by Hahn, Chanda
Mina had forgotten that Nan hated caramel almost as much as Charlie hated cottage cheese. “So you thought you would cover the taste of caramel with something else you liked?”
Nan bobbed her head. “Yeah, I actually love cottage cheese and thought it was a great idea, and would surely make your brother freak out and I would win. The only problem was that when I added the cheese to the cereal and put it in my mouth, it took every ounce of strength not to immediately eject it out. My mind thought the milk had gone bad. But I did it, I won.” Nan began to do a victory dance around the kitchen.
Sara walked in and looked at the bowl in front of Nan and turned her nose up at it. “Ugh, Charlie has taken it too far, he’s wasting cereal. I paid good money for those boxes.”
Nan looked sheepish and grabbed the bowl away from Sara. “No Mrs. Grime, that’s actually my cereal. I’m having breakfast with Charlie.”
Sara raised one eyebrow in disbelief at Nan.
Nan feeling slightly pressured now to prove her point took the spoon and shoveled another spoonful into her mouth. Mina could almost feel Nan’s panic, but was impressed when her best friend hid it well.
Satisfied, Sara looked around. “Where is Charlie?”
“Bathroom,” Mina answered quickly. Sara went back to her bedroom to grab her keys and wallet. Once the room was clear, Nan spat the cereal out into the garbage and began the sink and orange juice routine all over. Mina took the bowl of cereal away and dumped it down the garbage disposal, removing any hint of Nan’s stupidity. “So now that you won, what are you going to make Charlie watch?”
“I don’t know, I was thinking of something really horrible like the whole first season of Power Puff Girls, something completely girly and embarrassing.” Nan’s face lit up with the prospect of torturing Charlie. “Or maybe, I could find a documentary on the making of cottage cheese.”
“You do realize that you would have to sit through it as well.” Mina pointed out.
“Hmmm, then that won’t do. What do you suggest?”
“Why don’t you pick something you both will like?”
“What! That takes away the whole fun of the competition! It’s the reason I rose to the challenge. NO! He must suffer,” Nan pointed her finger in the air dramatically. Nan would have made a great sibling if her parents hadn’t divorced when she was young. Neither one remarried so Nan is the epitome of an only child; loved, spoiled and a little lonely, which is why she loves hanging out with Charlie. Nan always said if she had a younger sibling she would want a brother, because than she wouldn’t have to share her clothes with him.
“Don’t you mean YOU must suffer?” Mina conjectured.
“Meh, whatever.” After Nan had finished with her tirade, she turned to Mina and directed her penetrating best friend radar her way. “So dish.”
“About what?” Mina asked casually.
“About WHAT? I can’t believe you. I didn’t drive all this way for nothing on a Saturday morning, I have cartoons to watch. Dish about what happened two days ago that made you miss school and send Brody into a coma.”
“He’s in a coma?” Mina panicked.
“No not literally. Yeesh.” Nan held her hands out in front of her. “He’s been walking around the school like some sort of zombie. Not talking, ignoring everyone and has completely withdrawn himself inward.”
“You promise it’s not going to show up on any web page, interview, tweet or text?” Mina knew when dishing important info to Nan that she had to cover all of her bases.
“Nan rolled her eyes and held up two fingers. “Boy Scouts honor.”
“You’re a girl.”
“Fine then, Girls Scouts honor.” Nan held up three fingers.
“Don’t think it counts if you’ve never actually been a girl scout.” Mina countered making sure there were no loop holes in her friends credibility.
Mina looked over Nan’s shoulder towards her brother and mother’s room and decided that they needed to find a more private spot. Tapping Nan’s shoulder, Mina motioned for her to follow her down the hall and into her room. When the door was securely shut, Nan had jumped across Mina’s hastily made bed. Mina perched on the end more daintily.
“Nan, I’m cursed.”
“Yeah, I know, we all are.” Nan kicked her legs back and forth and grabbed a magazine from Mina’s nightstand. “It’s called being a teenager. You, more so, because you live in the Stone Age.”
