Cursed

by Lynn Ricci

  “Umm. . . I guess that could work.” Sarah felt cornered but truth be told didn’t mind. She had wanted to get over to the North End and this might be a good opportunity with someone who knew it well.

  

  Saturday afternoon, as Sarah and Lisa walked across the new greenway along Hanover Street into the North End, the neighborhood took on its own vibe and they instantly felt drawn to the small shops, abundance of restaurants and bakeries, and the people on the street. Already dusk, Sarah stopped in front of a shop and checked the directions she had jotted down earlier to reach Zoe’s shop. After a few turns to a smaller side street, they arrived at Zoe’s shop, Luna Mezza.

  They stepped inside to the warmth of the store and the calming smell of incense. It was a small shop with one window in the store front. Old gold lettering on the glass announced the store and a symbol above of a half moon and several stars. The floor of the store was made up of alternating, well worn, white and black tiles and the walls were raised wood paneling painted in a deep red with shelves full of candles, ornate silver boxes, and incense burners. A glass counter ran across the back of the store that held jewelry – mostly earrings, bracelets and pendants – and behind the glass counter an apothecary cabinet of small square drawers in dark wood took up most of the wall.

  At the end of the counter Zoe was sitting on a stool with a dark green leather ledger in front of her. She looked up and smiled broadly as the two girls entered and slammed the ledger shut, causing Lisa to jump a little.

  “Zoe! We found you! This is Lisa. Lisa, this is my new friend Zoe that I told you about.”

  Zoe extended her hand and Lisa raised hers to greet Sarah’s new friend. Zoe saw Lisa’s expression as they shook hands and grinned. Her cobalt blue eyes twinkling with amusement.

  “I was just closing up for the day and moved the delivery boxes out back into the ally,” Zoe offered as an explanation. “My hands must be like ice.”

  Lisa smiled in return as Zoe stepped down from the stool and began locking up the jewelry cases.

  Lisa began admiring the selection of silver earrings as Zoe closed up, and Sarah was eyeing the jewelry on the glass counter, fingering a bracelet with cat’s eye stones. She looked up Zoe, taking in a deep breath, “What is that scent? It’s nice.”

  “It’s agarwood resin, an incense. I sell it here.” Zoe pulled out one of the drawers in the apothecary cabinet and showed Sarah the small pouch. “You use it in a charcoal burner and it has a soothing effect.” Sarah nodded.

  “This is an interesting store,” Lisa said, while looking around.

  “Thank you, Lisa. It had been my Aunt’s store many years ago. I’ve been running it for a while now since she passed away.” Zoe picked up the ledger and walked across the back of the store, heels of her black leather boots clicking authoritatively on the ancient tiles. She disappeared through a doorway into the backroom for a moment and returned with fresh red lipstick and a long black coat that she pulled on over her black cashmere sweater and gray wool mini skirt. Zoe smiled at the girls as she expertly wrapped a stylish blue scarf around her neck that accentuated her eyes. “Ready?”

  Sarah looked at her own outfit that she had spent the day roaming the city in and wondered how her long straight dirty blond hair must look in a ponytail. She glanced at Lisa who was self-consciously checking out her own outfit and lack of makeup in the small mirror on the glass display case.

  Zoe approached Lisa from behind and handed her a tortoise shell comb, “Lisa, here, you are welcome to use my comb.” Zoe’s smile was wide, showing perfect, white teeth, lips curling at the corners. Lisa’s return smile was hesitant, not sure if she should be thankful for the offer or offended that Zoe was asking her to clean up before they went to dinner.

  “Thanks,” Lisa muttered as she pulled a clip from her pocketbook and quickly combed out her thick brown hair, twisted, and clipped it into place.

  “Lovely!” Zoe said as she retrieved the comb and dropped it into her pocketbook. “Shall we go?” Spinning around, coat flaring, she strode towards the door and the two women followed.

  Once outside, Lisa and Sarah stood on the sidewalk one step below, as Zoe took out her keys to lock up the shop. Two old women walked by, one making a quick gesture at Zoe’s back with her index and pinky extended and two middle fingers curled under as Zoe locked the door. Sarah and Lisa watched in silence. Without turning around to see the sign of the horns gesture, Zoe called out merrily, “Bouna sera, signora Mistretta e signora Capuono.”

