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“We packed for you,” my sisters Jessie and Ronnie piped up in unison. They were all in the doorway watching. Smiling.
“And your presents are tucked into your bag. Open them later,” Vivi added.
My reaction was to burst into tears.
My sisters took turns hugging me, cooing and comforting me, and then Ronnie accidentally spilled some beans by blurting, “We can’t wait until you come back so we can have the very first full Young coven meeting.”
“Young what meeting?” I asked.
“Ronnie!” Danica admonished at the same time as Vivi shouted, “Veronica!”
It was written all over their faces. The cat was out of the bag.
Coven.
Things snapped into place for me like the last few pieces of the puzzle I’d been working on. I’d suspected I’d known what it’d look like. I wasn’t surprised. I was ready. Very.
“Oh,” Ronnie went as pink as my cake but still waved her hand dismissively. “Well, she’s eighteen now. She’s waited long enough. And she had her suspicions.”
I very much had. And I very much did.
“Save the questions for the road. We’ve a long drive ahead,” Aunt Lyrica decreed.
“Okay,” I agreed readily and stared at my cake, a big smile spreading across my face as the facts sank in.
Coven. I knew it! Well, I suspected it. I mean, my aunts looked the part. Aunt Lyrica refused to hide who she was. I knew she told fortunes and did tarot card readings in the back of her tailor and drycleaning shop in Drowsy Hollow. Aunt Mimi’s boutique went along with the same look because of the goods she sold, lots of household goods, but also crystals, essential oils, boho clothes, old books, hand-made jewelry, and antiques along with tarot card decks. But still… I suspected it wasn’t just a gimmick.
Dani and I exchanged glances. Her eyes were bright with emotion.
I smiled wide and then we embraced, swaying back and forth and giggling.
“Stop being mad at me now?” she demanded.
“Okay,” I readily agreed and then we giggled some more.
“I can’t wait to eat this,” I said, looking at my cake.
“Do we want to sit here and eat cake, or do we want to go have an adventure?” Aunt Lyrica asked.
“Can we take some cake on our adventure?” I asked.
She threw her head back and laughed loud before she tossed me a set of keys. I caught them and examined them.
She said, “Drive me home, stay a week, then you can drive it back.”
“And then you may start working in the shop,” Aunt Mimi added.
The rest of them took turns running the boutique with the fortune teller tent in the back. I’d been bugging for years to work there, but none of us got to do that until after our eighteenth birthday.
My jaw dropped as I examined the black metal keychain holding the key to her van. “Really?” I managed. “I get to drive the hippie bus back? But why?”
“It’s yours now. I’m getting something compact. It’ll be delivered this week. This is your reward for waiting so patiently for today.” She gave me an exaggerated wink. “Pack up some cake for us, will you, Vivi-darling?”
“Absolutely!” Vivi hopped to it. “Erica, do your cut first.”
I did a happy dance, pulled the knife through the cake and then licked frosting off the tip.
My sisters’ eyes were on me and full of joy. Full, too, to bursting with secrets they couldn’t wait to share. Because when I got back, they could finally share them.
Laughter bubbled up in me and I didn’t hold it back as my sisters all piled on me with more hugs and kisses.
Aunt Mimi, often serious and stoic, gave me a warm hug. And she wasn’t the touchy-feely type.
“Enjoy it, girl,” she whispered. “Your patience has paid off.”
“A smile and a joke from you, Aunt Mimi? What is it, my birthday or something?”
We all laughed, including Aunt Mimi. Because I’ve been the opposite of patient. In my defense, it’s not easy to feel, for eight years straight, like you’re further and further disconnected from your family.
First, we lose Mom and Dad. And then year by year I’ve lost a piece of each of my sisters as their secrets created distance between us.
I’ve been sulky, and downright bitchy at times about it. Especially since Danica’s birthday, when I became the last Young sister standing alone, left out of the club as she and Aunt Lyrica drove away. I didn’t even wave her off, just stared from the bedroom window watching my other three sisters stand together, arms around one another as they waved at the departing duo.
“It’s important. You’ll understand after,” Vivica, my oldest sister told me that day when she found me sulking.
I hadn’t really figured out that the birthday trip was all about secrets until shortly after Jessica’s birthday because though Vivi and Ronnie (Veronica) were always super close, after Jessie’s birthday, it became very apparent there was a strange club of three. Me and Dani weren’t part of it, but we had one another. And then when she turned eighteen and disappeared for her trip with Aunt Lyrica, and came back giving me the same speech Jessie had given us, I felt forsaken. I was determined to uncover the secrets. I didn’t want to wait the thirteen long months.
