Browse:HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS (Volume 1, entries 1704–2402)/Part 2
HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS
Volume 1, entries 1704–2402. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 1784
Ah heard dat chew could take a person - jes' lak if a person slept in a room an' yo' wanted tuh do 'em some harm. Jes' like yo' wanted tuh hurt 'em up, don't want 'em to die, jes' fixed - yo' know, jes' linger an' linger. Yo' take a shingle offa dere house an' take dat shingle an' cut it into fo' diff'rent pieces. A shingle offa de top of dere room wheresomevah dey sleep in, yo' git it offa dere, an' cut it into fo' diff'rent pieces an' fix it jes' like a casket [coffin] in de ground - jes' like a casket.
(What do you do with that, then?)
Yo' buries it in de ground.
(Where do you bury it?)
Yo' bury it under dere house somewhere - somewhere where dey have tuh come out ovah it or somepin othah.
Entry 1785
They can cross you. They can take matches and take a match and make a coffin out of it. They take and the way they set down, they shape them - they can make a coffin right up under your step, if there is any way for them to get up under the step - just like they do under the table. And then they take the other part of them matches and they make it just like they make me or you, with them matches and bury you there.
(Make the shape of a coffin with these matches.)
With these matches. (And then they put some other matches in there and make them in the form of a person.) Just make a shape just like a person.
(And they bury them.)
And they bury you there under the steps.
Entry 1786
They take your underpiece. Take a little piece of board and cut out a Strip like a coffin and take that piece. And if they got a pitchure, they take that, too. And place all them in that little coffin and carry it to a cemetery, and git right on top of a grave where somebody was buried, and then call your name and bury that in the top of that grave. And when that piece of board rot away, the persons who they named it after, they'll commence dryin' up and gettin' littler and smaller until that board rot; and when that board rot they'll die.
Entry 1787
I knew a woman once, she'd taken her landlord - she stayed in his house and she didn't want to pay rent. And she got his picture cut out of a paper. She taken a cigar box and she made a little coffin. She cut a hole in the corner behind her piano and she had - she cut a hole in the floor and put a [?] plant on there to hold this little box and had him buried there. And she stayed in that house until she finished paying for her house uptown. Stayed in there and didn't pay no rent. Every time they come there, it was something, and the house was $16 a month. She didn't pay no rent, she stayed there over a year. She got rid of - she paid 'bout - well, she didn't pay $20 in that time.
(Well, now what do you mean by cutting his picture out of a paper?)
She'd taken his photograph, you know. He was in the picture - he Was a big landlord.
(Oh, I see.)
And she'd taken his picture out of the newspaper.
(I see, out of the newspaper.)
Yes, the Picayune. She made that little coffin and put it down in the bottom - plastered it down in there in that little coffin and just buried it - put it behind the piano.
Entry 1788
Jes' lak yo' or I has our picture made, see, an' folks don't like yo'. Dey has a way to git up to yo' with this. Well a person dies heah, yo' jes' put dat in de casket with dem, an' as de body molt away, see yo' does too. I really know that cause ah've see it tried.
Entry 1789
You take it and git holt of a person's photograph and jes' like if some one dies, you put in that casket on de face - de picture on de face, and dis person will jest pine away of dat picture.
Entry 1790
An' old fashioned coffin, dey befo' yo' wus bo'n ah suppose, too; but lay it in dere dataway. Yo' cut it.
(Cut what?)
Take that photograph an' cut it in three P'ints jes' lak that old-fashioned coffin dey made. Yo' take it to the grave an' yo' bury it, an' yo' bury it on its face In de Name of Jesus. Yo' don't put it no way but on its face, bury him in dat grave on his face, a new grave, not a old one, an' yo' bury it in a new grave that's not been there long. He'll jes' pass on away. [My note on final transcription reads, "This elderly woman supposed to be good - was forgetful - probably a little scared."]
Entry 1791
A man would take a girl's pitchure and cut it out de size [shape] of a coffin and had pins rowed up in there in some rotation, I don't know what way. He knowed what way it was put in by himself, but I've seen de pitchure atchly [actually]. He had it cut out just in de shape of a coffin, and pins straight up and down of de pitchure, den crost de bottom de pitchure. He was supposed to [control] de girl he was likin', dat he was prackly livin' with at dat time, he doin' that in order to keep her from anyone else. He cuts de corners, cut it de long way just in de shape of a coffin, cut de corners off, narrows it at de foot just as, you see, one of those old-fashioned coffins. He had it [the pins] right straight down through de center from de breast down, den right object [opposite?] with de shoulders across - like it just in de form of a cross. He seem to have this pitchure hid away some place in de house.
Entry 1792
They can take that photograph and they can take nine red beans, nine brass tacks, nine new needles - nine [new] needles and nine pins, and they can put a weight to that and just like that water - you got to throw that - you goes you know on de ferry in the middle of the river and sink it; and just like that pitchure will mope [molt] away, you'll mope away the same way; cause see, that's your pitchure and you can't get it. (Well, how do you put these things in the photograph? How do they put them in there?) [Informant did not mention a container.] Put 'em in the box. [Box in cases of this sort always symbolizes coffin.]
(Oh, this all goes into the box.)
Yes, and they nail the photograph down in there. They bend it - stick a tack here, a tack there, a tack there, a tack there, till they stick the nine in there all around. They put 'em nine beans down in there and they take 'em nine needles and cross 'em all about in that pitchure - then the tacks and all be in there - and throw it in the river.
Entry 1793
A person will draw your coffin and draw your pitchure and put it in dat coffin and bury dat little coffin up under your doorstep, if dey kin git dere. Dey kin put it somewhere round your house and dey'll put dat - draw dat and put dat in dere. And den you'll start to gwine right on down - you'll start to get sick, start to gittin' sick, start to gittin' sick, and den you go.
Entry 1794
I saw is in a matchbox. Dey got a matchbox an' dey cut a pitchure - drawed a pitchure and named it de person dey was drawin' an' put it into dis matchbox an' buried it with de face down. Before dey buried it dey whipped it nine mornin's, an' den de ninth mornin' dey buried it with de face down.
(What is that supposed to do?)
Well, when you buried with your face down, you know you bound to die - you can't live.
