“Okay.” Adrienne braced herself.
“This voodoo stuff. It can make people … do things, right?”
Adrienne stopped and faced her. “Why?”
Tara didn’t look like she sought some magic spell to use for vindictive reasons. If anything, she appeared troubled.
“How do you know if someone is under a curse?” she asked, ignoring Adrienne’s question.
“Their behavior could change suddenly, or like me. I suddenly lost a skill I’d had since I was young. If I lost my voice, it might make sense, but I lost the ability to sing, not talk.”
“So anyone can buy one of these spells, like even for bad reasons?”
“Why don’t you tell me why you’re asking first,” Adrienne said.
Tara shrugged. “I just need to know.”
Adrienne debated not answering, afraid the girl meant to hurt someone by buying a spell from a bokor.
“People can buy spells from a priestess or priest. Those who sell them are called bokors, and they can sell good magic or black magic. Some don’t care and sell whatever makes them the most money while others just create healing and protective spells. People who buy spells to hurt others are likely to be punished by the gods, three times over whatever harm they caused,” Adrienne explained.
“So Kimmie taking your voice means something three times worse will happen to her?” Tara asked.
“Yeah, at the discretion of the spirits, of course.”
“This is bizarre. I can’t believe I’m talking about this, like it’s real.”
“It is real.”
“You can buy any kind of spell? Like zombies or love spells or whatever?”
“Yep,” Adrienne said, crossing her arms. “You aren’t thinking of buying one, are you?”
“No. Let’s say someone bought a curse and put it on someone. How do you lift it?”
“The easiest way,” Adrienne sighed. “You ask the person who put it on you to lift it. If that’s not an option, then you go to a mambos and ask for her help healing you.”
Tara was quiet, thoughtful.
“It’s the only reason I’m at school today,” Adrienne added sadly. “I have to find Kimmie. I need to ask her to lift the hex she put on me.”
“Interesting.” Tara wasn’t paying attention.
Rolling her eyes, Adrienne started walking again.
“Wait. Can I ask you one more thing?” Tara asked, catching up to her.
“Why not.”
“Do you have Rene’s phone number?”
Adrienne turned, astonished.
Tara smiled. “I just want to thank him for rescuing me.”
Seriously? Rene gets a date out of this and I can’t show myself at school?
The warning bell sounded.
“You can email it to me,” Tara told her. “If you have time after school today, could we talk again?”
“No. I’ve got to catch the bus,” Adrienne replied, stalking away. Was everyone at this school selfish and stupid?
She went to her first class and hurried to the back of the room before the other students filed in. A few glanced her way, and the two members of the cheer squad whispered and snickered, looking at her frequently.
Adrienne wanted to crawl away and hide in her locker. Instead, she tuned out everything around her and focused on decoding the journal. She flipped open her iPad only to see more horrible emails had started to trickle in.
An email from Emma caught her attention.
Adrienne,
We are still friends. I understand. Kimmie embarrasses me all the time. We can have salads today.
Your friend,
Emma
The simple message made Adrienne’s eyes mist over. How did sweet Emma bear through Kimmie’s bullying? Adrienne said a short prayer for her friend, thanking the spirits and the Christian and voodoo gods for sending someone like Emma into her life, especially now, when there really wasn’t anyone else she’d consider a friend.
Except maybe Jayden, if he spoke to her today.
Focused on the journal, Adrienne didn’t notice the class flying by. The bell rang, startling her. She put her things away hastily, wanting to make it to the next class fast enough to grab a seat in back.
As she walked through the hallways, she looked for Jayden or Kimmie, hoping she was able to run into both of them today at some point, yet dreading the interactions as well. Jayden ignoring her or laughing at her would crush her, and Kimmie would be horrible to deal with.
Adrienne grabbed the last seat in the back of her second class and checked her email. She hesitated before opening Tara’s email, afraid Jayden’s stepsister would be making fun of her like the rest. It was short.
Addy,
I’m serious – let’s hang out after school. We can get ice cream. I really do want Rene’s number.
Tara
Adrienne mumbled to herself. “You can have any guy at school. Leave Rene alone.”
What did Tara really want from her? Adrienne had sensed worry when they discussed curses. Had Kimmie hexed her, too?
Her daddy’s email popped up. Adrienne glanced up at the instructor then checked it, expecting it to be another brief note about how he was working late.
Addy,
They found her in our dumpster. I done called a realtor about moving. Not safe for you there.
Daddy
He included a link. Curious, Adrienne clicked on it and read the article about the latest victim of the elusive serial killer that had stalked the slums for almost five years. The cops claimed it was drug-related, though the press was openly disputing the claim, saying it was the serial killer that had been in the Projects for years.
Okay, no more alleys for me, Adrienne thought, reading the article. It was creepy to think about something this awful happening so close. She felt bad for the woman and lucky she had Rene to protect her.
Adrienne scrolled to the bottom of the article, her breath sticking in her throat.
The picture of the victim was the woman who came to visit her Saturday.
She re-read the article. The body was found Saturday evening when one of the residents of the apartment building took out the trash, with the police saying her time of death was a little after four, around the time Adrienne saw her.
Adrienne’s mind worked quickly, but she couldn’t piece together what might’ve happened. The woman had seemed possessed when she appeared in Adrienne’s apartment. What was the connection to her sister? Had this woman known Therese and been entrusted with the message?
She went through her sent box to find Candace’s email address and forwarded her daddy’s note to Candace with a note about how she’d seen the woman soon before the police said she’d been killed. Enthralled by the new mystery surrounding her sister, Adrienne sat in deep thought for her second class, trying to determine what might’ve happened. Had the possessed woman wandered into the alley after visiting Adrienne and been killed? In broad daylight?
Nothing made sense.
Tara emailed again, along with a few more students with the subject lines of Swamp Girl.
Adrienne deleted the other students’ emails then closed her inbox, not wanting to deal with the high maintenance sister of Jayden when she had something far more important on her mind.
She didn’t fit in. She never would. She needed to find Kimmie. Once she did, she could leave this place.
When the bell chimed to mark the end of her second class, she bolted from the room, desperate to fix one mess in her life. She couldn’t help the woman who died in the alley, but she might be able to address the curse.