  Zoe slowly turned around to see the two older women, huddling together hurrying away along the sidewalk. She flashed her big blue eyes at Sarah and Lisa, blinking in mock innocence, lips in a pout, “Can I help it if Mr. Mistretta is friendly with me?” The pout curled back into the Cheshire cat smile, and in a more confident tone, “He is absolutely ancient! I don’t know what she is thinking.” Giggling erupted between the three women.

  “I thought we would go to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner, it’s this way.” Zoe motioned back up the street the way they had come, silver bangles on her wrist tinkling in the crisp evening air. The three turned back towards Hanover Street for dinner.

  Chapter 8

  Lisa poured another cup of coffee and returned to the couch where Sarah was sitting at one end under the afghan, her back leaning on the arm of the couch. Lisa carefully lifted the other end of the blanket while balancing her full mug and slipped in; returning to her warm spot at the opposite end of the sofa facing Sarah and pulling her legs under her. They had spent the better part of Sunday morning in their old ritual of chatting over coffee with the weak November sun streaming in the tall living room windows.

  “Sounds like you are really enjoying your new job, Sarah. I am so glad you took a chance moving up here but I must admit I miss having you back home.”

  “I know, but I will be back there Thanksgiving and then for a week during Christmas. We should make plans. Muddy River shuts down for a whole week, which is really nice.”

  “I wish my company would do that.” Lisa took a sip of her coffee and tentatively changed the subject back to the dinner the night before.

  “So, you seem to have formed a close friendship with Zoe.” Lisa ventured, not looking at Sarah but instead concentrating on her coffee mug.

  “She has been very nice and it is good to have a friend here.”

  “She asks a lot of questions. . .”

  Sarah laughed, gray eyes sparkling. She teased her childhood friend. “You weren’t shy with the interrogation efforts either!”

  “Well, I just figured you weren’t asking and maybe you should? She comes out of nowhere and stalks you to become friends. . . . “

  Sarah laughed again, “She didn’t stalk me. I met her while picking out bagels.”

  “Right, but she works in the North End . . . why was she near your work in the morning and again at lunchtime on a different day?”

  “I don’t know, maybe she had business near Boylston?”

  Lisa shrugged. Sensing Sarah’s defenses going up, Lisa pulled back a little and added diplomatically, “All I am saying is Zoe seems a little naive about personal boundaries.”

  “I noticed that at first, too, but I think it’s just her way of being friendly.”

  “Maybe . . . but last night it was starting to get a little creepy, especially when she was digging into your family tree. Why does she need to know about your parents and grandparents?”

  Sarah shrugged and took another sip of her coffee. “She just seems like a curious person.”

  “Hmm, well, I’d just be careful with giving her too much information. Keep in mind that you haven’t known her very long.” Lisa’s look of concern was evident and Sarah agreed Zoe had moved very quickly into a friend role.

  “You’re right, it’s just that the girls in the office are a little young and wild, or just not my type to hang out with, and this building is great but the only people I met was an older couple downstairs and an o
lder doctor on the first floor who is always at the hospital. There’s another older man on the second floor that doesn’t venture out much. And of course, Mason, but he is a bit of a recluse too.”

  “Who’s Mason?” Lisa asked with a teasing tone and smile as she fixed the clip holding up her hair. “You haven’t mentioned him? Is he cute?”

  Sarah shuddered, sparking giggles from her friend. “That bad, huh?”

  Shaking her head and leaning over to put her coffee cup down, Sarah thought about how to answer. Lisa watched the expressions changing on Sarah’s face, battling for the right emotion.

  “Mason is the landlord. He lives on the first floor. I never got a real good look at him in the light . . . but the poor guy has something wrong with him. I’m just not sure what.”

  “You mean a deformity?”

