Chapter 14 Jackie’s Bag
Jackie’s Bag
“Is he back yet?” Jackie burst into my home carrying her signature duffel bag. This time, she wasn’t coming to browse on the internet. She was ready for war. “Bring the shadow walker to me!”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her. “Are you going to kill him?”
“If I have to. I’m not sure how to take out one of his kind.” She slapped the side of the bag. “But I’m sure there is something in this bag that can get the job done. If nothing else, I’ll have fun experimenting!”
“You’re insane.” I shook my head. “And no, he isn’t back yet. Actually, I’m glad he isn’t. It gives us some time to talk before he pops back in here.”
“True. You can fill me in on all the details.” She dropped the bag on the bench in the hall. “What do you have to eat? I was choosing to sleep instead of having dinner, but now that I’m up, I need grub!”
“They delivered sushi just before you got here,” I said and had to keep from laughing when her eyes widened like I’d just presented her with a bag of diamonds.
“Oh, you know me so well!” She headed for the kitchen then paused. “Wait, what did you lie about? Unrequested sushi is for apologies. You know that.”
“Nothing, but something tells me this is going to turn into a big thing, and, well, I want to butter you up ahead of time,” I joked. “Besides, I know you’re a lot nicer when you’re well fed. I don’t know what he’s coming back here with, so I need to make sure we’re good.”
“Smart. I pop off when monsters appear. If you want me to be nice, you better have some nigiri in there!” she called back to me over her shoulder.
“Of course!” I made sure the door was locked before I followed her. “I didn’t forget what you like.”
By the time I made it to the kitchen, Jackie was sitting with Kaa on her shoulder. Kaa put her face close to Jackie’s ear, as if she was telling her a secret. I rolled my eyes—I already knew what was coming next.
“What did you do?” Jackie snapped her fingers at me. “Why is this precious baby upset?”
I rolled my eyes. “Really? Since when is she a precious baby?”
“Since always!” Jackie fussed. “You upset her. Don’t lie. That’s what all this sushi is really for.”
“You’re both ridiculous. I still don’t understand why she likes you. She hides from everyone else.”
“I’m special, duh.” Jackie rubbed Kaa’s head with her finger. “She needs someone to love on her. Clearly, you’re over here treating her like a bald-headed stepchild!”
“She tried to attack Raymond. I stopped her, and now she has an attitude. She’ll get over it.” I reached into the cabinet above the sink and pulled out the bottle of plant food. Kaa immediately perked up. She loved the stuff. “She’s just like you, pouty until fed.”
I poured a bit of the liquid food into a glass cup then added water to dilute it.
When it was ready, I shook it at the drama queen then headed for Kaa’s favorite pot.
As soon as I poured the mixture into the soil, she was there.
She slithered into the pot, rooted herself, then looked at me with that strange smile of hers.
The petals around her head stretched out, an extension of her smile. She had forgiven me.
I returned to find Jackie, already done with the first tray of sushi and opening the second.
“You plan on sharing?” I quickly grabbed the second bag, pulling it away from her.
“Girl, you know you have to act fast!” She stood and headed for the fridge, opening it to find a fresh case of beer. “Oh, you really do love me!”
“Yeah, I do, so much that I put that nasty stuff in my house for you.” I turned up my nose. It wasn’t something I enjoyed, and despite previous vows to never waste my money on the stuff, I’d had several cases delivered the night before.
“Oh, to have people who understand you!” She skillfully popped the top off the glass bottle then returned to the table.
While she chugged the beer, I opened a container of dragon rolls, grabbed a piece, and popped it into my mouth, followed by a piece of ginger.
“With your fingers?” Jackie slid me a pair of chopsticks. “Act like a lady, please!”
“That’s funny coming from you.” I snatched the pair of chopsticks and opened them.
“So, give me the rundown.” Jackie cracked open her second beer. “Tell me more about your shadow daddy.”
“Shadow daddy?” I almost choked on my food. “Is that what we’re calling him now?”
“You hooked up, right?” She tapped her chin. “More than once? That man has gotten under your skin. You can’t deny it.”
“Anyway.” I rolled my eyes. “None of that is important right now. The threat is the focus.”
“I’m right, I know it.” She laughed. “If he wasn’t under your skin, we wouldn’t be talking about any of this, but I digress. You said he’s looking for help?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I told him I would call you, and he said he had some people he thought could help us. So, he went to go find them.”
“Did he say what that help would look like?”
