As the youngest Shelby child and twin to Finn Shelby, Kezia has spent the last 4 of her 10 years locked away for her mental defectiveness.
She returns to Small Heath under the legal guardianship of her brother, Thomas Shelby. Despite knowing she's s...
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
"Do you believe in soulmates, Kizzie?"
"What're those?"
The Lee family and Kizzie sat during their nightly campfire and dinner. Some members played instruments and sang folk tales. Kizzie sat with Esme and her mother, Zilpha.
The matriarch adjusted the blankets over her legs. "The second half of one's soul," she explained. "For people like you, and many others of our kin, we sometimes have the sense of who our soul belongs to even before we meet them."
"Why would my soul be with someone else?"
"We cannot always understand the spiritual, Kizzie. We can see it. Speak to it. But understanding takes the most time. We may never get there." She gave Esme a knowing look.
The girl stood. "I'm feeling tired. Tomorrow we can ride horses?"
Kizzie nodded. "Please!" She watched her new friend disappear into the crowd.
"You have already met yours."
Kizzie's head whipped around to face the woman. "Really?"
Zilpha chuckled. "Yes, little one. Alfred Solomons."
"O-oh. No, he's just--"
"Your dreams tell otherwise. As do his colors. They love you. Need you. Understand you."
Kizzie did not know if the burn in her cheeks was from the fire or embarrassment. "How do you know about that?"
"I know many things." She leaned forward and whispered, "That is my gift."
"Well...he is nice. He's actually not. But he's really nice to his dog. He's really smart. I can listen to him talk all day but I rarely get the chance to. He's always in the back. Yelling at people." He's also beautiful and shines a brilliant gold.
"What do you think he thinks of you?"
"Me?"
"Mhm."
Was this a trick? Kizzie didn't have an opinion about herself. Well, she did. But Tommy and her brothers often scolded her when she spoke "ill" of herself. "...I don't know."
"I want you to take the time you're here to think about it."
"Okay."
The matriarch added wood to the fire. "Would you believe me if I told you sometimes people have two soulmates?"
"Two?"
"Well there are two halves of one soul, no?"
Kizzie thought about it. Numbers made no sense, and she knew they should at her age. She also had no clue what halves meant. "Yeah," she lied.
"One for a lover. One for a pure friendship. I'd be willing to guess that, in every life you have lived, you and Tommy have been a part of each other."
