The Reading

“I’ve reached out to Marie several times with no response.”

“I have as well. She’s gotten older, it isn’t easy for her anymore,” Liz explained to the women waiting patiently with her.

“You think tonight will be different?”

“I do. There’s strength in numbers, we’ll make ourselves heard. If anyone can take down that bastard it’s Marie.”

***

“You know this is a crock, right?”

“Come on, don’t be like that. It will be fun.”

“Fun? I doubt it. I won’t even know anyone there.” He gripped the steering wheel tighter, thinking of an evening wasted with strangers.

“You know me,” Lara smiled, trying to cheer him up.

He stared at the red light hoping it would stay red a little longer to procrastinate the crappy evening he got suckered into. 

“You don’t believe in this psychic crap for real, do you? I mean, it’s bullshit.”

“You never know, Kev. I’ve heard great things about Marie.” She reached out to massage his shoulder, trying to relax him.

“She’s what? Ninety years old? We called her and she fell asleep during your phone reading.” The light turned green, and he reluctantly pressed the gas pedal.

Lara laughed, releasing a bit of tension. “That was hilarious. Marie, are you there? Marie, hello?”

Despite his determination to be in a bad mood, Kevin smiled. “Marie, is everything okay? Is there something you don’t want us to know? Then, bam. Snoring.”

“Only me. Everyone has great readings with her then comes my turn and she literally falls asleep.”

“Well, I guess no news is good news, huh? At least there was nothing creepy to freak you out.” Kevin turned his blinker on as he approached the hostess’s home. 

“Yeah, but I really wanted to hear from my dad, ya know? I mean, make sure he’s okay and stuff.” 

“Baby, he’s fine. Let him rest in peace.”

“But a sign? Anything would help.”

“He didn’t have anything nice to say for thirty years. Why would you expect anything after he’s gone?”

Lara withdrew her hand from his shoulder. “That was mean.”

She was right. “I’m sorry.” He was trying, really trying, not to be hurtful. 

Turning off the ignition, he glanced at Lara. She was silent, apparently mad. Again. 

“Baby, come on. We have a senile psychic waiting for us.” 

She smiled. A little. He had better control himself. History had a way of repeating itself. 

***

“Does an S mean anything to you?” 

A circle of blank faces stared at Marie standing in the middle of the candlelit room. There was a bit of rustling as the guests settled in and began sipping their wine. They looked around at each other in anticipation.

“S, maybe N. Yes. That’s right. N. Who is relating to a N?” Marie’s bracelets jangled as she waved her arms around to the crowd. 

What crap. He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to ruin Lara’s night or make a bad impression on her coworkers. But come on, was she going to spew out letters until someone reacted? 

A gasp from the other side of the circle. Marie’s bangled arm swung over to point at her. “You. Yes. N, Nancy…”

The gasping woman brought a tissue up to her mouth after blurting out “Norine” dramatically.

“Norine. Yes. Norine is stepping forward.” 

As the crowd applauded, Kevin saw Lara’s eyes shine with excitement. She was falling for this hook, line and sinker. Unbelievable. How stupid was she? Stop, Kev, what did you promise yourself about the insults? 

***

The force entered the room. 

Marie stood up straighter, gone was the hunchback she had been carrying around for years. She felt a tingle run up and down her spine. She stopped midsentence, unconcerned about continuing as the words coming out of her mouth were drivel, made up nonsense. Marie had the gift, but it had been a while since anyone had actually come through, forcing her to use her gift of gab as an easy substitute.

Cocking her head, she listened intently. Closing her eyes, the room disappeared along with the pathetic sea of overeager faces. 

The young woman approached her vaguely. She was standing on a trail high up in the mountains. A beautiful scene, Marie mused, wondering where that was. Perhaps the Rocky Mountains? Stunning, just breathtaking. The tugging of the woman pulled her back. “Marie, focus,” she scolded herself. “Now is not the time for your daydreaming.” 

A harsh voice interrupted the tranquility. “You bitch! Where were you last night? Answer me, and this time tell the truth.” 

Clear as day she saw the pretty young woman cower on the trail, the man larger than life hovering over her. She was crying, begging, “I told you already. I took a walk to clear my head. That’s all.”

“Bullshit!” He leaned in closer obviously meant to intimidate, Marie realized. He doubted her words. If only he could see into her heart, as Marie was able to, he would know she spoke the truth. 

