Mojo Smith & Grandma Crow
Synopsis
EPISODE ONE
The story opens with Mojo Smith standing naked in a plane of infinite white. A red globe hangs above Mojo, speaking with an electronic voice. The orb, it claims, is the Machine that runs the universe. With the passing of the aeons, the orb has forgotten that it is a machine and now believes itself to be God. When Mojo says he thought that God would be a creature of thought and feeling the Orb informs him that he was mistaken. Mojo wakes from his nightmare with a start. Concerned, Grandma Crow looks in on him and asks if he is well. Mojo replies that he was just dreaming of the white man's god again.
Mojo gets up and makes his rounds, collecting the monthly dues from residents and shop owners. In one instance, a storeowner pays his dues to Mojo in full view of a police officer. The officer, correctly assuming that it is protection money, threatens to arrest Mojo. He backs down, however, when the storeowner insists the money is to guarantee that his Grandma Crow bless the establishment.
Mojo goes home afterwards and interacts with Grandma Crow. It becomes apparent that he defers to her in most respects. She reminds Mojo that it is time to pay their dues to the local boss.
Like all people who control territory, Mojo Smith and Grandma Crow must answer to someone. In this case they answer to Don Orsini, the local mob boss. Mojo's relationship to the Don is professional, if not warm. The Don appreciates that Mojo is always on time with his dues, and has come to rely on him when he has a problem that, for one reason or another, his own boys cannot handle. After the somewhat ritualistic exchange Orsini tells Mojo he would like him to meet a friend of the family. The friend in question is the Archbishop Boccaccio. For reasons he would not tell the Don, Boccaccio wishes to meet with Mojo. Not sure how his grandmother would feel about him meeting with a representative of the Church that had suppressed her people for centuries, Mojo tells Orsini that he will have to let him know. The Don protests, chastising Mojo for not showing more respect, but lets him leave after calling him a savage.
Back at home, Grandma Crow insists that Mojo meet with Boccaccio. While Voodoo may be ancient, the Church is nearly as old and the two share many secrets, she tells him. With her blessing Mojo calls Orsini and arranges a meeting with the Archbishop.
The Archbishop and Mojo Smith meet. The Archbishop tells Mojo of a poor Caribbean nation that is ruled with an iron fist by a dictator known as Papa Guinea. Papa Guinea has ruled the island for decades. When Mojo asks why he should care, Boccaccio tells him that the dictator's extraordinary longevity is due to his possession of the bones of a saint. The bones are a powerful talisman. The Archbishop offers to pay Mojo a large sum of money if he retrieves these bones. At first, Mojo is reluctant, but then Boccaccio throws in a bonus; if he succeeds, Mojo will also be rewarded with one of the bones. Such an item would extend his grandmother's life indefinitely. Mojo agrees, but asks the Archbishop why his own people could not take care of it. Boccaccio replies that the Pope has forbidden all operations in excommunicated areas.
EPISODE TWO
With tickets provided by the Archbishop, Mojo flies to the island nation as a tourist. Not knowing what else to do, he takes the local tour. The tour consists mainly of local landmarks, but along the way Mojo also sees the impoverished populace of the island. The only citizens of the island that seem to be well fed are the soldiers.
The tour also includes a visit to Papa Guinea's palace. To Mojo's amazement, the dictator actually has the bones on display. The fossils are under glass and marked as one of Papa Doc's ancestors, but somehow Mojo knows that these are the bones that he has come to steal.
That night Mojo sneaks into the dictator's palace. A guard stands vigilant over the bones of the saint. Mojo quietly dispatches the soldier. As the guard's blood spills upon the ground, a gray blue energy emerges from the bones, filling the room.
EPISODE THREE
After the light fills the room, Mojo finds himself upon the plane of infinite white. Floating above him, in place of the Machine, is a gray blue form. The form is in the shape of the Ogou's symbol (I can provide a sketch of the symbol). The symbol speaks, asking who has summoned it with the spilling of blood.
Mojo answers, identifying himself to the loa. The loa announces itself as Baron Tonnerre, Ogou, loa of thunder, and asks why it has been summoned. Mojo explains why he has come, telling the Baron that he believed these bones to have belonged to a saint. Baron Tonnerre replies that it is true; he has resided in these bones for many years, but asks why he should allow Mojo to take him. The two discuss why Papa Guinea is no longer a suitable beneficiary.
After the two establish that Papa Guinea is not a warrior, merely a killer of men, Baron Tonnerre agrees to leave with Mojo. Baron Tonnerre then informs Mojo that other soldiers are coming. As the guards rush into the chamber, the Baron possesses Mojo, infusing him with the spirit of the warrior loa by entering his body at the nape of his neck. Mojo, no longer himself, rampages through the palace, killing all that dare cross him.
Eventually, Mojo crosses the path of Papa Guinea. He speaks in a voice that is not his own, warning the dictator that his patron has left him and his time upon this earth is now short.
Mojo wakes from his possession in an alley, completely exhausted. The island nation is now in open revolt. Riots and fires have broken out everywhere. Not sure what has happened, Mojo makes his way to the American embassy and arranges passage back to Detroit.
In Detroit, Mojo informs a very angry Boccaccio that the bones were destroyed in the riots before he could steal them. Naturally, he is not paid for the attempt.
At home, Grandma Crow knows what has happened the moment she looks at Mojo. She is ecstatic, explaining to him that the Baron possessed him, making him a cheval. The experience has freed his gros-bon-ange, the portion of the soul, which according to voodoo belief, is connected to the vast pool of cosmic energy. Now that this has happened Grandma Crow can begin training him to become her successor. She promises that he will become a great houngan, or voodoo priest. Mojo, having seen with his own eyes the power of voodoo, readily agrees to begin the training.
This ends the first story arc.
