CHAPTER 4

Zelene

The house I lived in with Dalia was one owned by my grandmother, who claimed to be a witch. But I didn't believe in all that stuff.

Like I said, I only bore credence to logical explanations.

"How many boxes are left, mom?" Mikey asked.

"Just a couple. Don't get lazy on me now."

He looked like he might drop the one he was holding already.

I had rented one half of the house to Dalia but she always liked to stray into my half. It was a big house and I wondered how my grandma was able to afford it by being a florist.

Dalia would ask, "How was your granny able to buy this place anyway? Her husband helped?"

"No. I don't think she ever married."

"Maybe there's money in selling flowers. Or did she also sell weed?"

"Go to hell, Dalia."

My mom wasn't around to ask that question to. She died.

Everything in the house reminded me of my grandma. From the pictures with the racks to the smell.

"I'd like to rest for a while," Mikey said.

"You've got five minutes young man."

He dropped the box and sat down. "How's your arm, mom?"

"It'll heal," I told him and closed the lid of a box. It was already packed.

"Aunt Dalia told me about it."

I knew she'd rat me out, Dalia. Sometimes it made me feel she was spying on me to tell Mikey so she could get his attention. He was only twelve but age didn't stop Dalia from having a crush.

She once had a crush on Jaden Smith when he did Karate Kid with Jackie Chan. Then she moved in when she realized he wasn't replying her DMs.

"Did she now? She also told you how I got it?" I asked.

"Yeah. That some guy pulled a knife on you and some other guy swooped in like a wizard in a broomstick and dropped him somewhere else. Did you get the wizard's name?"

He was asking that because Dalia didn't know.

"No. Why?"

"So we could thank him. Maybe invite him for dinner?"

If I was still in good terms with Cain, I would have invited him for dinner instead.

"He left in a hurry, sweetheart."

"Oh. That's bad."

"Why did she say he was a wizard?"

"I don't know. Maybe she is still obsessed with the fact that grandma was a witch and we are living in her house."

I chuckled. "Yeah, she willed it to me. And grandma isn't a witch. She just claimed to be one."

"What's the difference? She'd admit to being one if she were alive."

Well, that was true.

"Okay."

"Why did she do that?" Mikey asked.

"She made brews with her flowers and her plants. When I used to come for holidays in the summer, I'd watch her. It was just mixture, sweetheart. She didn't have a flying broom or an invisible cloak. She was just grandma. Okay?"

He nodded. Mikey seemed to agree with me but I knew when Dalia talked to him, she'd turn him against me.

We finished with the boxes and I dropped him off at school. When I came back home, Dalia was awake and she was having a coffee in my kitchen. There was a plate of cookies in front of her.

She was still wearing that bum short and the spaghetti top. I ws glad that my son hadn't seen her that way this morning.

"Good morning," I said.

"Good morning. Dropped sweetheart off at school?" she asked.

"Yeah. Did he see you wearing that before I came home last night?"

I thought she'd smile but she didn't. She just gave me a big-eyed look and kept sipping her coffee.

"Today's my day off. I called at the hospital and told them what happened last night. They have given me some time to recuperate."

"Great. We can have some girly day out."

"What does that even mean?" I asked her.

"Don't act like you know nothing. Give me thirty minutes, then we'll head out."

One hour later, we were walking into a bar. Dalia was the one who ordered the drinks for both of us. Then we just sat down and she tried something funny.

"Let's say that we were just meeting each other after a very long time. Like you were out of Seattle and just returned. Met me and we are here having drinks."

"So what? We are playing catch up now?" I asked her.

"That's more like it."

It sounded like it was going to be fun. "So, what do you wanna know?"

"I know you're a nurse dear. That's your profession. But tell me why the hell you dropped your fashion designing."

"Come on, Dalia. You can tell how difficult it is to get freelance jobs as a designer in Seattle. Both online and offline. Only the big shots get that. Better I learned something in demand."

"But you can tell which one pays better," Dalia said. "Once you start getting those jobs, the nine till five work wouldn't matter to you that much."

"Why?"

"Because you'll be working twenty four seven, Zel."

"Yeah."

"Heard you and Cain finally separated."

"At last."

"You wanted it all along?"

"He didn't want me or my son. So it was better knowing that he wasn't there. But now, he wants in."

"Will you let him in?"

I shook my head. That wasn't a response anyway. I just wasn't sure if letting Cain back into our lives would mean any good.

The drink burned my throat when I drank. But it settled on the bottom of my belly with a relaxing feel. If I went too much, I'd soon feel too much relaxed.

"I'm still thinking it through, Dalia."

"Maybe he just wants Mikey," Dalia said.

It was awkward to hear but she had a point there. My child was probably the reason why Cain wanted to come back. The same child he had expected me to abort.

Effing bastard.

The door to the bar opened and the man I had been thinking about the whole night walked in.