“We can,” she says and opens it.
I scrape whatever is still on the dishes into the trash and hand them to her. She rinses them and puts them in the dishwasher.
“So, tell me about Saturday,” she says quietly. We wouldn’t want Dad to overhear what we’re about to talk about.
“Well, you know, we practiced our spells then we went to take the evil witch to task.”
“With those criminals helping you?”
I nod. “You already know that.”
“How’d that work out?”
I swallow hard, hesitating to answer for a second. “They were helpful.”
“And they’re headed for Canada now?”
I shake my head.
Her brow creases; she’s anxious. “Well, where are they?”
“Can’t we just focus on the fact that we were victorious and we’re safe now?”
“We’re not safe if they’re still out there.”
I whisper. “They’re no longer with us.”
Never mind her eyebrows, her whole forehead wrinkles as she scrutinizes the expression on my face for a moment before realizing I’m serious.
She talks just barely louder than a mutter. “You... took care of them?”
“No, no. The evil witch and her traps did.”
“Oh. Is anyone else no longer among the, you know...”
I really don’t want to tell her about Kat, but at the same time I guess it couldn’t hurt to have somebody else tell me it’s not my fault. “A friend who came to help us didn’t make it.”
Mom’s mouth drops wide open. “A friend? Who?”
“Her name was Kat.”
“You never mentioned her. Where did you know her from?”
I make sure I’m continuing to talk softly. “She worked at a magick shop.”
“I see. Where did you find a magick shop?”
“They’re all over Salem.”
“I thought the witch trials were in Salem?”
“They were.”
“So, how can they have witch stores there?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s because Salem is the last place anyone would ever be persecuted for witchcraft again.” That’s my theory anyway. I could be wrong.
“How well did you know this Kat?”
My jaw clenches for a second. “Not very well, but I guess we had some kind of connection.”
“I would think so. I’m sure she wouldn’t have shown up for just anyone.”
“Right,” I say and feel guilt-ridden again. Merde.
Mom puts the last dish in the washer and starts it. Then she dries her hands with a towel and rubs my shoulder. But I need a hug. So, I wrap my arms around her and hold her tightly for a minute – and she hugs me back – until it’s obvious that I’ve held on too long, making her uncomfortable, and I let go.
Mom puts her hands on my cheeks and looks me in the eyes. “She must have known she was walking into danger. And it’s not like you put a gun to her head and forced her to go with you.”
“Forced who to go where?” Dad asks, having just stepped into the kitchen.
Mom lowers her hands from my cheeks, glaring at me.
“Forced Lia to go to school,” I say, thinking quick.
“Why? She didn’t want to go?”
“No one ever wants to go to school, Dad. Keep that state secret to yourself.” I hurry past him and head for the stairs. I feel bad giving him the brush off, but if I stayed there I would’ve had to keep lying and I hate lying.
I hate lying except for lying on my bed, which I’m doing right now en fin, with Superbus playing on la stereo, I pick up my phone and call Jim.
“Hey,” he says answering with a smile.
“Hi,” I say. For a second I’m startled by the face I see. I was expecting Tim’s face. His old face. The one I fell in love with. His new face that we made is gorgeous, too. Love those Bowie eyes. I just forgot for a second there.
He looks perplexed by my startled expression. “How’d everything go?”
“It went,” I say. “As good as can be expected.”
“Was George angry with you?”
I yawn, being tired as I am. “Not really. He handled it better than I thought he would. He already had his suspicions so we just confirmed them. There’s a memorial for Kat Wednesday night. Can you come?”
He smirks at me. “Of course. You don’t even have to ask me something like that.”
“Merci.” My eyelids are getting so heavy.
“So, how’d it go at the hospital?”
“I only saw Priscilla because we were running out of time, but she’s hanging in there. Seemed really happy to see, Lia, Shar and I.”
“Cool. Next time, I’ll go with you. If you’d like.”
