CHAPTER TWELVE
To say Sierra was livid after Angie’s night visit, would have been putting it gently. Her anger was like a fire raging from room to room as she stormed back and forth, practically naked, with Manda following after her. She had really let Manda have it.
“Have you two lost your flipping minds? What the daylights were you doing?”
Manda tried to explain it to her as reasonably as she could, but it only made matters worse.
“A protective what? A spell? Are you two bloody witches now?”
“No, it was innocent, really.”
“Innocent? Do you have any idea what it’s like? Waking up and finding some mad woman pouring oil on you?”
“She didn’t think you’d wake up.”
“Arghh,” Sierra screamed.
“I’m sorry. Don’t blame Angie, it was my fault,” Manda told her.
“And what will you do when you’re angry with me? Stick pins into my doll?”
“No, it’s not like that. We were trying to help you. Really.”
“By giving me a stroke?” Sierra grabbed her head. “My head is pounding.”
“Why don’t you go back to bed? Get some sleep.” Manda reached out to touch her shoulder, but then decided against it.
“How can I sleep after that? I’m afraid I’ll be sacrificed.”
“Um…would you like a head massage?
“A head massage?”
“Tea?”
But whatever power it was supposed to possess, the Obeah oil couldn’t stop what was about to come. It had been too late already, as Manda would soon find out.
On Sunday evening, Manda was going around the flat emptying the rubbish bins that Sierra usually liked to leave until bits of rubbish started falling on the ground. Rain battered against the windows, rattling the glass in their frames. Manda had forgotten to close her bedroom window, and water had leaked in and drained on the floor. She had to cancel her trip to a local ATM, where she wanted to get some money to pay Angie back for the Obeah oil. Once she had taken an old towel and dried up the water, she had ended up washing the whole floor. From there, she had just continued to clean. Sierra was hurrying back and forth between her bedroom and the bathroom, getting ready for an evening out with Nik. They were going to sample the food of a Midtown restaurant that also had a catering business. Sierra still hadn’t settled on a caterer for her birthday party, although nearly everything else was in place. She had searched the racks of all her favorite stores, trying to find the perfect party dress. When she hadn’t been able to settle on anything, Nik chose one for her – a brown silk dress with a little flare at the bottom and white lace trim across the chest and hem. It reminded Manda of an old lady’s slip. Manda could tell Sierra didn’t like it, but she oohed and aahed just enough to make Nik think she did.
As Sierra’s birthday drew closer and closer, her excitement grew, along with Manda’s dread. Now, there was less than two weeks to go before the big day, and things were about to get worse. Sierra and Nik were now engaged, and Manda and Angie consorted day and night about what more could be done. So far, they had no answers.
When Manda went into Sierra’s room to empty her bin, she saw the last thing in the world she had expected to see. It was lying beside the bin by Sierra’s closet door. An innocent-looking little pink and white box. Manda picked it up and was about to toss it in with the other rubbish, when she saw the words written on the side. Home Pregnancy Test. Home pregnancy test? What was that doing-? Manda slapped a hand over her mouth. No, it couldn’t be. She flipped over the box. On the back was a diagram of a hand holding a blue strip to show what a positive result looked like.
“Oh, hell.” She dropped down on Sierra’s bed, her mind reeling. Could Sierra be pregnant? No, she couldn’t be. She didn’t look pregnant. And if she was…no, she couldn’t be. Manda stared at the box in her hand and thought about what Carmen had said. Nik’s girlfriend had been pregnant when she died. If Sierra really was pregnant now… Manda slapped a hand over her mouth. She got up and hurried out of the room and into the bathroom, where Sierra stood before the mirror, lips spread wide as she painted on a coat of wet-looking pink lipstick.
“What do you think of this color?” she said, glancing at Manda. “Does it match my complexion?”
Manda didn’t answer. Sierra looked at her through the glass. When she saw the box in Manda’s hand, her lipstick grin disappeared.
“What’s this?” Manda asked, dangling the box in the air.
“What does it look like?” Sierra said, shrugging. She dropped the lipstick and picked up the bottle of glass cleaner that Manda had left by the sink. She spritzed blue liquid on the glass.
“Well? Aren’t you going to explain?” Manda stood there, tapping one foot on the floor. Sierra’s reflection wavered before Manda like a face under water.