  “Something like that.” Sarah looked out the window for a moment gathering her thoughts. “I can’t tell if he had been in an accident, or if he had a birth defect, or some kind of disease, or what it is. He walks with a limp and is slightly hunched over. There’s a lot of scarring of some sort on his face and hands and one eye seems to be almost hooded or smaller than the other.” Sarah looked back at her friend and saw the reaction on her face.

  “Lisa, I just don’t know about him and can’t figure it out. I asked my neighbors downstairs and they wouldn’t say much but the wife mentioned seeing him working one day in a t-shirt and his arms were covered with lumps or boils.”

  “He sounds hideous!”

  “I know, but he also seems very nice. He’s polite, almost in an old fashioned way, and always helpful. Mason seems like he is a lost soul in that shell of a body, like he is too afraid to have human contact because of the way he looks. I wondered if he might have been in a car accident or a fire and tried to find something on him.”

  “Well, you of all people should be able to figure it out with your research background.” Lisa suggested.

  “I tried . . . but not hard enough, I guess.” She shrugged and gestured a big '0' with her fingers. Lisa giggled again.

  Lisa glanced at the clock on the cable box and stretched. “Time for me to hit the road, chickie.”

  “So soon?” Sarah asked not wanting to see her friend leave.

  “Yeah, I’m beat. If I stay under this blanket much longer I’ll want to take a nap.”

  “Didn’t you sleep well?” Sarah asked.

  “I did, except for that cat crying all night.”

  Sarah sat up straight. “Cat? Did you hear a cat?”

  Lisa tilted her head watching Sarah’s alertness. “Yeah, I’m surprised you didn’t hear it. I got up finally and found it outside your window on the fire escape. It ran off as soon as it saw me. You seemed to be sleeping soundly so I just closed your bedroom door so I wouldn’t hear it if it came back. A little too much wine?” Lisa teased with a smile.

  “I didn’t think so, but maybe I did.” Sarah was still frowning about not hearing the cat.

  “Is it a neighbor’s cat? I’m surprised they let it out in the city.”

  “Not that I am aware of. The cat has come almost every night for just over a week and meows until I get up. The first few nights I thought it was a stray. It would run before I could get a good look at it. But then one night I got up to the window and it looked right at me. I mean, right in my eyes, staring. And it was not scrawny, it actually looked silky clean. When I went to open the window, the cat stood up and slowly walked away.”

  “Cats are pretty aloof.” Lisa thought about it for a second and added, “It hissed at me before it ran.”

  “Hissed?”

  “Well, I think it was a hiss. It ran off quickly.” Lisa stood up and gathered her coffee mug and plate from earlier to bring to the kitchen.

  “Sorry the cat kept you up.” Sarah added as they dropped the subject and moved on to Lisa’s departure.

  Lisa moved around the apartment, picking up her few items from the weekend and the bag with souvenirs she picked up at Faneuil Hall. Fitting everything into her Under Armor backpack she was ready to hit the highway within a few minutes. Sarah pulled her hair back into a ponytail while she watched her friend zip up the bag and pull her jacket on.

  As they left the apartment Sarah noticed the door across the hall was ajar and momentarily hesitated. Lisa followed her gaze.

  “Another apartment?”

  “No,” Sarah lowered her voice, “its storage. But I think only the landlord goes in there.”

  Lisa looked at Sarah expectantly.

  Sarah took one more glance at the door and said, “Come on, Lisa. I will walk you downstairs.”

  As they descended the marble steps to the lobby, Sarah wondered if she should stop and say hello to Mason when she went back upstairs. Maybe she should even ask about having a pet. Maybe take Midnight in? It was getting pretty cold at night for a cat to be outside.

  The two friends hugged in the lobby and Sarah held the heavy door for Lisa. Standing in the doorway, cracked open to avoid the November chill as best she could, Sarah waved at her friend as Lisa hopped in her car. Looking across the street Sarah saw a black cat sitting on a front stoop before she closed the door.

  Sarah reached the third floor and saw the attic door was still ajar. She approached the door and listened for a moment before knocking. Mason cleared his voice before answering.

  “Yes?”

