The Art of Practicing Magic Alone

Four- Girls Day From Hell

Saturday mornings are for the girls. Or at least, that's what my mother likes to say. And when she woke to find Ellis lounging on our porch, she swiftly told him so.
"Not that I'm not glad to see that you two have been getting closer, but rules are rules."
She gave a small shrug and let herself back into the house through the screen door. When I was sure that she was out of earshot, I leaned in a bit closer to Ellis.
"I'm sorry, where were we?" I asked.
"I was just saying that my dad has a life insurance policy on my mother, the one that I mentioned yesterday. It's been what has sustained us since she died."
"I mean, yeah, that's fairly common for couples to do. I think my mom and dad had the same thing."
"I want to find out when he took it out. That could give us some clues as to what his motive was or at least, prove that he had been planning this." Ellis replied. He put his finger to his lip and closed his eyes to think. "I think I know exactly where he keeps all of his important papers and I definitely know where he keeps all of the things regarding mom."
"And what would you like me to do?"
"I want you to enjoy girl's day. Talk to your mom and get information about my mother in those last months- how she acted, what her moods were like. I want to know if she knew something was up or if my mother gave her any indication that something was going on."
I nodded my head, "I can do that. I'm good at prying and my mother loves to talk."
"Well, you better get in there and start your girl's day before your mother comes back out here. I'll see you later?"
"For sure. Be careful and call me if you need anything."
"Will do, Jones." He stuck up his hand and then jogged across the way back to his house. I turned, my socks mushy and stuck in between my toes. "Hey, Ernessa."
I whipped around, "Yes?" Ellis was perched on his porch now, mug back in hand.
"What ever happened to your dad?"
I sighed, "Long story."
"Will you tell me it sometime?"
Instead of an answer, I just smiled and waived. Inside, Goldie was just waking up, her red hair was wild. I slipped out of my socks and threw them at the wall.
"You're gross." She said, attempting to keep her hair out of her face. Every time she pushed it back, it fell right back down in front of her eyes.
"Here, let me." I grabbed one of my hair ties from the dresser and sat down on the bed. "Turn around."
"Where were you?" Goldie asked as I began to lace her hair between my fingers.
"Just on the back porch."
"You're so cryptic all of the time. Why were you on the back porch?"
"I was talking to Ellis."
"Ahh," She said, "I see. Did you tell him that we were full on prepared to put ourselves in the line of fire to save him last night?"
I rolled my eyes, "You know I didn't."
"Well you should have. He should be grateful to have you as a friend."
I finished the braid and tied it off. "All done." She turned around and kissed me on the cheek. One curl still hung loose in front of her face. I tucked it behind her ear.
"You're the best. I love you the most."
"You're going to love me less when you realize you're here on a saturday morning and therefore stuck here for girl's day with my mom."
Goldie stuck out her tongue and threw herself back onto the pillows. "I may or may not have an appointment this morning."
"Oh no, you don't. You aren't getting out of girl's day with the Jones women." I rolled onto my back next to her. She sighed and fumbled with her pajama pant strap.
"Don't worry, you know that I love hanging out with you guys. Beats hanging out with my family who suck the literal life out of me in an attempt to get me not to leave."
"It's good logic- you can't leave if you're dead." I replied.
Goldie and I laid in bed for a while longer, cocooning ourselves in my purple sheets. She liked to tuck herself completely in, looping the blanket under her feet and then burrowing inside. So many of our sleepovers ended with us pressed together, if not, she'd surely take all of the blankets for herself.
"I'm glad we're going to the same college." I said, finally. "I'd miss your body heat too much if you were gone."
"Me too." She replied, quietly. The room felt quiet and warm and we whispered back and forth to each other as if we could prevent anything from changing.
"You know my mom is going to come in here any second and force us to get ready."
"I'm pretending that won't happen today."
I smiled, "I appreciate your optimism." Goldie rolled over onto her side and squinted at me, her glasses still resting on the nightstand.
"So what happened with Ellis?"
"I told him that I was going to help him find out what happened to his mom. He's going to look through his father's things for an insurance policy that was taken out on his mother."
"What are you going to do?" She asked.
"I'm going to take advantage of this beautiful girl's day and ask my mom about his mom's behavior in the weeks leading up to her death. My mom and his mom were fairly close so I'm sure she noticed something."
"I know this may be highly inappropriate of me to ask but, how did she die anyways?"
"Suicide. Well, that's what Ellis was told and that's what he doesn't believe. He seems to think that would be out of character for her."
"Was it?"
"I don't know," I sighed, "I don't remember her much. She was always here at odd times, either early in the morning or after I had gone to bed so I just remember her in passing."
"What do you think will happen if she did just... do it?"
"I'm not sure, I don't think Ellis would take it very well."
"Do you think that his father will find out and skin the both of you?" She joked.