“Explain what?” Sierra reached over and unrolled a handful of toilet paper. She rubbed the paper on the mirror, spreading lint all over the glass. It looked worse than before.
“Come on, don’t play games,” Manda said. “What’s this box doing here? Are you pregnant?”
Sierra sighed. “So now you know. What about it?”
“You’re pregnant?” Manda smacked her hand against her forehead. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Excuse me, but I don’t owe you an explanation,” Sierra said, her voice cool.
“So you were going to let me go back to England and find out about it?”
“No, of course not. I would’ve told you eventually.”
“Eventually? Well, at least now I know why Nik suddenly wants to get married.”
“No, that has nothing to do with it,” Sierra said, finally turning to face Manda. “I just found out myself a few days ago.”
“What did Nik say about it?” Nik had said he didn’t want children.
Sierra turned back to cleaning the mirror. “That’s none of your business.”
“Come on? What did he say?”
“Nothing. He was surprised.”
“Happy surprised, or angry surprised?”
“I’m sure he’s happy. Why wouldn’t he be?” Sierra said, but her voice had a ring of uncertainty to it.
Manda shook her head in disbelief. “This is horrible.”
“Why? Manda, what’s your problem? And why were you going through my rubbish anyway?”
“I wasn’t going through your rubbish, I was cleaning.”
“Look. Let’s just drop this. Nik is on his way over, and I don’t want you to upset him.”
“But how did this happen? You’ve got a whole drawer full of condoms for goodness-.” Manda stopped talking as one of Sierra’s eyebrows flew up.
“How do you think it happened? I stopped using protection when Nik proposed. Either way, what does it matter? We are getting married.” Sierra pushed past her and walked out of the bathroom.
Manda crumpled up the pink box and tossed it into the rubbish bin. She followed her into her room. This was not an issue she was willing to let Sierra just dismiss, as she always dismissed any difficult subject. “Listen,” she said. “Sierra, I want to be happy for you, but I can’t lie. I believe you’re headed for trouble. Serious trouble.”
“I don’t want to hear anything else you have to say.” Sierra picked up a pair of black and white striped jeans that lay on her bed.
“No, Sierra will you listen? This is important.” Manda snatched the jeans from her and tossed it back down. “I spoke to your friend, Carmen-.”
There was the sound of a key in the front lock.
Oh, great, speak of the devil, Manda thought. Nik always had horrible timing.
“What does Carmen have to do with this?” Sierra asked.
But before Manda could answer, Nik peeked into the room. He was soaked from head to foot, and his black hair lay flat against his head like a hood.
“What’s going on?” he said, looking from Sierra to Manda, his face puzzled. “What were you two yelling about?”
Neither of them said anything for a moment.
“What?” he asked again.
“Manda’s upset because she found out we’re pregnant,” Sierra said.
Nik looked at Manda. “Why would that make you angry?”
Manda didn’t answer. This was between her and Sierra. It wasn’t a discussion she wanted to have with Nik.
“First she was upset about our engagement, and now this. I give up,” Sierra said.
Nik pulled off his wet shirt. He went into the bathroom and came back rubbing his hair with Manda’s blue bath towel. “So, Manda,” he asked again. “Why are you angry?”
“Maybe she’s just jealous,” Sierra said.
“Well, after what happened with her boyfriend, can you blame her?” Nik bent down and pulled off his wet socks.
They were talking about her as if she wasn’t even there.
“You know damn well this isn’t about jealousy,” Manda said. She caught a whiff of cheese and plugged her nose. Nik had the smelliest feet in the world.
“Then what is it about?” Sierra asked.
“I don’t want to discuss it in front of him.” Manda crossed her arms.
“Anything you can say to me, you can say to him.”
“Yes, go ahead. Tell me, what’s going on?” Nik said.
Manda scowled as he rubbed her towel against his hairy chest. If they wanted the truth, she would give it to them. “Just tell me something, Nik. Do you really want this baby?”
“What? Why would you ask me that?” Nik said.
Manda took a deep breath, trying to slow her racing heart. “Just answer the question.”
“Manda, for God’s sake-,” Sierra started to say.
“Listen, Manda, I get it,” Nik jumped in. “You’re going through a hard time, and maybe, just maybe you’re having trouble seeing Sierra happy right now.”
“That has nothing to do with it,” Manda said. “And please don’t use my towel to dry yourself. That’s disgusting.”
