Jinn & Curses

Chapter 14- Ugly Truth: Part Two

“Ouch that looks nasty, hon.” Aunt Cassie cringed as she eyed my forehead.

I’d removed the bandage, using only a little bit of medical tape and a lot of concealer. Clearly it hadn’t done much concealing. I glanced at my mother in an ‘I-told-you-so’ roll of my eyes, out of sight of Aunt Cassie. She was too busy crushing me to death with her notorious, bony hug.

My mother squeezed her lips tightly, eying me apologetically.

“It’s nice to see you, Cora Mae,” Uncle Joe announced in his deep, gravelly voice as he clenched my cheek. Even at nineteen years old he still did this to me.

Aunt Cassie kissed and embraced Helena and then kissed Abdul’s cheek in greeting. Uncle Joe shook his hand soon after, while Abdul complimented his huge, sizzling barbecue. Uncle Joe’s face lit up immediately, setting him off on a long conversation about it, while Abdul listened intently.

He was charming as usual and everyone seemed to take to him. He had a natural ability to start a conversation and keep it flowing; something I severely lacked unless I had known them for a while. I almost felt envious of him but shot that thought down with a mental scoff.

You’re jealous of Abdul?

Sadie pushed in front of me to embrace Uncle Joe. She loved him like he was a second father. He was a good man but I always felt awkward around men in or outside of the family. Apart from Logan of course.

“So what happened to you anyway?” Aunt Cassie inquired. That drew Uncle Joe’s attention and anyone else's standing within three feet of me, towards my face. I had tried to hide it with my hair swept to one side but it kept getting blown out of the way by an irritating breeze. “Have you been beatin’ her up?” Aunt Cassie turned to Helena, giggling.

My mom joined in and I smiled stiffly, feeling hot all over, wishing I could sit on a chair away from everyone and enjoy the warm sun for the first time in months.

“She went campin’ with some friends and this is how she came back. She slipped and hit her head on a rock.”

“Oh dear,” Aunt Cassie winced. “Well, you’re okay now, no brain damage?” she joked, looking at me warmly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. No harm done,” I replied, glancing around at the big crowd of loud people behind Uncle Joe’s head. Did they invite the whole town? There were at least a hundred people squished into the large backyard, though with all the bodies, it didn't look so big anymore.

My mom then insisted on talking about the car I apparently 'totaled'. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and hide away. Unfortunately, even if I'd tried I would have been blocked by the high volume of strangers on the main decking.

“What did you hit?” Uncle Joe asked whilst swinging the metal barbecue tongues round his index finger.

“Almost hit a buck. I tried to move out of its path, spun on some ice and clipped a tree.” I had spent all that time in the hospital trying to come up with a good excuse. I'd had none that would explain the burn marks so I feigned ignorance. Guys wouldn't expect a girl to know much about cars anyway. For once I could accept that sexist misconception if it saved me from more questioning.

Uncle Joe bobbed his head, his expression thoughtful. “You have to be more careful on the roads. Next time, I suggest you allow the car to hit the buck, if it saves you instead.”

I bit down hard on the inside skin of my lip, pushing the feeling of annoyance from my expression as I forced a smile.

“Well, I’m sure y’all must be hungry. You go right on ahead. The buffet has been set up over there. I'll bring more meat as Joe cooks,” Aunt Cassie said to all of us with a wide grin.