Entry 1795
Now, yo' take a person - I've heard talk of 'em taking a piece of wood, making de shape of a coffin. Well now, yo' take dat wood, see, an' make de shape of a coffin. When dey do dat, now yo' take a piece of paper an' cut it jest like de shape of a person. Well now, when dey cut dat paper de shape of a person an' put in dere, yo'll tack it down. Well, whosomevah it be, if dey's got anything in appearance [any hoodoo started against the operator], 'twon't be but three or fo' days 'fore dey are daid.
[This is a conditional death hand.]
(What do you do with that little box?)
Yo' take de box, yo' see, an' dey cut a piece of paper.
(What do you do with the box after the paper is in it?)
After yo' put de paper in it, yo' take dat box an' yo'll carry it an' bury it jes' lak yo' buryin' a person in a grave.
Entry 1796
Makin' or drawin' a coffin an' writin' a person name in it. Den yo' kin draw a coffin an' write dere name an' carry it to de fo'k of a road wit de person name an' whut chew want done to it, an' bury it an' curse an' walk on off. Dey say dey will die.
Entry 1797
Yo' kin draw a coffin an' put a heart right in de middle of it an' name it, an' carry it to a person's place an' put dat undah de house on de sill right by dere bed. It won't be long befo' dat coffin will go in dere - won't be long 'fore one go in dere.
Entry 1798
Well, yo' take a aig an' draw a casket [coffin] on de aig.
(Any kind of an egg?)
A hen aig.
(And you draw what on it?)
Draw a pitchure of a casket on de aig, an' yo' take dat aig an' yo' bury it fo' nine days in a woolen rag, an' yo' take dat egg after yo've buried it - on de eighth day yo' go to where dat aig is an' put chew about a teaspoon of salt, tea- spoon of sulphur an' teaspoon of black pepper, an' in de nine days [on the ninth day] it will bust. He'll be a daid man.
(Where do you bury this egg?)
Right at de middle of de doorstep.
(Whose doorstep?)
De fellah dat yo' an' him livin' disagreeable.
(The fellow you want to kill?)
Dat's right - yeah.
Entry 1799
In yore yard, fix 'em right at yore steps in de shape of a coffin. Dey puts nails - drive 'em right down in de ground in de shape of a casket. Put six nails, ah think it's six - one in de corner an' one in de end. [Divide six nails into two parallel rows of three nails each, these rows being vertical, and then bring the two top nails closer together. This makes a pointed - Hoodo.o or three-sided head of the old-fashioned coffin.]
(What will that do?)
Dey tell me that will cause 'em tuh grow sickly.
(They won't die?)
No, jes' commence goin' down.
Entry 1800
Well, ah heard of 'em. They could make de shape of a coffin for you to kill you and put it right up over your door - be nailed with seven nails. They would make that in the shape of a coffin and if you go under them nails - some way they would fix those nails, see - you would die, if it's for you. Heard of that plenty of times.
Entry 1801
You take nine penny nails and nail dat - like you would make a coffin. Understand. That, if you wanted to kill someone. (Well, how do you mean nail them? I mean fix [arrange] them? What do you dc with them then?) Well, if you wanted to kill someone, destroy someone, you'll take those nine penny nails and you nail 'em in de shape of a coffin.
(Oh, I see. You nail them in the shape of a coffin.)
In your floor, anywhere that you choose to nail 'em, you understand, and if you can, you try to get a piece of their shoe off the right foot on de inside of the ankle up at the top. And you'll take and then nail that down when you make de coffin and de last nail you drive you suppose that'll be through the center, which will be your heart, and you drive that there and they will pine away. I have known that doctors pronounced some had T. B., and everything, but no doctors can cure 'em. They just simply pines away.
Entry 1802
Bore a hole in de tree - and I have seen it done. Just like I had a wife, see, and she runs off. If I want to keep her at my house, like dis here my - dis house mine. Well, if I want keep her at home. See, I'll take her left- foot shoe and take nine nails. See, fix it just like you fix a coffin, and you put one in de heel, and two in the middle, and two here and two here and two here - just like you make a coffin. And put dat in her shoe thataway and dig a hole right under those steps, under your bottom step and put dat shoe in dere, and den put dem nine nails in dere in de shape of a coffin. And I'll betcha she'll never run off from dat house no more.
(I see. Do you drive these nails through the shoe?)
Through the shoe - turn the shoe bottomside up.
Entry 1803
Ah've heard a lady say yo' kin take matches, or so many pins - ah don't know how many now exactly but ah'm goin' git all dis together, ah think ah'll have to come back again - and perform a casket or coffin under de side of de house, and nail nine nails around. Yo' know, make it jes' lak a person's grave an' nail nine nails around de heart. And dey say you'll drap dead off yore feet.
[The coffin is outlined with matches see No. 1785, p.538.]
Entry 1804
I've heard tell, make an image of a coffin. Dat wus done heah not so many yeahs ago - made de coffin. An' den yo' go an' murder somepin like a bird or rabbit or somepin an' put it in dat coffin, an' write chure name on it an' go an' bury it. An' dey say yo' can't live long - yo'll soon have tuh go to de Judgment.
Entry 1805
[There are many animal-substitution rites like the preceding one. Here is another:] If yo' git mad at somebody ah guess, an' yo' draw a person, yo' know. Yo' draw the person. Yo' draw a little box an' yo' write the person's name on his haid. That's fo' him tuh go in when he die. An' yo' ketch a frog an' yo' name that frog such a person yo' made. Chew hate de person an' [therefore] yo' 'buse dat frog nine times fo' nine mawnin's, yo' whippin' him lightly - he's very soft flesh yo' see. An'whenevah dat frog die, yo' buries him [both frog and person]. Now, dat dere now, dat's good.
(Now, what do you do with that box?)
Draw de box lak it wus a coffin. Well, he'll die, an' aftah he dies.
(Well, what do you do with that paper after you draw on it?)
Yo' don't do nuthin with it - yo' keep it long as yo' want to. Yo' ain't have to do nuthin with it 'tall. It works good 'nuff.
Entry 1806
You can take a coffin nail and do anything that chew wish to do as long as you use that coffin nail. If it's a man, he gets the coffin nails from a wo- man's, outten a woman's coffin; and then he can do anything he wish to with that nail whenever he wishes to. And if it's a woman, she gets it from outten a man's coffin and wishes whatever she want to do. Well, they carry that nail with 'em. They keep that nail in they personal affairs somewhere here where the nail'll keep warm. They wrap that in flannel or anything. And they keep that saturated in Hearts Cologne.
