Granny's threats about witchcraft and Sean's warnings about Crazy Jade were playing on repeat in her head, but she ignored them and stepped inside.
Her apartment was humid and muggy, but at least it was clean. She had one couch and no television.
"Turn around and let me see your butt," Jaded ordered.
Self-consciously, Latreece did a slow turn, trying not to cringe as she felt Jade's gaze probe her body.
"Have you tried just eating more?" Jade asked.
"Yes, but nothing happens."
"Hold on." Jade turned towards the bookshelf in the living room. The top shelves were filled with normal non-witchy things like Where The Sidewalk Ends and even a few black romance novels. But Jade wasn't looking at the books on top. She was crouched towards the bottom shelf where the books had no titles. Instead, they had brown paper bag book covers. "My book is gone," she said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.
"Does that mean you can't help me?" Latreece asked, disappointed.
Jade furrowed her brow before she snapped her finger. "Wait here." She walked into the back of her apartment and returned a moment later with some type of potato.
"What's that?" Latreece asked, apprehensively.
"This is maca root." Jade caressed it as if it were a baby. It was about half the size of Jade's hand, and the color was ugly, something between the brown of a potato and a purple beet. Flecks of dirt covered the root as if it had just been pulled from the ground.
"What the hell is a maca root?" Latreece asked.
"It's something that will give you junk for your trunk," Jade said. "But you'll still have to eat."
"I told you. I have, and it didn't do anything."
"Believe me, this root will help, but you'll still have to eat more."
"I'm paying two hundred and fifty dollars for a root. What makes you think I can't go and get this myself?"
"You could try, but my remedies are unique."
Latreece didn't see how a root could do crap to make her gain weight, but Jade had helped everyone else, so it couldn't hurt to give it a try. "What am I supposed to do with it?"
"After you wash it, take one bite a day. No more than one. And eat three good meals a day. Do everything I say and, you'll have an ass in two weeks.".
5
Sean
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. - Oscar Wilde
The aroma of cinnamon and bacon nudged Sean from a restless sleep. He wondered if he'd awakened in the right place. His dad had to be at work before the crack of dawn, so unless Sean cooked it, there was never breakfast in this house.
He hurriedly pulled a pair of jeans over his boxers and walked to the kitchen. William Accra stood in front of the stove cooking turkey bacon on an electric stove. Sean inherited his thick build and six-foot height from his mother's side of the family, so he stood half a foot taller than William. But Sean's copper-colored skin and broad nose were a direct gift from his father.
"What's going on?" Sean asked, sitting at the kitchen table. "Why aren't you at work? Did you lose your job?"
William's shoulders shook as he laughed. "No, I haven't lost my job." He placed a bowl of cinnamon-flavored oatmeal and a plate of bacon on the table. "I have an appointment later."
"Are you okay?" Sean asked.
"It's just a check-up," William said, sitting in front of his food. "I'll have to work late tonight though to make up the time."
Sean nodded, his mouth full of oatmeal.
"Have you seen anything strange in the apartments lately?" William asked.
Sean swallowed his food in one large gulp, almost choking. "No. I haven't noticed anything," Sean lied. He'd seen plenty: Ashley suddenly getting sick, Shemeya walking around with snakes instead of dreads. There were plenty of strange things happening, but he couldn't tell his dad. "Why? Have you noticed something?"
Mr. Accra glanced at the picture of Sean's dead mother hanging above the television. "No, but you would know more than me."
Sean's heart rate increased, but he kept a straight face. "No, Dad. I haven't seen anything like before."
"Good. Good." Mr. Accra sighed, looking like a weight had just been lifted from his shoulders. "You've been pouting around the house all weekend. Did you and Latreece finally break up?"
Sean rolled his eyes.
"Don't roll your eyes at me, boy."
