Voudou Juice: Origins: Cody's Story

By Joseph Federico

Cody Shrine, III is forced to come to terms with who he really is deep inside. On one hand, he must choose to accept his humdrum life with his homophobic parents or take the unexpected plunge into a life of booze, partying and mere darkness in a place and time long gone. Powerful Voodoo deities and decrepit evil forces aim to destroy what's been done and what's to come for a cast of unsavory characters. Voudou Juice - Origins: Cody's Story is the perfect spooky read for those looking to take a bite out of the horror genre.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joseph Federico
• Release date: Oct 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005966959

Joseph Federico

Having written for and gotten featured in publications such as Steppin’ Out magazine, XY magazine and Canadian publication, Darpan magazine, the written word comes from my soul. It’s the essence of my humble beginnings.With over 12 years of combined experience in publishing, editing, digital marketing and historic preservation, I aim to share my expertise with you and assure you that you’re on the correct creative path you were always meant to be.I hold a BA in Literature from The Ramapo College of New Jersey. And I’ve held top positions at some of the world’s most well-known companies, even Fortune 500 companies, such as Verizon.In 2011, I co-authored IMAGES OF AMERICA: GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP by Arcadia Publishing; it was released in March of that year and sold-out its first day on Amazon. The book may be found on the Arcadia Publishing website, Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Paperback and digital copies are available for purchase.In April 2017, I self-published VOUDOU JUICE. Paperback copies are currently being sold privately through me and will be available through my website, JosephAFederico.com, soon. I am currently working VOUDOU JUICE: ORIGINS, CODY'S STORY, which takes places in New Orleans during the roaring twenties. That is set to launch later this year.

Book preview

Voudou juice – ORIGINS: cODY’S sTORY

Book II of

The Voudou Juice Series

Joseph A. Federico

ANCHORS PUBLISHING – New Jersey

ANCHORS PUBLISHING

A Division of Anchors To Dusk Publishing, LLC

13 Samuel Street

East Hanover, New Jersey 07936

First printing, August 2022

This novella is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is extremely coincidental.

Copyright © 2022 by Joseph Achille Federico

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Acknowledgements

This book is dedicated to, first and foremost, my undying love and unique curiosity for the city of New Orleans. The times I have spent walking its streets, studying its history and enveloping myself in the macabre are beyond compare. I am forever grateful for what the historic city has taught me.

To the people of New Orleans – from Sandi Smith to Mambo Brandi – thank you for undying support.

To members of the LGBTQIA+ community, may this book inspire you to come out of your shell and evolve into the individual you were always meant to be.

To my dear friends who have encouraged me along the way for the past five years, for without you, this book would not have magically come to fruition:

-Melinda Norris, my best friend, my muse, my manager – Thank you for introducing me to the Crescent City so many years ago and being a good old sport for supporting my wildest and perverse dreams.

-Caryn Bulmer, my dearest and oldest friend – Thank you for celebrating Mardi Gras with me many moons ago and planting the undying seed of curiosity and imagination.

-To my Sparrow – Thank you for encouraging me to complete this project and for believing in me only as a new friend can, one who has seen the real me for the first time with a fresh pair of eyes without judgement.

-To Matthew McHenry – Thank you for allowing me the freedom to create vigorously in our home; that is true love.

Voudou Juice – Origins: Cody’s Story

Introduction

I often get asked, "Why do you always go back to New Orleans on vacation? Haven’t you already seen and done everything?" To which I respond, with a subtle smirk, Hell no!

My love for New Orleans started with a girl’s trip with a friend. We had just graduated college and were working big girl jobs; we decided to go on a mini holiday vacation to NOLA and do the typical mid-20s thing: Go on a couple tours during the day and get shit face drunk on Bourbon Street at night. We did such a good job of the latter (If you were on a swamp tour with a pair of girls that were extremely hungover, and one of the girls threw up in a bucket on the pontoon boat in a dirty broom closet, chances are that was me. Sorry!), that we needed to plan another trip a couple years after to get out of the French Quarter and SEE and EXPERIENCE New Orleans and all it truly had to offer. It was the second trip that I accredit with the beginning of my love affair for the Big Easy.