Entry 1807
I've heard though of taking nails from a coffin and wrapping it in red flannel, and give it to a person either for luck or ill luck, whichever you want them to have. They sell from twenty-five cents to a dollar.
Entry 1808
Coffin nails is good luck. You nail three of 'em ovah de top of yore door where you come in at. Each and every morning and every night you stop under these nails and make a wish and they claim that will keep all good things coming to you.
Entry 1809
Dere's some kind of powder dat chew git - confusion powder. (What do you do with that?) Of co'se yo' goes dere an' dusts where dey live at, in de house where dey walk at, someway, and jes' cause dissatisfaction between de two.
Entry 1810
Well, it's to keep yore husban' at home an' tuh keep him from goin' wit de othah woman, an' tuh keep him from havin' connection wit de othah woman - is tuh go in de woods an' git a cross vine [see No. 765, p.255]. Dat de vine grows up a tree called de cross vine. Yo' take dis cross vine an' yo' carries it home an' yo' take his clothes an' yo' wash 'em, an' his underwear 'specially, an' boil dis underwear wit dis cross vine, an' when he goes to de othah woman he cain't have any connection with her, 'cause dat cross vine keeps him cross from her.
(It crosses them up?)
Crosses dem up.
(Does this cross vine grow around here? What does it look like?)
Yes, lotta 'em call it de cow eats vine. Uh-huh, it grows up a tree an' jes' crosses all up a tree. No othah vine grows up de tree lak dis one.
(Does it have flowers or anything on it?)
Has a yellah bloom on it. Then yo' take this vine an' yo' put it in de stove an' yo' git it real brown an' beats it up into a powder. Yo' take this powders an' put it in his shoes - see, dis powder be [like] dust aroun' an' he cain't see it. An' let him wear dat in his shoe an' he cain't cross wit dis woman. An' fin'lly she will quit him an he'll quit her, because her man will wanta go with her an' dey's in deep love an' dey have connection some way. (You do both these things together, wash his underclothing with this cross vine an' also make a powder of it?) Yes, makes a powders of dis cross vine.
Entry 1811
De bones of a dead man - yes, dey showed me dat in my studies. [This small-time doctor now tells me how to make and sell bone rings.] You take de bones of a dead man and if you kin get it and dry it and if anybody wanta do anything to you - anything in any way, you take that bone of a dead man and have ring make of it and wear dat ring. A bone ring dey call it - and nobody kin harm you. And if you git de bone of a dead man and make dat ring yourself, you kin sell those fer five dollars apiece - each ring is five dollars. Then everybody come to you and you say, "Now you put this ring on - it cost you five dollars" - be sure and make them give it to you first - "dat's a real ring - give it special to you and nobody kin harm you." You git dat bone - you speak to de undertaker when he begin embalmin'a body. He embalm de body and get a bone for you. You see dat's de spirit. There 206 bones in every parts of de body.
Entry 1812
If yo' take an' make a place up in yore chimley, where yo' kin place yore whiskey, see, an' yo' kin take an' git chew dis heah dead man's bone. An' yo' take this dead man bone, yo' see, an' beat it up fine, yo' see, an' at de hearth, yo' take an' dig up around de hearth, yo' understand, an' yo' place this around there, an' they claim dat de law can't go ovah de dead man's bone. [Here is the great theme of dead men guarding buried treasure - see pp.111-135.] [Fayetteville, N. Car.,
Entry 1813
Ah heard 'em say, take a dead person's bone. If yo' can't, yo' know chop it up as small as yo' wanta, why yo' jes' wrap it up yo' see; an' if yo' can't git under de house, git some small chile tuh put it right middleways of dat house an' it'll break yo' [them] up.
Entry 1814
Yo' kin sew it yo' see, aftah it's petrified - yo' kin sew it in a rag.
(This bone from the dead person?)
Yes, an' dress it ovah wit whiskey an' oil of cinnamon an' yo' be lucky fo' anything that chew be's trying tuh run.
Entry 1815
Take a bone from a dead person an' drop a penny at de side of de grave, an' yo' kin take dis an' bury under yore step an' he'll come to be a spirit dere an' come to be jest; in other words yo' can't live dere. Somebody will be coming all de time - somebody be knockin' on de do'. Ah hear mah grandmother talk a lots about dat - knocking on de do' an' jes' disturbing. Yo' can't live dere.
(That is another way of making a person move out? Out of the house?)
Yes suh.
Entry 1816
In gamblin' - ah used tuh heah yo' could take a dead man's fingernail - cut off a dead man's fingernail an' git to a game an' say fo' 'bout thirty minute anyway nobody couldn't tetch yo'. (What would you do with these fingernails?) Jes' take dese nails an' tie 'em up in a piece of flannel an' put a thimblespoonfula sulphur in dere wit it an' tie it up wit some black peppah. Tie it up an' tote in yore watch pocket, an' ever' now an' den yo' put chure finger in yore watch pocket, an' den come back an' put chure han' on de cards. An' yo' wouldn't be caught fo' no mo' 'bout thirty minutes. But yore mind will come to yo' an' tell yo' tuh quit, an' if yo' don't quit den, why co'se yo' goin' go ahead back tuh losin' den.
Entry 1817
De way yo' do that - yo' know dat a person is real sick, but let it be a man. Dis is anothah thing fo' joomoo, too. Well, yo' cuts dat off - lak yo' have anybody real sick, yo' go an' cut off dis one fingernail, jes' one of dem.
(Of the sick person?)
Yeah, dat yo' knows 'spectin' tuh die. An' yo' take dat fingernail an' yo' keep it until dey bury dat person. An' when dey bury dat person, yo' take dat fingernail an' jes' do lak dis, yo' know - jes' double it one time, jes' lak dat an' let de two p'ints shet good. Jes' have it lak dat an' keep dat fo' twelve days befo' yo' goin' use it. An' yo' take dat an' hit good fo' most anything. When yo' keep it, git chew a lil' bit of alcohol an' put it in dere [in the small bottle of alcohol] an' ever'time yo' go tuh gamblin', yo' jes' take a little bit an' po' it right between dem two bones [demonstrates].
(Between these two bones on the wrist; these two knobs that are on the wrist.)
Jes' drop de least bit of alcohol with dat [finger]nail in it - right between dere, jes' drop it right on dere as yo' goin' out tuh gamble. Dat's good fo' luck in gamblin'.