“Now who’s the one asking needless questions?” Sometimes I just have to tease him. Making each other laugh is one of the reasons we’re such a good fit.
He smirks, one side of his mouth rising above the other. “You got me there.”
Shit. I’m forgetting the main thing I want to know. “Oh, tell me how it went with Pete! Are you blood brothers now?”
“Not exactly.”
“You didn’t go through with it?”
“Kind of.”
I scratch my head. “I’m afraid you’re gonna have to elaborate on that.”
“Well, I remembered everyone’s reservations from yesterday and I started thinking I was too eager to offer up my power. Not that I mind giving some away. It wasn’t that. I just started to wondering how he’ll handle magick, you know?”
I nod. “So, what did you do?”
“I did a temporary binding spell with him, one that just gave him a small amount of my magick. It should wear off after a few days. So, if he’s a terror we can just let it lapse and he’ll be back to normal. Seemed like a good fail safe measure.”
I’m definitely impressed. “No, that’s wicked cool. You teach him anything?”
“I tried to get him to light a few candles, but instead he splashed them.”
“Splashed them?”
“Water came pouring out of the palms of his hands like faucets opened up.”
I bite my bottom lip. “And you’re sure you told him a candle lighting spell?”
“Of course. You think I’d confuse those two?”
“No, no. It’s just late and I’m tired. But that can’t be a good sign, if he’s going to do the opposite of what you tell him.”
“Well, at first he said he thought it’d be funny if water poured out of his hands, but then he really tried lighting the candles and splashed them instead.”
“How’d he make water in the first place when he’d never done magick before?” I’ve never even done that. Not that I’ve tried, but it’s still weird that Pete could accidentally do it.
“I don’t know. You think he’s trying to teach himself spells from online?”
“Dude, he’s a fucking hacker. I bet he’s got tons of spells he wants to try.”
He sighs. “Yeah, probably. But next time he better do what I’m teaching him or I’ll just let his magic wear off.”
I yawn again. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Want me to let you go? You seem like you need to get to bed.”
That’s the last thing I remember him saying. I dozed off for an hour at that point. Now, I’ve just gotten up, taken my meds, put my pajamas on and I’m heading back to bed for the night. Not even bothering to put one of my sleepy time playlists on because I know I’m going out as soon as my head hits the...
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LIA
Tuesday morning I wake up at six, which is half an hour earlier than I have to. I hate it when that happens. Because I can never get back to sleep when I know I have to be up within an hour. I’ve always been like this. (Something Emma and I have in common.) So, that’s one thing I can’t blame on the PTSD, although I’m sure it doesn’t help. Not with anything. Not one bit. And it is responsible for the nightmare I had la
st night when I first went to bed.
I dreamed I was in Jenna’s lair. Emma and Shar were the only ones with me. We were in one of the seemingly endless hallways. We were still walking on air to prevent us from stepping on one of the bitch’s many traps. We were talking telepathically, too. I don’t remember what about. All of a sudden, we fell to the ground. When we got up and tried to walk on air again it didn’t work. I tried flying and nothing happened. Emma tried to make electricity with her hands, but that didn’t work either. Meanwhile, Shar tried to talk to us telepathically and the words wouldn’t project. We were totally freaking out, powerless and afraid to even take a few steps. Then we heard Jenna speak. “You’re mine now, bitches. Mine, mine, mine. And now you’re completely powerless. But, don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you with my traps. My demons and henchmen aren’t going to hurt you either. So, you have a choice. Head back and brave the staircase you called “from hell” without magick or come find me and let me just put you out of your misery.”
As soon as she stopped talking, she let out this horrible cackle, like something you’d hear a wicked witch do in a movie. I woke up sweating and frightened. It just seemed so real. I hope it was just a nightmare, that Jenna isn’t still alive somehow. I don’t see how she could be. We turned her into dust and buried her under half a mountain.
