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Angie explained the third card, pointing her long, manicured finger at it. “The third card represents obstacles. The Devil means living in fear, domination. Given the previous card, it could mean being seduced by physical pleasure. Keep an eye on the new love interest…”
“The fourth card, the High Priestess, signifies your inner voice. Whatever this journey brings, you’ll draw from your intellect and intuition when faced with uncertainty. Trust your instincts, kid.” Nonna tried to smile at me, but it fell flat.
“Your last card, Death, signifies your outcome.” Angie saw the horrified look on my face and quickly added in, “It doesn’t mean you’ll die. It represents an ending of something major in your life, so that something new can take its place. Think of it as a major shift in your life toward a new purpose.”
They locked eyes, a silent conversation passing between them. Their grim faces did not give me hope that this reading would mean anything good.
“Nonna, you’re scaring me.” I had never seen her look anything less than confident in the twenty-two years I’d known her. The woman lookedshook, like the entire sky had come crashing down on her. It was freaking me out. “You two need to tell me what the hell is going on! What happened todella famiglia, Angie?” She grasped Nonna’s hand, holding it firmly.
“Ma, we need to tell her, this isn’t working out the way we thought it would.” She looked like a chastised child with a guilty frown on her face.
Served her right for spouting all that stuff about me not telling her things, when they were both obviously keeping something awful from me right then. What wasn’t working out? What the fuck was going on?
Nonna was on the verge of tears. “I don’t know how to say this. You’re not who you think you are. Diana, we’re witches. The women in this family, and some of the men, are magical. These migraines you keep having are your powers emerging, but it shouldn’t be this painful and dangerous. It may be because they’re emerging so late or because your magic is that powerful. We’re not sure why you’re having such a bad physical reaction to all of this.”
I sat there, unable to move. She had to be kidding me. What the fuck kind of joke was this?
“Diana, I know this seems insane, but it’s true. We’re witches and so was your mom. Your uncle Juno and cousin Gianni are warlocks. This isn’t a joke.” She flicked her wrist, and the candle on the table lit.
I flew out of my chair, knocking it over behind me. This had to be a prank for avoiding them for so long. Any second now Ashton Kutcher was going to run into the kitchen and scream ‘YOU GOT PUNKED!’
I glanced toward the door. If I ran away, I could just pretend this never happened.
“Diana, what are you looking for?” Nonna asked.
“Your fucking sanity, because you two obviously lost your minds. What thefuckis going on here?!” I slapped my hand over my mouth.Oh my God, I just cursed at Nonna. She didn’t look mad though. Was the world ending? Any other day she’d give me an earful. I backed up a few steps, moving closer to the exit.
“Okay let’s all take a deep breath, breathe. Ma, why don’t we explain this more to Diana because she’s white as a sheet right now.”No shit,Angela,because this is insanity!
“Prove it. Prove you’re a witch, I need to see this.” I’m not sure why I asked her that. Maybe it was a last ditch effort to disprove all this ridiculousness.
Nonna stood up and walked over to me. She grabbed my hand, squeezing hard. My eyes closed, and I saw my mother and I at the zoo in Central Park and running toward the ferris wheel at Coney Island. Her holding me on her hip while I pointed at the Statue of Liberty. But instead of looking at them the way one would look at a photo, I was actually there. I was standing a few feet away from them, like it was in real time. Thinking back, I remembered that day–Nonna was with us–and I was looking at my mom and myself from her perspective in each scenario. I felt Nonna’s hand release mine, and the room came back into focus.
“If that’s not enough proof...” Angie said as she waved her hand and created a fireball out ofthin fucking air. Nonna grabbed a metal mixing bowl from a cabinet and put a piece of paper towel in it. Angie dropped the fireball into the bowl. It burned the paper towel up within seconds, but still stayed lit. I reached in and put my finger closer to it, feeling its heat.
“It’s the real deal, Diana. Please sit down, I have some confessions to make and explaining to do.” Nonna motioned for me to sit.
Wincing, I sat back down, holding my head in my hands in a sorry attempt to keep it attached to my neck. My thoughts were spinning so fast I thought for sure it was going to fly off. She had confessions to make? This woman was the absolute moral compass of this entire family. The ultimate matriarch. What could she have to confess about that’s worse than lying to me about being a witch.How could this get any worse?
“When your mother got pregnant with you, she said that your father just up and left. She said he wasn’t magical, but she could have lied to keep your grandfather from killing the man. He was furious that whoever got your mother pregnant left her to raise a child on her own. When you were little, we all used magic around you freely, because we assumed you would inherit the gift. All the women in this family are magical, it’s genetic. For some reason, that doesn’t apply to all the men though. Your Uncle Juno is a warlock so when he married your Aunt Desiree, it increased their chances of Gianni having magic,” she explained.
“I have no memories of anyone in this family ever using magic around me,” I stated.
“That’s because when you turned fourteen, your magic never emerged like it should have. We panicked, because that’s never happened to any woman in this family. Nonna got you checked out by magical healers and waited a whole year per their recommendations, but nothing happened,” Angie said.
“That still doesn’t explain why I have no recollection of anyone doing magic around me.”
“We got you checked out by Mother Lorraine. She’s the most powerful witch in the city, and she serves as a de facto leader of the witch community in Brooklyn and Queens.” Nonna frowned, shaking her head in guilt. “She measured your power signature, read your cards, and did some spells to measure your magical potential.”
“Okay…” I said, trying to grasp what was going on.
“You read as zero with no magical abilities, it’s called being unblessed. So we had to make some tough choices. We didn’t want you to feel like an outcast in your own family, so I made the rules that no one is ever to use magic in front of you, talk about it in front of you, or tell the secret. What I’m most ashamed about was that I altered your memory, as well as I could.” Nonna looked like she was about to cry. “I felt so guilty doing that to you, but I’ve known people that experienced this, and the unblessed almost always end up leaving their families. I couldn’t bear to lose you,Belissima, I’m so sorry. You’re like my fifth child and the only part of your mother I have left. I love you so much and couldn’t bear to lose you.”
Nonna sobbed, her tears running down her face and ruining her mascara. I’d only seen her cry once, at my mom’s funeral when I was nine years old. I was shocked into complete silence. What could I possibly say? I sat there for what seemed like an eternity and said absolutely nothing. I couldn’t even look at them. How could they lie to me about my entire life, betray me like this?
“I’ve never felt welcomed in the shop, is it even a butcher shop?” My voice was shaky, and I could barely hold back my tears. I glared at them, bracing myself for another lie.
“Yes, because I cast a spell that repelled you from in it. We do own a butcher shop, technically. We sell meat, but it’s a front. We use magic to cut the meat and disguise the storefront. The back is a potion lab. We make them to order.” She winced at me, as if it pained her to tell me the truth.Yeah, lady, how do you think I feel? Like I got stabbed in the back.
