by Meltem Y. K
CHAPTER 5
Jayna was the last to arrive. The men were in the back yard having beers; Liam was out with them chasing butterflies. The dinner table was set with all the delicious food her grandmother had prepared complete with a centerpiece of fresh flowers from her garden.
“Jayna, go call your dad and grandpa to come in, hon. Dinner is ready,” Evelyn said.
Jayna walked out on the deck, “Dinner is ready,” she announced.
“Hi Jay,” Liam came running and hugged Jayna, his arms wrapping around her hips.
“Hey kiddo, how is the butterfly hunt going?”
“I wasn’t trying to catch them. Just wanted one to land on my hand, but they are pretty shy.”
“I bet they are. Why don’t we go wash your hands?”
Liam and Jayna walked back into the house holding hands.
Evelyn was watching her grandchildren from the kitchen window; she smiled approvingly at Jayna and Liam’s interaction.
“You are lucky to have such good children, Grace,” Evelyn told her daughter. “Look how well those two get along. We are so blessed. Heaven protect our family.”
“Mom, where is all this sentimental stuff coming from,” Grace asked.
“Sometimes we have to stop and count our blessings; that’s all. Family is the most important thing in life.”
Grace was taken aback. Her mother’s comment about the sanctity of family hit a raw nerve in her.
“Yes, I know that, mom. I am grateful for my family.”
“Then why the sad look on your face, Grace,” Evelyn asked. Nothing escaped the sharp eyes of a caring mother. Evelyn’s gaze bore into Grace’s soul.
“Paul is the best husband I could ask for, and our children are the greatest thing that happened to us.”
“But…” Evelyn asked worried.
“Lately, Paul’s been acting weird. He’s become quiet and withdrawn. Something’s bothering him, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
Grace blinked back the tears before they escaped.
“I am sorry, mom. I didn’t mean to worry you. I am sure it’s just my imagination. Everyone has an off day here and there.”
Evelyn didn’t make a comment, just nodded quietly.
The family sat around the dining room table and dug into the delicious food Evelyn had spent the day preparing. Bill and Evelyn were sitting at either end of the table, Grace and Paul on the one side; Jayna and Liam on the other. Bill looked over his family and puffed up his chest with pride, every bit the patriarch.
“What are you doing this summer, Jayna? Any prospects for a summer job,” Bill asked his granddaughter.
“I am going to be running summer camps at the Kung Fu club, Grandpa,” Jayna said. “We have a lot of registrations this summer so they need me full-time. Liam is going to camp there too. We’ll have lots of fun together. ”
Liam smiled from ear to ear nodding in agreement and showing the gaps of his missing teeth. “Jayna and I are gonna be Kun Fu masters.”
Everyone laughed.
“And how are the university applications coming along, Jayna?” As a retired high school teacher Bill was all about education.
“I got accepted by all of the five I applied to. My first choice was Waterloo, so I am going there,” Jayna explained.
Bill nodded approvingly; Evelyn flashed a smile at her granddaughter.
“And how are things at the office, Paul?” Bill asked going around the table.
“Busy; I just started a new project. It looks like it will take up a lot of my time,” Paul said.
Jayna felt the blood in her veins turn to ice when she heard about the new project. This was the one where he would have to spend a lot of time with the slut that had designs on him.
Grace didn’t say anything, she quietly watched her husband. Jayna was quick to pick up the change in her mother’s mood. She wondered if her mother knew anything about the woman in Paul’s office.
“How is your research coming along, dad?” Grace asked her father, and changed the subject when Paul did not elaborate. She wondered if stuff at work was causing Paul to be stressed and quiet.
Bill was busy researching their family tree. He wanted to trace back their family’s history and pass it to the future generations.
“I am finding out a lot of interesting things. Stuff I never imagined I would find. It appears that we have some interesting personalities amongst our ancestors.”
“Not any serial killers, I hope,” Grace joked.
“No, no serial killers, but a certain ancestor stands out: Sir Arthur of Ramsey Shire was a knight who went to the holy lands with Richard the Lionheart and made quite a name for himself. So far he is the most distinguished figure we have in our lineage.”
Jayna’s eyes popped open. “Oh my God,” she exclaimed. “You gotta be kidding.”
What would you say if I told you that I just met him?
Everyone at the table thought her exclamation was because of their ancestor’s connection to the legendary king.
Her grandfather puffed out his chest with pride. “No kidding at all, this is all true. Sir Arthur became a favorite of King Richard. There are very few kings in history who are as loved and hero worshipped as Richard the Lionheart. He was already commanding armies and putting down rebellions against his father, King Henry the second, at the age of sixteen. Legend has it that Richard was an imposing figure at six feet and four inches. That’s tall by today’s standards, but back then he was a giant. Richard the Lionheart remains one of the very few Kings of England remembered by his epithet rather than as Richard the First.”