Entry 1818
Take a woman's hair, from a dead woman an' cut de little tip end of her hair an' cut it off an' git it out chew know. An' yo' kin count nine strands of it out an' tie dat in a knot an' wear it aroun' yo'. Dey tell me yo' kin git a job anywhere yo goes.
Entry 1819
[In my earlier collecting days a hairball among white inform- ants was: "A cow licks her hair and that hair goes down in the left side of the pouch and that forms a ball, and if you have one of those in your hand you can bewitch anyone." This object is sometimes called a witch-ball: "One morning the cow didn't come up for milking and they went out to find the cow and found it dead. It had been shot in the thigh with a hair-ball.... You see, a witch always uses a silver bullet or a hair-ball to kill anything, and this man [witch] had shot the cow with one of those witch hair-balls." FACI, 2ed., Nos. 15884 & 15885, p.797; see also No. 16151, p.827.]
[In the following account we have a different hairbalZ:]
Now, dere's a hairball - dat's concernin' a lady, misfortune between yo' an' her. Now, yo' kin wear dis hairball tuh keep in contact with her an' yo' kin wear it dat chew may nevah git in contact with her no mo'.
(What kind of a hairbalZ do you mean?)
It's an ordinary hairball.
(Well, where do you get that hair?)
Well, it's hair dat's from ole dead people, yo' know, befo' it's event'lly decayed - it's spoiled. Put it in a thimble or somethin' round that chew may put it in a ball. Quite natural, by it gittin' air it will not, yo' know whut ah mean - fade away. Quite natural if yo' know de person that die - everythin' all right. Now, this hairball - it comes in a ball. To keep in contact with this party, yo must put this in a bag - yo' know, somethin' lak a Bull Durham sack. [The latter was a small cloth sack containing a cigarette mixture used in "rolling your own" - making your own cigarettes. The paper label on the sack had the picture of a bull.] Yo' make a small bag small enough fo' it tuh git in. Now, tuh keep in contact with this person, yo' must put this hairball in that bag an' sew it. Make nine stitches, an' dere's three words yo' must say while sewin', "With me Fo'evah." Yo' know, as yo' make a stitch, jes' say a word. Now at de end, when yo' git tuh de end of de bag, do not make a knot in it. Make three turns wit chure needle - yo' know, lak yo' be sewin' dis, jes pass it roun dere three times. Den yo git chew a string an' put nine knots in dis string an' de ninth knot, yo' take a needle an' attach it to dat bag an' wear that next to yore skin. Now, tuh git rid of dis lady event ally, wear dis hairbalZ jes' outright - don't put it nex' tuh yore skin. Fo' instant [instance], lak yo' got chure coat on dere, dis top pocket heah - jes' keep it in dat pocket, jes' outside from yo'. See. An' yo' wear it thataway yo'll nevah come in contact with her. That's all it is to the hairball.
Hyatt quotes earlier FACI material comparing a silver bullet with a hair-ball as alternatives. The quoted cow account uses the hair-ball. The following Algiers informant describes a different hair-ball; the quoted bullet is not part of that later recipe.
Read full source (printed page 544) · Read full source (printed page 545)
Entry 1820
You take a bone from a dead man's right hand. You go to the cemetery and dig them up, and you make a pair of dice out of them. And when you get in a dice game - I don't mean a gambling club but around these jobs that have payday, they have a big dice game and you go in there with these dice and you are more than likely to win.
Entry 1821
I heerd a fellah say once when I was in Cleveland, Ohio, there working, you meet all kind of people, and I heerd 'im say that he could take the left hand of a dead person and wouldn't nobody could arrest 'im. He could do anything he wanted to.
The informant reports another man's claim about a dead person's left hand; the promised freedom from arrest is unverified.
Entry 1822
I remember on one occasion there was a couple of fellows made up their mind to rob a house. The one said to the other, "What way shall we go?" ' The other fellow said to the other one, "Come and go with me in the graveyard. I know the fellow. He just died about three weeks ago. We want to go there and dig him up and get him out of the grave. There is a certain part of his body I want to get before I go to the place where we have decided to go." And they were successful in getting this body from the ground, and they got what off of it they wanted, then they put it back in the ground and went on their journey. After going on that journey, this piece they got from that body, it would burn the same as a candle. You take and light that. When you light that you put it to the keyhole of somebody's door. And whenever that odor gets in there and the occupants smell that odor, they will all fall asleep and they will never wake up while this light is burning. Then you can ransack this house all you want to so long as the light burns. When you get away from the house you blow this light out and irmediately these people will all wake up.
Entry 1823
Yo' take an' go to de graveyard, if yo' wanta go anywhere or wanta do anything. Yo'll go to de graveyard an' cut a piece out of de person - a sinnah back.
(Out of their body - their back?)
Dat's right. An' make a candle. Take an' fry it - yo' know, jes' cook it down. Take de grease out it an' make a candle an' take that candle an' do any- thing in de world yo' want.
(What would they do with the candle? Do you know how they would handle that?)
Well, dey jes' take aftah dey make de candle an' whenevah they's makin' this candle, dey'll call de Lord's Name. See. An' whenevah de candle is cold, yo' see, den dey kin take it an' go anywhere an' do anything dey want wit dat candle.
Entry 1824
When a person speak about dey write de dead, yo' know - fo' de numbers yo' know. (Just how do they do that?) Well, dey jest write 'em - jes' yo' write some yo' peoples, says, "Dear Fren', I would like tuh hear from yo'. I am writin' yo' few lines to let chew know I am well. I wants dis number. I wants chew will please send hit to me tonight while ah'm sleep. An' yo' set chew a glass of water an' fold de letter up - set de glass of water on top de letter, an' dis ghost will come an' bring yo' de number in yo' sleep. He might come in de form of a cow or a dog or a horse but he'll bring yo' de number.
Entry 1825
Dey build whut chew call a dead man. Dey usually goes an' dey gits clay from a fresh grave dat's someone yo' know, an' dey take dat clay an' dey mixes it up wit sulphur an' red peppah an' puts it undah de step - round de front step. Dat usually brings in people or either carries 'em out - jes' whichsomevah yo' wish. Yo' have tuh wish fo' dat.
(What did you say about making a dead man?)
Yo' use clay an' red peppah an' sulphur.
(Well, what do you mean by making a dead man?)
Well, because it's a person yo' know an' dey jes' died yo' understand, an' yo' use it because it's fresh. Yo' gits it at de full of de moon.
