me hoping it would scare me. So I wouldn't run off to find some smack.

Well, f.u.c.k you. I'm Sid Vicious. I ain't gonna get eaten by no f.u.c.king alligator. I ain't scared of nothing. I'm the most dangerous f.u.c.king animal in America.

The light was farther away than it looked. We walked for ages, my boots splatting through mud and water. The girl walked next to me. She seemed to blend in, like she was part of the land. She moved silently, like she was floating.

The track got narrow. Water lapped on both sides of us. Things moved in the trees. Things splashed in the water. I thought of thousands of demon eyes watching us. Thousands of grinning mouths full of sharp teeth. I had no smack, no booze, nothing to keep the pain away. But I felt all right. The girl was my drug. My f.u.c.king angel.

Then the track widened into a clearing. In front of us was a wooden shack. It was raised up off the ground with a porch at the front. Orange light was shining out the front windows. Something flapped on the roof. Tarpaulin or plastic. When we got closer I saw the windows were covered in wire mesh. Big f.u.c.king moths were bouncing off them, desperate to get to the light.

I looked at the girl. The light was shining in her eyes, making them glow in the dark. She looked like a cat. A f.u.c.king leopard walking on two legs.

"Where are we?" I said. "Who lives here?"

"Why don't you find out, mon pet.i.t?"

I walked up the steps and knocked on the door. There was a sound from inside. A rusty old creak that might have been a voice. I pushed the door open. "h.e.l.lo?"

The place was gloomy. Candles burning. Flickering shadows. Ratty old furniture. Wooden floor. It smelled old. Like old people. Dead and stale. There was no one here.

"h.e.l.lo?" I shouted again. "Anyone home?"

There was a doorway at the back of the room. A big black opening. The shadows made it move and sway. It made me think of a mouth. An old man's mouth. No teeth. Yawning, struggling for breath. A voice came out of the mouth. Small and tired and creaky. It said something in a foreign language. French or something, I dunno.

I walked across to the door. Boots clomping on the wooden floor. I stuck my head through the opening, looked into the room. Couldn't see a f.u.c.king thing. Pitch black. I heard something moving, rustling.

"Who's there?" I said.

The sc.r.a.pe of a match. A flame. Behind the flame a yellow face, hanging in the darkness. The flame moved across, lit a candle. Light jumped into the room, surrounded by black moving shadows. The light was orangey-brown. There was a big bed and an old woman lying on it. She was fat and saggy. The light made her brown skin look shiny, like polished wood. She had bulging eyes. A big fuzz of black hair. The candle-light made the ends of her hair twitch like snakes.

"h.e.l.lo," I said and grinned at her. "Who the f.u.c.k are you then?"

She said something else in a foreign language. I didn't know if it was her name or what.

"I ain't got a f.u.c.king clue what you're talking about," I said.

The girl spoke. I didn't even know she was behind me until I heard her voice. She said something foreign to the old woman and the old woman said something back. They spoke quickly. Jabba jabba jabba.

"What's she say?" I said.

"Her name is Madame Picou," said the girl. "She says she will help you."

"Madame what?" I said.

The girl spelled the old lady's name for me.

"h.e.l.lo, Mrs. Picou," I said to the old lady. "I'm Sid."

The old lady said something. I shrugged.

"Madame Picou says take a seat," said the girl.

"All right, thanks," I said. There was a wooden chair under an old dressing table against the wall. I went over to it, and just for a second, when I looked in the mirror, I saw a skull looking back at me. I jumped and looked again. It was just me. In the candle-light my skin was white and my eyes were full of black shadows. I noticed things hanging off the sides of the mirror. Beads. Snake skins. I dragged the chair over to the bed and sat down.

The old lady jabbered again. She leaned towards me. She was so fat that she grunted like a pig as she rolled on to her side. A big f.u.c.king fart ripped out of her. I nearly p.i.s.sed myself laughing. I was still laughing when she took my hands and looked at them, turning them over. Suddenly she shoved up the sleeves of my leather jacket and ran her fat thumbs up the insides of my arms.

I stopped laughing when I felt her stab something into my arm. Right into the f.u.c.king vein near my elbow. I was used to needles, but I wasn't expecting it and it made me jump.

"Ow!" I shouted and pulled my arm back. "What did you do that for, you c.u.n.t?"

I was angry. I wanted to smash something. Her face or her f.u.c.king furniture. I stood up and then I felt a hand on my shoulder, warm breath that smelt of spice and perfume against the side of my face.

"Hush, mon pet.i.t."

"She f.u.c.king stabbed me," I said.

"It is nothing," the girl said. "Relax."

My anger went away. Just like that. I sat down again. Suddenly I felt tired. Really tired. I couldn't move. I felt so relaxed that I couldn't even lift my hand from my leg.

"What's going on?" I said.

"It is nothing, mon pet.i.t," said the girl. "You are fine."

"I can't f.u.c.king move," I said.

"Madame Picou has paralysed you. But it is only temporary. Do not worry."

"What's she paralysed me for?"

"It is necessary."

"Why?"

