“Welcome, welcome. Please take any open seat. I am honored to have you in my home.” She gestured to the woman to her right, seated by an old-fashioned typewriter. “Colette will be memorializing your fortunes so you may take them home with you as a memento. Now.” She swept her gaze toward the audience. “Who shall we bring up first?”
Colette consulted the notebook. “Maheen.”
Hena’s cousin bounced up to the dais and sat across from Mariela. She placed her palms on the low-seated table.
“What topic would you like insight on, my dear?” Mariela asked.
“I’d love to know about my job. Specifically, what is to come,” Maheen said. “Will we succeed?”
Mariela studied Maheen’s hands. She pursed her lips. “I see you’re in business with someone?”
Maheen gasped. “I literally opened the practice with my best friend two months ago.”
“A medical practice.”
Maheen was beside herself. The women around Hena chatted excitedly, and she had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. (A) They were desi, so the odds of someone being a doctor were pretty high, and (B) Maheen had left enough context for Mariela to make an educated guess.
“Is it sports medicine?” Mariela asked.
Hena blinked. All right, that was specific.
“How did you guess that?” Hena asked her.
Mariela jerked her head up, narrowing her eyes at Hena.
“I don’t guess, my dear,” she replied, before turning her attention back to Maheen. “You and your business partner went to medical school together. I’m sensing a landlocked city.”
“University of Chicago. Yes. Wow.”
The crowd was mesmerized, and Hena made sure to bite her tongue. These details confirmed to Hena this was more a party trick than any real intuition. Mariela had their names in her ledger. She must have looked them all up online. Scoured their social media.
But did it matter? Everyone was enjoying the show. Lulu had hit it out of the park with this one. Hena would be sure to let her know.
The fortune teller informed Maheen her business would prosper. Word of mouth alone would propel them to greater heights. She’d have a waiting list this time next year, with patients clamoring for a spot.
Next up was Auntie Hanifa.
“All right, let’s hear it,” she demanded, once seated. “When is my daughter going to get married?”
Mariela studied the auntie’s hands. She trailed a finger along her palm. “Your daughter will be engaged by year’s end.”
“Wonderful.” Auntie Hanifa’s eyes lit up. “Now let’s hope I can find her a groom soon.”
“No need,” the fortune teller replied. “She’s already in love. There’s a woman with a T name. Tammy? Tabatha?”
“Tamara?” Auntie Hanifa gasped. “I thought it was over!”
“Not at all.” The woman clucked her tongue. “I see them together right now. A mountainous horizon…a cabin of sorts.”
Auntie Hanifa drew a hand to her mouth.
Laughter. Whispers. Claps. They were eating this up.
The time passed swiftly as Colette invited people one by one to have their fortunes read. Everyone was amazed at the accuracy, even though Hena remained skeptical.
“And last but not least: Hena,” Colette called out.
“No, thank you,” she said quickly. “I’m just here taking it all in.”
