Hold me. Help me,Ophelia pleaded. The tiger lay down on its side in a relaxed position, and she wept over its body. She dug her hands in its fur and breathed in its musk.Help me. Please.The tiger purred deeply in response.
As she nestled against her tiger, her body gave in to sleep, exhausted from the pain.
PART II
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Ophelia woke to the morning sun streaming across her face. Refusing to open her eyes just yet, she stretched and inhaled the morning air. The familiar smell of the old Pine House tingled her nostrils. Rolling over, she sighed into her pillow, feeling utterly exhausted. Her bra was digging into her flesh. She must have forgotten to take it off last night. Her eyes involuntarily widened as the memory of yesterday slammed into her. Heart racing, she sat up in bed. She must have been asleep since yesterday afternoon.
She scrubbed her palms over the puffy skin of her face as she doubled over, letting dread consume her. She could not remember what happened after the Passing. But here she was, in her bed, so she could only assume she got here of her own volition.
Ophelia examined her clothes, the same ones she wore the day before. She was relieved to see they lacked vomit stains.She lifted an arm and sniffed. A putrid smell emitted from her body.Ugh.
She checked her phone, which had been placed on the nightstand and plugged into its charger. Ophelia doubted that she had the wherewithal to charge her own phone yesterday. She tapped the phone’s screen and saw that it was half past seven in themorning, and she had two notifications: a text from Mateo and an email from Jade. She’d have to read them later.
In addition to the fully charged phone, two ibuprofens and a glass of water sat waiting for her on the nightstand. Ophelia barked a laugh and shook her head.Etienne. She was sure that he arranged her nightstand with the necessities. His type-A personality wouldn’t have been able to resist it.
Ophelia moved on wobbly limbs to the shower. She desperately wanted to know what happened yesterday, but similar to a crazy night out, she wondered if the truth was too much for her to handle in the raw hours of the morning. But something told her that the details of her Passing would be unavoidable.
She assumed the Passing worked, though she didn’t feel more magical. She felt like shit, honestly. The steam began to surround her, loosening her limbs further. She suddenly felt faint and needed to sit down. Her arms wrapped around her bent legs as she faced the rear of the shower, letting the angry pelts of hot water on her back bring her back to life.
A memory of her tiger surfaced. It was there yesterday. She must have been in a bad way if her protector showed up. She smiled at the thought of her protector answering her call.
While remaining seated, Ophelia scrubbed her scalp and moisturized her long tresses with conditioner that she was certain was at least ten years old. She scrubbed her flesh raw, paying particular attention to her face and armpits.
Ophelia cautiously got out of the shower, still weak with exhaustion. Suddenly, her thirst was so overwhelming she couldn’t even get dressed to grab water from the kitchen, and instead dunked her head under the sink to let the cool water run over her tongue and down her throat. She was lapping at it like a dog. Satisfied, she gathered her towel and looked at herself in the mirror—puffy eyes and pallid skin.Yikes. She was in desperate need of more water and food.
It took effort to put on a pair of fresh leggings and a top. She had to rest on the bed between pulling on articles of clothing. Ophelia padded into the kitchen where Lucille was makingbreakfast, pain perdu, or what Ophelia and her sisters as children called “panpazoo.”
“Morning,” said Ophelia.
“Morning, hun,” said Lucille. “I’ll make you a plate. Coffee is on.”
Her grandmother sat at the kitchen table, tapping away on her iPad. She didn’t look up at her as she entered the room. Maybe she hadn’t heard her walk in.
Ophelia poured herself a glass of water from the Brita pitcher in the fridge and drank it all in two gulps. She poured another. Two gulps again, and it was gone. Another pour. This time, she slowed to sip. Her body thanked her by easing some of the tension it had been holding in her gut. She next poured a mug of coffee, topping it with sugar and cream from the counter.
With her two containers of liquid, she sat down at the table.
“Morning,” said Ophelia again with more volume.
“Well, good morning, dear,” said Mawmaw, putting down her iPad. “I see you’ve finally stopped crying.”
“Huh?”
“Crying. All yesterday evening.” Mawmaw hummed. “You don’t remember?
“No…” Ophelia said with wide eyes.
“Oh yes, hun, you were carrying on and on and on. For hours into the night. Crying like a baby. No, worse than a baby.”
“I…I cried?” Ophelia asked, touching her eyes. That explained the puffiness.Mawmaw nodded slowly in response. “Did I do anything else? Vomit? faint?”
“Nope, just cried and cried and cried. That young man tried for a long time to get you to stop. Treated you for all sorts of ailments. He struggled to find the root cause of all of your tears, but I guess he eventually got you to stop. I went to bed.”
“You went to bed?” exclaimed Ophelia. “You just left me to cry with Etienne?”
Mawmaw chuckled. “Hun, I stayed up till ten o’clock with you. That’s well past my bedtime, and you know it. Besides,Brutus said you’d snap out of it eventually, and maybe you just needed a good cry.” Mawmaw tsked. “It was a good cry, all right.”