Instead of answering me, the girl and the old bird jabbered at each other again. It seemed like the girl was asking questions and the old bird was giving her instructions, waving her arms about.

The girl went away. The old bird stared at me. Her face didn't move. She didn't blink.

"What you staring at?" I said.

She didn't answer.

Then the girl came back. She had some stuff in her hands. She put it on the bed.

There was a little doll made of string and cloth and twigs. A pair of scissors. A pin cushion. A little cloth bag. A bottle with some sort of liquid in it.

"What's going on?" I said.

The old bird put her finger to her lips and hissed at me.

"Shush yourself, you c.u.n.t," I said. "What's that? A f.u.c.king voodoo doll? You gonna put a curse on me or something?"

"It is a gris-gris," said the girl.

"What the f.u.c.k's that then?"

"It is to bind us together," she said.

"What do you mean?"

The girl took my hands and knelt in front of me. Usually when she touched me she made me feel calm. But I was getting scared and that made me angry. I'm a s.e.x Pistol. I ain't supposed to be scared of nothing.

"I need you, mon pet.i.t," the girl said. "I need you to save me."

"I thought you were gonna save me," I said.

"I would if I could, mon pet.i.t," said the girl. "But you are beyond redemption. I am sorry."

"f.u.c.k off," I said. If I could've moved I would've smacked her one. But I couldn't, so I spat on her instead. My gob hit the side of her face. A big greeny. She just stayed where she was. Looked at me sadly and let it trickle down. Then she stood up.

She and the old bird jabbered some more. The old bird was waving her arms about, telling her what to do. The girl picked up the little doll. She got something out of her pocket and showed it to me. It was a picture of me, cut out of a newspaper. I was up on stage playing my ba.s.s. The girl pinned the picture of me to the little doll and gave it to the old woman. Then she picked up the scissors from the bed and came towards me.

"f.u.c.k off," I said. "Get away from me." I spat at her again. It hit the front of her dress, but she ignored it.

I tried to move, but I was still f.u.c.king paralysed.

"You cut me and I'll f.u.c.king kill you," I said.

She reached out towards me. She made a sound through her teeth like she was trying to calm a f.u.c.king wild animal. When her hand got close enough I tried to bite it, but she was too quick. Her hand shot up and grabbed my hair.

"f.u.c.king get off," I said.

She brought up the other hand with the scissors and cut a bit of my hair off.

"f.u.c.k off!" I screamed at her. "I'll f.u.c.king kill you, you b.i.t.c.h!"

She held up the tuft of black hairs. Like she was showing me I didn't need to worry 'cos she'd only cut off a few. The old bird held up the doll, and the girl stuck the hairs to it. There was so much Vaseline on them that she didn't need glue or nothing. The old woman put the doll down on the bed and then picked up the little cloth bag and opened it. There was some sort of powder in it. I wasn't sure what it was, but it looked like smack. The old bird sprinkled some of the powder over the doll and started to jabber something in a foreign language. She closed her eyes and started to sway from side to side.

"What the f.u.c.k's she doing?" I said.

"Offering your image to the spirit," said the girl.

"What for?"

"So that we can seal the bond."

I shook my head. "What is this f.u.c.king bond? What are you doing to me? I ain't done nothing to you."

The girl looked at me. "I was like you, mon pet.i.t," she said.

"What do you mean?"

She pointed at the badge on my jacket. "I was a mess. I was ..." She mimed injecting a syringe into her arm.

"A junkie?"

She nodded. Behind her the old bird was still swaying and jabbering.

"And now you're clean?" I said.

The girl pulled a weird face. Like: not really. "You will keep me clean," she said.

"Oh yeah?" I said. "And how am I gonna do that?"

"By accepting my desire as your own."

I asked her what she meant, but she just smiled and turned round and went into the other room.

"Oi!" I shouted. "Don't f.u.c.king walk away from me! Come back here, you c.u.n.t!"

But she was gone. The old bird was still swaying and muttering. I could see her bulging eyes moving under her eyelids.

"And you can shut the f.u.c.k up as well," I said.

But she didn't. She just kept on and on. Jabba jabba jabba.

A few minutes later the girl came back. She'd taken all her clothes off. She was naked. Gorgeous. The most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

"f.u.c.k," I said. "Are we gonna s.h.a.g? Is that part of this voodoo s.h.i.t?"

The girl smiled, but she didn't say anything. She came towards me. The light slid across her naked flesh. It was like she was made of golden oil. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to be so beautiful. I loved Nancy, but this girl made Nancy look like a s.k.a.n.ky old slag. I didn't know whether I had a hard-on 'cos I couldn't feel anything from the neck down. But in my brain I had a hard-on. The biggest f.u.c.king hard-on in the world.

I sat there staring at her with my mouth open as the girl came over. My eyes couldn't get enough of her. I wanted to touch her so bad. f.u.c.k all that angel stuff from before.

I was staring at her t.i.ts and c.u.n.t, so I didn't notice the tattoo at first. It was only when she started to pull my leather jacket off that I saw she had a tattoo of a thin black snake around her right arm.

"What's that?" I said.

"Le Grand Zombi," she replied.

"You what?"

"It is the serpent. It protects me from harm."