| |
“I GOT SOME NEWS,” KATY said as Eve joined her in the back of the deli.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, and the trio of godmothers is now staying with Lola. You lucked out, I was about to ask you to take them for a while.”
“Ed would have loved that,” she answered sarcastically. While Katy was her best friend and had been for years, it never changed the fact that Ed was a Normal and wasn’t always comfortable with all the things that went along with Not-So-Normal Town’s eccentricities.
Katy groaned. “Chip wasn’t exactly thrilled, though he got on well enough with them. After I close shop, I’m heading to Lola’s house. Something interesting came out. She found out her mother had been lying to her for a while. She was livid. I think she still is. Well, maybe confused now. So, she was really angry with her mom, but then after she died had a lot of guilt over being upset. There’s more to the story. Turns out that her mother cast a spell on her father. He’s now a frog.”
Eve gasped. “A frog?”
“Yep, you’ve got that right,” Katy said with a nod. “She apparently did it eons ago, after their daughter was born. Lola thought her father died in a car accident. Turns out he didn’t croak after all...err, okay, so he croaks, but didn’t croak.”
“Wow, that’s nuts.”
Katy started to giggle. “Oh, this is so bad.”
“What? What?” Eve egged on.
“I guess that would make him a green Bean!”
The women burst out laughing.
“Okay, that was bad. Back to business. I’m going to go by after work and check in on her. I’m not sure if she’s made arrangements for her mother’s funeral yet. Last I saw her, she was really overwhelmed and wasn’t sure where to start. Whereas I’ve been planning my mother’s funeral for years,” she teased, knowing her mother was listening in.
Doris burst through the door. “Katy!”
“It was a joke, Mom. You’ve been busted. I knew you were listening in.”
Doris shrugged. “I’m just paying attention to my surroundings.”
“Is that what we’re calling it these days.” Katy shuffled her mother to the front of the deli and returned to talk with Eve.
Rocco scuttled back in not a few moments later with the lobster and clams. “Sorry, I’m a little late.”
“Hey, Pops!” Eve said.
“Eve, you, gorgeous creature. I swear if I was twenty years younger, I’d give Ed a run for his money.”
“Don’t be creepy, Pop,” Katy said.
“Creepy? You think I’m dead or something. Eve is a beautiful woman.”
Katy shook her head. She really needed to find an employee, stat! “Where have you been?”
“Played a few hands of poker with the boys on the docks,” he whispered. “Don’t tell your mother.”
“I heard that,” she said from the next room.
“She has the ears of a basset hound, I swear.” He grumbled and walked out to greet Doris.
Katy turned back to Eve. “Do you want to go to Lola’s with me, tonight? I’m hoping she got more information on the autopsy report.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll go. I’ll be back when you close up shop.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Katy answered.
***
WHEN KATY AND EVE SHOWED up at Lola’s house, Lola was surprised. Katy stumbled. “I should have called first. I didn’t think, I’ve just been worried about you.”
“It’s not a problem. Would you like to come in?” Lola opened the door wider.
The women made their way to the living room. Hazel was sprawled on her belly across the carpet, Dolly sat in a chair with her legs up over the side, and Faye was in a basin of water, floating on a miniature home-made raft from twigs in the yard.
Faye raised an arm. “Hey, Katy.”
“Hi Faye, this is my friend Eve. She was in the classroom with me when we met. Hazel, Dolly...” Katy greeted.
Lola sat and clasped her hands in her lap. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s what we can do for you. Have you started making the arrangements for your mother yet? Do you need help?”
Lola looked down and inhaled slowly. “She wants her body donated to science. I went through some of her things. I found a lockbox and a few important papers. Thankfully, I found a key for it in her jewelry box. I wouldn’t have found it otherwise. We never talked about stuff like a will before. I’m not sure of the proper channels to go through, but I guess maybe a lawyer should look at it. I’ve spoken with someone in the coven, and they pointed me toward a lawyer to speak with.”
“Wow, okay, that’s good to know.”
“The problem is...” she hesitated. “I’m having a really hard time with this. Look, I love science as much as the next person and appreciate those who have given their bodies to science, but I’m not sure I can follow her wishes. It’s freaking me out. The idea of what happens... She should rest peacefully, not be in pieces and shipped off to a lab.”
Katy sat beside her. “If that’s what your mother wanted, you need to respect her wishes. I know it’s difficult. My mother had such a hard time with her mother’s request for cremation when she died. She tortured herself over the prospect, but she was gently reminded, this is not about what we want. It’s what they want.”
“I know, but...” she couldn’t finish. Lola wrapped her arms around herself. She nodded and leaned against Katy.
