Heterodox (BOOK 2)

Chapter 21

~Vesper~

"You called?"

"Yeah." Mrs. Lee shakes out the apron with gusto and swiftly fastens it around me as I plop down on the chair. "Let's hurry this up. It's getting dark."

I guess Circe doing her hair today is out of the question then...

"After six, this neighborhood is no place to be for a young girl like you," agreed Delu, coming over with a hairdryer and starts to unwrap the damp towel from my head. "How are you and your friend getting home?"

"Oh, Circe's brother is coming for us... though he should've arrived by now." I see Delu and Mrs. Lee share a look through the mirror and then turn back to the task at hand. I guess they still picked up on the worry I tried so hard to hide.

Delu pats my shoulder consolingly and I can see her gentle eyes. "I'm sure he'll show up sooner or later."

Yeah, but when?

Just as I am about to change the topic, Amako strolls by waving dollar bills in Delu's face and giving them a long exaggerated sniff. From the mirror, I can see that Mrs. Lee was peeved.

"You just love winning, don't ya Amako?" Delu queries with a smile.

Amako gives her a wink and shrugs as if it didn't matter at all to her that one of her sisters was probably plotting revenge. "You know I do. As long as a certain someone doesn't learn their lesson-"

Mrs. Lee releases a low growl.

"-I will never be broke!"

"Never again," Mrs. Lee mutters under her breath as Delu shakes her head.

"Oh please sis," Amako pushes a small stool by my side for her to stand on and plugs in the hairdryer. "You say that every time."

I could hear Mrs. Lee counting back from ten, each exhale slower than the last, all to calm down and restrain herself from killing somebody. "Let's get started, shall we?"

Off came the towel and the drying process commenced.

"Close your eyes," Amako directs, but still covers my eyes with her small hand to jumpstart action. "I want it to be a surprise." The other sisters hum in agreement.

After a while of silence with only the sound of the hairdryer blowing warm air and combs passing through my hair, I got bored. "Tell me about MB," I start.

One of the pairs of hands pause abruptly and start again just as quickly. I have a feeling that the culprit was Mrs. Lee.

"What you wanna know?" she asks shakily, but I can tell she was stalling.

"MB told me he was originally from Malawi? What made all of you leave?"

"Oh, you know, the same old." Frustration surged through her voice, and the gentleness she once had before when tending to my hair started to flee. "Discrimination. Colorism. Whatever you call it."

"Malawi isn't the best place to have an albino child," Amako states. "It can become very dangerous for them and their family; especially around election time."

"What is so special about election time?" I know; I'm probably overstepping my boundaries but once I get curious I'm sure you know already; there is no stopping me.

"Election time is when politicians get desperate," Mrs. Lee elaborates, "When grown men who claim brilliance and have studied law and logic, decide to turn to old superstitions. That is when they suddenly believe in luck and they will go to any extent to get it. Which means unearthing some witch doctor who counsels them into getting  some albino bones."