Zombie Juice

8/14/2019 Zombie Juice

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ZOMBIE JUICEBy Steven Donnini

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In the Hell’s Kitchen of a walk up apartment on the Lower East

Side of New York two young Haitian men are brewing a

stew of several outlawed substances for a mind altering drink they

call Zombie Juice. They follow a formula that has been made for

thousands of years in the Amazon, Africa and Haiti. They plan to

turn a rich victims into a zombies and rob them of all there

valuables. In Haiti it has been brewed using the poison of Puffer Fish, powered bone and tobacco. These men who go by the names

Philip and James Adams, take jobs a waiters in one of New York’s

finest restaurants Smith & Walls, a sea food, stake and chops

house known all over the world for the finest aged meats. Dinner

at Smith & Walls can be a staggering $1,500 a plate. They offer

specialty meats like alligator tail, bush meat, and Lamb’s brains.

It’s so successful that one must get reservations weeks in advance.

Philip and James plan to poison wealthy tourist and rob them and

their hotel rooms while they are wondering around the city in a

Zombie like trance. But there’s one thing they are not sure about,

and it’s the problem with all Zombie Juice. The strength of the puffer fish poison, because it can be different for time of year and

from fish to fish. They don’t want to kill anyone just alter their

state of mind for a few days so they have time to do the theft and

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not get caught in the act. Philip decides to add an extra ingredient

that will induce hallucinations and discredit any witnesses.

Its called Ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is widely used throughout the

Amazon as a medicinal tea prepared principally from

Banisteriopsis Caapi, a jungle vine, found in the tropical regions of

South America. Banisteriopsis Caapi is often combined with other

plants, most commonly Chacruna/Rainha (Queen); Psychotria

Viridis. It is illegal in the United States for recreational use but can

be found growing in many parts of Florida. It causes extremenausea, dizziness, diarrhea and wild hallucinations. Philip believes

this brew when mixed with Cherry Flavored Vodka will keep the

people busy for about 12 hours and leave then with no reliable

memory of what happened. A kind of induced Super

Hallucinogenic Zombie state without the deadly side effect. It

would take weeks to figure out what was the cause. If ever.

The two plan to spike the drinks of customers during the Chinese

New Year Celebration when everyone is in town to see all the

fireworks and parades in China Town South of Canal Street. James

has recruited several local hoods to follow and mug the tourist as

they leave the restaurants in China Town and begin to feel theeffects of the poison. They would meet later at their apartment and

split the loot.

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After weeks in the planning, everything has a green light for the

Chinese Celebration. The NYPD has blocked off a 6 block area for

a week and there’s a fire department ready to put out the many

fires that erupt from the millions of the paper fire cracker

wrappings that pile up on the streets and catch fire. The sounds of

all the fire crackers going off is deafening. The paper dragons

slither through the streets, leading a parade of musical bands and

people in theatrical costumes. Philip and James report for work at

there jobs with the Zombie Juice. As the restaurants fill withtourist they offer a shot of the Cherry Flavored good luck drink.

They are clever to identify the rich tourist from the locals as not to

waist the precious brew. Not everyone is interested. But for Philip

a couple from Miami sporting matching his and hers Rolex

watches are willing to take a chance on the after dinner drink.

Roxanne and John are feeling lucky so they swallow one ounce

shots. It will take a few seconds for the Vodka to give a wonderful

feeling of high. The rest of the brew will take 30 minutes or so to

take effect. First come the numbness in the face and hands, then

the hallucinations begin to unfold for the next 12 hours. Since

Roxanne and John have never taken anything stronger than cocaineor pot they are going to be in for a completely new experience.

They walk out of the restaurant and down the street which by now

is covered with 6 inches of tiny pieces of red paper.

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It looks like red snow covering the sidewalks and streets where

small fires burn. They watch a parade of a colorful dragon pass

by. The street thugs follow close behind waiting to pounce until

the couple is clear of the police and walking down Canal St. They

begin to fell the effects of the Ayahuasca, a light alcohol buzz that

grows. They are lucid in the experience of shopping for knockoff

designer hand bags and fake Rolex watches. Suddenly, Roxanne is

overcome with nausea and dizziness. It’s all happening just as

Philip had told the Thugs. It’s time to move in for the kill. Thetwo thieves take her purse and John’s wallet and watches to run

across the heavy traffic on Canal Street. They disappear into the

crowed sidewalk and are gone. John and Roxanne are too busy

with the nausea to care about what else is happening. This is only

the beginning of the ordeal to come.

Walking through the streets of lower Manhattan they begin to see

amazing colored lights coming through the window of the shops

and bars. The city din of sound becomes clear to them. The street

and sidewalks rumble like a beast or dragon about to crack open

the asphalt to reach out to the surface of the city. The city

becomes a living thing that breathes steam as it exhales from itsmany whale like nostrils. They don’t notice as time passes without

their watches. They move with out fear in the cold winter night

following what interest them at the time. John looks up to see the

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NY Port Authority and entrance to the Staten Island Ferry. They

pay the toll and walk onto the Ferry leaving for Staten Island.

They walk onboard and a chain is closed behind them. Roxanne,

“Can you hear the music?” John is watching the swirling water

coming from the propellers under the boat. There’s a cracking

sound coming from the wooden pilings on ether side of the boat as

they push away from the landing to revel the huge buildings at that

are pressed together like huge crystallized formations, ancient

stone and concrete. All pressing their way upward. As the Ferryfloats away from lower Manhattan, the city appears to get smaller

and less intimidating. The rumbling sound dials down and the

muffled sound of the Ferry’s huge diesel engines replace the city

viberations. There’s a very strange quite that envelops you as the

boat passes the Statue Of Liberty and Liberty Island. The smell of

the brackish water and the burning diesel mixes with cigarette

smoke. John and Roxanne slowly gravitate to the sounds of a

classical string trio playing on the other end of the Ferry.

This was a musical experience like no other. Even the best

performance in Carnage Hall would not be so intimate and all

consuming. Even if it had pen performed by the master himself Pablo Casal. It was a once in a lifetime wonder. The vibrations of

the strings across the horsehair bow resonates in the narrow of

your bones, through your skull into the fleshy brain matter buy

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passing your ear drums which are numb from the vibration of the

marine diesel engines that force the huge boat slowly through the

water which now appears to be more like black liquefied plastic

resin. John, This whole ride is a rerun of my life in still pictures.

Every picture is an expression of a moment in time when I was

hurt in some profound and lasting way, shaping my way of seeing

other people and things. I know because music and pictures are

my way of feeling things and finding my way around.

The trip back to Manhattan is as bazaar as the hallucinations thatinclude the transformation from man to beast with aquatic

attributes. I can feel the scales on my skin. A wet face. I turned to

my reflection in a window to a likeness unkind, uncaring and with

little resemblance. Had I transformed to one of the parishioners in

a boat of aquatic faith healers. All listening to a strings whispering

at the air. Can that be? My world has changed forever.

I’m feeling neither dead nor alive.

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Zombie Juice