Katy wrapped her arm over her side and pulled the girl close. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I can’t stop thinking about her. Sometimes I’m angry at her for leaving me so soon, the next minute I’m horrified that I’ve been angry with her, and the next I’m sad and miss her so much.”
“All natural reactions,” Katy said, trying to comfort the girl.
Eve spoke softly. “Angry about?”
Lola looked up. Her eyes caught fire. “My father, the lies, all of it.”
“Oh,” Eve said. She’d hit a nerve.
Lola stood up and started to pace. “My entire life was a lie. I never met my father, and the man she made-up was a fictitious version of whatever was in her head. I need to find him, talk to him, well...anyway, find if there’s a way to turn him back into a person. I have a father. She was bitter, and took away his life over something between them. How can I not hate her for what she’s done? And yet, she’s the only family I’ve known and has always been there for me. Without the lie, my upbringing was warm and wonderful. It was all an illusion, a hoax, all lies. Everything I built with my mother has fallen like a house of cards. How do I know everything else she ever said wasn’t a lie too? I hate her. I hate her so much for what she did to me...for what she did to my father....”
Katy waited for Lola to stop pacing and venting. “Have you gotten any news back on the autopsy?”
“Why does it matter? Somebody did me a favor. I’ve never felt so betrayed in my life, and it turns out my own mother was the master of that plan. Maybe the flu shot got to her. I don’t even care. You know what? I don’t care if she is bagged up and sent to labs. I’m washing my hands of her. I’m finished. My entire childhood was a lie. She’s lucky I didn’t kill her myself.”
Eve’s eyes flew open wider. “You don’t mean that.”
Lola dropped her head. “I don’t know what I believe anymore.”
Hazel chimed in. “Why don’t I make you some tea? Eve, maybe you could help me, since I don’t have my magic pouch or hands. In fact, you could do it! You don’t even need my help.”
Eve nodded blindly, and made her way to the kitchen. She had no idea where everything was, so she said a quick spell and opened all the cabinets at once. She spoke and waved her hands. “Open the cabinets nice and slow, reveal the contents as you go.”
The cabinets opened. Plates, glasses, pots, pans, food staples, but not tea. Ah, a couple of glass canisters sat on the counter. Inside one was a stash of tea bags. Before she started to close the cabinets, she scanned the contents in case she needed to find honey or sugar.
“Katy, could you come here a moment?” Her gaze landed on something of interest. “Lola, could you join us?”
“What is it?” Katy asked.
Lola grew defensive. “What are you doing going through my stuff? You should leave. I don’t want you here. It’s time to leave.”
Katy turned to Lola, confused by the change in her demeanor. “What’s going on?”
Eve held a vial in her hands. “Care to explain what this potion is?”
Lola groaned and grabbed it from Eve. “It’s none of your concern.”
“I recognize the vial. That’s not just any potion.”
Lola closed her eyes and held her hands close to her heart, the vial intact. “Yes, I went there. I went to the love doctor. I was looking for a love potion, not that it’s any of your business. I tucked it aside, and haven’t used it yet. I got in for when I found my father. I thought maybe with the right potion, my mother and father could fall in love again. Foolish? Yes. Childish? Yes. I know, but my head hasn’t been right since I found out. I was only in the planning stages anyway. I have no idea how to find my father.”
Katy sighed. She pulled Lola into a hug. “Sweetie, you’ve been through a lot.”
Lola nodded and rested her head against Katy. “I’m scared and lonely.”
“You don’t have to be. You’ve got me. I’ll be there for you, through thick and thin. I’m not talking about replacing your mother, but I’d be happy to step in when you need guidance, help, or just a shoulder. You’re not alone,” Katy reminded.
“Thank you,” the girl whispered.
“Do you want to stay with me for a while?”
She shook her head no. “I appreciate it. I’ll take you up on that offer at some point, but right now I’m still reeling. I called school and put my semester on hold. I can’t think straight. I’ll get back to university later. I’m going to need to sell the house and move, go through everything, figure out bills, money...”
“It’s a lot. I can be there every step of the way.”
“You have your own life— the deli, your husband. I can’t ask you to step in and take over mine. I’m an adult. I’ll figure it out.”
Katy nodded. “If you need anything, talk to me.”
“You’re the best.” Lola stepped back. “I mean it. I appreciate knowing I have somebody to turn to.”
Katy nudged her the slightest bit. “Did you hear anything on the autopsy report?”
“Yeah, actually I did. They’re sending some samples out for a toxicology inquiry. They think they’ve found something, but can’t identify what it is yet. An unknown substance was found is all that they told me.”
