The Order of Things
That evening, Twyla stood on the sidewalk outside of Zing's Sweet and Sour and contemplated whether or not she wanted to enter the seemingly innocuous candy store.
Seraph had told her that the women inside might be able to help her, and although she was skeptical, she was even more desperate.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to suck up some courage and release her fear.
It didn't work but at least she tried. Pushing open the door, she entered the building and stopped in the center aisle, letting the door swing close behind her as she glanced around and observed her surroundings.
"Welcome to Zing's Sweet and Sour."
Twyla turned toward the soothing voice infused with warmth until her eyes landed on a woman who was standing behind the counter straight-ahead, at the back of the store.
The woman said nothing else, seemingly waiting for Twyla to speak.
Twyla headed in her direction. She had to be one of the two women that Seraph had told Twyla about.
As Twyla approached her, the woman folded her bare arms on top of the counter and offered Twyla a small smile.
"Good evening, sistah."
"Hello.” Twyla greeted cautiously. “I need your help."
The woman lifted an eyebrow and stared at her. "Well, you have made a smart choice, coming to a candy shop to cure your sadness."
Twyla blinked several times. Seraph had warned her that her emotions would somehow be called out, but to experience it was something else entirely. This woman must be Zing.
"My friend, Seraph, recommended you to me. She said you might be able to help me with my…issue."
The curtain of beads behind Zing parted and an older woman came to stand beside Zing. She slipped am arm around Zing’s waist and pressed a kiss to her cheek before turning her warm brown eyes onto Twyla and giving her an indulgent smile.
Mama Sari. This was Zing's mother.
"Hello, dearest. Did you say Seraph sent you?"
Twyla nodded. "Yes ma'am."
If possible, Mama Sari's smile grew even larger and she squeezed Zing's hip. "Zing does not believe that word of mouth brings business, but here you stand as proof that it does. How can Mama Sari bring blessings and light to your life, dearest?"
Relief washed over Twyla. Not only was this the right place, but they would help her. It was the best news she'd heard since everything had gone to shit.
"I love someone I shouldn't. I need something that can make these feelings go away."
Zing's eyes narrowed as Mama Sari's widened.
"Ooh!" The older woman cooed. "Matters of the heart." She turned to her daughter and squeezed her waist once more. "What do you have for this?"
Zing pursed her lips. "The heart is not to be trifled with." Pinning Twyla with a shrewd gaze, she added, "Feelings fade over time. If indifference is what you seek, you must be patient."
Twyla's face crumbled. That wasn't at all what she wanted to hear.
"Please, Zing." She begged. "I've been trying to make myself not love him, but nothing is working.
I don't have time to wait it out. I have to spend the next week and a half with him and I won't be able to stand it in my current state.
I need a cure or something. You have to help me.
" She would fall to her knees if she had to.
Mama Sari clucked her tongue. "Zing, the child is in distress. What color is she? Red?"
Zing sighed. "She is as gray as the sky before a storm."
"Oh, Zing. You must help her!"
"Sari," Zing said, a thick line of censure in the sole word, "You know it is no easy task."
The older woman lifted her brows and stared at Zing, a smile still present on her lips.
Confused, Twyla stood still and watched the two women converse about her as if she weren't there.
It didn't matter since she had no idea what they were talking about, but she remained silent until they decided to come to a resolution.
Zing unfolded her arms from the countertop and folded them over her chest. "The body can be controlled, the mind can be manipulated, but the heart is incapable of either of those things. It has a will of its own and no amount of chanting or spell work will make it bend."
"Well, my dearest Zing, then give her something temporary so she can survive the present. The future will be her own."
"Sari…"
Holding her hands in the air, the older woman chuckled and backed away. "Yes, dearest. I will leave you to it." Turning to Twyla, Mama Sari winked. "All will be well, friend." She disappeared the way she came, and Twyla flicked her gaze from the swishing curtain to Zing.
"There are consequences to welcoming the spirit world into your life. Are you certain that it is worth it for such a short amount of time of reprieve?"
Twyla opened her mouth to speak but hesitated.
The idea of magic had initially intrigued her but it was the appeal of ridding herself of her current feelings for Arturo that sold her.
Anything that could take away the utter despair she'd been cloaked in for more than six weeks was worth it.
She'd deal with the consequences another day.
Nodding, she said, "Yes, it's worth it."
Immediately, Zing brought her finger to the base of her neck and grasped a leather necklace from around her neck that Twyla hadn't noticed before.
Twyla's eyes ballooned as the entirety of the necklace seemed to materialize before her eyes.
When a small key rose to the surface of Zing's chest just above the valley of her breasts—which were visible above the vee in her V-neck shirt—Twyla began to wonder if maybe she hadn't thought this visit through all of the way.
She'd just watched this woman pull a necklace and key made of bone out of her skin without blinking.
This wasn't something cute and fun on T.V. , this was real life.