Entry 1826
(The people playing policy will play the number of the house where the man died?) Cer'inly does. If dey die in de night, dat next day dey iumps right on dat house an' play it de next day. Dey plays it fo' 'bout three or fo' months or somepin lak dat. (What do they call the numbers down here? Do they call it policy or bolito or what?) It's stock - dey call it stock. Dey don't play de policy, de play de [something] stock - de clearin' house stock.
Entry 1827
Oh, after you move out, you mean? (No, if you are trying to make him move out.) Oh, yeah, dat's to throw some kin'a stuff called de devil's dust.
(They throw it at my house?)
Yes, sir.
(Where do they get this devil's dust?)
They gets it from de drug store.
(I see. That makes you move.)
Yes sir.
The informant names devil's dust in a prompted account of making someone move out; its contents and effect are unverified.
Entry 1828
Well, now listen. Tuh keep de officers away from yore house, yo've got'a git devil powder. Ah guess yo' know whut dat is, don't chew? Well, yo git that in St. Louis - devil powder. (What do you do with the devil powder?) Yo' jis' sprinkle it.
(Sprinkle it around. Who sells it in St. Louis?)
Well, now, ah've got a book on it.
(I wish you would bring that book over and show it to me.)
Ah will. [No one ever brought a book!]
Entry 1829
All right, yo' kin take Hearts Cologne. Yo' git chew Hearts Cologne an' yo' go to de - yo' know de devil's-shoestring. Yo' git de devil's-shoestring an' yo' cut it in fo' pieces to a inch - one inch long, an yo' put it into yo' little sack an' yo' keep dat devil's- string. Wear it in dat Hearts Cologne, keep it where it'll smell loud, an' whensomevah yo' go to gamble why yo' renew it ovah wit dat Hearts Cologne. Keep it where it will scent - where everybody kin git de scent of it. Dat's lucky in gambling.
Entry 1830
Dey say if yo' git some devil's-shoestring an' nine shots out of a shell - nine shots an' three lengths of devil's-shoestring. Yo"sposed to keep dat with yo' an' yo' kin put most any kind of perfume on it. An' yo' have a piece of lodestone with it - dat makes it bettah. Dat's whut ah hear a man say he wus doin' - ah seen some of it.
(How did he carry that?)
Jes' put it in a little bag an' put it in yore pocket.
Entry 1831
Fo' a gamblin' han' yo' git chew some blacksnake root an' some devil's- shoestring an' some John de Conker, an' some cinnamon, an' a van-van perfume. An' yo' git chew a piece of shammy. Yo' put dese ingredients in dere wit de silver dime, an' yo' takes dat perfume an' yo' dresses it an' yo' wears dat piece in yore pocket.
(What will that do then?)
That's supposed tuh be a gamblin' han - whut dey call it.
Entry 1832
An' you know dey tryin' harm you. Well, all you got'a do - git chew a piece of devil's-shoestring and git chew some of dis salt and red peppah see, and devil's-shoestring and some sulphur. And you take it and wear some in vour shoes and take an' make a belt out of it, out of de shoestring, see, and wear it around your waist. But chew use a little piece of copper wire, you understand, mix a little piece of copper wire in it. If you ain't got devil's-shoestring, spread it [copper wire] out round your waist - see, you kin just ball de little piece of copper wire up and put it in dere amongst de red pepper, see. And then when you do that, you take and wear it around your waist. That would stop anybody, they couldn't do anything. They can't do nothing to you but put in your stomach, if dey goin' get cha. That's the only way they kin get cha.
Entry 1833
Ah heard yo' taken dat chamber lye an' put some devil vinegar in it an' some war watah, an' take de chamber lye an' bury it into de bottle. An' as long as dat bottle in dere, yo' goin' suffer real bad until yo' pass away to bones come through yore body. (You have to get hold of some of that person's own urine, own chamber lye, and put this war water with it and this devil vinegar, and put it in a bottle?) Yes.
Entry 1834
Well, dey kin take yore hand-writin' - sho' dey kin. Ah've heard that. Dey take - lak yo' write me a lettah an' ah wanta do yo' something, ah take yore writin' an' ah fold it, ah fold it nine times. Den ah put me some pins an' nee- dles, nine needles an' nine pins in that an' put it in some steel dust an' some devil watah an' some ammonia an' bury it. Den yo' act'lly goin' tuh die.
(What is devil watah?)
Devil watah is devil vinegar. (And when you fold it how do you fold it? Fold it to you like this?) [I demonstrate.] No, fold it from yo'.
Entry 1835
Well, yo' kin take a pair of dice an' put 'em away, pee on 'em, see. Pee on a pair of dice an' shet it up in a airtight box an' put some salt in on dem dice - table salt. See, table salt is somethin' slick. See, put some salt on those dice an' put 'em away an' let dat salt an' pee stay on dat dice dere fo' a while. An' yo'll always be lucky when yo' goin' out wit dice in yore pocket.
Entry 1836
For luck in gambling, I used to buy hands.
(Yes?)
One hand I bought, it was full of charcoal - there wasn't nuthin to dat one. But the other hand, it was purtty good. Ah bought me a ring, see, and my birth- stone was in it. And I would use lodestone and I could soak dice in pepper and chamber lye - keep those dice soaked in 'em, you see. And just like I run a gam- bling house and you come dere, well, you see I'm always got two pair of dice. Well, the dice what you shoot, they're soaked in that stuff - in that lodestone and chamber lye. But now, when it come round for me to shoot the dice, I'm going to shoot that other pair. Well, you see, you losing all de time; you can't make a point on it, but I'm going make a point because I'm shooting a diff'rent pair. See.
(I see. The pair you see, you don't do anything to at all?)
No, sir. I don't do anything to hit at all. And I keep my table, just like I got this cloth on here. I take and get me some silver - 'bacco silver.
(What's that?)
Silver off of tobacco, you know, chewing tobacco.
(Silver paper off of tobacco [tin foil], I see.)
Yassuh, take that silver and I pad it under this here tablecloth, see. I keep a shooting on de cloth all the time. Well, I pad that under there and I get me some - some pound - you see, it's pound lodestone, pound lodestone.
(You mean like powder?)
Yes, it's made up like dust. Well, I get some of that and I put dat silver down and I sprinkle dat lodestone under dat silver and put dat silver over it.
(I see.)
