Heavy is the Head

Fae - 3

Chapter 33

"This is the Hour of Lead 
Remembered, if outlived,
As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow 
First Chill, then Stupor, then the letting go."

- Emily Dickinson 

PART 6: ICE & SNOW

The first thing I noticed when I stepped through the door was the Evening Star shining brightly in the darkening sky. The second thing was the the hints of honey and warm sugar floating tantalisingly down the street all mixed up in the rich intoxicating scent of freshly baked cakes. Even with Fae's spell, I could feel my stomach begin to rumble. Across the road from us, a little girl with colourful beads in her hair was playing the Don't Step on The Crack game, and her uneven walking pattern, alternating between massive leaps and tiny quick steps meant she was now far behind her mother who was waiting for her at the traffic lights with her hands on her hips.

"Lord give me strength. Nola, do you smell that? That's Aunty Tiana's famous beignets and if we get there and they're already sold out, so help me..." 

"Sorry Mama, I'm coming." Nola ran forward and slipped her tiny hand into her mother's. Together, they began speed-walking towards the orange-yellow glow of the cafe on the corner of the street, a bit further up, with the words Duke's Cafe emblazoned in red lights.

"Tiana is our wisher." Fae said, already following them. "Works at that cafe up there."

Despite it getting close to closing time, Duke's Cafe was extremely busy. The ding of the cash register was incessant and waiters and waitresses were dishing out trays of food like their lives depended on it. The most popular waitress by far was Tiana, who everybody seemed to know, although all I could see of her was a blur because she was moving around so quickly. The chorus of "Hey Tiana!", and her upbeat "Hey, y'all!" was as constant as the abnormally loud ticking of the clock mixed in with the calls from the other workers.

"Another coffee here, chère!"

"You need a napkin, sweetheart?"

"Here are your hotcakes."

"Flapjacks for Violet!"

Eventually the queue gradually thinned out and the glass display at the front was finally revealed. By the time Nola and her mother got to the front, there were a few buttery croissants, a single ham and cheese sandwich and a slightly sad-looking chocolate muffin. There was not a single beignet in sight.

"Sorry, Georgia." A worker with the name tag, 'Buford' said impatiently. "No beignets left."

"No beignets!" Georgia exclaimed, giving Nola a hard stare. Nola was completely unaware of her mother's plight, having found entertainment in watching a man who had dropped his lidless coffee and was currently contemplating the meaning of life, staring straight ahead with glazed eyes. "Alright, we'll have two hot chocolates to go then please, Buford. Oh, and let Tia know I hope to see her at Lottie's party when you get a chance, will you? All she ever does is work, work, work. She needs a change of scenery." 

"So normal people do exist." I said to Fae, tilting my head in the direction of around five or six students huddled in a corner, working on a group project.   

"Nah, they don't. Trust me on that." Fae said. "I wouldn't be surprised if one of those kids is a shape-shifting frog or something." 

Georgia and Nola received their hot chocolates, then Fae put on a false, bright smile and stepped forward. "Hiya. Please could we speak to Tiana for a moment?"