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“No, you didn’t say goodbye. You and your boyfriend—” I stopped myself and glanced around, noticing the audience of several neighbors (probably almost all of them) and also Bruna who had the flower shop across the street. “Can I take her upstairs?” I asked Mrs. McGlothen. “She’s not going to stay.”

“I’m not?” my mom asked, but the building manager was nodding so we were done. “Hekate, you’re pulling me too hard.”

I was pulling her toward the elevator, which by some miracle was here at the lobby. As the outer door swung shut, I saw Oliver standing at the back of the crowd, watching us. I raised my hand to say goodbye and he did, too.

“Hekate, I have to tell you something,” my mom said. “Maël wasn’t the man I thought he was.”

The inner door clanked closed and I prepared myself for the beginning of the new year.

Chapter 14

Vera had helped me with this outfit, from what I was supposed to do with my makeup down to the shoes on my feet. She had gone with me to a hair appointment and supervised the cut I got.

“Why do you need to cut it?” my mom had asked wistfully, before we’d left. “Your hair is your power.”

“Are you talking about Sampson from the Bible?” Vera had snapped. “I’m not going to listen to blaspheming.”

They hadn’t gotten along but Mom was feeling like she was in my debt, so she had acquiesced about my haircut (not that she had much choice) and had also agreed that she would try her best to get along with everyone on our excursion today. “I plan to maintain my serenity,” she’d said.

I had seized on that statement. “Yes,” I’d immediately agreed. “You don’t need to be best friends or even to fully forgive them, but you do need to try to get along. They owe you and we’re going to work on evening things out.”

“That’s not the way of the world Hek—Kat,” my mom had answered. “Life isn’t about ‘evening out’ or ‘fairness.’ It’s about giving love and kindness, soaking in the positive energy of others, and raising our consciousness.”

“Ok, sure, but I would like them to be loving and kind to you,” I had told her. I really, really hoped that they would act that way, and the signs were good. I was cautious but staying positive.

On the day that Mom had shown back up at the Milaflores Building, we’d had a long talk about why she had taken off before and why she had stolen my clothes, dishes, and Christmas tree. “That was awful,” I said. “You made me feel scared to be in my own home and now I know that I can’t trust you.”

She had cried, something she didn’t do very much, and apologized. Apparently, things had been worse with Maël-Michael than I had known. “He scares me,” she had said in a low voice. It seemed like she had been partially under his sway but mostly afraid of opposing him. Also, she had taken off right after I’d left and had been waiting for him in a car he’d gotten (stolen?), so she hadn’t known that he had robbed me until he had walked up with bags of loot (my bags, which he had also stolen). He had taken her phone, too, and the only way she’d gotten out of the situation was by alerting a police officer to his presence when Maël-Michael wasn’t paying attention.

“I called to the cop with my inner voice, and he heard me,” she’d said proudly. “I also pointed with my finger and made the sign of a gun, just in case he wasn’t open to telepathic communication.”

It had worked and now that asshole was in jail, where he belonged—but I wasn’t sure how long he would stay there. Mrs. McGlothen had relented and said that my mom could be at the Milaflores Building for three days, maximum. It all meant that we had to work fast, so I had reached out again to my grandparents. This time, I had also told my mom to step up and try some reaching, and not just with her inner voice.

And they’d answered. They said that they would like to meet to discuss their daughter Journey’s future, and they had flown to Michigan in their plane so we could. I was borrowing the hearse to drive us to a very nice restaurant downtown, even though it had been snowing and the roads were very slick. Gramps had told me that I’d be fine, not to follow anyone too closely, and to watch my braking. I was already nervous.

The past few days hadn’t been great. I was helping her, but I was still really angry at her for introducing that guy into my life and then not listening to me about him. I was mad that he’d stolen my stuff and that she had apologized by saying sorry but that it wasn’t her fault, and anyway, I shouldn’t be too tied to physical possessions. I was tired, too. Mom and I were both on temporary mattresses for the time being, and I had found that it really was less comfortable than the bed at Oliver’s house.

Oliver. I looked out my first-floor window and sighed as I thought about him. We had texted a few times but neither of us had mentioned the song or what I thought had triggered it again: the kiss. It had just been a little peck, but the explosion of glitter, music, and free-floating hearts that it had triggered had been disproportionately large. When all this was settled with my mom, I would work on that.

“Ok,” I announced. “It’s time to go.” I fixed my earrings (Vera’s earrings) and we went down to the hearse.

I hadn’t had any contact with my grandparents in many years, none of the sporadic conversations that I’d had with my mom and not even a text now and then. It was definitely odd to see them sitting at the table with…who was that?

“Their new attorney,” he introduced himself.

It was very much a business meeting. They were unwilling to apologize and they were hardly willing to be friendly. My grandmother did acknowledge that she was glad that I appeared to be doing well and also that she liked my earrings (Vera’s earrings). My grandfather told my mom that he was happy to hear that she wouldn’t be going to prison like her former boyfriend (the thief) or her other former boyfriend (the drug dealer). They were willing to help her, too, and their attorney explained how. She could live, rent-free, in their house in the Hamptons. She was not permitted to have any guests there and would be monitored by the housekeeper. She would sign a contract agreeing to that and also to many other stipulations.

They would also provide her with money, but not much. Of course, she wouldn’t have any expenses, since everything in the house (including food) was already paid for. And, of course, she could also get a job to supplement that income. I had the idea that they were trying to keep her on a short leash by not giving too much, and that was great.

“I don’t really remember how much I spent on things before but I’m pretty sure it was more than that,” she announced, fluttering her hands around her heart and temples.

“Mom, will you come to the bathroom with me?” I suggested.

“You need an escort?” my grandmother asked, sniffing, but I ignored her. Mom and I trotted to the back of the restaurant.

“Do you need me to help hold your shirt up while you go?” my mother asked.

“No, that was a lie so that we could talk for a moment, privately,” I explained. “I wanted to tell you that we need to show that contract to your new lawyer, the one I hired, so she can read it, and then you need to say thank you and sign it. As quickly as possible.”