“No, my last name isn’t even Grime, it’s Grimm and I personally am cursed or fated, to follow the same path as the generations of Grimm’s before me.” Mina felt better now that she got that out in the open. She had been thinking for the last few days on how to break the news to her best friend.
Nan just stared at Mina blinking her eyes in thought. “Yeah, right. I’m supposed to go to Yale and become a lawyer like my father and his father before him, but do you see me treading down that path. No way Jose, I’m hitchhiking to Julliard instead.” Nan flipped a couple more pages and then oohed over a cute skirt.
Mina snatched the magazine from Nan and sat on it so her friend couldn’t grab it back. “I’m serious Nan, I’m in over my head and I need your help.”
Nan sat up and gave Mina her full attention. “You’re serious aren’t you?”
Mina ran her hands over her head,“…dead serious.”
“Like this isn’t some ploy to try and punk me or anything right?”
“No, I wish it was, I really do, but it’s not.”
“Okay, start from the beginning.” Nan crossed her legs Indian style and waited patiently through Mina’s whole tale. She barely fidgeted, never once interrupted and even didn’t immediately grab her phone to tweet the update. “Whoa,” was all she said.
“You can say that again,” Mina mumbled unhappily.
“Whoa!” Nan repeated and ducked as Mina threw a pillow at her. “So you were actually attacked outside the back door of the library? That must have been awesome.”
“Nan!” Mina gasped unbelievably. “NO! I could have been killed.”
“But you weren’t, Brody saved you. So if Brody saved your life and all, then why is he in such a fit?”
“I’m not sure why, but I have probably something to do with it. He wanted me to go to the police, but if I did and my mother found out that would be the end of us here. She would have shipped us out to Canada, before you can say Canucks.”
“So you two fought,” Nan stated.
“Yes, we argued and I demanded he drop me off. And with a huge bruise on the side of my cheek, I couldn’t very well go to school like that.” Mina paced her small bedroom and kept passing her bedroom mirror to look at the bruise.
“So in other words, he hasn’t called you, spoken to you or seen you since he dropped you off after the attack.” Nan ticked off the words on her hands. “Yep that would explain why he has been out of sorts. MINA CALL HIM! Let him know that you are still alive.”
“Nan, I can’t.” And Mina truly felt that she couldn’t. She had burned her bridges and burned them badly.
“Nonsense, all you do is pick up the phone and say 'Brody, I’m not dead.'” Nan grabbed her phone and held it up to Mina’s face jokingly. “Here, you can use my phone.”
Mina glared at Nan in response.
“Fine.” Nan put her phone away. “Since it seems you have a lot to do maybe we should get cracking and find this Grimoire or whatever and prepare you to meet the Story and break it’s curse.” The way Nan said it, made it sound as if Mina was going on a camping trip and needed to find supplies, instead of possibly meeting her destiny. “But I think before we do anything else today, we need to eat!”
“You just ate,” Mina teased.
Nan made a gagging face. “That is not what I would call eating. That’s biting the bullet to win a bet. I’m starved, let’s grab food first, you owe me.”
After lunch they walked the rows of small shops in the various districts.
“So your dad…?” Nan let her question trail o
ff. It was too delicate of a question to ask outright.
“Yeah, my Dad was chosen by the curse before me and was caught in one of the more viscous tales and didn’t live through it.” Mina walked a little slower.
“Do you remember the night?”
“No, I don’t. I guess I must have suppressed a lot of those memories and my mom won’t speak about it. What I do remember was that my dad was happy, loving, and carefree until my Uncle died. That’s when it all changed. He changed, he was driven, obsessed with trying to finish each tale and break the curse so that I wouldn’t have to suffer the same fate as his brother.
“He must have loved you a lot.”
“That or he wanted revenge for Uncle Jack. I don’t know.” Mina felt at a loss, confused, and a little angry. “So I HAVE to do this Nan, I have to finish the tale and break the curse because if I don’t, it falls on Charlie and I can’t let that happen. I have to protect Charlie.”
“Sign me up, where do we start?” Nan spoke.
