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“I’m only doing what I would want you to do for me if the situation were reversed,” Lila said.
“If the situation were reversed, I’d take you to a head doctor, not a psychic.”
“Sorry, fresh out of shrinks on speed dial.”
They rounded the corner of the boxy yellow building housing an eclectic strip of businesses: a public notary, a natural medicinal remedies shop, a Chinese restaurant, the remnants of an adult video store that had closed, and Psychic Readings by Clara. An apartment sat on the second floor of each shop. Bits of loose trash and leaves fluttered around the grungy sidewalk spotted with old chewing gum and who knew what else. The whole street was a band of short, flat-roofed buildings with telephone poles and power lines traipsing as far as the eye could see.
They stopped in front of Clara’s shop, and the glass door speckled with business hours, a phone number, and the wordsCrystal Ball, which only made Gemma want to do an about-face, swung open before Lila could even reach for it and before Gemma got the chance to bolt.
Clara filled the entrance, her large body a vision in a flowing black dress with a silk shawl printed in noisy palmtrees that looked alarmingly like the robe Lila had traded for her cropped denim overalls. A matching turban wrapped her head, and beaded jewelry dripped from every place it could be hung.
“My child!” she gasped, and threw a hand to her ample bosom. Aunt Clara was Lila’s mother’s sister, and the Thomas women were well-endowed. “I sensed you were on the way to see me. Come in! Quickly!” Clara whipped around in a swirl of robes and a fragrant burst of spicy incense.
Gemma turned and arched a brow at Lila. “Does she say that to everyone?”
Lila smirked, then pushed her toward the door. “You heard the woman. Get in there!”
They entered a dimly lit space where tapestries in bold prints covered every surface, saturating the room with rich colors. A round table with a fringed cloth sat in the center with an honest-to-god crystal ball on it along with a stack of tarot cards. To Gemma’s surprise the room was empty.
“Where’d she go?” Gemma whispered, feeling like she needed to be quiet in the colorful cave.
“I don’t know,” Lila said, and then called, “Aunt Clara?”
Clara suddenly came bursting through the curtain hanging in the doorway at the back of the room, her arms spilling with candles. “Help me with these, Lila.”
Lila hurried over and grabbed two of the tall white candles like she knew exactly what to do while Clara set about placing the others around the room. Clara put one atop the chest of drawers in the corner and flicked a lighter to set it flaming. She repeated the process across the room on an end table beside a wingback chair with scrolled arms and feet. Lila put another on the bookshelf down from the chestbefore she skipped across the room to place the other on a small shelf protruding from the wall. Clara set the final candle at the very back of the room on a table draped in black silk below an antique gold mirror.
Gemma traced the pattern with her eyes and realized they had laid out the five points of a star.
“Sit,” Lila told her, and pointed to the round table in the center of it all.
Despite her own overwhelming skepticism, Gemma sensed the urgency in her friend’s voice. Not to mention the tense energy pulsing off Clara in waves.
Gemma did what she was told as Clara moved around the room lighting all the other candles. Though Lila had told her many stories about Aunt Clara, and Gemma had met her years ago at Lila’s graduation party and been to the shop once or twice, she had never experienced her services. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do in the presence of a psychic.
She glanced at Lila sitting quietly beside her, waiting, and decided to do the same.
When Clara finished lighting the candles, she positioned herself in the chair across from them. With one thick arm, she moved the crystal ball and stack of tarot cards out of the way. “Those are for tourists,” she said as if Gemma had asked and whatever she was about to do was much more serious. “Give me your hands, child.”
Gemma glanced at Lila and got an encouraging nod in response. She slowly lifted her hands from her lap and placed them against Clara’s palms waiting atop the table.
Clara sucked in a breath sharp enough to make Gemma jump. The connection between their palms broke for aninstant before Clara reached up and gripped both of her hands. “I’ve never felt energy like this before.”
“Energy like what, Aunt Clara?” Lila said, taking the bait.
“Hush! Let me read.” Clara closed her eyes. Her lips slightly parted, and she muttered under her breath.
Gemma fought the urge to pull away. Clara had a tight grip, her hands surprisingly strong, but something else unseen kept Gemma in her chair.
“Today is a very important day for you,” Clara said. Her voice had drifted off to a breathy whisper. “I see change. Reconciliation.” A deafening silence, and then, “Love.”
Gemma flinched. On reflex she tried to pull her hands away, but Clara only doubled down.
“But there’s more.” Clara’s eyes had closed. They darted beneath her lids like mice under a rug. “I see a man. An important man.” Her head tilted to the side. “He’s trying to... give you a message... but he can’t.”
The air in Gemma’s lungs went rigid. She could not stop herself from speaking. “Why not?” she whispered.
Clara squeezed her hands and gently shook her head. Her words came out like lyrics to a very slow song. “He can’t... because he seems to be... stuck.”