“When are we going to sing Happy Birthday to you, grandma?” Liam asked not interested in kings or legends.
“As soon as you eat everything on your plate, young man,” Evelyn answered.
Liam shoveled some more food in his mouth and chewed eagerly.
“Can I help you blow your candles?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll get the coffee started,” Grace said.
Liam continued to eat the food on his plate. If coffee was getting started then the cake was coming soon. He wanted the biggest piece.
“Speaking of coffee, I had a cup of Turkish coffee with Ayshen today and she read my cup,” Evelyn said. “It was rather mixed up; Ayshen had a hard time interpreting it. She said there was a lot of light but also a lot of darkness in it; she had me worried for a minute. There may be even a death; then she tells me, ‘Evelyn, we do this for fun; don’t believe it.’ Except, whatever she says usually comes true.”
“Do you remember the time she saw a baby in my cup, and I found out I was pregnant with Liam?” Grace asked.
Their Turkish neighbor, Ayshen, was their personal psychic and did all their readings, but only when she was in the mood. Sometimes she saw nothing, other times she would read the cup like a book. She said this was not something she could control, if the coffee spirits were in a telling mood you would get a good reading; otherwise you were out of luck. Then she would chuckle to indicate she was joking and there was no such thing as coffee spirits.
“Do you know if she is home tonight,” Jayna asked her grandmother. “I would love to have her read my cup. She hasn’t done it in a long time.”
Evelyn nodded, “I think she is, we can go over a little later on and take her some cake too. You know what a sweet tooth she has.”
“I am done eating all my food everyone,” Liam announced. “Let’s sing Happy Birthday and have some cake.”
Jayna and Grace went into the kitchen and returned with Evelyn’s cake with only a single candle on it.
Liam was disappointed. “Grandma, you aren’t one year old. Where are all your candles? I thought I was going to help you blow them.”
“Honey, when you get to my age, you don’t want to put five packs of candles on your cake; one is enough. You can still help me blow my candle, come on over here.”
The family started singing happy birthday and Evelyn blew off her candle with L
iam’s help. Grace cut the cake and Jayna served everyone a piece; she even put the candle on Liam’s piece and lit it.
“It’s time to open all your presents, grandma,” Liam reminded Evelyn.
“This one is from me and Jayna. Open it first.” He clapped his hands happily.
Evelyn squealed with delight when she saw Jayna and Liam’s photo. Immediately she placed it on the china cabinet. Next, she opened the one from Grace and Paul. It was a couple of tickets to a play that was running in Stratford. Evelyn loved the theatre so it was greatly appreciated. Bill’s gift was a bottle of her favorite perfume.
“Thanks a lot guys, I love all my presents.”
Bill and Paul went downstairs to watch a soccer game on TV, while Jayna and Grace loaded up the dishwasher and put the food away. Since Evelyn did all the cooking, it was only fair for them to do the rest. Liam pulled out his DS and curled up on the sofa to play his game.
It was the perfect time to make an escape to the neighbor for some psychic entertainment.
Jayna called Ayshen’s house to see if it was okay for them to go for a visit. Ayshen was more than happy to have them. She would start making the coffee now; it would be ready by the time they walked the few steps there.
“We’re going over to Ayshen’s,” Grace called down, “keep an eye on Liam, please. He’s playing his DS.”
They cut a couple of slices from the birthday cake to take to Ayshen and her husband. Since they lived only a few houses down the street, it didn’t take them long to get there. It was a balmy day, the worst of the heat was gone; a nice breeze was making it pleasant. Ayshen was in the kitchen, her husband, Mehmet, opened the door for them.
“Welcome, ladies, welcome. Ayshen is making coffee for you. Come to the kitchen.” He looked at the plate in Jayna’s hand and gave Evelyn a bemused look. “Happy birthday, Evelyn.”
“Thanks, Mehmet. We brought you cake,” Evelyn said.
“Thank you, Evelyn.”
“Oh, that coffee smells delicious, Ayshen,” Grace said. “It’s been a while since we had some.”
“You come, I make coffee for you, you don’t come no coffee,” she chided jokingly in Ayshenese, her own way of speaking English.
“We are here now, Ayshen, let’s have that coffee.”
“Yes, yes, you are here and I am very happy. How you doing? Tell me,” Ayshen asked.
“Oh, Ayshen, we’re busy. The kids’ school is winding down for the year so there is a lot of stuff that needs to be done,” Grace explained.
Ayshen nodded empathically, “I remember those days.”
“And how are things with you, Mehmet?” Grace asked Ayshen’s husband.