Zing pulled the necklace over her head and dropped into a squat, using the key to unlock the sliding panels of the counter she stood behind.
That was when Twyla noticed the multiple trays of truffles on display between three shelves in the glass enclosure.
There were twelve truffles on each tray and three trays on each shelf.
Zing pulled the second tray from the middle row and placed it on the counter.
She then looked at Twyla who looked from her to the tray and then back up to her.
"Choose one." Zing instructed.
As Twyla stared down at the tray of beautifully decorated balls of chocolate, anxiety began to set it. Why were these seemingly innocuous candies locked away with a key that Zing kept inside her body? Just how dangerous was a piece of chocolate that could only be accessed with a key made of bone?
Zing rotated the tray until one of the tips of the small square was pointed directly at Twyla. The particular truffle that Twyla had been eying was in the corner that now faced her. She raised surprised eyes to meet Zing's, and the other woman nodded down at the tray.
Twyla lifted her hand and pointed. "That one."
The perfectly round ball was coated in reddish-brown cocoa that reminded her of Arturo's enticing hue.
Zing plucked the truffle off of the tray and wrapped it in a piece of tissue paper before setting it aside and returning the tray to its rightful place inside the display case.
Once she locked the panel she looped the leather necklace over her neck, rearranged her impressively long locs, and let the key fall against her chest.
Twyla sucked in a breath as the key and necklace sank into the woman's mocha skin.
Zing held out a hand, palm up and looked at Twyla expectantly.
Unsure of what to do, Twyla placed her hand over the other woman's, palm down.
As soon as their skin met, Twyla felt the despair that had been beating at her back suddenly evaporate like the morning dew when the sun finally peeks over the horizon.
Zing flipped Twyla's hand over and placed the wrapped truffle in the center of her palm.
When Twyla started to retract her hand, Zing's grip tightened and she lowered their joined hands to the counter.
"Listen to what I will tell you. There are steps to achieving what you desire which should not be performed out of order or skipped."
Well that was an ominous warning if Twyla had ever heard one. "What happens if I mess up the order?"
Zing leveled Twyla with a knowing gaze. "If you were to complete the steps out of the order that I give to you then it would not matter if you had completed them correctly, for that which you wish to eradicate would not lend you peace."
Frowning, Twyla tried to understand what the other woman was saying. "And this will make me not love him?"
"No. I have told you that cannot be done. This will suppress your mental desire for the one your heart is fixated on."
Hm. Things began to make more sense. "So, if I do this wrong then it will make my desire even stronger?"
Zing offered her a small smile and pride surged through Twyla. Had she guessed correctly?
"That is a possibility, sistah."
Twyla nodded. Okay, that was the sort of side-effect that she could handle—although she didn't want to. All she had to do was follow the steps and the next ten days would be marginally bearable. Piece of cake.
She listened intently as Zing detailed the steps for her to follow, and as soon as she got home she quickly showered and settled in at the dining table with the truffle in her hand, still wrapped in the tissue.
Setting the truffle on the table, she carefully unwrapped the tissue and laid it flat.
She then grabbed a knife from the kitchen and cut the truffle in half.
The decadent scent of chocolate and hazelnut wafted in the air and Twyla was grateful that she wouldn't have to suffer through something that tasted like dirt to achieve her goal.
She placed one of the halves into her mouth with the cut side on tongue and then closed her mouth, lifting the truffle to the roof of her mouth, allowing her body heat to began melting the chocolate.
She was to recite the first part of the chant while half of the truffle melted in her mouth, and then when the last of the chocolate melted away she was to recite the second part of the chant while chewing the second half of the truffle.
The steps were simple and easy to remember.
Just as Twyla began to chant, her phone rang, startling her.
She'd placed the device on do-not-disturb so for any call to come through it must have been an emergency.
Picking up the device, she saw it was Vanessa on the display and panicked a little.
Vanessa was supposed to be joining them on the trip to Tennessee, and Twyla hoped that nothing had happened that would change those plans. She quickly swiped to answer the call and brought the phone to her face, pushing the truffle into her cheek so that she could speak without choking.
"Hello? Vanessa, what's wrong?"
"I've been trying to decide on swimsuits and I need to know if I should bring the sexy thong bikini or not? I know you said you don't mind if I get with one of your cousins but I'm not tryna give one of your geriatric aunties a heart attack."
Twyla burst out laughing and the truffle popped out of her cheek and rolled toward her throat. She coughed and reflexively gnashed at the offending thing, breaking the big piece of food into smaller pieces with her teeth.
"Girl, this is not an emergency! Why did you call me back-to-back like that? I really thought something might be wrong."
Vanessa sucked her teeth. "The flight leaves in less than two hours and I'm not finished packing. This is absolutely an emergency."
"Ma'am, I was in the middle of—" Twyla's eyes widened and her breath caught as she realized what she had done. "Oh, shit."