I wondered if Emma and Shar had the same dream, but it was late so I figured I’d wait and ask them in the morning. Now I’ve just finished getting dressed. I’m wearing dark blue jeans by some brand or other and a t-shirt that says “GRRL” in small white print where your heart is. I picked it up for two bucks at Salvation Army one time Emma and her father dragged me there so they could look at the records. There’s a pencil eraser-sized hole near the bottom on the back of it, but I’ve washed it a half dozen times and it hasn’t gotten any bigger so I’m not worried about it. Not that I’d worry about a two dollar shirt anyway. What cracks me up is how Emma and her father have to take every album they like out of the sleeve to check it for scratches, dust and spill marks. Emma said you’d be surprised how often records have coffee spilled all over them. Coffee with milk and sugar. Emma and her dad’s record inspections amuse me because they’re so picky even though the records are only 50 cents on Saturdays and that’s the day they always go. I guess it would suck to get home and discover the records you just bought look like they’ve been through hell, but it’s still funny to watch as they scrutinize them. Emma is always telling me about how you have to look at the scratches because some of them are harmless surface marks and others will deliver you to skip, skip city.
“Your coffee is ready,” I hear my mother shout from the kitchen. Or kitchenette. Mom makes my coffee for me most mornings. With lots of cream and sugar. It’s funny because I drink espresso black, but with regular drip coffee I need my cream and sugar.
I head into the kitchen and mom points to the coffee mug on the table. It’s my Cookie Monster mug that she bought me five years ago. It’s pretty huge. It actually takes half the pot of coffee, but we have a smaller pot than most people. We only like to make so much at a time so it’s rich and fresh. We’re very picky about our coffee around here. I’ve been begging for an espresso machine, but mom said she’s saving until she can get us a serious machine like you’d see in a café. Apparently, they go for about ten grand.
I sit down at the snack bar and take a big gulp of my coffee because I’m tired and want to get it into me as fast as possible. Plus, we have to leave shortly so we can give Emma and Shar a ride to school. We didn’t used to drive Emma, but now that we’re going to Greenmont High she’s on the way. I’m glad we pick her up now because it’s nice for the three of us to be able to talk before school. If we have anything we don’t want my mother to hear we send it to each other telepathically. Don’t ask me how that works. I just think of who I want to connect with and mentally push the words I want to say to them.
“So, did you have a good night?” Mom asks. She’s all dressed and ready to go. I’m always the last one ready.
“Eh, until I woke up half an hour too early,” I say and yawn.
“If it’s any consolation, I was up at four.”
“Four? How come?” She usually doesn’t have trouble sleeping.
She shakes her head. “My mind was racing all over the place.”
“Can you be more specific?” Talk about vague-speak.
“I would prefer not to.”
“Alrighty, then.”
We pick up Shar first. (Comme toujours, as Emma would say. (Like always.)) She’s wearing white jeans and a gray blouse with Monarch butterflies on it. The orange and black combination reminds me of January when she’s a fairy, although January’s wings are patterned like a ladybug’s.
“Oh my Goddess, I have good news,” Shar says as she gets in the back with me and shuts the door.
“What?” I ask. It’s nice to see her cheerful this morning.
“I hypnotized Arja!”
“You hypnotized your sister?” Juliana asks and raises an eyebrow as she glances at us in the rearview mirror.
“I did! Seriously! She doesn’t remember that I’m a witch. I totally made her forget!” She can barely sit still.
“That’s awesome,” I say. “What about the seizure? Did you make her forget that?”
“No. She’d already told my parents. They’re going to make me see Emma’s neurologist, which sucks. But I know it was tied to the premonition so I’m not worried about it.”
“Good,” I say and lick her cheek to be funny.
“Stop it,” she says, trying to tickle me. Which is ridiculous because I don’t tickle easily.
“Seatbelt,” my mother says to Shar. I was starting to wonder why she wasn’t driving. But Shar does as asked and we head off in Emma’s direction.