"Sorry," he mumbled, staring at his half-eaten bowl of oatmeal. William thought Latreece was loud-mouthed and over emotional, but that was why Sean was drawn to her. He had been taught to never make waves and always stay quiet, but Latreece would have none of that. She said and did exactly what she wanted. Unfortunately, when she was pissed, she also held a grudge with the same intensity.
His father had loved Shemeya, though. He thought she was smart, reserved, and destined to make something of her life. Sean wondered what William would say if he knew about Shemeya's hair and her habit of wanting to make-out at house parties.
"Latreece is always mad over something, she'll get over it. She always does," Sean said, but he wasn't really sure if she would this time. If it had been anyone but Shemeya, Latreece would have cursed him out and moved on, but she hated Shemeya because Latreece knew how much Sean's father liked the other girl.
A spiky, bloated horny toad, the same color as the concrete, stood outside of Latreece's door. Vista Apartments were full of the creatures, but they usually ran away when someone approached. The lizard sat undisturbed, like a miniature guard dog, with its gut rising and falling with each breath.
"Move," Sean shouted and stomped his foot. It must have been sleeping because it jumped and scurried away with its four short bowed legs. It was lunch time, and he'd told Principal Kerr he would take Latreece her homework. With the small guard gone, he knocked on the door. After a few minutes of pounding with no response, he gave up and started back to his apartment.
He was halfway home when he saw Latreece leaving Jade's apartment. She wore a pair of ripped stonewashed jeans and a t-shirt with the picture of the all black boy band, New Edition. She held something in her hand. She stared at it like it was a Christmas present.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Oh crap! You scared me." She had been so distracted by what she held, she hadn't noticed him walking beside her.
"I just saw you come from Jade's apartment. I told you to stay away from her. She's crazy."
Latreece's thin lips twisted into a sneer. "You don't control me. What are you even doing here? You're supposed to be in school."
"I brought your homework."
She snatched the papers away from his hand. "I got it. Now, go away."
"What are you holding?" Sean couldn't decide if it looked more like a beet or a turnip, but he knew if it came from Crazy Jade, it was dangerous and Latreece didn't need it.
"Don't worry about it. I'm no longer any of your business."
"Latreece, what you saw between me and Shemeya was nothing. I'm not messing around with her."
"I. Do. Not. Care," she said. "You knew how I felt about Shemeya. Out of respect, you should have stayed away from her. You couldn't do that, so now you need to stay away from me."
"You don't understand."
"I don't need to understand. It's been long enough. We're about to graduate. We need to move on anyway. I hope you, your dad, and Shemeya are happy together."
"Latreece, I love you." He'd never had the guts to say how he felt out loud, but they were powerful words, and maybe it would make her listen.
Her expression softened, and for a moment he thought it worked. But then she hardened again. "Now you love me? Too little too late."
He should have known kind words wouldn't work on her. She was still pissed, and a pissed Latreece jumped on kindness like a tiger pouncing on a gazelle. Still, he couldn't let Crazy Jade get to her.
"Fine, I'll leave you alone. But give me what she gave you first."
"Hell no," she snarled.
Sean grabbed her hand. "Give it to me."
>
She tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip, hoping the pain would make Latreece drop it. He was not the type to make a girl do anything she didn't want to, but he couldn't let what happened to Shemeya and Ashley happen to her.
Latreece's face contorted with pain and determination as she tried to break free. He was much taller than her, and she was as skinny as a rail, but her will gave her the strength of a bull.
"Is there a problem?" a voice asked from behind.
Sean's blood turned to ice, his breath caught in his throat, and he let go of Latreece's hand.
Latreece grinned from ear to ear as she turned from Sean to Jade. "Cra-. . . Jade, Sean has been warning me to stay away from you. He says you're dangerous."
Jade's gaze felt like a physical thing as she looked him up and down. "Why do you think I'm dangerous?" she asked.
His mouth felt suddenly dry, and his tongue felt too big for his mouth. "I didn't say you were dangerous."
"He's lying. That's why he looks so scared," Latreece said with a wry smile that stabbed his heart.
