Kiss Me, Curse Me - By Kate Shay Page 0,38

her flip through the wire hangers. “What? What is it?” she asked.

“You were supposed to be watching her.”

“I know. Jeez-o. You don’t think I know that? I wasn’t pitching woo here. I had the show. All my girls had to be downstairs. Rose had to be front and center. Singapore had to be on too. I couldn’t just leave her out. She’s the only Asian I have, and the boys would have missed her. She brings good tips. She was a geisha, you know. I won’t let her paint her face white, and she gets mad about it sometimes.” She pulled out a simple, pink dress and pulled it over her slip. “All I can say is that it was crazy last night. I can’t even begin to tell you about it. Zip me up, would you?”

He did. “You should have had someone.” He reiterated, knowing all well Betty would stick to her story regardless. “She could be anywhere by now. I’m hungry.”

“I’ll make you some eggs.” She led him to the basement kitchen area, and after a few minutes, the two were eating.

“You need to send someone to look for her.”

“No, I don’t.” said Betty mid-chew. “I’ll send Roy out. I can handle things by myself for a while.”

Betty focused on her scrambled concoction. “Fine by me.”

***

Kanti held the knife steady over the girl’s chest and sang.

“Wait,” said Ahanu. “No.”

“Shhhh. Not yet, not yet,” said Kanti, his words coming through the song.

The singing was odd. It was a tune Ahanu hadn’t heard before—or had he? He recalled an odd walk down to the falls and thought he’d heard the same song one time when he was a boy. Was this the same tune?

Watching the ritual to prepare the blade for sacrifice, Ahanu saw Kanti return to his work table.

Ahanu followed. “Did you watch me, father?”

“Of course. I’ve always been around, though you could not see me.”

How was his skin so red? Ahanu wondered if it was just paint or something more. Kanti caught him watching.

“You’ll take this coloring too, over time, we are the blood.” Kanti moved closer, taking Ahanu’s hand and running his long-nailed finger along a plump vein.

“Blood?”

“Yes. The blood.” Kanti pressed his finger down, cutting off the vein’s flow.

Ahanu pulled his hand away.

Kanti stood close, too close for comfort, but Ahanu remained steadfast, feeling something flowing between them. Kanti said, “Don’t worry, my son. This is just the beginning for you.”

“How did you come to this?”

“The same as you.”

“But my mother. She’s never spoke of you. My father, well—” Ahanu stopped.

Kanti waited for him to finish, but nothing further came. “She wouldn’t speak of me. She doesn’t fully remember. I stay away in my physical form. She may feel a familiarity from my presence. That is all.”

“How could she not know? This makes no sense.”

“It was just a dream for her; she was asleep. I came in the night.”

“You raped my mother!” Ahanu shook his fists in a sudden fury.

“No, no, son . . . it was not like that.” Kanti put his hand on Ahanu’s shoulder to calm him. The wolf in the boy was not in control yet. Kanti pushed a soothing flow to him like a calm stream.

“I feel calm now. You did that? What is that?” Ahanu sighed, feeling the comfort, as small as it was.

“Another trick you will soon learn. Not now. The dreams were many. She accepted me in her dream form, and we met for that one night in the physical domain—and that was it. For her, it is an uncertainty. She dismisses the reality of it.”

“What do you mean she accepted you? You had relations? You two talked?”

“You can learn to do this too. Many more things here for you to learn, about how this world and the spirit world are connected. It is your dreams that bridge them together. You will learn to move between them as I do.”

“What did my mother say?”

“Whatever. She told me of her life, her hopes, and her dreams. She wanted another son. I gave her you.” Kanti’s voice softened, so different from the serious tone that it always carried.

“What, you love her?” Ahanu was in disbelief.

“Yes. I love her. I love you. It’s simple.”

“Do you still visit her?”

“Not often now. She’s busy worrying about you. It comes out in her dreams. I let her take that on.”

“She worries about me?” Ahanu directed his gaze to the boiling mix over the fire, the steam billowing out.

Kanti kicked a log down to get