All That She Can See(27)

‘George, I’m so sorry tonight turned out like this.’

‘Like what, Cherry? You’re shaking! What happened in there?’ George held her shoulders, trying to steady her.

‘Nothing… I mean. Not nothing. I punched Chase in the face,’ she admitted.

‘You what?!’ George laughed, a look of disbelief on his face.

‘I know, I know. He wound me up and I rose to the bait. I’ve never hit anyone before. I’m so ashamed of myself, but —’

‘No, that’s great! I’ve wanted to hit that snarky bastard for years!’ George held up his hand for a high five but Cherry took it in both her hands and pulled it back down to his side.

‘I shouldn’t have done it and I will apologise but right now…’ Cherry heard a bell ring and there in the shop doorway were two faces, watching her with interest. ‘But right now, I need to have my fortune told.’ Purposefully, she strode towards the shop with the crystal ball in the window.

‘Are you mad?’ George asked.

‘Absolutely,’ she said. ‘Isn’t everyone?’





11





Family





‘I knew you’d be back,’ Madame Danior said, showing her lipstick-stained teeth. ‘Didn’t take you long at all.’ She opened the door wide to let Cherry inside but Cherry’s feet remained stuck to the pavement.

‘Your nephew is Chase Masters?’ Cherry asked.

‘Mmm.’ Danior rolled her eyes but Velina stepped into the dim light and hit her sister’s arm with the back of her extravagantly ringed fingers. Velina’s make-up was the same as her sister’s; thick and colourful. However, her fake eyelashes had been stuck on almost half an inch above her real ones and her real eyebrows had been covered with porcelain foundation and harsh, angular black fake eyebrows had been drawn above them giving the impression that she wore a constant scowl on her face. She wasn’t wearing any lipstick either so her lips were almost invisible. She had hidden any trace of natural expression, which made her incredibly hard to read. Her head was wrapped in a pink headscarf so there was no hair on show and Cherry wondered if she had any at all whereas Danior had pulled strands of her red hair, presumably dyed considering her age, out from under her orange headscarf. Danior was a good foot and a half taller than Velina but there was something about the way Velina held herself that made Cherry curl in on herself. Strangely, the only thing that gave Cherry some comfort were the two Meddlums fixedly staring at each other while sitting on one of the sofas. She watched through the shopfront window and saw that each Meddlum was mesmerised, scrutinising every inch of the other with puffy, narrow eyes. One belonged to Danior and one belonged to Velina, their rubbery skin tinged the same colour as their respective owners’ headscarves but despite them belonging to different sisters, Cherry could identify that they were both, undoubtedly, Doubt. The sisters, while outwardly confident with their own fortune telling talents, very much doubted the other’s ability. Cherry felt a little less intimidated knowing that they might not be as omniscient as they portrayed themselves to be.

‘Careful, Danior. You don’t want to put that sort of negativity out into the universe. Karma will bite back when you least expect it.’ Velina took each end of her blue silk scarf in either hand and flung it from around her neck, over her head and then threw it over Cherry’s head and around her neck with a flourish. ‘No need to be afraid of us, dearie. We don’t bite.’ She tugged gently on the scarf and Cherry felt that she had no choice but to enter the shop.

The walls were covered in crushed red velvet from floor to ceiling, and purple sofas adorned with several throw pillows lined the room. Cherry guessed it was supposed to look plush and expensive but when she looked closer she could see that the sheets of fabric had been stapled to the walls and the sofas had many small cigarette burns which explained the faint smoky smell and the haze you could only see when you looked up at the badly fitted lights.

‘Why have you come, child?’ Velina batted her badly placed eyelashes.

Cherry smiled as sweetly as she could despite her mistrust. ‘Why don’t you tell me?’ Her own confidence startled her and instantly she felt her stomach flip.

‘We don’t do readings for free.’ Danior snapped.

‘Now, now Dani. I’m sure we can make an exception. After all, my son isn’t treating you with the respect you deserve, is he?’ Velina walked to the back of the shop where there was a curtain of multi-coloured beads. She pushed it aside, making the beads clatter against each other and glint in the light. Just when Cherry thought she had disappeared, her hand pushed through the beads and she beckoned Cherry with curling fingers. The noise grated on Cherry and she clenched her teeth as she walked through the doorway before Danior, careful not to disturb more of the beads.

‘Sit.’ Velina said.

There were two blue wooden chairs that looked like they belonged in a nursery, and a small wooden table in between them. The table was full of scratches and dents and had red nail polish marks scattered across it from where the sister’s nails skimmed the surface when they held customer’s palms or turned card after card. Cherry took the seat opposite Velina, and Danior tutted when she realised she’d have to stand.

‘Tea?’ Velina asked, pouring herself a cup of steaming green liquid from the Chinese teapot that had been heating on a hot plate in a corner of the room.