I lived with a family that knew what I was. They died in a plane crash about ten years ago. I had pushed such things far back into my mind because those things were much too hard to deal with and now Balthazar is gone, and so is Ali.
Ali never warmed to me, but I don’t blame him for it. Our relationship or family situation was a complicated one. Ali basically saved my mother’s life when he married her. The entire kingdom didn’t much care for the fact that my mother had bedded a human. And to make matters worse. She loved him. That human was my father.
I sit down at my tiny kitchen table. I push aside coupons and other sales papers I’ve pulled from the mail. I hate getting this sort of stuff.
I always tell myself that I’ll maybe use the coupons some day, but they all usually end up in the trash because I hardly ever have the chance to eat anywhere else besides the small non-chain restaurants around the precinct.
My dad slides a plate of eggs to me. “Toast?”
The smell of the eggs travels up my nose and my nostrils flare. “No thanks. I doubt I’ll get very far with these eggs.”
My father sits down across from me. “Chére, I think it’s time you learn the arts.”
“What?”
“It’s time I teach you what I know.”
“Oh no, not me. I’m not a voodoo practicing type.”
“It’s in your blood, Chére. You won’t be able to run from it forever. Your friend told me what happened with you and the bureau. You think you’ll try to go back to the bureau now that Balthazar is gone? If not, there’s always a place for you in New Orleans.”
I slide a warm bit of eggs into my mouth and gulp them down before I think about the fact that I’m eating them. I don’t think I even chewed them all the way before their down the hatch.
“The bureau’s done for me,” I say. “I mean I did have a fight with my boss in the precinct parking lot. I don’t think there’s any coming back from that.”
“Too bad she’s a vampire. We could have worked a spell to make her forget about thing.”
Such spells don’t work on vampires.
“Even if that worked,” I say. “There were a bunch of witnesses. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone has a video of our fight saved on their cellphone. It’ll probably end up on Vidtube.”
“So what now? You and Wolfie going into business together then?”
“Yeah, I guess. I’m not so concerned about starting a business, though. I’m not sure if that’s really my schtick.”
“I can loan you some bones is you need it, baby,” my dad says. The earnest look in my dad’s eyes tells me that he doesn’t begrudge me a loan, but I won’t take money from him.
I’m an adult. I’ve done pretty okay taking care of myself up and until now. “That’s sweet, dad,” I say. “But I need to figure stuff out on my own.”
My dad shakes his head. “There’s someone I want you to meet. A friend of mine. I think it’s time.”
“Maybe some other time, dad. I’m beat right now. All my focus is going towards who killed Balthazar. I actually need to try to get some rest now. I’ve got a real big day tomorrow.”
“Well, if you change your mind let me know.” My dad gets up from the table.
I glance up at him.“Where ya going?”
“To a hotel.”
“No, why? You can stay here.”
“No, Chére. I feel you. I see what’s going on inside.” My dad taps his chest. “Call me when you need me, if you me. But remember what I said about the lessons. You will need them some day. Things will happen to you if you don’t use all that’s available to you. And sometimes folks don’t know what’s available to them until they look out.”
“Let me at least take you a hotel if you really must go.”
My dad hold up his cellphone. “No, I’m not too good to call a Wayo. I have some work to do, besides. I’ll been using Wayo a lot. Hell, I like it.”
I get up from the table. I’m not about to watch my father leave my house like this, sitting at the table over a plate of eggs he cooked for me. The least I could do is walk him to the door. I hope I’ll be able to catch up with him soon.
My heads mush right now. Everything isn’t crystal clear right now, and my dad’s warning about power and resources frightens me.
For years my father has been on me about doing an apprenticeship with him, to learn the magic he knows, but I always say no, time and time again. Before, I used school and work as my primary excuse, when the truth was I just didn’t want to be that far away from my mother and Balthazar—even though he hated my guts.
I walk my dad outside the gates. We stand together for a while, looking up at the stars, listening to sounds of my neighbors, the crickets making their song in the night.