Nik threw the towel on the bed. “Then tell me, what does it have to do with?”
“I think…” How could she say it? He would just deny it. No, it had to be said, because her gut told her it was true, even if Carmen hadn’t said a word. Even if Sierra herself wanted to ignore it. “I think-.”
“Manda, you shut up right now,” Sierra yelled.
“What do you think?” Nik asked, stepping towards her.
“I-.”
“That’s enough,” Sierra screeched. “Manda, I swear, if you don’t shut up, I’ll never talk to you again. I won’t.”
“You’re upsetting your sister,” Nik said, turning to Manda. “It’s not good for her to get upset in her state. I think you should leave.”
“Leave? You can’t make me leave.”
“Yes, get out.” Nik went over and put his arm around Sierra’s shoulders.
Manda stared at her sister. “Sierra, say something.”
Sierra rested her head against Nik’s.
“Well, if that’s what you want, I’ll leave. I’ll leave your room. And while I’m at it, I’ll just leave your flat too.”
Guilt obviously wasn’t their forte. Neither of them objected.
“Well, goodbye, then. And good luck. You’ll need it.” Manda stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
“Sierra’s pregnant,” Manda said to Angie, when they were alone in her kitchen later that evening. A few hours earlier, she had rung up Angie and told her Sierra had kicked her out in the rain, and now she had nowhere to go. Angie had told her to come stay with her.
“Pregnant? Oh, lawks.” Angie was at the counter slicing up peppers for her hot sauce. She turned around and pushed up the plastic goggles that had been covering her eyes. She was wearing a white cotton lab coat and yellow rubber gloves, and her head was almost lost under a large blue shower cap. She looked like a mad doctor.
“I think you should get a refund for that Obeah oil,” Manda said, through the cloth of the mask that covered her own nose and mouth.
“I should’ve poured it on her punani,” Angie said.
“Yes, you should have.”
“Well, what now?” Angie pulled off her gloves and dropped them in the sink.
“What do you suggest?”
“Me?” Angie said. “No, man. I’m done.”
“Then I’m done too,” Manda said. “All I’ve ever wanted to do is protect her, and now she’s stabbed me in the back. That’s it.” Sierra had betrayed her. She had chosen Nik over her own sister. She hadn’t even tried to stop Manda from leaving, but instead had stayed in her bedroom with Nik while Manda had packed up one of her suitcases and left. Thinking about it made her stomach go sour.
“No, you can’t be done,” Angie said. “She still needs your help.”
“But you know what she’s like. You try to help her, and she ends up turning against you. Look at how you gave her a place to stay when she got here, and now she won’t even speak to you.”
“I know, but she’s the one sister you got.”
“Not anymore. Sierra doesn’t want her family. She only wants Nik.”
“Well, you can’t let no man come between you and your sister,” Angie said, wagging her finger at Manda. “Listen, I got three sisters over there in England, and I could pass them on the street and not even know them.”
“Angie, right now you’re more of a sister to me than Sierra is.”
“Look. I have more reason to be angry with her than you do,” Angie said. “First, she come accuse me of sending her curses by mail. I don’t like it that she’s still going on her show to make fun of something she don’t understand, but I don’t hide my feelings in anonymous letters. And then she go chase me out of her yard like a duppy.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” Manda said. “I’ve got your wig and your cardigan in my suitcase.”
“Thanks,” Angie said. “But as I was saying, she’s your one and only sister, so you can’t give up on her. Anyway, right now I have my own problems to deal with.”
“Sorry Angie, I keep running on about my troubles, forgetting that other people have problems too. What’s wrong?”
Angie looked towards the kitchen entrance. She leaned closer to Manda as she spoke.
“I don’t know what to do with Tee. Now he start backpedaling about Florida, just when we should be packing up. Landlord is offering him a new lease for the restaurant and he wants to take it. But Manda, I can’t wait five more years to get out of here. Doctor says I’m still fertile, and I get the feeling when we get to Florida, it will young-up Tee and we can have a pik’ney before it’s too late. Problem is, Tee likes his New York life, except he don’t like the cold. I don’t think he really wants to start over in Florida, and I’m the one pushing him. But I tell him, that’s five more winters to think about, and when cold catch your behind you’ll regret it. I don’t want him to sign that lease.”
“You really don’t think you can have a baby in New York?”
“We been trying for years already, and we’re still getting nowhere.”
