The Magician's Witch

Deals at the Crossroads

***For those of you who do not know who this dapper gentleman is, this is Robert Johnson. Robert Johnson was considered the Father of the Blues. Not much is known about him, but his legend has inspired many Rock and Roll legends and urban legends alike, including being the "founder" of the infamous 27 Club***

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"Aria, that's enough drawing. Time for bed."

Aria looked up at Eilis, her eyes devastated by her mother's decree. "Five more minutes," she pleaded, the pencil poised over the image of a bridge she was copying freehand out of an architectural book she had gotten for her birthday.

Ronan laid on his belly next to his sister, a book of sheet music in front of him. He had been humming the melodies printed in measures on the pages while Aria drew. They took turns interrupting each other, pointing out a missing detail in Aria's drawing, or the wrong note being hummed.

"I already gave you five more minutes," Eilis told Aria firmly. "Five minutes is up. Come on. Put your things away, and go brush your teeth. You too, Ronan."

Both kids looked regretfully at each other, then sighed, getting up from the floor. Ronan closed his book and Aria replaced her pencil carefully in the set Laleh had given her along with the architectural book. They both placed their most prized possessions on the coffee table, then scurried down the hall to the bathroom.

Eilis listened to her kids chattering as they got ready for bed. Aria and Ronan were practically inseparable; some had even mistaken them for twins, as they were so alike in their mannerisms.

Eilis picked up Aria's picture of the bridge, examining it more closely. The details of Aria's drawing were so precisely accurate, from the arch of the bridge over the waterway to the shade of the stones to the reflection of the bridge in the water below.

As proud as Eilis was of her children's advanced skills, it still unnerved her sometimes to see the results of their inherent ingeniousness. She found herself feeling grudgingly sympathetic to the mother-in-law she had never met; while she could never condone Madeline's treatment of Erik as a child, she also knew that if she didn't have the support and encouragement of her friends and family, she would be at a loss with what to do with them.

Eilis replaced the picture where Aria had left it and walked down the hall to Aria and Ronan's bedroom. It had been reconfigured, bunk beds replacing the cribs that had once stood against the opposite walls. A dresser stood against the wall next to the door, the top of it littered with random items: a sock, a bracelet, pieces of broken crayons, a CD player with a homemade compilation of symphonies in it, a guitar pick, a set of tiny bongo drums.

A short music stand sat next to the dresser, another book of sheet music sitting open on it. A keyboard sat next to the music stand on the floor, a closed violin case propped up beneath the window sill. Aria, who was only slightly taller than the violin, had already mastered the first level of classes—at three years old! Ronan was not far behind his sister. They often played together—Aria playing the violin and Ronan on the keyboard. Eilis had sneakily taken videos with her phone as she listened to them play.

Several times, one person or another would try to convince Eilis to put her kids in one of those TV talent shows, but she would always grimace and turn the offer down.

Eilis had gotten into a huge fight with Dawn after her cousin had sent in a video on Eilis' behalf, without her permission. Eilis' cell phone had blown up for weeks afterward, all of those sleazy creeps calling, wanting to make money off of her kids' talents. One team had actually shown up to her house with cameras! Eilis had been furious and had had them escorted off, threatening to file a restraining order against them.