A car pulls up alongside the curb. At first I’m wary, then I realize that it’s just my father’s Wayo.
My father and I hug. I wave, and he climbs inside of his Wayo. He goes off into the night. The feather in his cap glowing unnaturally in the dark of the back of the car.
I scurry back inside my apartment. I shut the door. It has been one long twenty-four hours. I wonder if the rest of days will be so long. Who knows how long it’s going to take to find out who killed April Villa and my brother, but I won’t stop looking until I find what I’m looking for.
I head to the back end of my apartment where my bedroom is. I pull the floral blanket and sheets back on my bed and climb in. My cellphone buzzes on my nightstand just as I close my eyes.
I sigh, but I lean over, grab my cell, and read the text anyway. It’s from Casey. She’s on her way over.
I text her back to come on in if she wants, but I’m already in bed. She texts back that she’s still coming so ought not try to stop her. I want to tell her what happened to Balthazar but that’s not the sort of thing you say over the phone.
I put my head back down on my pillow. I close my eyes.The sirens have it a bit easier. They can at least walk around on land and live with the landers and not be shunned by them at least not completely. Surfacers rarely allow sirens to do “upper echelon” jobs.
Mermaids don’t even have it like that, but it’s because for as long as the two lands have know of each other’s existence, they’ve completely looked down on each other. My mother has always been for healthy relations, and that’s what makes her such a pariah in the House of Mermaids far and wide. Balthazar was different I guess. In our regional House of mermaids he was a god. In others, a friend and a legend. He might have been so good for such a lofty job of helping to end all of the nonsense. But somebody took him out.
I punch my pill. I wish someone would come mess with me now. I’m tired, broken-hearted, and pissed off. I’ll fight anyone to the death tonight.
Chapter Fourteen
I never get that chance to fight anybody. Instead I open my eyes to a bright sunny morning. Looks like I made it through the night. I pull myself up out of bed and go pee.
My eyes are puffy underneath the lids, my hair’s a mess which never happens, and I’m missing an earring. I shake my head. Oh well.
I pad into the kitchen, flick on my coffee machine, and I nearly scream when I notice Casey sitting on the couch. And guess who’s by her side? North Villa. He smiles at me and waves.
“Shit!” I say, trying to shield my crotch with my hands. I’m still in only my underwear.
“It’s okay, I did see you in your bikini,” North says as I run back to my room.
I shove my legs into a pair of skinny jeans so frantically that I almost fall over and bust my face. Perspiration isn’t far behind. I brush my disheveled hair out of my face.
I stomp back towards the living room. Then midway I turn back. I don’t believe this. Do I have to leave my own house to get away from North Villa? I mean what is this dude, a stalker? No he’s not, I tell myself. It’s obvious he cares a lot about his sister and he just wants to find her killer. Or maybe he is stalking me, over finding his sister.
I think I should go back t
o bed, I’m not thinking straight. Am I. I can’t afford to go back to bed. I have a lot of stuff to do today.
I head back into the living room. I sit down on the couch. Casey’s rubbing the sleep out of her eyes when she notices me. She always wakes up so slow. I’m guessing North woke her up when showed up at the door at butt crack dawn. I must have been dead to the world because I didn’t even hear the doorbell ring.
Casey’s on me. She has her arms around me. “I’m so sorry about your brother,” she says. Her orange hair tickles my nose.
I shake Casey’s hair off of my face. “Thanks,” I say.
“Why didn’t you call me and tell me about Balthazar?”
“I had one hell of an evening. Didn’t get the chance.”
“I bet,” Casey says. “North here told me.”
“Thanks, North,” I say with a smirk. “So to what pleasure do I owe this early morning call?”
“I wanted to check on you, make you sure that you’re okay.”
I tilt my head to the side and deadpan, “I’m great.”
“Of course you’re not. Listen, I was thinking maybe I could hire someone else to help me find out who killed my sister. You’ve had one hell of a time over the last twenty four hours.”
