Acts of Violet(80)
I can’t believe you’d use Quinn to demonstrate how “safe” your magic is when we both know how much can go wrong when you’re dealing with harnesses and heights and water tanks. This was a delicate seven-year-old girl, not a professionally trained assistant (which you don’t have the best track record with as is).
On top of that, I told you more than once I never want Quinn mixed up in showbiz. ’Cause, you know, I’ve seen what it does to a person.
Thanks for going against my wishes.
Did you see how scared Quinn was when she was “flying”? Though not as utterly terrified as when she nearly drowned. You were probably too up your own ass to see it, but I saw. Of course, she won’t admit she was afraid, but she’s not the same girl she was before. She’s skittish, flinching at any sudden noise or movements, she has night terrors, and as much as she used to love swimming, now she’s so scared of water, she won’t go near it when we’re at the beach—I can hardly even get her to take a shower (forget baths—she’s convinced she’ll drown in the tub).
Nothing and nobody is more precious to me than that child, and I’ll never forgive you for what you did to her.
You really don’t give a shit about anyone on this planet except yourself, do you?
That’s it, we’re done. Don’t call, don’t visit, don’t write. Forget you have a sister.
S.
* * *
Date: April 14, 2004, at 4:33 AM
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: possible idea
* * *
Dear Saint Theresa,
How very patient you’ve been with me. Coming up with something new has been a bitch, but here’s what I’ve been tinkering with. More of an outline of an outline. Is this something?
xxoo
VV
LIFE’S GREAT ILLUSION
By Violet Volk
Table of Contents
Part 1: Fake It
-Stop Hiding Behind the Curtain
-Risk Manage Your Escape Act
Part 2: Break It
-Cut and Restore Your Life
Part 3: Remake It
-The Art of Artifice: There Is No “You” to Discover, Only a “You” to Invent
-Meet Your New Best Friends: Smoke and Mirrors
-Become a Student of Yourself: Practice Your Sleights and Learn Your Angles
-Navigate Your Metamorphosis: Craft Your Character, Costumes, and Props
-Live and Let Lie: Exceptional Is Better Than Genuine
Part 4: Take It
-Master Misdirection: Show Them Where to Look and What to See
-Don’t Wait to Be Invited: Build Your Own Stage
* * *
Date: April 14, 2004, at 9:31 AM
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: possible idea
* * *
We can work with this. Keep going and let’s talk next week.
How annoying is it that Guns N’ Roses already took Use Your Illusion?
T.
* * *
Date: April 14, 2004, at 9:55 AM
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Re: possible idea
* * *
Supremely annoying. It would’ve been the perfect title. Oh well …
* * *
Date: April 19, 2004, at 1:08 PM
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Re: Re: possible idea
* * *
Lovely chatting with you today, as ever.
Are you okay? Something about you seemed off on the phone, more subdued. Do I need to stage a touring intervention? The seminars are great for book sales, but you’ve been on the road for a while now—I don’t want you to burn out.
* * *
Date: April 19, 2004, at 1:55 PM
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: possible idea
* * *
Are you kidding? I want to do twice as many dates when the second book comes out. I’m fine. I like being on the move, staying busy.
That said, I’ve been going at it hard and it’s time for a break. Not sure where I’ll go yet (leaning toward Nepal and Tibet) but I’ll be off the radar all of next month. So you can hold off on that intervention.
If you’ll excuse me, I have to go write a great book now.
xxoo
VV
Sasha
March 12, 2018
I’ve been waking up early for my morning runs, to get in an extra couple of miles. Too early today, as indicated by the milky half-moon and sky still smudged with navy peeking through the bedroom curtains. I lace up anyway. Down the stairs, out the door, and a damp chill greets me.
There’s something furtive and appealing about being one of the first people up and about, like we’re all conspiring to get a head start on the day.
The path I usually take circles Willow Glen in just over five miles. Quinn never joins me on these runs and Gabriel sometimes does, but not this early, so I can lose myself in my thoughts … or lose myself outside them. I’d take a bullet for those two, but ever since I came home from the Witkin in the middle of the night (this time they were both up), their earnest efforts to coax me into talking about my sleepwalking have been crazy-making. I don’t have much to say about it—dissecting it with my therapist is bad enough. I can’t go through the draining process again with Gabriel or Quinn, especially since I still don’t know what to make of it all.