A fiction noir novella, story two of a trilogy entitled "316 East Boulevard" The Civil War had just begun. Young plantation slave Ahracee had a dream that one day he would be able to put down his hoe and shovel and do something more with his life. Ahracee thought to himself that watching, learning, picking up skills beyond the job he was assigned, and making himself more valuable as a human being, were the keys to success. Ahracee's young girlfriend Sheika supposed that one day she would convince Ahracee to marry her. But life sometimes takes strange turns. Enter Beulah, and her black magic. The first novella in the trilogy "316 East Boulevard" is titled "There Were Several Ladies Present". "Beulah's Curse" is the prequel to that story.