I’d never normally do. Just something to shake my mind up and get me moving in the right direction again.
Never one to give in easily, I tease her. “You’re going straight to hell, you know that?”
Tiffany cackles evilly, delighted that she’s managed to win me over. “’Course I am. I’m driving the party bus there, but that’s why you love me.”
After following Tiffany’s directions, I pull up to a rough-looking section in downtown, several blocks from Stella’s. It’s the kind of area where you’d be scared to leave your car for more than five minutes out of fear of someone stealing it. Luckily for me, I’m poor, and anyone desperate enough to steal my beat-up piece of shit is probably so bad off that I might actually feel bad reporting them to the cops.
“Remember,” Tiffany tells me as we get out of the car and I double-check my locks, “keep an open mind and just have fun with it. She’s gonna reveal that you’re going to hit the lottery and get a super-hot husband, have beautiful little children, and a gorgeous home with a white picket fence. All that good stuff. Exactly what you need to hear.”
“Mmmhmm, sure,” I mutter halfheartedly, letting Tiffany lead the way past several run-down shops. Honestly, my expectations are about as low as they can get, which is good since then I won’t be disappointed.
“Here we are,” Tiffany cheerfully announces a moment later, stopping us in front of a neon sign that reads Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” I exclaim, placing my hands on my wide hips and glaring at the sign and then Tiff. “Seriously, Tiff? House of Voodoo? I don’t want to put some voodoo hex on Rich. I just want to forget he exists.”
“Ooh, I didn’t even think about that, but a voodoo hex ain’t a bad idea.” She puts on an evil smirk before continuing, “But for real, the name’s just for attention, I’m guessing.”
I glance back at our vehicle, already wanting to leave. If I’m gonna do this, let’s at least do it someplace that looks and sounds legit.
“Oh, no, Miss Thing, you’re going inside,” Tiffany tells me as if sensing my thoughts, opening the door and giving me a pointed look. “Kicking or screaming. We have a deal, remember?”
I glower at her for a moment before giving up. It’s just a few minutes. Let’s just get this over with. Hell, if nothing else, maybe I’ll get a good laugh out of it. And if not, at least Tiff will be off my case.
I step past her and into the shop. There’s a small dark room with colorful paintings and murals all over the walls. I don’t get more than a second to check out details because the smell of strong incense immediately greets us along with a heavy accent. Jamaican, maybe. I’m not sure.
“I’ve been waiting for you two girls,” calls a deep-voiced woman from the back. “Come to me.”
I glance at Tiffany, whose eyes have grown as large as saucers, and then roll mine. “Oh, please,” I mutter, wanting to laugh. “She probably says that to everyone who comes in.”
“Shh!” Tiffany hisses, dragging me along to the back. “I don’t want no voodoo curse cast on me!”
It’s even darker in back, but my eyes have adjusted now and I can see. There’s a large round table in the middle of the room with a deep red cloth draped over it to the floor. A dark-skinned woman with a colorful rag wrapped around the top of her head and long, thick white dreads sits at it, two flickering candles on either side of her.
She gives us a warm smile when she sees us, flashing pearly white teeth and clasping her hands together cheerfully.
“Welcome, my children! My name is Marie,” she says, motioning at the two wooden chairs in front of the table. “Please, sit.”
We slowly take our seats. Before either of us can say anything, Marie looks pointedly at me.
“This reading is for you,” she says matter-of-factly, her smile ebbing away. “You are the one for whom the spirits have been talking to me . . . the forgotten daughter.”
Shocked, the hairs on the back of my arms prickle and my mouth drops a little. There’s no way she could know that my mom abandoned me at birth and that my aunt raised me.
“How did you—” I stop myself.
It was just a lucky guess. Nothing more. This woman is a fraud. She probably heard us outside.