"I don't know. Stop scaring me." I hit her on the shoulder.
"Ow!" Goldie yelled, "I'm just listing all the possibilities here. My mom basically breathes the investigation channel and I have a very active imagination."
"Well, from now on, keep those disturbing thoughts to yourself."
"I can't make any promises."
My door opened and my mother stood in the doorway, her hair pinned behind her ears. In her hand was a small spray bottle that she used to water the plants in the living room.
"Girls! Why aren't you getting dressed? You know what day it is. I have big plans for today and you haven't even had breakfast yet." She took a step forward.
"Mom, going to the same dead strip mall in town every saturday and eating lunch at that old diner you love so much, isn't a big day." I quipped.
"You really are the biggest brat that I know." She replied. Suddenly, she began to spray the water all over us. Goldie and I screamed. "You girls better get dressed right now and I don't want to hear another word about it or I'll come back in here with a bucket."
She gave another spritz for good measure. "Okay, okay!" I yelled over Goldie's squeals.
"Thank you, I'll be expecting you both in the next fifteen minutes- dressed. I'll have breakfast on the table."
Goldie turned to me and smiled, "She is completely insane."
"Tell me about it."
"Maybe she'll skin you before Mr. Fisher has the chance."
Goldie rummaged through her bag for something to wear while I pulled things from the back of my closet and threw them onto the bed. "I brought nothing that I really feel like wearing right now."
"Do you want to run back to your house?" I asked.
"No, if they see me, they'll want me to stay... Can I borrow something of yours?"
I smiled and put my hands on my hips, "Are you sure anything I own would be up to your standards?"
"I'll manage."
Without her crazy outfits, Goldie looked almost completely different. I gave her a pair of black jeans and one of my favorite red sweaters. I tied a black ribbon around the end of the braid and pulled out a few curls to frame her face. "Voila!" I said when she was dressed. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at me.
"Beautiful." She replied.
And even though it was true, she looked beautiful in anything, I decided that I liked her best when she looked like herself. "You'll have to let me dress you up next time." Goldie said.
My mother made the same breakfast she made every Saturday since before I could remember- animal shaped pancakes with chocolate chips, eggs fried in bacon fat, and fresh orange juice. Despite my exaggerated disdain for Saturdays, I appreciated the consistency of knowing that I'd wake up to the same breakfast with the same plates and cups we'd had forever. When my father was still in the picture, my mother would make him eat in the living room like he was shunned. So when he left, Saturdays were the only days that felt normal for a while.
Goldie had spent enough Saturdays with my family that she knew what to expect from the day and enjoyed it more than I had anticipated at first. I think more than anything, she loved a free meal and my mother could provide that in spades. Her family didn't eat much of anything that they didn't grow themselves and I had always harbored the sneaking suspicion that the meat they ate was purely roadkill.
With a mouth full of pancakes, Goldie turned to my mother and said, "Saturdays are my absolute favorite." And my mother shot her a wink across the table.
Magic was strictly off limits if Goldie was around. On days when she wasn't, I might have woke to find the pancakes floating or some invisible hand taking care of the eggs while my mom searched the house for her other shoe. I half expected my mother to forget that Goldie was here on some occasions and worried that my friend would wander out into the hallway only to find my mother recreating the ending of Beetlejuice or something. But my mother was inherently careful by nature, as I had grown to become since discovering what became of those who weren't.
When breakfast had been eaten, the dishes washed, and mother properly groomed for a day out on the town, we loaded into my mother's silver impala and began the twenty minute drive to the strip mall. Lying on the outside of our small town and another, the strip was always under construction to build a store that no one would shop at because the people around town didn't like change.
That day, the sun was especially bright for the beginning of springtime. The parking lot was empty, just hot blacktop and faded white lines. My mother always entered the strip with intense purpose and I could already see her foaming at the mouth, hoping to spot the deal that she could talk about for the rest of the day. I crossed my fingers in the backseat and hoped that Goldie's presence would prevent me from having to try on any number of horrendous outfits my mother pulled from the clearance bin.
Goldie and I hung back as my mom sifted through overstuffed racks. The lights above made the room look sterile like a mental hospital in an old indie film.
"So, when are you going to start asking your mom for information on Ellis's mom?" Goldie asked, pressing her shoulder into mine.
"Not right now. I'll do it later." I replied. Scrunching up her face, Goldie rested against a rack.
"You're no fun. I wanted to see you in action, Nancy Drew."
"Well, you're going to have to wait. I want to let her enjoy at least part of my day before I start delving into the depressing details of her best friend's potential murder."
We spent two hours at the strip, my mother only appeased when she had three bags hanging from her arms, filled to the brim. Goldie joined her in her scavenger hunt once she realized that I wasn't going to launch my investigation right away. On our way out of the mall, in the blistering heat, I saw what wasn't a mirage but instead, demons rising from hell. It was the Gadsby twins.