“And you really believe it’s the place?”
“Like I tell you before, it’s either that or it’s a curse. Either way, we may never know if we don’t give Florida a try. But look at that. Some women - all a man has to do is look at them crossways, and they’re pregnant.”
Manda brought her elbows to the table and rested her chin in her hands. “Yes, but now that Sierra is pregnant, it’ll be impossible to separate her from Nik. And time is running out fast. Her birthday’s right around the corner.”
“Then you must go talk to her again,” Angie said.
“And tell her what?”
“Tell her you were just concerned about her, and you’re sorry.”
“Sorry for what? I want to be happy for her, but not under these circumstances.”
“All the same,” Angie said, going back to the sink and her peppers. “It’s better than seeing her dead.”
The next day, Manda went to the restaurant with Tee and Angie. The girl who normally worked alongside them had been sick all week. Manda thought helping out was the least she could do, after Angie had taken her in. She spent the morning helping Angie prepare food and roll out roti skins. Tee went off to pick up supplies for the restaurant and when he came back, he went to the kitchen to chop up goat meat. For the most part, Angie kept Manda away from the stove, afraid she might burn herself. Manda wondered how on earth Angie could work in such an unbearably hot kitchen, six days a week, without going mad.
When the lunch crowd started coming in, she went out front and helped Angie fill containers with food orders. She had never worked in a restaurant before, but it didn’t take long for her to get the hang of it. And the work was good for her nerves.
“You’re great with the customers,” Angie said. “I soon hire you and fire that lazy gal. But she’s his cousin’s daughter, and Tee has a bleeding heart. No’ true, Tee?” She looked over at her husband, who now sat before the cash register.
Tee nodded. “Man got to put family first.”
“Exactly.” Angie went over and planted a kiss on Tee’s cheek. He broke into girlish giggles that made both Angie and Manda laugh.
Manda watched them as they teased each other. Angie was small, sturdy and round, and Tee was a good two heads taller than her, and frail as an old man. Physically, they were Jack Sprat and his wife. But none of that mattered. They clearly connected on a level that was far beyond the physical, and Manda admired what they had.
By three in the afternoon, the crowd was gone and only a few people sat at the tables. Manda stayed out front to serve food and do some cleaning. She turned on the radio and tuned to Sierra’s show. She wanted to see if Sierra had finally dropped all the talk about Obeah, but she kept the volume low so that Angie wouldn’t hear it. Everything was fine at first. Sierra was wrapping up an interview with a bloke who had written a book about how a person’s name could hold them back in life. But after the interview when Sierra started taking calls, a woman got on the phone and brought up the subject of Obeah again. And Sierra went on her usual tirade. What was wrong with Sierra? Why didn’t she just tell her callers to drop the subject?
Manda turned off the radio and went back to her cleaning. She was busy wiping down the top of the glass counter when she felt eyes staring at her. She looked up and saw a woman sitting at a corner table, steadily watching her. She was an older woman, around sixty-ish, dressed in a blue frock with a sunflower print on it. A blue scarf was tied around her head. Something in the woman’s black eyes made Manda shudder involuntarily. She looked down. When she glanced back up, the woman was still watching her. Manda left the counter and went into the kitchen, where Angie was at the sink washing pots with a long hose.
“Angie, do you have a moment?”
“Everything irie?”
“Yes, but there’s this strange woman sitting out there, who keeps staring at me.
I was just wondering if you might know her.”
Angie turned off the water and wiped her hands on her apron. She followed Manda back through the tiny archway that separated the kitchen from the front of the restaurant. The table where the woman sat only moments ago was now empty.
“She’s gone,” Manda said, glancing around.
“Well, as long as she don’t come back,” Angie said. “Sometimes a few neighborhood crazies come wandering in here, but Tee usually give them a little something and send them right back out.”
Angie went back to the kitchen and Manda stayed out front. For the rest of the day, she glanced at the door from time-to-time, watching for the woman with the chilly black eyes. Fortunately, the woman didn’t come back. But that wasn’t the last Manda would see of her, as she had hoped. Not nearly.
Manda took Angie’s advice and went to the radio station to meet Sierra the next day. All the way there, she thought about what to say, how to apologize without making things worse. She didn’t want to get into another quarrel with Sierra, and so she planned her words carefully.