I put dat cloth over dat. See. Well, you don't know what's under dat. But it's all in my favor, none in yours - it's coming in my favor all the time but it's none in yours.
(I see - in shooting the dice.)
In shooting de dice. And you shoot dem dice on dat table, you kill 'em; you'll get a point, but it's three to one that you make that point. See, I can give you - ah'd give you odd bets on it. Why? Because I know ah'm got cinches on you, you ain't got none on me; but ah'm got cinches on you because I just natch'ly know. Then, after I give you odds on it, I kin turn in and switch dem dere - ketch dem dice and throw dat - send another pair out - the same dice but not the same dice what you got the points with. See.
(I see.)
And you going miss. (That silver [tin foil] under the table[cloth] then makes the fellow you are playing against - makes him miss?) Yes, sir.
Entry 1837
Dey say also that you take that dirt dauber's nest an'.yo' go to any- body's place of business an' pound it [the nest] all up an' jes' walk in there an' throw it anywhere round where they have to walk ovah it, an' dey say they wouldn't have any job - it loses it. Den de boss an' deyself will fall out. [This rite makes a person lose his job. Since dirt dauber dirt causes confusion, it is used in many confusion rites - family quarrels, moving person out of house, etc.]
Entry 1838
Yo' kin use a dishrag fo' dis purpose. If anybody visitin' yo' an' yo' Wants tuh give 'em luck, when dey be steppin' out chure house, why yo' jes' throw dat dishrag at 'em. Dat gives 'em luck. Lak if a fellah is goin' off lookin' fo' a job, his wife will throw a dishrag aftah him.
Entry 1839
The only thing I heard, they say you kin take an' - when you washin' the dishes, wash your face with the dishrag: They say that'll make you hold a job.
The informant reports face washing with a dishrag as a practice said to help hold a job; no employment effect is verified.
Entry 1840
See, ah takin' in a little washin' an' ironin'. Wal, I'se makin' good and she call herself fren' of me an' I believed 'er then. So she come to mah house an' says, "Ann, come heah a minute." An' ah went to her. She says, "Come walk around a piece with me." Well, ah did, but ah said, "Well, ah ain't got time cause ah gotta go an' wash." Well, there was another woman called me at de time, says, "Ann, do yo' know who dat woman is dat walk wit chew." Ah says, "Yes, dat's Lulu Taylor." She says, "Wal, now, ah want tell yuh dat woman will put chew in de worst luck - she put chew in de worst luck yo' evah been in yore life. That's Lulu Taylor's job. She call herself great frien's but she kin put chew in de worst luck yo' evah saw and yo' watch what ah tell yuh." She says, "Lulu Taylor is goin' put chew in hard luck," cause she has put her [speaker] in hard luck. She says, "She goin' put chew in hard luck." Ah says, "Well, how will she do that?" "[She] says, "She goin' burn sulphur on Friday on yo' and she goin' to git graveyard dirt to run yo way from heah. Dat's what she goin' do; put chew in de worst kind of luck." Wal, she did do it. She asked me to come home wit her and ah went and says - when she got a piece out she says, "Ann, does yo' know where any white dog manure is? Wal, ah wanna git some." She say a man's name. Now, it was a man there she had been knockin' aroun' wit, an' another woman come and commence to lose time with him. She say, "Come on an' go with me." Ah said to mahself, "Ef she goin' do this kind of trick, ah wanta see how it's done." Ah goes with her. She went to the graveyard and she dug in top of dis grave, down in de grave about dat deep [demonstrates].
(To her elbow.)
An' she got some dirt out of the grave and she say, "Heah's a penny." She put de penny down and tuk away de dirt, come on back to wheah I was wit it in her han' and says, "What ah want chew to do de first time yo' see any white dog's manure, git it fer me." Wal, by time she got to de house, ah walks on heah and ah see it. Ah calls her and she come on back dere to dat stuff. She mix dis heah stuff and put three pins in dere. She put three pins in dis stuff she had fixed - she wouldn't tell de [other] stuff she had. But she run dis man away. Ah know she done dat. Dat [given name] Thompson, ah think it was [his given name] - she run him away from there. Well, he went. [The preceding statement, come on back to wheah I was, shows the first rule of graveyard procedure - all rites must be performed by operator alone. A good illustration of this is the man who waits outside graveyard while woman enters; he not speaking to woman again until they reach home (see No. 77, p.32). Present informant talking about penny is merely after-the-rite knowledge projected for- ward. If present operator had mentioned penny to present informant before-the- rite, she would have violated the rule of secrecy, this causing failure.]
Entry 1841
You know what they make that out of?
(No.)
Well, I'll tell you what they make that out of - that's made out of snake- hides. That's what they make that out of - they make that out of snakehides. What's sewed inside of it is ordinary sawdust - sawdust and brown sugar. And you can keep that under a person's bed and a man' 11 never have no nature for his wife. [While machine is off we talk about another hand.]
(Well, what shape would they fix it up?)
Fix it up just the shape of a person - two arms and two legs with the body made to it. And if you put that under a woman's bed, she ain't going to be much service to her husband - her and her husband be fussful all the time. (What did you say they make that out of?) [I am trying to pick up what was lost while machine silent.l Sawdust - take sawdust and alum. Take you a piece of alum, powdered alum. Take you a little piece of bluestone and powder it. Take a piece of garlic and tie the garlic around it. Understand? And put it under a woman's bed.
(Well, what do you use for the outside cover?)
Outside cover on it? Just tie it around with a string, you don't have to wrap it in anything - just put in, open her mattress and put it in a mattress.
(What did you say about a snakehide a moment ago?)
A snakehide? You could take a snakehide and use that - just clip a person's, a piece of a person's hair and burn it. You understand?
(In fixing this doll baby - how was that made, did you say?)
You takes ordinary sawdust - just take ordinary sawdust. If you want to make a woman disagreeable - things disagreeable in a home for a woman and her husband, take ordinary sawdust, a piece of garlic, a piece of alum and a piece of blue- stone, and powder that. And mix it in that sawdust and sew it up in that form of a person - see, like - just like a little small doll baby - a small piece of it.
(What kind of material would you use for that form?)
For Wrapping that in?
(Yes.)
Bed ticking.
(Any kind?)
No, not any kind, bed ticking - something that a mattress or pillow is made out of, not any kind of material.
(Oh, I see. Well, why is that?)