“No, and I didn’t ask.” I paused. “Now that I think about it, I’m not even sure where he went. I guess he could be in hell right now. You think he’s going to bring back other demons?”
“It would make sense. Not like the guy from the local grocery store is going to be able to help us out here. We’re going to need some power on our side.”
“Right.” My mind drifted off. What else would we need to be able to get through things?
“Are you okay?” She looked at me with concern. “I mean, you’re usually a lot more on top of things than this, Jericha. What’s going on?”
“Sorry, but the demons stepping out of the shadows kind of shook me up. It was a lot.” I ate another piece of sushi. “It’s one thing to hear about something. It’s another thing to see it with your own eyes.”
“I’ve watched you take down a werewolf while holding off a manic dragon pup.
” Jackie picked up her phone and opened my contact card.
There, for the profile picture, was a photo of me and a baby dragon who nearly burned my entire afro off.
“Be real. What’s going on? You know I’m your friend, right? I’m not going to judge you.”
I couldn’t believe she still had the picture, but something about seeing that former version of myself opened the floodgates.
Jackie was a safe space, as she always had been.
“I’m under a lot of pressure right now, Jackie, and honestly, I’m just trying my best to keep it together.
On top of business issues, staffing issues, resurfacing crap from my past, and then Raymond turning out to be a damn shadow walker just when I was—”
“Just when you were what?” She leaned in, gripping the bottleneck tightly. “What were you doing?”
“Nothing.” I pulled back the confession. “I’d just gotten used to him being around, is all.”
“Holy shit! You actually like this guy, don’t you? I was just joking, but…” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not just tolerating him. You like him.”
“Once again, I feel like you’re focused on the wrong thing.” I got up to grab a glass of water. “And you said something is off about me? When did you become so boy crazy?”
“Don’t you dare try to deflect this…” Jackie stood, but I held my hand up to stop her when I felt the drop in temperature.
“Did you feel that?” I put the glass I’d retrieved on the counter. “The temperature just dropped.”
“Nuh uh,” Jackie shook her head and eyed the mostly consumed food. “You better not have fed me no damn tainted sushi. What do you mean the temperature just dropped? I feel fine.”
“I think he’s coming. The same thing happened when he left. It got really cold, and then the shadow appeared.”
Just then, the corner of the room darkened, an unnatural shadow spreading like a stain, accompanied by a chilling sound of energy crackling. I stood with Jackie as we waited. Jackie immediately pulled a knife from her back pocket.
“Really?” I raised a brow at her.
“We don’t know if what’s coming through that thing is going to be friendly. They already attacked you once. What’s stopping it from happening again?” Jackie slapped my shoulder. “Get it together, friend.”
“You’re right.” I shook my head. That was why I wanted Jackie there. In moments when my judgment was cloudy, Jackie was there to bring clarity.
I slipped my hand under the table and pulled out the gun I stored there. After flipping the safety and checking the chamber, I pointed at the center of the shadow.
“Just gotta show me up, huh?” Jackie nudged me with her arm. “Bringing out the heavy artillery.”
Then, Raymond’s head poked through the shadow. “Jericha? It’s me.” His eyes widened when he saw the weapon in my hand. “We good?”
“Oh.” I lowered my weapon with a sigh of relief and then placed my hand on Jackie’s arm to reassure her, feeling the tremor in her muscles. She slipped the knife back into her pocket. “Just playing it safe. We’re good.”
“Good. I have someone I want to introduce you to. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared again, but the shadow remained.
“Oh, now I get it!” Jackie winked at me. “That man is fine! I’d be all out of sorts too!”
“Chill.” I picked up her beer and handed it to her. “I don’t know if that thing is soundproof!”
“Oh shit, my bad.” She grabbed the beer and took a long sip. “I should just eat my sushi and hush, huh?”
“That would be nice.”
“Okay, you didn’t have to agree with me.” She winked then reached for her sushi.
Jackie stood next to me with a tray of rolls in one hand and the chopsticks in the other. She happily stuffed her face while we waited for something to happen. I was ready to scream into the dark void when Raymond reappeared.
“Damn, it's about time,” I fussed. “You just opened a portal in my kitchen and left it there. Is that even safe?”
“Oh, sorry about that. Time is different there. To me, I haven’t been gone that long.”
“Right.” I sighed. “Where’s your friend? I thought you said you were bringing help.”
“I told them to hold back for a few so I could set the stage, so to speak.”
“Are they actors?” Jackie pointed her chopsticks at Raymond. “Are they going to put on a little show for us?”