All That She Can See(41)

‘Me too.’ Cherry smiled and broke into laughter too.

The street was empty, but if anyone had happened along at that moment they would’ve seen two happy, laughing people bent double, clinging to each other. Chase’s hand found Cherry’s and as the laughing subsided they were left smiling at each other and holding hands. For two people who had felt a lot of things and who had seen a lot of feelings, feeling whole because of finding a true connection with someone was something neither of them had experienced. Cherry felt like she’d found what she was looking for and Chase had found what he never knew he needed: someone. Not necessarily even someone to love. Just someone.

‘So why are we going to visit your terrifying, lying mother and aunt?’ Cherry asked once she’d managed to catch her breath.

‘Shhh,’ Chase said, knowing they might be listening from around the corner. He pulled her closer to the wall, further out of sight. ‘When you met them, they offered you tea, didn’t they?’ Chase coughed out the last of his laughter.

‘Practically forced it on me, yes.’

‘Years ago they discovered the internet —’

‘Marvellous, isn’t it?!’ Cherry said.

‘— and they met another fortune teller on some forum. A clairvoyant, who claimed he could speak to the dead. Another lying bastard but far better at lying than my mum and aunt because he took them for a complete and utter ride. He sold them this green tea and told them it would make their customers far more susceptible to believing whatever they told them. It was all total bollocks, of course, but they bought it and have been giving it to their customers ever since.’

‘It’s just grass, isn’t it?’ Cherry said remembering the taste in the back of her throat.

‘Grass in a glass.’ Chase smiled. ‘If they’re that easily fooled and that desperate to get their customers believing… ’

‘You’re a genius!’ Cherry said and she kissed him hard on the cheek.

‘Come on!’ They rushed down the street hand in hand, Chase holding the bottle out before him. Velina and Danior were already waiting for them.

‘Dani.’ Chase nodded.

‘Boy,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘Come to visit your dear mother and aunt? We thought you’d gone for good this time.’

‘Not this time.’

‘Shame,’ Danior sneered. ‘You two seem awfully chipper,’ she said, a cigarette holder balanced between her teeth, today’s purple lipstick staining the rim and, yet again, her teeth.

‘It’s because we’ve discovered something,’ Chase said.

‘As soon as we heard about it we knew we had to come straight to you,’ Cherry added. Chase held up the bottle. Velina and Danior’s expressions shifted subtly from annoyance to intrigue. ‘Can we come in?’

Danior roughly pulled them inside and Velina looked up and down the street, making sure nobody had seen them before closing the door. They followed Danior through the beaded curtain and into the back of the shop. She took up her usual spot in the corner and told Cherry and Chase to sit. Velina burst though the curtain with a flourish.

‘Why the change of tune, dear son?’

‘I thought you hated our ways, nephew dear.’

‘I know. I know I’ve not been as supportive as I should have been but… ’ Chase’s jaw tensed, ‘I guess… I’ve always felt like I’ve never had anything to contribute.’

‘I think what Chase means to say is that he doesn’t have the panache or… or the intelligence that it takes to be a palm reader or an expert Tarot reader,’ Cherry said. Chase caught her eye and without changing his expression he quickly winked at her.

‘I knew you’d come around, that one day you’d see that what we do is in people’s best interests,’ Velina said, stroking her son’s hair.

‘What we do is give people hope,’ Danior added. ‘People don’t often want truth. They just want someone to tell them things are going to be okay. Even if they’re not.’

‘I know,’ he said and then with a little more conviction, ‘I know! And that’s why I want to help. This has been a few months in the making, but I have a friend – she’s a clairvoyant too – and she does this amazing thing where she pretends the soul of someone departed has entered her and she speaks to her customers in different voices. She’s a voice actress who’s currently unemployed and she’s making a killing in this field.’

‘Interesting,’ Velina said.

‘But what does this have to do with us?’ Danior spoke quickly, impatient.

‘Well, my friend said she wouldn’t have been half as successful if it wasn’t for these.’ Chase held up the pill bottle. ‘Like you, she puts them in tea and serves it to her clients but they work differently to your tea. They’re instant and strong. Really strong. One of these pills will make your client believe anything you say and, in her experience, the more generous you are about their future, the more generous they’ll be too, if you catch my drift.’ Chase rubbed his fingers against his thumb and Velina’s eyes lit up.

‘Are you certain?’ she asked.

‘One hundred per cent.’

‘How do we know you’re not lying?’ Danior said, coming out of the shadows.