Because you wants to lay the stripes according to the rise and fall of the sun. That's why we do that. You want to make the stripes so that on the shape of that thing like a person it lays with the rise and fall of the sun. You lays it like you take a dead person is buried with their head to the east - I mean to the west and their feet to the east. You lay that thing with the head to the east and the feet to the west. That's against the life of any person it's under.
(Now, where do you put this little doll?)
You put it in - you put it under or in a mattress. But the best way you do, if you can open the mattress and put it in there, sew it in the mattress. Just know how you got it - lay it in the position and lay it right in that mattress where they lay on that. And that woman'll have trouble in her house with her husband as long as she sleeps on it.
Entry 1842
Dis whiskey an' sugah - fo' a man if he's runnin' round. Yo' cut dat yellah domestic - ah mention dat, an' yo' cut chew a little man out. Dat's right in de shape of a little man an' put it in dat bottle.
(What bottle?)
In de bottle whut chew put dat whiskey in, yore whiskey an' yore chamber lye an' de sugah. An' take dat an' set it back, if yo' want him tuh stay dere; an' set it in a cloth in a corner, jes' let it set down jes' lak de man do an' let it stay dere seven days. An' if he's out anywhere in town, he'll come back. But yo' got'a have de shape of de man altogethah.
(He doesn't drink that whiskey or anything? Just keep it in the bottle?)
No suh - dat's all.
Entry 1843
Dey could go tuh dat house an' git some dirt from de do'steps an' carry it an' put it in runnin' watah, an' dat will cause 'em - dey have tuh leave de house, dey couldn't stay dere. (What do you mean by the dirt from the doorstep?) Right from where yo' have tuh walk out. (You pick that dirt up and throw that in running water.) [See Doorstep Dust in subsection Business and Customers.]
Entry 1844
Dragon blood an' spread it ovah yore han' - yes sir - an' yo' dress yo'self with it an' go dere an' ast him fo' a job, an' yo' lookin' him right straight in de face - an' ast him fo' a job. Well, he wouldn't dare tuh turn yo' down. [Dragon's blood is used in many combinations.]
Entry 1845
She kin go to the drug store an' get her some drawing oil.
(Some drawing oil?)
Yes. Get her some steel dust, an' get some Jockey Club Perfume. (Jockey Club?) Yeah. An' put his name down on a piece of paper three times an' soak it in that bottle.
(And then what will she do?)
An' she jis' keep dat an' shake it up an' make her wish over it.
(That'll bring the man back?)
He'll come back.
Entry 1846
(What do they do with the shoes?)
They kin dress your shoes.
(How do they dress them? Do you know?)
Well, how would they dress your shoes? I had a pair of shoes dressed for me, but it was dressed for my good - for luck for me. An' then the lady made a leather pad for me.
(Why was that?)
She made another pad. She had inside this [pad], she had a silver dime.... My husband was away from me. All right. An' from the way things was workin' out - he were workin', he were makin' plenty money. The way things Was workin' out, I wasn't gittin' whut I's suppose to git. An' from the way things were, he sent for me to send belongings of his'n away from here that should of stayed here. You understand. So I went to see about myself. So she explained everything to me. So she told me, she say, "I'm gon'a make you a pad to wear in your shoe.
(Pad?)
Yes. New leather. An' she made that. She put a silver dime, put some he and she todestone, some steel dust in there, some drawin' oil she put in there. She sewed that up. She give it to me to wear under the bottom of my feet. An' she give me a bottle with some drawin' oil, an' ever' day to put one drop on the pad; take an' put three drops here - under the door [on the saddle], an' there.
(Oh, the hinges - on the top and lower hinges.)
Yeah. And in thirty days time, she say, he would be knockin' on the door. So, all right. The day when the thirty days was up, he didn't come that day. He come that night.
Entry 1847
Dey did have somepin lak dat call a dustman - a dustman. He'd come tuh yore house - one dat was quiet anyway, he could jes' sprinkle dat in dere an' he could come on in dere an' git anything out de house that chew got in there an' yo' wouldn't waken till he git out.
(What kind of dust would he sprinkle in there?)
It's a powder - yo' orders it tho. It's a sleepin' powder, dey call it - tuh put chew tuh sleep.
Entry 1848
Now, heah's anothah instant [instance] - if yo' wanta run a person outa town, yo' write dere name. Yo' git a hen aig an' yo' write dere name dis way nine times all ovah de aig, an' take it to de rivah an' throw it in de rivah an' make a wish. Yo' got tuh always make a evil wish jis' lak you said, "That son-of-a-bitch leave town. See, an' throw it in de rivah - lak de Mississippi Rivah out dere, yo' know dat goes ever'where. An' dat'll give 'em de walkin' blues - dey'll walk outa town.
Entry 1849
Once a ole man wus goin' wit me, an' ah had a very triflin' husband, an' he [ole man] went away on a Saturday to [Somebody] Mammy [root doctor], an' he come Sunday night an' he come between twelve an' one a'clock, so he said [later], an' put a aig undah de steps. An' when he [husband] got up tuh go to de fiel' Monday mawnin' to de cotton, de aig wus layin' out in de yard. An' mah husban' made known to me, say, "Ah wonder where dat dirty lookin' aig come from?" An' he walked ovah de aig. An' when ah speak about it in de cotton patch 'fore his [ole man] chillern, an' his chillern tell it to his wife, he come back an ast me why did I talk about dat aig - he put it there [because] he hate tuh see a triflin' man destroy a good woman. So dat's whut ah know 'bout dat part. An' fin'llv, aftah all, mah husban' went away an' he's contin'lly goin' till yet. An' ah done heared twice since then.
The informant describes an aig and walking over it. Placement includes reported information; the later departure is not established as its effect.
Entry 1850
Take a pin an' put a little hole in it [chicken egg] an' put some of yore blood in that little hole. Yo' know, yo've seen dem little eye-dropper or nose-dropper, somethin', drain it down lak that. Take a strand of yore hair an' stick it down in there - in that hole an' carry it out in the woods where yo' know that snake's there - most any kind of a little bug or something is, yo' know. But chew put some sugah roun' there yo' see. See, that aig is goin' tuh sweat, chew know, an' that sugah is goin' dissolve and the ants or whatevah gits ovah to it first, that's jis' whut - if it be a snake, well, yo'll crawl lak a snake; if a ant gits holt'a it, well yo'll fis' wander aroun' jis' lak a ant.