The sun was setting by the time Manda arrived in the city. As she headed towards Sierra’s office building, she saw her come out one of the glass doors in front. Her eyes looked downcast under her white hat, and her mouth was set in a frown. Manda felt a stab of pity for her. She was still as upset about their fight as Manda was.
“Sierra,” she said, hurring over to her sister.
Sierra looked up and when she saw her, she pursed her lips. “Come for round two, did ya?”
“No, I didn’t come here to fight. Do you have a minute? Are you meeting Nik somewhere?”
A flash of hurt crossed Sierra’s face, but she quickly put a mask over it. “Nik’s busy,” she said, raising her eyebrows.
So that was the real reason she was upset. She and Nik had a fight. “Alright. Well, I came because I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“Sorry about what? Sorry that I’m pregnant?”
“No, Sierra please. Don’t start.”
“You’re the one who started this.”
“Fine, but I’m here to end it.”
“End it? I thought you did that the other day when you abandoned me for Angie.”
“I didn’t abandon you, you abandoned me.” Manda took a deep breath. She hadn’t come here for this. She had come to make peace, to offer that proverbial honey that was supposed to catch more flies. But everything was already going wrong.
“Sierra, please listen to me,” she said. “I’m really sorry about-.” She was cut off in mid-sentence by a croaking voice.
“Sierra Love?” someone said behind them.
They both turned to see a woman standing a few yards away. Manda bristled. It was the same woman who had been watching her in the restaurant. She was wearing a prim white blouse tucked into a long black skirt. Her gray hair was parted down the middle and braided in two. She might have passed for a church lady – the kind who stood in subways handing out copies of Watchtower magazine – if her thin feet hadn’t been planted in a pair of neon yellow rubber boots.
“Oh no,” Sierra groaned. “The poor old girl probably wants my autograph. There’s always someone waiting out here for me.”
“I know your face. It’s just like the others,” the woman said.
“Others?” Sierra said.
“I been hearing what you have to say ‘bout Obeah on your show. You think people who practice it, you think dem foolish. Wackos, you call dem.”
“I don’t think it’s your autograph she’s looking for,” Manda said.
“Well, you don’t know what you chatting ‘bout. You’re the one who chat foolishness.”
“Ma’am, if you have a complaint, you can contact the station manager.”
“Sierra, come on. Don’t say anything.” Manda pulled at her sister’s arm. “I saw this woman yesterday in Angie’s restaurant.”
“I’m telling you, you better hush your mouth from now on if you know what’s good for you.”
“Pardon me, but I don’t appreciate you coming here to threaten me,” Sierra said, hands on her hips.
“Threaten you?” The woman clamped her bony hands to her own waist. “You don’t see threat yet. You don’t know who you dealing with.”
Manda gasped. “That’s her,” she said to Sierra. “She’s the one who’s been sending you those letters.” All along, Sierra had been blaming Angie for sending her those angry threats, but here they were, facing the real culprit.
“I think you’re right,” Sierra said. She turned back to the woman. “I know who you are. You’re that nutter who’s been sending me hate mail. Well, if you don’t go away right now, I’ll have you arrested.”
“Me not going nowhere till you tek responsibility for what you done.”
“Sierra, please. Just tell her you won’t do it anymore, and let’s go home.” Manda tugged at her arm again.
“No, stop it.” Sierra spun on her. “I haven’t done anything wrong, and I’m not letting some batty old crow stand here trying to frighten me.”
Sierra might not have been afraid, but the malevolent squint in the woman’s black eyes made Manda realize she was not one to be crossed. Perhaps she could reason with her, or at least calm her down. Sierra certainly wasn’t helping. Manda approached the woman cautiously.
“Listen, Ma’am,” she said, giving the woman a benign smile and standing at a safe distance.
“I know you’re upset about all this, but it’s all just a big misunderstanding, see? Things just got a little out of hand, really. Sierra never meant to offend anyone. She respects everybody, even Obeah people.”
The woman hissed at her like an angry cat, baring a mouthful of small, jagged teeth. Manda felt goosebumps form on her arms. She stepped back.
“Get away from me, you scrawny, knock-knee wretch,” the woman said. “This is between me and her.”
“That her is my sister,” Manda said. “And if you’re going to resort to name-calling, then-.”
The woman started to finger something in a little cloth bag that hung from a string around her neck. Manda turned and hurried back to Sierra.
