This weekend I helped out a distressed friend and ending up loaning her $60 so she could participate in some central American voodoo. She promised to Venmo me the money back but I know I'm never seeing it again.
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So an ex coworker/friend of mine contacted me on Saturday. Her boyfriend (who I have never met but supposedly hit her once before), had apparently kicked her out. I, being a decentish human with a spare bedroom, offered to pick her up and let her crash if needed. She tells me she is at a bar in K-Town (about 8 miles away). So I drive in mid Saturday traffic to said bar and she is not there. The bartender tells me she just left with another friend whose name they can't recall and who I don't recognize. I take my L and walk back to my car, content that at least my heart was in the right place and I can go home and go about my day.
I get a couple of miles away when my friend calls, crying. She tells me she's going to text me an address and asks if I'll be there. I say yes, because I am dumb or something. I drive to this place, and when I get there I see her boyfriend (I've seen pictures of him) in the lobby with another person I don't know, so I play it cool and wait outside, letting my friend know I'm there. The other person I don't know comes back outside a moment later letting me know she's the one who picked my friend up earlier and we are now at her home, which is a studio apartment. The couple are having a fight inside, so I opt to wait outside, wondering if I should just leave.
After a few minutes my friend comes out and sits next to me, clearly very emotional. We talk for a few moments and then she gets up and tells me to follow her and that she has to show me something. We go up a flight of stairs, she shows me the door to her old apartment, and then she goes out the window to the fire escape and tells me to follow. We go up 3 flights of fire escape to the roof, and now I'm a tiny bit worried. She talks a lot about how she used to live her and how amazing the view is, then oscillates back to self loathing and how she isn't good enough for her boyfriend. Eventually she is standing on the edge of this building and telling me about how she used to think about jumping.
Now I'm scared, I did not sign up to witness a suicide. So I climb onto the ledge with her, standing on the outside, following her around this building. Making sure I stay close enough to keep her from jumping or falling (did I mention she was fucking drunk?). After 3/4 of a trip around the building she catches sight of a building across the street an idea hits her. She goes back onto the roof of the building and starts saying some seriously manic shit. I *thought* she said something about cleaner and I get scared that she's going to go across the street and try getting something else to offer herself.
We go back downstairs so she can get her wallet, her friend berates me for letting her disappear (like I had a fucking choice in the matter), and next thing I know we are outside. Also, her boyfriend just sort of sits there like a moron and witnesses all this without saying shit. Outside we find a friend of her boyfriend's in her boyfriend's car talking to a strange woman (probably a prostitute who was harassing him). My friend gets into the driver seat and starts freaking out about everything. Somehow the situation is resolved with her kicking the friend out of the car, rolling the windows up, telling the prostitute to get lost, and her not driving anywhere.
After this we proceed to jaywalk across a busy street to what I had incorrectly assumed was a mini mart. My next thought was that maybe this was a place to get drugs and she wanted to get high or something. This also turned out to be wrong. Inside was a place that sold: candles and incense. A prolonged discussion ensued between my friend and the proprietor, all in Spanish of course aside from when I was asked if I spoke Spanish, the end of which had my friend and I leave the place and head to a nearby Mini Mart. On our way there, my friend tells me that we are going to experience some Central American voodoo and asks if I'm okay with it. At this point I realize I'm along for the ride so I just say yes and ask if there's anything I need to be aware of. We get cash, she tells me to get $50 but of course the the machine only gives out 20s so I give her $60 and get no change in return. We go back to the candle store.
My friend hands over $100, and an agreement is reached. Some more questions are asked and then she is directed to the back of the building. I follow along, because I have no idea what else to do and no one tells me no. I see the old guy who runs the place grab 3 bottles of rubbing alcohol and I start getting concerned again. The back of the store has a little area with a chair that opens up to an outdoor patio area. I feel a bit uncomfortable going all the way out, so I sit in the chair where I can kinda of see what is going on. Also I text the friend whose place we are near to let her know we are not getting Tacos (because that is what she thought we were doing) and that there was now fire happening.
And here is where the "magic" happens. They made my friend stand in a circle of fire, fueled by rubbing alcohol. After doing it 3 times they sprayed her with something, said some more stuff, rubbed some raw eggs on her, then smacked her with a tree branch until all the leaves were off. Afterwards we walked back to the front, there was more discussion and then they gave my friend a candle and said some more stuff.
Now we proceed to go back outside and my friend is beaming, and happy and talking about how she is just like Daenerys Targaryen etc. We go back to the other friend's studio apartment which is now super cramped with her boyfriend, my friend's boyfriend, his friend and two cats. Everybody seems to be in a largely better mood, although nothing was resolved. I decide this is a good time to GTFO, so I check in and make sure its cool, then say my good byes and go on my merry way.
About 15 minutes later when I stop at the grocery store on my way home, I see that my friend posted more dramatic shit on FB. I ignore it and go out drinking. Her drama thread is gone from FB in the morning. On Monday she's posting normal shit again like nothing ever happened.
This isn't the first time I've seen her super emotionally sloppy, but I dunno if I can handle helping her out again.