Both dressed in mini skirts, they sashayed over in perfect harmony.
"Ernessa," Paisley said, dragging out the end of my name. "I didn't know you hung out at the mall."
"I don't." I replied curtly.
Noting my mother's presence, they both stuck out their hands but only Paisley spoke. "We're Penelope and Paisley, we go to school with Ernessa."
"Nice to meet you girls. You're Pamela Gadsby's daughters, right?"
"Yes!" They answered in unison.
"I can tell." The venom in her words sweet but deliberate. This was my mom's specialty. She looked them up and down and smiled, "I'm going to take our bags to the car. Don't take too long girls."
When she was out of earshot, the twins exchanged looks and as if they were wearing a full body suit before, they shifted into the versions of themselves that I was so familiar with.
"It's so nice to see you two outside of school." Penelope smiled.
"I wish I could say the same." Goldie huffed. I glanced over at her. Her hand was already on her hip and normally that would have made her look silly, but dressed in all black, she looked dangerous almost. Her red hair glistened in the light and her eyes stared daggers at the twins.
"Your feisty outside of school, Goldie. Maybe some of your energy will rub off on Charles Manson over here." Paisley gestured towards me.
"I really am missing the point of this whole interaction." I stated. "You could have went about your day without saying a word to either of us."
"That would have been no fun. Besides, we wanted to talk to you."
"What about?"
"Well we heard that you've been spending a lot more time with Ellis." Paisley started.
"And we just wanted you to know that Paisley is already six months deep into flirty text with him and they're basically already a couple." Penelope finished.
They both had this ridiculous purple eyeshadow on that I couldn't stop staring at while they talked.
"So what is your point?" Goldie asked.
"Yeah, and how did you even find out we had hung out?"
"We have our ways, True Blood." Penelope said pointedly.
"The point is, I want you to stay away from him. He doesn't need someone like you dragging him down. God knows your kind is good at that."Paisley took a step closer.
"What's 'my kind'?"
"You Jones women. Everyone in town knows all about you. I won't let you do to Ellis what your mom did to your dad."
"This is absurd." I grabbed Goldie's hand and pushed passed them.
"His mom died, Ernessa. You should really be more sympathetic, especially when people are trying to help."
"Like you?" I whipped around.
"Yes, like me. I should get an award for keeping him away from the likes of you."
Her words were firm but I could tell that she was unsure of what she was saying. Behind her, Penelope stood like a mobster's henchman ready to pounce. Goldie's hand still in mine, I began to laugh and started towards the car. Paisley knew nothing. She may have been six months deep in texts but Ellis had confided in me and that bothered her. In a small voice I could hear Penelope say: "That whole fucking family are a bunch of freaks. Did you see the way her mom looked at us?"
At the diner, Goldie shoveled fries in her mouth and relayed the interaction to my mother. I didn't participate though, just looked out of the window at the cars coming and going. In the middle of their conversation, I interjected: "Why does everyone around here have something against us?"
My mom sat back in the booth. She didn't say anything.
I continued, "I mean, it is absurd how fast information travels about us. I hung out with Ellis once! In my own house! Not like it matters. It wouldn't matter what I did because they've all made their minds up. I just want to know why."
"I'm sure there isn't anything anyone could trace it back to." Goldie looked at me, "I mean, look at how they treat me."
"It's more than that. It's different."
And it was. They teased Goldie. They hated me.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know."
I did know but I couldn't tell Goldie. I couldn't ask my mom the real questions in front of her and I definitely couldn't say the M-word. As absurd as my theory always felt, I couldn't think of another reason why the people hated us. People hated witches. Why was it crazy to think they hated them without even knowing the truth?
My moms face had dropped and she sat quiet for a moment, we all did. Eventually, her hand moved across the table and took mine.
"Sometimes things happen without us even knowing. They happen long before us or when we are not around and decisions are made that we have to live with. I'm sorry that the people around us decided that we weren't worth getting to know but that is no reflection on you." She smiled reassuringly. "It's on them."
I longed to say, "What things? What things happened before I was born that determine how miserable I am today?"
But instead I just squeezed her hand back and said: "Thank you."
My mother gave the same look to Goldie before she resumed eating her meal. Our words hung in the air around us and I felt stiff and unsure of what to say next. I shifted in my seat. "Would you say, then, that Ellis's mother was a victim of things that happened without her knowledge or decisions made in her absence or is that different?"
Next to me, Goldie's eyes widened.
"Why do you say that?" My mom replied.
"I was just asking. Hanging out with Ellis has made me curious is all."
I could sense that she was uncomfortable but I was too deep to retreat.
"His mother... was a victim of circumstances that she knew all too much about. There was no mystery for her." Her eyes darkened, "And that's all I care to say about that."