“Are you firing me?”
“No, no,” North says.
I size him up and wonder if he always looks this fresh in the morning. Is that a movie star thing or something else? Does he sleep in a special suit or bathe in purified water? Maybe he’s a modern day Dorian Gray or he sold his soul.
“I can handle it, if it that’s what you’re worried about,” I say, snapping myself out of pondering on the nature of North’s good looks. “Besides, I need to find out who killed your sister because I believe my brother’s death totally connected to it. I need to provide some closure for my mother because I know the bureau isn’t going to do. But word to the wise, I suggest that your father has another medical examiner take a look at your sister’s body for starters. Speaking of which,” I say, jumping off the sofa. “I’ll be right back.”
I run back to my bedroom and grab my cellphone. I forgot to call the medical examiner lady back like I wanted to check on the status of my brother’s autopsy.
I check the back pocket of my jeans where I stuffed her business card. The card’s still there. I pull it out and dial her number.
She answers. “This is Stone.”
“Doctor Stone, it’s Willow Dubois. Calling about my brother Balthazar.”
“Can you hold a minute,” Dr. Stone says.
I could hold, but do I want to? “Sure, I’ll hold,” I say.
The line goes silent. Man, the sun really is laughing at me. It shines brightly through the windows while my life is dark, dark, dark. I chew on my lip, which is such a terrible bad habit. I stop when I taste blood.
“Miss Dubois!”
“Yes, it’s me. I’m here,” I say. I almost drop the goddamned cellphone. Woman scared the shit out of me.
“Can we meet somewhere?”
“Sure,” I say. I guess Dr. Stone has something to tell me but she can’t talk about it at work. I get it. Seems like everyone has to do their job outside of the office these days.
“Meet me at the same coffee shop in a couple of hours? I have a little more work to do before I’m able to disappear.”
“Sure,” I say. I end the call and head back to the living room.
Casey perks up. “North was just telling me more about his golem ex-girlfriend.”
“Right,” I say, snapping my fingers. “I know someone. I need to go see them about the golem ex-girlfriend. Or call.”
Rabbi Spellman doesn’t pick up the phone. I’ll have to check in with her later.
I call Wolfie next. “Hey, Wolfie, you think you can grab me the coroner’s report on April?”
“And good morning to you too, Sunshine. Putting the pedal to the metal early in the morning, eh?”
“Girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. How’s it hanging?”
“My dick or my life?”
“Let’s stick to your life, Wolfie. Only that. Nothing more.”
“Right. Well, my life’s a mess. I quit my job to start a business with someone who I know has aspirations to save the whole fucking world but could care less about starting a small business.”
I scrunch up my face. “What? I don’t. I’m sorry. But I’ll work. Wolfie I promise. It’s just that I’m no entrepreneur.”
“Sure you aren’t. What else is on the agenda for today, besides saving the world, Willow?”
“I’m heading out soon to go meet the Medical Examiner who’s studying my brother’s body, looking for clues to see what killed him. She said it was definitely magic. Her magic stick told her so. I remember Chief Stinkula said that April Villa was killed by magic too. I want to know what exactly happened to her physiologically so that I can compare that to what happened to my brother. Hence why I need the coroners report which we can’t get because we both quit our jobs yesterday.”
“Roger that. I had a good time quitting yesterday. Chief Goldman nearly pooped her pants over me leaving. She told me I’ll be able to get a job at the bureau again. I told her I hope that’s true. Because I do. I only took the job at the bureau because it was offered me and I wanted to make my mother happy. She was worried that I’d get into the clan gangs. How’d thinks go with your dad last night.”
North laughs. Casey cackles. There voices carry quite loudly.
“Thing’s went fine with my dad. He said something about wanting to introduce me to someone and needing to show me the arts. But I told him, ain’t nobody got time for that.”