“Nan, you don’t have to help, you don’t even have to get involved. I only told you because I needed your support, in case I have more episodes where I can’t go to school.”
“You can’t tell me about this curse and then NOT expect me to get involved and help. I’m your friend, I care about you and I care about Charlie. It’s a done deal.”
“Nan?”
“Don’t you 'Nan' me; I’ve got two semesters of Karate under my belt, a serious case of attitude and mace on my keychain. I’m ready to tackle any giants that come my way. Fe Fi Fo FUM!” When she said Fum, Nan did a karate kick in the air and landed with a chest punch.
“I think that’s the wrong story.” Mina laughed.
“What, there’s no giants? I was really hoping to tackle some giants.” Nan looked devastated.
“From what my mom said, it doesn’t necessarily have to follow the same Grimm tale guidelines. Yes there are giants, but it maybe instead of a 30 foot giant, you may find that the Story has a different idea and you may be facing a six-foot six-inch, 300 pound New York Giant football player instead.”
“I’ll take that!” Nan gushed excitedly. “Bring ‘em on.” When she had quit jumping around on the sidewalk doing martial art moves and knocking into complete strangers, she stood up suddenly and looked at Mina. “Why did you say the Story may have a different idea?”
“I guess because it’s real? The Story is what found me in the Babushka's Bakery. It made me drop my pencil and the following chain of events. It was also the Story that seemed to spur me into action and react in time to save Brody. For some reason the Story is the driving force behind all of this. We can never underestimate and never trust the Story.”
“So what happened on the tour was the consequences of a fairy tale? So cool, which one?” Nan was walking backward and kept throwing quick glances over her shoulder.
“I have an idea but it doesn’t make sense.” Mina put her fingers in her jacket pockets. Shaking her head Mina decided it was nothing and kept walking.
“So how do we go about finding this book? You said your father found it in the library. What about your Uncle? How did the Grimoire come to your Uncle?”
Mina face turned down in anger and she bit her lip. “It never came to my Uncle.”
“But I thought you said that it comes to the Grimm descendants and it helps them?”
“I did, but it doesn’t always decide to help them. It chose not to reveal itself to my Uncle Jack, it didn’t help him and now he’s dead.”
“But Mina, it came to your father and he still died.” Nan put her hand on Mina’s shoulder and looked into her face. “All we can do is pray that it chooses to help you.”
Mina nodded her head and wiped away the tears that had started to form in the corner of her eyes. “I’m just so scared. Nan, what if it doesn’t choose me to help me and I’m stuck trying to fight off more people like the man with the wolf tattoo alone. I can’t do it, I need its help and I’m scared it won’t help me.” Mina sniffled trying to hold back the tears, but they kept coming.
Nan grabbed her friend in a huge hug. “Mina, you are the sweetest, most kind-hearted person I know. The Grimore will come to you, how can it not? And if it doesn’t you’ve got me, and I’m ten times, no, twenty times more helpful than a book. I told you not to wear that hideous dress to homecoming and you didn’t. I kept you away from that disastrous looking egg salad at the buffet and then everyone else got sick. I even stood up for you when you someone made fun of you for always wearing hoodies.”
“Someone made fun of me?” Mina gasped. This was the first that she had heard about that.
“What matters is that I’m here for you and with me on your side, you will always win.” Nan grinned and put her arm through Mina’s.
Her best friend was right, with Nan’s gumption and determination they could face anything. There were times where Mina felt as if she was kryptonite to anyone who came near her, except for Nan. Nan was immune to Mina’s bad luck and seemed to thrive off of warding it away. It’s almost as if Nan was her personal good luck charm.
“Oohh! We have to go in here and see the puppies!” Nan squealed and forcefully dragged Mina into Pawpers Pet’s. The pet store was white, with animal prints painted in blue on the sidewalk leading up to the front door that jingled when they walked in. The scent of dog, urine and cleanser made Mina wrinkle her nose in instant distaste. She fought the urge to breathe through the sleeve of her red jacket, knowing it would give Nan a reason to tease her.