“I am good, thank you, keeping busy and out of trouble. I’ll let you ladies enjoy your coffee and chat. Please, say hello to Paul and Bill for me.” Mehmet took his own coffee and headed to his den.
“So, Ayshen, I heard you read grandma’s cup today. I was wondering if you would read mine, too,” Jayna asked.
“Sure, honey. Drink your coffee.”
Jayna and Grace both wanted their cups read; they swirled the coffee grounds that were left at the bottom of their respective cups and turned them upside down. There was a proper way to do this to get the best reading. If you swirled the coffee grounds too much everything washed out of the cup and there was nothing to read. If you didn’t swirl it enough then you got a big glob in the middle of your cup with not much else. It had to be swirled just right.
While they waited for their coffee cups to dry, they talked about their plans for the summer. Ayshen said they weren’t planning to go away this summer, but they were thinking of going on a Mediterranean cruise in the fall. The weather would still be pretty hot in October, but not stinking hot.
“Too much heat in summer; fall is just nice.” Ayshen explained then turned her attention to the coffee cups.
“Who first?” she asked.
“Oh, go ahead and read Jayna’s cup first, Ayshen. I can see she is dying to hear what you have to say to her,” Grace said.
Ayshen put her reading glasses on and picked up Jayna’s cup. She looked at the shapes in the cup from different angles as her face took on a plethora of expressions. “Very busy cup, Jayna. Where are you going, honey? You go here, you go there, you go everywhere. I don’t know, just guessing. Crazy cup.” Ayshen shook her head, “You are upset about something; you want to kick somebody. Too much anger and danger in this cup.”
Ayshen started yawing and tears ran down her face, a natural reaction to the psychic juices flowing.
“Be careful when driving, okay?” Ayshen warned.
Jayna didn’t know what to say. It looked like the coffee spirits were in the mood to talk tonight, because Ayshen was seeing everything.
Unlike most psychics, Ayshen didn’t like getting feedback when she was doing a reading. She said feedback made it difficult for her to read accurately, it only confused her. She didn’t want to be influenced by the comments she would get from the person whose cup she was reading. She wanted to read only the shapes she saw in the cup. Those made the most accurate readings.
“Jayna, listen, honey: there is big danger in this cup; but you have big protection, too. I see travel, coming and going. You traveling too much, I don’t know. So busy.” Ayshen shook her head to emphasize her bewilderment. “I also see a baby.” She smiled and her eyes lit up. “Good news, right? Someone is having a baby, you will see. I know this for sure.”
Evelyn and Grace listened, but made no comments. Ayshen put Jayna’s cup down and picked up Grace’s. She looked in the cup and hesitated. She turned the cup around in her hand and her face got more serious. Her frown deepened, making her facial lines more pronounced.
“Are you going to read my cup, Ayshen,” Grace asked “or did the coffee spirits quit for the day?”
Ayshen looked at Grace’s face and then back into her cup. “No, no quit.”
She shook her head gravely. “I see a rat and dark clouds. Trouble and damage. Be careful. No impulse. Think first, okay? Enemy is hiding. waiting, will make trouble. Bad person.”
Ayshen gave her head a shake and tried to snap out of the cup’s bad mood.
“Sorry. Stupid cup. Forget it. Only for fun. Sometimes cup is good, sometimes bad. Don’t believe. This is a happy day; mother’s birthday. I am so sorry.”
Grace was shocked by Ayshen’s reaction to her cup. First she was talking about the danger she saw in her cup, giving her warnings - then dismissing it. Would denying the danger cancel the dark predictions? Wasn’t that burying your head in the sand?
They could all see the frustration on Ayshen’s face. She felt guilty for not being able to give them a fun reading. She was trying to discount her ability to read the cup, but they all knew that she was amazingly accurate. Maybe the coffee spirits were trying to give them a warning.
Evelyn wanted to say something to make Ayshen feel better, the woman was obviously uncomfortable.
“Like you say, Ayshen, it’s only entertainment and not to be taken seriously.”
“Yes,” Ayshen nodded fervently, “only entertainment. Sorry, not good entertainment today.”
Jayna was convinced that Ayshen knew exactly what was going on. This woman was an old and trusted friend who would never hurt their feelings intentionally, or try to spoil a happy occasion. Ayshen had learned to read coffee cups in her native Turkey. Her readings were always accurate. Even today, when Ayshen tried to discredit the cup, she knew that Jayna had done a lot of traveling; only she could not see the nature of her travels. They were Astral not physical, and the rat in her mother’s cup was the slut, Olivia, at her father’s office.
Jayna wanted to know a bit more about this dark cloud. She decided to ask a few candid questions, perhaps she could find out something useful she could use as ammunition. She had to do everything she could to protect her parents. Maybe Ayshen could provide some useful information.