Sierra was on her mobile, talking to someone. “Yes, it’s an emergency,” Manda heard her say. “My sister and I are being harassed by a woman. She’s crazy, and she’s been threatening to hurt me.”
In the short time it took Sierra to say that, the woman had approached them quietly. There was a rustle behind them, and as they glanced around, the woman blew what looked like a handful of ground parsley into Sierra’s face.
“Aww,” Sierra screamed. “What the…” She sneezed. “You…you mad old-.” She sneezed again, then tried to lunge at the woman.
Manda had to use all her strength to hold her back. “The police are coming to arrest you,” Sierra called out to the woman, who had now retreated.
“So let them come,” she said. “They can’t stop what’s meant to happen.”
Sierra shook her head and bits of green herb rained down from her hair and the brim of her hat, where some had settled. It seemed like only moments passed before Manda heard the scream of sirens and turned to see a police car pull up curbside. Two officers got out and approached them. Sierra rushed up to them and started to explain what had happened. She showed them the green dust on her clothes, and on the wad of tissues in her hand. The woman stood back with her arms crossed over her chest, waiting. Some on-lookers had dawdled on the sidewalk to watch the scene. Manda wanted to shoo them away.
While the shorter, pudgier officer reported an update back to his station, the young African-American one took out a pair of rubber gloves and slipped them on. He approached the woman, said something to her, and she raised her arms silently. He patted his hands down her body and pulled the little pouch from around her neck.
“What’s this?” he asked, reaching in the pouch and pulling out a tiny white box. It held the remainder of the green herb the woman had blown on Sierra.
She bit her lips and closed her eyes.
“Hey, Sam, bag this for me.” The officer handed the box to his partner.
“We can send it over to the lab. Make sure it’s not some dangerous substance.”
“Officer, I want her arrested,” Sierra butted in. “She’s been threatening me for weeks now. And she’s dangerous. Better watch your back.”
“Ma’am, what’s your name,” the officer said, unhooking a black leather notepad from a belt around his waist.
“Darette,” the woman mumbled, still keeping her eyes closed. “My name is Darette Brown.”
“Huh?” Manda said. She felt the blood drain from her face. She stumbled backwards a few feet. Darette Brown? Could this be the same Darette Brown Aunt Beryl had told her about? The same Darette Brown who was once their father’s fiancé? The Obeah woman’s daughter?
“Do you know who she is?” she stammered to Sierra.
“I don’t give a toss.”
“Sierra, you can’t let them arrest her. Tell them to let her go.”
“You gonna regret this, Sierra Love,” Darette said. “You mark my words.”
“Officer, did you hear that?” Sierra screeched. “She’s still threatening me. Well, I won’t have it. Haul her off to jail, that’s what I say.”
“Okay, you’re under arrest,” the officer said. “We’ll need you girls to come down to the precinct and fill out a report.” He gave Sierra the information, then unhooked a pair of handcuffs from his waist and locked them around Darette’s wrists. He recited her rights, while Darette, who had found her tongue again, cursed at Sierra. The officer started to march Darette towards the car, but then stopped and turned back to Sierra.
“You seem familiar. Where do I know you from?” he asked her.
Sierra cocked her head and grinned. “You’ve probably heard me on the radio. Sistah Britain Speaks. I’m Sistah Britain.” Her voice had dropped a whole pitch.
“Hey, that’s right,” he said. “I love your show.” The officer let go of Darette in his excitement. It was just enough time for her to turn around and bite him on the arm with her little knife-teeth.
“Ow, you little-” The officer grabbed Darette again. “That’s it, old lady. I’m charging you with assault.” He pushed Darette over to his car and folded her into the back seat. He gave Sierra a smile as he got in beside his partner. The police car pulled away from the curb and bullied its way into traffic. Once they were gone, the dawdlers lost interest and went on their way.
“Good riddance to her,” Sierra said, clapping. “Well, that’s the end of that, then.”
“Somehow I don’t think so,” Manda mumbled.
“He’s sort of cute,” Sierra said. “And did you notice he wasn’t wearing a ring. How do you feel about cops?”
“I can’t believe it’s her,” Manda said, staring after the car. Darette was back. It felt strangely inevitable. Even Sierra’s goading of Obeah people now felt like part of a chain of events that had always been meant to happen.
“What’s the matter? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Sierra said, peering into her face.
“Believe me, I have,” Manda said.