It was on that second trip my cousin and I chose the month of May to visit. What were we thinking? The humid south in the summer was a bit much to handle. At least then I understood the real reason some people flashed their titties on Bourbon Street. It wasn’t for the free beads; that’s just a bonus. No, it’s to cool down the mountain dew on the bosoms from the heat and humidity.

There is nothing like shade-hopping from tomb to tomb when exploring Saint Louis Cemetery No 1. The second visit also included a day trip to a plantation to experience the countryside. We also took the streetcar to the Garden District and stalked some celebrity houses, because, why not? I learned several things on my return trip, which include but are not limited to:

Lord Jesus, do NOT come in the summer unless you wear a bathing suit all day long and…

That with all our exploring during said trip, we had just scratched the surface…

There were more questions being raised than answered around every corner; for instance: A. How is the Creole plantation different from the others on Louisiana’s River Road?

B. What is the real history of Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau? I wanted to see and experience more of New Orleans’ deep-rooted culture...things you couldn’t experience on a standard tour. I was going to have to travel to places the locals haunted and needed to dig a little deeper. I needed to find a travel buddy that was willing to take the adventure with me.

Enter Mr. Joseph A. Federico.

I had known Joe for several years. He had been dating my best friend from college, and we had all spent an abundant amount of time together since 2006…going to parties, watching movies, going on local adventures… Through our years of getting to know each other better, I came to realize that he had a love for NOLA from afar. One day in 2014, it was decided that we – he and I – were going to take our love on the road and visit the Crescent City.

His boyfriend had planned on going on a family vacation, and Joe was like, Well, I think I’m going to New Orleans with Melinda. The decision was that easy. So it was said and so it happened. Similarly, to many things, when it comes to the two of us, once we set our minds to it, shit happens. Flights and hotel were settled, and the trip was on the books!

Seeing that we live in different states, we flew separately and met at the baggage claim at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. We each got a beer straight off at a duty-free shop and chugged it before even hailing a cab. See, Joe and I don’t travel well; we’re Anxious Aries Sisters. That post-flight beer was a nerve-calmer and took the edge off…and frankly, has remained a tradition that we still do every time we go back to our beloved NOLA.

After dropping off our luggage, it was then time to show Joe the city; our first stop was Bourbon Street. I will never forget the look on Joe’s face when he turned the corner and was hit with the intoxicating sounds of sweet jazz music, smell of stale liquor and aromatic human piss and vomit that covered the uneven streets. The crowds of people (most of whom were already piss drunk and stumbling around) emanated furious energy and the yells of the bouncers at the strip bars trying to get us to come spend hard earned coin in their establishments echoed off ancient structures.

A part of me was expecting it to be overwhelming and for him to have a look of shock painted on his face, or at least experience a bout of anxious fear…but instead, he had a look of pure joy, like his wildest and perverted dreams were coming true in front of his eyes. I could not help but re-experience the city that weekend through him.

We went to get the stereotypically over-priced and overly sugary first day drinks on Bourbon (i.e. hand grenades and hurricanes), and emersed ourselves in the allure of the nightlife of the city. From the start of that first trip together, I knew that I had found my travel soulmate. We both wanted to learn about history and the how and why of things we were being spoon-fed on the dime-a-dozen tours.

So, after seeing Marie Laveau’s tomb one afternoon, visiting her humble home – which now is the location of Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo – we bought books to take home with us to study and educate ourselves on some of the most fascinating and dark history America has witnessed.

After taking a long bus trip another afternoon to experience an infuriating, white-washed version of the story at Oak Alley Plantation, we vowed to frequent places that didn’t try to cover up what really happened in all our future endeavors. That included Laura Plantation, which does not gloss over the fact that slaves ran the land and that their lives were not easy whatsoever.

With each day trip and mini adventure, we