Chapter 7

• Shae closed the book and watched Nona-Eve fuss with a tray of cookies. She’d changed her mind three times so far about what to put out when her mother and aunt came to visit. Not used to seeing Nona be anything but calm and settled, she got up and went over. Taking the tray from her hands, she looked down at her. “You know Aunt Marilyn will eat anything you put in front of her. I’m sure this is fine.”
• Nona heaved out an uneven breath.
• “Are you feeling okay?”
• Nona groaned in a loud dramatic way. “Yes, just ghosts of the past chasing me tonight.”
• Shae had no idea what that meant, but the tender look her mentor gave her assured her she was all right. “Okay.” She set the tray down. “I’m going to go unpack the boxes of supplies I brought back. They’ve been sitting there unopened for two weeks.”
• Nona waved a hand around. “They’re fine where they are. Don’t need to go mixing them up with everything else until I have a chance to go through my inventory. The print on those bottles is so damn small I almost need a magnifying glass to see them…”
• Sighing, Shae leaned back against the counter edge. “If you need glasses, we can…”
• “I don’t want no damned things pinching my nose and making me look like a granny.”
• Shae curbed the urge to grin. “Nona-Eve, if you need me to sort through things and check expiration dates, I’d be happy to.” She shrugged. “I noticed you were almost out of a few items on your shelves, so I’ll do that and put the newer ones to the back.”
• Nona waved a hand, “Fine, fine.” She walked over to the window. “Where are they?”
• Shae walked over and looked out the window. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon.” She hadn’t realized Nona looked so forward to social visits. “There’s Aunt Marilyn going toward mom’s now.” There was no mistaking her aunt from this distance. She dyed her brush-cut hair odd colors and wore the most nauseating patterned clothes ever created. Tonight, her hair was pink and her outfit… well there was nothing pale about it. From this distance, it looked like fire engine red and bright orange was this evening’s choice.
• “Good. Good. I’ll go put the kettle on.” Nona moved into the kitchen.
• Shae watched her, there was definitely something bothering her. Whatever ghosts were chasing her, she hoped it wasn’t serious.
• Aunt Marilyn was one of those people that talked endlessly, asked hundreds of questions, and never waited for answers. It was always amusing to visit with her. She was probably the most outlandish character in the village and the complete opposite of her sister, Louisa. Aunt Louisa was quiet, dressed conservatively and spoke in a soft voice.
• She took a fresh tea into her mother and sat back down beside her. Shae loved her mother, she was the most caring soul in her life. Smiling at whatever Aunt Marilyn was boisterously laughing about, she hadn’t been paying attention, she studied her mother. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a tight braid, making her mother’s youthful face look even younger. Everything about her mom seemed young, until you looked into her amber eyes. All you could see when you looked into them was the kind of sadness that put a lump in your throat. Shae didn’t know what could put such a forlorn look in her eyes, but it wouldn’t surprise her if her father was somehow responsible. He didn’t openly show her mother any affection, so Shae could only hope he at least did in private. Someone as kind and loving as her mother deserved to be cherished.
• “You’re not listening to a word I’m saying, Shaelan Kelani.”
• Shae cringed at the use of her middle name and looked over to her aunt. “I’m sorry, my mind just wandered.”
• “Heh, when mine does that I call it senility.” Her aunt quipped.
• Laughing, she glanced at Nona, she was very quiet. “Are you all right, Nona?”
• Nona nodded slowly, “I’m fine, child. Nerves are just singing me songs.”
• She had no idea what that meant, but then realized both her mother and aunt were silent and watching her. Looking from one to the other, she exhaled slowly and carefully spoke. “What’s going on?”
• “A big pile of crap if you ask me,” her aunt spat out, “your father should be here telling you. Its his fault.”
• Shae sat up straight and stared at her aunt.
• “Most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, hiding a body’s own heritage until it’s almost too late to tell them…”
• Raising a hand to quiet her aunt, she looked at Nona, then to her mother, both had looks of dread on their faces. “What are you talking about?” She looked back to Nona, who had always been straightforward with her. “Nona?”
• Heaving out a long sigh, Nona shook her head. “Marilyn is right, it is one of the most ludicrous things ever done here.” She glanced at Shae’s mother then back to her. “Okay, there are worse things, but they’re on a whole different level of stupid.” Nodding to herself, she continued. “It’s been the practice now for close to thirty years, so you weren’t even born when it started.” She shook her head, “Why it was, I never understood…”
• “Because men took over the running of things is why. They don’t have a whole brain between the lot of them.” Aunt Marilyn snapped.
• “Please, Marilyn, lets just get through this.” Her mother’s soft tone pleaded.
• Shae turned so she was facing her mother more. “Mom? Just tell me what is going on.” Every muscle in her body was tense. Whatever it was, if it took three of them to tell her, it couldn’t be good.
• “Think, Shaelan. You know. Think of times when things didn’t add up right.” Marilyn said in a firm tone.
• Shae’s mother took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, like she was trying to find the words. “What your aunt means, sweetheart, is we, the inhabitants of this village, aren’t like other people.”
• Nodding in slow motion, Shae watched her mother’s face. “We live differently, yes…”
• “No dear. It’s more than that.” She paused and looked at Nona, a questioning look on her face, then back to Shae. Reaching out she gently, grasped her hand. “We are different, not just in the way we live.”
• Looking into her mother’s eyes for a moment, she still didn’t understand. Glancing at Nona, she hoped she’d jump in and rip the bandage off as was her way, because if they continued like this, she was never going to know what they were trying to tell her. “I don’t…” she shook her head.
• “Oh, bee’s ass,” her aunt hissed, “baby child, look at your sassy aunt for a second.”
• Shae turned her head slowly and looked at her aunt’s expression. She’d never seen it so serious before.
• “You’re a woman now. Past twenty-two years, if my math is right, and soon your body’s going to…” Her aunt looked to her mother.
• Oh god, was this the talk? Shae’s eyebrows went up. She was long past the sex talk, for crying out loud.
• “Your body is going to change.” Nona blurted out. “And I don’t mean you’ll get boobs, although,” she smirked and waved a hand at Shae’s full bust, “we’d be late on that one if it were.” She snorted, then sobered just as fast. “You… we, are not the normal human species.”
• Shae literally jumped where she sat, moving back several inches. “What?”
• “Who could have thought this would suck this bad? Now I know why parents avoid this like it’s the last thing on their to-do list in life.” Marilyn muttered.
• Trying to piece together what they could possibly be talking about, Shae shook her head. They had about a minute more before she demanded they stop messing around and just get to it.
• Aunt Marilyn got up, her shell bracelets clicking together as she moved. Kneeling in front of her, she took a hold of both Shae’s hands and leaned forward until she was only six inches from her face.
• “Just watch my eyes, baby Shae, and don’t go hitting me or squealing like a stuck pig.”
• Swallowing, Shae did as she was asked, not even wanting to guess what her aunt was up to this time. Her aunt’s brown eyes started to change. Which was impossible, yet it was happening right in front of her face. Not the expression in her eyes, but the shape.
• Her. Eyes. Changed. Shape.
• Shae inhaled sharply when she found herself looking at dark cat eyes.
• On. Her. Aunt’s. Face.
• Blinking, Aunt Marilyn turned to her mother. “Did they go back? Been a long damn time since I did that, was scared I was going to pop an eye out or something.”
• Shae jerked her hands out of her aunt’s and jumped up, practically climbing over the edge of the arm on the chair so she wouldn’t knock her aunt over.