Crazy Jade stepped to him, her freckles jumping on her cheeks. "What do you know about me?"
Sean's heart pounded, and black spots danced in and out of his vision. Run, Sean! he heard his mother say. He obeyed the voice from his past and ran.
Sean paced in his living room. Fear induced adrenaline coursed through his body. He should have hated Latreece for what she'd done. But Latreece didn't know his past. No one knew. He'd listen to Latreece talk for hours about her mother's death. But he'd lied, and told her his mother had been killed by a mugger.
Eva Accra was born with the cursed ability to see past magical illusions. She saw elves, trolls, and other strange fey creatures, who tried to hide within the human world. They used a magic called glamour to appear human. Most fey were harmless, but a few were dangerous. They were the ones who lived off the pain and suffering of humans. They were the ones who made it a point to kill any human they knew could see past their illusions.
Eva Accra knew her three-year-old son had the same curse when he pulled the ears of a dwarf glamoured to appear as a child.
Luckily, the dwarf had not been dangerous, but Sean was no longer allowed outside. Condemned to the house, he spent his nights studying literature, math, and history with his father. He spent his days learning to recognize and avoid fey creatures. Eva taught him to pretend that the wavering shimmer he saw over a fey's true form was real. He practiced not staring, while not completely avoiding the creatures either.
On Sean's ninth birthday, his mother decided to test him. If he passed, he could attend public school and play outside with other kids. If he failed, assuming he wasn't killed, he would have to endure another year isolated indoors, watching other children play outside from his living room window.
They decided the test would be at Times Square, the busiest place in New York. It was where humans, tourists, and monsters gathered to buy and sell everything from food and clothes to whatever fey bought whenever they believed no humans were looking.
The ruckus of tourists talking about their plans and posing for pictures with Batman, Elmo and Mickey Mouse was like the sounds and sights of freedom to Sean. The smell of pizza, cigarettes, and body odor made him dizzy with happiness.
He ignored the troll with green skin and protruding fangs that sold his caricatures for ten dollars apiece and the talking horse that everyone saw as Batman. He smiled and looked past the old, waif-like creature, glamoured to appear as an old lady while she sold magazines and newspapers. He'd spent most of his life learning about the fey, so these creatures were boring to him. He had not been taught about people, and that was all that interested him. He stared at people with olive-toned skin and eyes the color of sand, black African women with their brightly colored clothes and thick accents. There were guys cruising for guys, girls flirting with boys, and New Yorkers hurrying to and from work.
By the end of the day, he had passed his test, and the following week, he was enrolled in the neighborhood school.
A year and a half later, the Accras took a trip to the Boardwalk to spend the day at the beach. While William Accra dozed under an oversized umbrella, Sean and Eva left to buy peach sodas and candy from one of the cheaper corner stores a few blocks away from the overpriced vendors on the boardwalk. While his mother searched for soda, Sean browsed the aisles. Reggae music played over the loudspeakers, and the spicy smell of jerk pork from the street vendor found its way into the store.
The candy was on an aisle next to the bottles of scented oils and air fresheners. He was reaching for a package of sour apple flavored Laffy Taffy when he saw it.
The monster stood in front of the Hershey milk chocolate bars. Sean had seen plenty of fey since being off house arrest, and it had been easy to pretend they were normal humans. But this thing was unlike anything he'd seen or had been taught to avoid. He couldn't tear his gaze away. The weak shimmer around the monster made it appear around the same age of his father. It had neat brown-tipped dreads that stopped at its shoulder.
As Sean stood transfixed, a woman wearing a yellow bikini top and cut-off jean shorts smiled and winked at the monster. She couldn't see that he was actually naked and that black ooze dripped from all of its orifices, including the tip of his penis. His long, thin arms reached past its knees.
It smelled of death and magic, and the scent made Sean's eyes water and his throat tighten. After the creature smiled and winked back at the woman, his gaze found Sean. Without warning, everything went black.