Mina didn’t care for pet stores. She loved animals but hated going into and seeing hundreds of caged dogs, cats, birds and mice. To her it was the same as walking into a prison and being asked to pick out a cute inmate to take home and care for. She sighed and walked over to Nan who was gushing over a playful Pomeranian and American Eskimo puppy.
“Oh aren’t you the cutest? Yes you are! You are the sweetest thing since cotton candy,” Nan baby talked. The pups yipped and crawled over each other in an attempt to lick the glass window where Nan’s hand rested. A cute red haired boy with glasses spotted Nan’s interest. Greg, according to his employee name badge asked if she wanted to take one out and play with it in the viewing pen. Nan squealed with glee. “Did you hear that Mina? We can hold them and play with them.” Nan turned her back and was now as excited as the pups in the glassed kennel. Her enthusiasm was so contagious that Mina didn’t think she wanted to be stuck in a 4x4 cubicle with Nan and two pups.
“Uh, I think I’ll pass this time. I’m going to check out the rest of the pets.” Mina backed away from Nan who was in her own world. She got an indifferent look from Greg, who was busy trying to score Nan’s number.
Sighing, Mina walked past the parakeets and canaries. A melodic whistle made her stop and turn in surprise. The canaries where singing. She leaned in toward the birds slowly to listen to their song, careful to not startle or interrupt them. They fluttered about their white cage, seeming impervious to Mina’s nearness. And then the singing stopped. Mina froze, hoping that they would continue their song, but the canaries weren’t the only birds to stop singing. All of them stopped making any kind of noise at all. The macaws, parrots, doves, and parakeets were silent and stood unmoving in their cages. Never in her life had Mina walked into a pet store and heard this kind of silence.
She swallowed nervously and began to back away from the bird aisle and make her way toward Nan. The canaries turned their heads and watched her retreat. Being under the scrutiny of hundreds of black beady eyes was enough to make anyone a little jumpy. “It’s just a coincidence,” Mina chanted to herself. It’s just a coincidence”. Mina was so nervous that she stumbled into a large fake tree stand with a gray macaw. The bird crooked his head and snapped his beak a few times before it spoke one word. “Doom.”
Chapter 11
The hair stood up on the back of Mina’s neck. “Doom, doom, doom.” The parakeets echoed. The silence disappeared as all of the birds seemed to chirp one word over and over.
"Doom. Doom. Doom." Even the canaries seemed to take up the banter.
Mina covered her ears and ran down the aisle, putting as much distance as she could between the bewitched birds and herself. She didn’t stop running until she was in the aquatics department.
“Finally!” Mina muttered. The sound of the birds dissipated into nothingness among the hums of the stacked fish tanks. Looking around at the fish tanks Mina was relieved. There was nothing here that could talk and spew out frightening words. The fish, either because they have small brains or were numb to humans, ignored her presence next to their tanks. “This seems like a safe area to wait for Nan,” she spoke to no one in particular.
Mina walked aimlessly, staring at the different fish and thinking back to what had just happened. Did she imagine the birds speaking to her? Or was this more of the Story’s magic trying to take control? There wasn’t any way the canaries could talk, so maybe she had imagined it.
A thumping noise drew Mina’s attention towards a shelf of tank along a side wall. There wasn’t a tag identifying the species in the tank, but the presence of logs and moss gave her an idea it was some kind of amphibian. Thump, thump. The noise came again and Mina leaned closer to look into the dark tank to see what was making the noise. Something smacked itself against the glass causing Mina to scream and step back. It was a toad! The toad croaked and then threw himself against the glass again as if trying to break through.
Thump! Thump! More thumping sounds came from the tank next to it. Mina stared in horror as frog after frog, came out of hiding and began to throw themselves against the tanks. Eight tanks full of frogs in various sizes began to shake and move with the vibration of the frenzied frogs. Even the tree frogs in mass were causing their smaller tank to shudder the slightest bit.
“Stop it!” Mina hissed out. “You will hurt yourself.” She reached forward apprehensively to push the tank with the large toads farther back on the shelf. The toads took this as a rally point and began to climb on each other’s back as a way to reach to top of the cage and lift the lid off.