Entry 1851
If yo' wants tuh be lucky in a game, yo' gits a hen aig an' each one who's in dere, yo' know, dat playin' in dis game - dey go dere an' look at it, an' write each one name down on de aig, an' take it an' put it in yore pocket an' go on. Yo'll be lucky in de game. (Well, who - you mean the people who are playing in this game?) Well, jes' lak ah wants to git - yo' know, go in dis game an' somebody wanta give me somepin fo' luck. Well, he'll jes' git a hen aig, yo' know, an' go up dere an' see who all in de house playin' in common - see whut dere name. Write each person down dat playin' in de game on de aig. Well, go out [to write these names] an' come back an' put de aig in his pocket. He'll be lucky in dat game.
(Any kind of chicken egg?)
Yes sir - hen aig, any kinda aig.
Entry 1852
Some people down there [round Charleston, South Carolina], they claim they have the evil eye. Whenever they meet one of these persons, especially if they look them right in the eye, they're supposed to walk backward and count ten. That is to break the bad luck spell.
Entry 1853
Git chew some lump incense. Some people don't use red flannel - yo' kin use shammy skin an' yo' make yo' a little luck bag. Yo' put chew a little silver dime in dere. An' yo' put chew about three pieces of that lump incense in dere and yo' put yo' some guinea peppahs in dere, an' if yo' got a fishhead rock yo' put that in dere. Den yo' sew it up on a piece of garlic.
(Fishhead rock?)
Yeah, dat only comes in a drumhaid. Dere be's two little rocks in a drumhaid.
(Drumhead fish?)
Yessuh. An' yo' sew that up. Yo' kin po' yo' some bergamint [bergamot] on it or eithah some Jockey Club perfume - yo' have tuh keep it oiled up [fed] lak dat. Dat's fo' yore luck. Yo' kin wear it in yore pocket. Gamblin' luck.
Entry 1854
De gaspergou - yo' know dere's two rocks in his haid. Dat's a feesh [fish]. Yo' git dat fish anywhere out de rivah. It looks lak de buffalo - yo' have tuh look close tuh see it's not buffalo. Some people sell 'em fo' buffaloes dat don't know de diff'rence. It's a goo - gasper goo. De rock outa - those two rocks out of his haid, wearnin' 'em in dey pocket is supposed tuh be lucky. [This is the fresh-water drumfish (Aplodinatus grunniens) of the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley - weight up to 50 lbs. Gaspergou [gou = goo], similar to the French gasparot (a kind of herring), is the local name in Louisiana.]
Entry 1855
[The preceding informant was correct about gaspergou and buffalo being confused:] Take a feesh, a buffalo feesh an' inside of that buffalo feesh's haid is two little pearls about lak that. Yo' git them little pearls outa there an' tote dem in yore pocket an' that'll draw money to yo', too. [Memphis, Tenn., (1541). 2787:15.]
Entry 1856
I have tried dis when ah first came to St. Petersburg - go an' look me round, couldn't git me a job nowhere. One fellah tells me, says, "Now yo' go an' take yo' a dime, '' he say, "an' buy yo' a crocus fish [fresh-water drumfish]." After yo' git dat fish, yo' cut de head off dat fish an' yo' kin do whut yo wish. Yo' kin eat de fish or yo' kin throw it away. But be shure yo' git de head of dat fish an' cut it open an' git dem two rocks outa dere an' put it in a sack an' wear it in yore pocket. Dere can't nobody turn yo' down fo' a job.
Entry 1857
A man learnt me, a hoodoo man, to take a crocus fish - it's a little fish called crocus fish, an' yo' take dat head off, an' yo' take a knife an' split dat head open an' dere's two rocks in dere. Well, yo' git dem two rocks out an' yo' put dem two rocks in a little bag an' yo' sew dat bag up. Well, when yo' sew dat bag up den, yo' give it to de party an' den he goes to de man an reports for a job, an' yo' can't hardly be turned down. An' ah have seen dat an' he have done me dataway de reason ah know. An' dat's de way he said and dat was de end of dat.
Entry 1858
De catfish haid - de rock out de haid, yo' know. Ah always see dese women in dese loose houses git them an' put 'em in dere pocketbooks - says it draws de men an' keep luck to 'em. Ah've caught catfish fo' 'em fo' dat busi- ness.
Entry 1859
Dere's a fish he's got two stones in his head. Outa dem two stones, you wanta be sure when you open him to git de right-hand stone. Dere's two white stones. You'll take dat right-hand stone and you'll put it in yore pocket and put some red pepper with it - put red pepper with that right-hand stone. And take de left-hand stone and take a handful of sulphur, nothing but sulphur, and you'll wrap dat up good and hid it and put it down by yo' bed - on de left corner of yo' bed, de north corner of yo' bed inside of yo' mattress. But de right-hand stone, you wants to tote dat - gains everything you wants and everything you go after. Actually you got'a git it.
Entry 1860
Well, for gambling I've taken and get me a new nee- dle and get me a piece of five-fingered grass, and get me a piece of lodestone and some steel dust, and take it and sew it - that needle, brand-new needle, not no needle that's been used - in a little piece of leather bag. And use this here fast luck - keep it damp whenever I go to gambling
Entry 1861
Well, before you even go on this job, you read the ll9th Psalm. You look in de 119th Psalm and you read a verse in there. And you'll find favors with him, and you'll use High John de Conker too, and you'll take the five finger grass and carry it. Put it in yore handkerchief. And you ask him for the job as a favor and he hardly will refuse yuh.
(How will you use that High John the Conker?)
Well, some chew it. Some people boil it and jest make liquid and dress dere- selves before dey goes.
Entry 1862
If a woman got a runnin'-'bout spell, you go to work an' wash your feet of a nights from your toe back to de hollow of your left foot - it don't make no diff'rence if's right or de left. Take de same water dat you wash de feet in, take it an' pour back into another bucket, an' let her drink a swallow or two dat water for nine mornin's. Dat'll take de runnin'-'bout spells off of her. [Cf. Bathwater, p.522f.]
Entry 1863
Yo' take de dirt out de hollow of his feets. (The boss's feet?) Yeah, de boss feet an' put it in a bottle an' put it right down at de steps - turn it bottom upwards an' dig a hole an' put it right down at de steps early in de mawnin' - see, 'fore anyone see yo' go dere.
(Whose steps?)
At de boss house.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat will put chew - put chure track an' de boss track together. Now, yo' see, dat will give yo' influence wit de boss.