Sean felt like he'd been removed from his body as if he didn't exist anymore.
The calming warmth of Eva's calloused hand pulled him back from nothingness, reminding his soul it existed.
"Baby, are you okay?" she asked.
Sean blinked away the confusion and looked up. Worry etched the creases of her black-brown eyes.
"Is this your son? I thought he was lost," the monster said with a perfect New York accent.
"No, he's not lost." Eva wore a strained smile. "I'm sorry. I hope he didn't bother you."
"He had an accident," the monster said. They followed its gaze to the yellow puddle pooling on the floor around Sean's sandals.
Eva's smile faltered, showing her own fear in front of the monster.
"I'm sorry, Momma. I couldn't find the bathroom," Sean said, finally remembering his training. His heart thrummed in his chest, but he forced himself to relax. He hoped the monster would believe that he'd blacked out because he was trying not to piss himself and not because he's been so scared his bladder had released.
"Boy, I told you to hold it," Eva said, faking embarrassment and anger. "Now, I have to take you home to get you cleaned up." Without saying another word, she dragged Sean out of the store.
Once they passed the end of the street, they ran. Eva was a big woman with long, sturdy legs, but for once Sean had no problem keeping up with her. They rounded the corner of a building, a few yards from the beach, when the creature dropped out of the sky, blocking their path. It landed on all fours with a wicked toothy grin. Eva and Sean spun, turning to run in the other direction. It leaped, jumping over their heads to face them once again. Sean's heart dropped to his belly as he realized they were going to die.
Eva let go of his hand and widened her stance. "Sean, run."
The monster lunged. Eva grabbed its shoulders. It snapped its jaws at her, but the pair was matched in strength, and his straining mouth couldn't reach her.
It may have been a monster, but his mother was just as big and just as strong. She held it fast, locked in place while it fought her. Sean looked around for help. But no one paid them any attention. People passed by as if the three of them didn't exist.
"Run, Sean. Go get your father." Eva's face was strained with determination. "This monster is weak. It only looks scary."
He obeyed, running so fast he felt like his chest was going to explode.
When he returned with his father, Eva lay on the ground surr
ounded by sobbing onlookers. Her throat had been ripped out, and shreds of skin, muscle, and bone lay exposed for the world to see. Her eyes were open, and she still had the hard look of determination she had worn when Sean had left her. Blood trickled from her throat and eased towards Sean's flip flops.
Sean and his father left New York that night.
It took five years for Sean to stop waking in the middle of the night with nightmares. It took a year for him to gather the courage to step outside without expecting to see Eva's murderer. It took him another three years to stop seeing Eva's lifeless body every time he closed his eyes. But he never got over the guilt. It was his fault his mother had died. It was his fault his father was alone.
There was no shimmer on Jade, but she still reeked of magic, and he'd seen fey creatures coming and going from her apartment. So, he'd kept his distance from her. But Latreece had outed him, and he'd run, just like he did eight years ago. He was not running anymore. He wasn't going to let Jade hurt Latreece.
Like his mother, he would stand his ground and fight. He was going to get Jade to fix Shemeya and Ashley, then he would get her to leave Latreece alone.
When Sean gathered his nerve and left his apartment, Latreece and Jade were nowhere in sight. The empty playground and basketball court of Vista Apartments slumbered as if it waited for the kids and ballers to return and bring the complex back to life. His father had wanted to leave Vista a few years ago after he'd received a promotion from the hospital, but Sean had pleaded to stay. This was his home. Vista Apartments was the first place he'd felt safe after they fled New York. The people here were his family.
"Andre?" Sean tapped his knuckle on the door. Andre competed with Sean on the basketball court and for girls, but he was the closest thing Sean had to a brother. He'd even tried to hook Andre's mother up with his father. But William had made it clear he wasn't having any of that.
"What do you want?" A voice asked from behind the door.
Legends of the Damned: A Collection of Edgy Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 173