“Hey, did you have a nightmare last night?” I ask Shar.
“Why? Did you?” Her mood shifts from jazzed up to nervous.
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Me, too. What was yours about?”
I swallow hard. “We were in Jenna’s lair and our magick went away.”
Shar speaks slowly, afraid to say it. “She said we could go back down the stairs or go let her kill us.”
My shoulders jerk and I shiver for a second or two. “Shit. Yeah. I wonder what it means?”
“Probably nothing,” my mother says.
“Yeah, probably,” I say. “Though it’s fucking weird that we both had it.”
“Totally,” Shar says. Then she leans over and kisses me on the lips. And our mouths open and we swap tongues.
We’re still kissing twenty seconds later when my mother coughs loudly just before we stop. Mostly, so we don’t bite each other’s tongues. But also because we annoy her when we make out. Mind you, I try not to make out in front of my mother. Because it’s weird. But sometimes you have to make an exception. Kissing is just a hormonal need.
We’re at Emma’s seven minutes later and she comes outside before we can even beep, hurrying to the car with her backpack. We all have backpacks today. I used to hate lugging mine around, but since we received Jenna’s magick it feels so much lighter. I just feel stronger in general. We all do.
“Hey sister,” I say as she gets in the front. That’s how it’s been forever, Emma in the front with mom and Shar in the back with me.
“Hey,” she says, buckling her seatbelt. “Did you guys get a text from Pete?”
“I think so,” I say. “I didn’t look at it yet. Why, what’s up?”
Emma turns so she can look at us in back. “Oh, he just texted us what our allergies are. Besides nuts. He kind of had some fun with it.” She doesn’t sound pleased.
“Why? What did he do?” Shar asks.
“Look at the texts.”
It isn’t easy, but I manage to maneuver my phone from inside the front pocket of my jeans.
Shar sees the text before me. “You won’t believe this.”
I look at the text. It says that Emma is als
o allergic to penicillin, talc, Dollasapin, Prozac and Vagisil. Vagisil, of all the things you could be allergic to. Women’s yeast infection cream! I guess he really did have fun with this.
“I’m going to kill him,” Emma says.
I look at what he gave Shar: gluten, naproxen, Dollasapin, quartz, lithium, cats
“People are going to think I’m a complete head case,” Shar says.
I look at mine: bleached flour, pavement, valerian, kava, Dollasapin, chamomile, Paxil, PVC, latex, coffee. My Goddess, I practically shriek. “One, how can anyone be allergic to pavement and coffee? Me? Allergic to coffee? What the fuck?”
“He really went overboard,” Emma says.
“You think?” Shar frowns.
“And these are on our school records now?” I already know they are, but for some reason I ask anyway.
Emma faces us again and nods. “Yup. Sucks, doesn’t it?”
I shake my head. “What if someone sees this? We’ll be the fucking laughingstock.”
“Yeah, we’re screwed if this gets out,” Shar says. “I’m so pissed at Pete. Jim gives him magick and he turns around and repays us with this?”
I look at what he gave Jim: dogs, yarn, nylon, turtles, cinnamon, nutmeg. “He didn’t give Jim anything incriminating.”
Shar lets out a big sigh. “Guess you have to give him magick to stay on his good side.”
Emma’s face suddenly lights up. “See what he gave January?”
I look: pamparin, midol, bleached feminine hygiene products, ladybugs, diamonds. “Who the fuck is gonna believe this? Seriously, if that bitch from the cafeteria reads this shit she’s gonna think it’s a hoax, that we’re taking the piss out on her.”
“See what he gave himself,” Shar says.
I look: chloroseptic lozenges, novocaine and other -caine drugs, green tea, rabbits, sheepskin condoms. “Condoms! At least he’s giving it to himself, too.”
Shar presses her index finger against her lips, her hand held like a gun. “I hope he’s not going bareback with January.”
In Memoriam Page 13