“I swear, Ted. Really. There’s no one else.” 

“Liar!” He roared, taking another step towards her.

An instant. That’s all it took. Marie watched in flashback mode as the young woman took one final step backwards and disappeared off the trail. 

***

Lara sat anxiously waiting her turn. 

Surely her father would show up for her. He must be waiting in the wings to step up any minute, she assured herself. She was a good person, hadn’t deserved the kind of abuse he had inflicted on her year after year. Having had the time and hindsight to realize how awful he had been to both her and her mother, he would certainly come to her and finally apologize. 

***

This woman was a freak. She didn't have ‘the gift’ anymore than he himself did and was obviously making it up as she went along with more questions than answers. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. She was bound to hit on something with this crowd waiting for messages to fill their empty lives.

Kevin glanced at Lara sitting next to him, so close her leg was brushing his. Such a clingy bitch. Always hanging onto him, nagging him, calling, texting paragraph after paragraph. It had become too much, forcing him to hit delete as quickly as her texts came in. He would block her all together if she didn’t ease up on him soon.

Marie spun around suddenly and looked at him. Her eyes went from a watery pale blue to a shocking sapphire as her stare intensified. He was unable to look away, locked in those eyes. His heart beat rapidly, rattling around in his chest. What the fuck? He felt pure terror.

That scene on the mountain flashed before his eyes. For the first time in years, he thought of Liz and the accident. He had hightailed it out of there, packed his shit, and got out of Dodge. The nightmares and random lookalikes were all that remained from that life.

“You!” Marie pointed a finger at him. The circle all turned their faces towards him. The strong aroma of sage in the air suddenly nauseated him. He began to sweat.

Lara inhaled sharply. “Kevin, holy shit,” she whispered, moving closer to him, squeezing his arm, threatening to squeeze the very life out of him.

He was unable to move, couldn’t break the stare of Psychic Marie as those sapphire eyes penetrated into his soul. 

Finally, she spoke. 

“You can’t run forever,” she said in a strong voice. And then the punch to the gut, “Ted.”

***

That same traffic light was red again. It didn’t matter if he was coming or going, it always stopped him. His hands were sweaty on the wheel. Dammit. All it took was one person questioning him for the whole mess to be reopened. He had left it all behind with no loose ends. Now this. Fucking Psychic Marie. What if she turned him in? That look of hatred she had on her face; those blazing eyes filled with anger. What did she know exactly? What about the others? He shuddered in fear thinking about the ones before Liz.

He should not have gone to the fucking party. He had wanted to end the whole thing weeks ago. Why hadn’t he? Because he was trying for once in his life to have a normal relationship, to do the right thing, to stick it out. He had been determined to turn over a new leaf this time. 

Lara was blathering on in the passenger seat. “I can’t believe my dad didn’t show up for me. I really expected some closure, an apology, some kind of freaking explanation. Nope, nothing.”

“La, enough already.” His nerves were shot, one more whiny word would be all it took to set him off.

“My boss, what did you think of her message? And Norine came through! Of all people for Norine to come through. I did not expect that. What did you think of that, Kev?”

It didn’t end. On and on with the questions, the banter. She never shut up, never got the hint.

“Yeah, weird about Norine.”

“And calling you Ted. What was that about?” 

“I don’t know. That was weird.” This line of questioning was the last straw. It was finally time to be done with her.

“Ted. I just can’t get over that, it’s really bugging me. Why Ted? Wait a second…”

She trailed off finally quiet for a minute. The light changed to green, he drove off.

“What?” Kevin glanced over at her, fresh fear washing over him.

“Isn’t Ted your middle name? I thought I saw that on your license?”

“My license? What the fuck, Lara?”

“Last year when we first got together I checked out your license. No biggie, just wanted to know your birthday, see if our signs were compatible. That’s cool right, Kev?”

“Yeah. Cool.” He clenched his jaw, feeling the onset of his old familiar rage. “Hey, La, you feel like going hiking this weekend? I know the perfect spot.”

***

The three women sat silently in their field of peaceful beauty. 

They dropped each other’s hands, which they had been clutching in a circle of unity. They were sisters, not of blood, but of story. Through their strength in numbers, they had conveyed their message to Marie, who assured them that justice would be served.  

“Come on, girls,” Liz stood up first, the others following her lead. “It’s time to cross over.”