  “Hi, Mr. Brown, it’s Sarah Carter.” She squinted, looking into the dark room; the only light was what was able to penetrate beyond the curtains. She could not see Mason beyond the tall pieces of furniture and stacks of boxes, but she stayed at the doorway not feeling like she should enter without being invited.

  “Can I help you, Miss Carter?”

  “I had a thought and wanted to run it by you. I wasn’t sure if you allow small pets here or if it would be a problem with the lease. There’s been a stray cat coming around and its getting cold . . .”

  “A cat?” There was movement from the back of the room and she could hear him making his way through the maze of stored items. Mason’s voice was louder, sounding alert, almost wary. “Where did you see this cat?”

  “It’s been coming around at night. – out on the fire escape.”

  “The fire escape?”

  “Um, yes. It’s a black cat, I don’t think it belongs to anyone here but I am not sure if it’s stray or not. It’s getting cold and I wasn’t sure if I should let it in . . .”

  “No! Don’t let her in.” Mason was emphatic and Sarah was surprised by the tone.

  “OK. Well, if you don’t allow a pet that’s fine.”

  “Don’t let the cat in. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, of course. Sorry, I just, well . . . I just thought I would ask.” She backed out into the hallway and yelled in, ‘thanks anyway,’ as she turned back to her apartment door. As hand wrapped around the knob, she heard a noise behind her.

  Mason was standing a few feet back from the doorway in the darkness, his features indistinguishable but his hunched form visible. “Sorry, Miss Carter, but please don’t let any cats in the building. I really don’t like cats.”

  “No problem, as I said, I was just asking.”

  “Thank you for letting me know. About the cat, that is. I will try to do something about the fire escape.”

  Sarah had been holding her apartment door open and when Mason turned back into the depths of the attack, Sarah quickly entered her apartment, closing the door and then leaning her back up against it. She heard the footsteps, and the obvious limp, enter the hallway. Then the attic door shut and the lock clicked in place, followed by the slow, agonizing sound of Mason Brown descending the stairs that she just jogged up a few minutes before.

  That night, there was no visit from Midnight.

  Chapter 9

  “Come over here and give your grandmother a kiss!”

  Sarah dropped her bags in the front hall as Rex came bounding over, tail wagging. Sarah gave him a quick scratch at the neck and kiss
on the top of the head and crossed the living room to where her grandmother Rose sat by the fire in a large, wing-backed navy chair. Her hair, once blond was now gray, had just been done at the hairdressers and she was wearing her signature perfume that Sarah remembered so well.

  “Hi Grandma,” Sarah leaned down and kissed her grandmother's upturned cheek.

  “Are you enjoying Boston, dear?”

  “It’s been great. Work has been fantastic and I am already meeting people.”

  “So Henry is treating you well? I will call him if he isn’t!” she teased good-naturedly.

  Sarah laughed, “Henry is very nice. He has me working with some interesting characters.” She thought of Izzy and Stan and smiled inwardly. “I think I am fitting in well and he gets some really interesting projects at Muddy River.”

  Sarah’s mother came in with a platter of appetizers that she set down on the butlers table. Sarah hopped up to give her a hug. “Hi, Mom!”

  “How was the train ride?” her mother asked as she leaned back to take a good look at her daughter.

  Ben came in from hanging the coats and offered Sarah wine. Gladly accepting, Sarah settled in on the couch next to her mom. “The train worked out well. Much better than you guys driving up and back.” Sarah leaned forward to pick up a cracker and dip it into the warm cheese and artichoke dip.

  The foursome caught up on the last month, with Sarah doing most of the talking about Boston, her work, and her new friends.

  Ben’s brother, Jack and his family arrived a short time later and Sarah enjoyed seeing her younger cousins, home for the holiday from college.

  Jack and his wife Debra lived a half hour away. Paul, their oldest, was in his junior year and a star athlete and at eighteen Marissa was enjoying her first year in college. They were the only close family members in the area and they spent every holiday together. An hour later, after lots of gossip and chatter, they moved to the dining room for dinner.

  Sarah pulled a chair out for her grandmother and settled in right next to her. The aroma of turkey filled the house along with her mother’s famous stuffing with pecans and cranberries. Sarah realized she was starving.