“You ought to hear your dad out on the arts thing. Any skill will make you a better investigator. Magic skills especially. Hey, who’s that in the background over there at your place? Doesn’t sound like your dad. Sounds like North and Casey.”
“It is North and Casey.”
Wolfie growls. “He’s over there again. Doesn’t that guy have a life?”
“Apparently not, well, at least not beyond finding out who killed his sister. I think that’s why he’s following me around.”
“I fucking doubt that,” Wolfie murmurs. “He wants your bod. I think you should stay away from him. He smells funny to me.”
“What do you mean he smells funny? I think he smells nice.”
“Wolfer nose.”
“So we’ll meet later?”
“Yeah, I’ll text you the address to the office downtown.”
“Office downtown? What sort of place of business scout are you? Downtown isn’t close to the beach Wolfie. You know I need to be close to the beach.” Speaking of the beach, I find my H3 and I take a dose.
“Hey, it’s the best I can do,” Wolfie argues. “I think I know how to fix that problem though. Give me a little bit of time to work it out.”
“Unless you can relocate the beach to downtown, I don’t know how you think you’re going to fix my problem.”
“Let me handle it woman.”
I shrug. “Later, cuz.”
“Later,” Wolfie says.
“That guy is hopelessly in love with you,” North says as soon as I shove the phone into my back pocket. “Wolfie, right?”
I frown and shake my head. “Yeah, how’d you know? You’re not a wolf man. You don’t have super hearing. Look, Wolfie’s my best pal work pal is all, you know. He’s my brother. He’s got my back.” Saying the word brother makes my heart fall into the pit of my stomach.
“So I asked North if he knew anybody at the university who I should start with as far as April’s friends go,” Casey says. “He says he doesn’t have any ideas.”
The doorbell rings. North and I both look at Casey. Our eyes lock on each other and we laugh because it’s obvious that we’re both thinking the same things. That we want Casey to get the door.
“Fine, I’ll get it,” Casey says. “Why do I always get stuck doing the service jobs.” I know she’s kidding. Casey’s a
nosy. She likes being the first to see who’s at the door. She’s always been like that. Ever sense I met her.
North and I are making nervous googly eyes at one another, so I decide to break the uncomfortable monotony checking on Casey.
“It’s that chick from you from your job.”
I snap my fingers. Femi. Shit, I forgot. I was supposed to hook up with her yesterday. I got sidetracked by my brother dying in jail. “Please, tell her come in.”
Femi trudges down the hall carrying a bunch of bags. She’s panting poor thing. She’s out of breath. Beads of sweat decorate her forehead. Her zebra rimmed glasses are crooked.
“Sorry, I look a mess,” I know,” she says, “but some old man chased me all the way from the bus stop to here. He was screaming all types of crazy stuff. He was calling me his wife.” Femi’s short, with hair dyed jet black. She’s so cute I almost want to pinch her cheeks. She’s always complaining that she looks too much like a kid even though she’s twenty-five years old.
“Oh, boy,” I say. “Can I get you something to drink? Take a load off. Drop those bags.”
Femi’s bags fall to the floor with a thunk. She’s got a tote bag, a backpack, a cooler lunchbox, and a purse. Poor child. I remember those days when I had to rely on public transportation. It’s not so bad if you’re mostly going from stop to stop and the routes not busy, but boy if you have to wait an hour between buses, walk thirty minutes in between stops, and get squished like a skittle on sidewalk in between all sorts of strangers, riding the bus really can be a pain in the ass. Smaller independent company buses go through my neighborhood, and the stop is a bit of ways away from my house, so I feel Femi’s pain. Plus Femi lives in South Central. That’s quite the ways from Venice Beach.
“Why didn’t you call me?” I ask. “I could have picked you up.” In my hex car now that it’s fixed. At least it was last night. I’ll need to check on it to make sure that the evil car spell hasn’t returned.
“I heard what happened to your brother. I figured I’d come to you. I brought you something to eat, in case you haven’t eaten.”
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