“Ayshen, don’t worry about the reading, we are not
upset. Are we mom? Some days we get a fun reading and some days we don’t. Not a big deal,” Jayna said.
Grace quickly nodded her agreement, “Of course.”
“But I do have a question for you, Ayshen,” Jayna continued. “Did people ever do love spells in Turkey? I heard someone talk about doing a love spell. Are there spells that really work?”
Jayna hoped she sounded only curious and not like she was on a mission to learn all she can about spells and magic. Unfortunately, her question had the very effect Jayna was trying to avoid. Both her mother and grandmother were horrified by her question.
“Why are you interested in love spells, Jayna?” Evelyn blurted out.
“I didn’t say I wanted to do a spell on someone, just asked if there is such a thing? You know if you do an internet search there are a lot of ads to sell you love charms. Obviously they don’t work or they wouldn’t be selling them on the internet for $29.99. They would be charging a lot more and doing it by appointment or something. What do you think Ayshen?”
“Yes, there is love spell. But not good. Spell not make true love. $29.99 love spell, not good love spell. Will not work. Real spell cost too much money and hard to find somebody to make real spell.”
The three generation of women looked at Ayshen with their mouths hanging open.
“Never do love spell or other spell. Bad idea. Sometimes people get hurt. Sometimes die. Never do spell.”
Ayshen fidgeted in her chair. All the dark clouds in Grace’s cup and now this line of questioning from Jayna made her wonder if something was brewing behind the scenes. She had been neighbors with this family for a long time. They never dealt with such things. This was North America, people didn’t believe in that sort of thing here, they thought spells existed only in movies and books.
Then why was the hair on the back of her neck standing? All of Ayshen’s senses were telling her something was very wrong. She just couldn’t get a clear picture of it yet.
Maybe later.
“So, are there such things as spell books or recipes that people pass around?”
Jayna’s insistence made Ayshen more anxious. When Ayshen was nervous or excited her English became more broken. It was broken now.
“Big secret. Underground. No recipe.”
“Jayna, you are making me uncomfortable with your questions about all this stuff. What’s the matter? Do you like a boy who is not interested in you?” Grace asked suspiciously.
Evelyn watched the exchange between mother and daughter with a poker face. She wasn’t sure what to make of this conversation either.
“No, mom, I just think it’s all very interesting, that’s all. You know me - sometimes I get curious and just want to keep digging for more information. I agree with Ayshen, I want true love; not a spell induced one.”
“I tell you what I know about spells. No hear about them here; but it’s true. There is spells.”
Ayshen paused for a brief second, swallowed and continued, “Long time ago I see spells in Turkey. Some spells good for finding job, or for finding husband,” Ayshen smiled meekly, then took a deep breath and blew it out, her facial expression a sure sign that what she was about to reveal next was dark.
“There is bad stuff, Black Magic. Some people use dark forces. They call evil spirits to do bad things. Make people lose money, lose job, business, family, everything. Maybe jealous, maybe just bad people. But, everything has a price. I know people who made bad spells because they are angry, but they pay big price. Karma. One woman’s baby died, crib death; another woman lost a grown son. No coincidence, Karma. You do something bad, it comes back to you; You do something good, it comes back to you…..always do something good, never bad.”
The guests were all quiet, hanging on to every word Ayshen was saying. This was the first time their neighbor had opened up to them about such things. There really was a world of darkness and destruction out there that they knew nothing about.
“So, if someone was unfortunate enough to have a bad spell put on them, does that mean they are doomed,” Jayna asked.
“No. If you know you have bad spell on you, you can do something to break it. Knowing is good, lucky. You make extra effort to do good job, don’t give boss reason to fire you. If someone put a spell on husband and wife to break up marriage, you be careful and don’t make arguments with him. If husband is irritable, probably because of spell. Don’t argue with him, because that help spell do evil deed. If you fight you are helping spell. Best find someone who knows how to break spell. That is hard, because breaking bad spell is dangerous. Sometime people die.”
Jayna was upset. This wasn’t what she wanted to hear. If that Olivia woman really knew how to do a spell or commissioned someone to do it for her, how could Jayna tell her mother about it? Grace would never believe that. She would tell her daughter that she let her imagination run away in the wrong direction. Worse yet, how could the spell be broken? Who had such knowledge around here?
“Thanks, Ayshen. I guess we got a crash course in what we shouldn’t be dabbling in. I had no idea people got hurt doing that stuff. I guess Harry Potter and spells really exist in some form. Poor Harry, I have a whole new appreciation of him.”
Jayna smiled, but it did not reach her eyes.
And that didn’t escape anyone.
