Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Iris
Staring out the back screen door of my house, the dregs of sunlight disappear below the horizon just as my doorbell rings.
Rushing to see if Dark came back so we can talk, I peek through the peephole to find a mop of blonde curls I’d recognize anywhere.
With a girlish squeal, I rip open the front door to find Cell, who throws her arms around my neck, and we stumble into the living room, laughing as she squeezes me too damn tight.
“Iris!” she screeches in my ear, about making me deaf.
A soft, feminine chuckle fills the air around us, and I peer over Cell’s shoulder to see who must be Kali.
She’s just as Cell described—long brown hair, soothing energy, draped in crystals.
Waving hello, she pulls a black crystal from the pocket of her flowy linen pants and sets it on the floor just inside the front door.
“Black Tourmaline to block negative energy and purify,” she explains as Cell releases me to spin in the center of the living room.
There’s a massive frown on her face. “Where’s the furniture? The color?”
“There isn’t any yet.”
“We just finished the floors a few days ago,” Kali explains to Cell before turning her attention to me. “I wasn’t sure what you might need, so I packed a bunch of stuff I thought you might want. It’s in my car. You can keep whatever and toss the rest. Or donate it. Whatever works for you.”
“Thank you.” I beam at her generosity and attempt to move the hair out of my face, a nervous habit, but I brush the side of my bald head instead and freeze.
I don’t have a wig on.
I. Don’t. Have. A. Wig. On.
My insides lock down tight as I clasp my hands together to keep the freakout at bay.
No wig, no wig, no freaking wig… and they’re looking…Right at me.
Sure, Cell knows about my alopecia. She’s just never seen me without my hair.
Kali smiles gently. “No problem,” she replies, looking at my weird eyes. Sure, she doesn’t appear to be judging me, but I’m judging me. I’m in cotton shorts and a tank top. This is the woman Dark loved. The woman he has kids with. Well, one of them.
“Iris, are you alright?” Cell asks, reading my hot mess of emotions loud and clear.
I force a smile. “Yep. Great.”
Kali tucks her hands into her pockets. “I’m sorry we showed up unannounced.”
I wave her off. “No. It’s fine.”
“Iris.” Cell’s tone calls me on my bullshit as she pokes me in the shoulder. “Out with it.”
“I’m bald!” The words just burst out of me, echoing in the white room. I expect them to laugh, or make this a thousand times worse, but Cell rolls her eyes much like Dee would and shoves me hard in the shoulder.
“You’re acting like this because you don’t have a wig on?”
“Yes.”
“Iris.”
“What?”
“You look like a supermodel. Nobody gives a shit if you have no hair.”
I gasp in outrage. That is not true. “Cell.”
“What? Be for real right now. Oh. Look at me, Iris. Bald and beautiful.” Cell flaps her arms and dances around the room.
I snort. “Shut up.”
Finishing her silly moves, Cell’s expression sobers when she looks at me. “You are not defined by your hair. Okay? We aren’t going to judge you without it. Okay?”
I bob my head like one of those dolls. “Um. Okay.”
Her attention swings to Kali. “Right, Boss Lady?”
Kali chuckles. “Right.” She double-claps as if we’re moving on. “So now that’s out of the way, why don’t we unload my car, and I’ll order us some pizza. Can you eat pizza?” Kali asks, looking at me.
“Yes. I like pizza.”
“Any allergies? I can order you a gluten-free crust.”
“No. I’m happy with whatever. Thank you.”
“She wants mushrooms with banana peppers,” Cell buts in with her nosy ass.
“Cell,” I hiss, not wanting to make waves. Any pizza is fine.
“What?” She shrugs. “You think I don’t remember eating that awful pizza with you when we were kids?”
Whatever.
Ignoring the blabbermouth, I focus on Kali, who has her phone out, ready to place an order. “Whatever you like is fine. I’m not picky.”
“I want pineapple, bacon, and onion,” Cell says, sticking her tongue out at me like she’s five, not a grown adult. I ignore her.
Rolling her eyes, Kali huffs a laugh. “I know. Now, why don’t you go burn off some energy by carrying those bags in from my Jeep?
” With the phone to her ear, Kali opens the front door and sweeps her hand for Cell to get to it.
Listening to her mentor, Cell does just that, and when I go to help too, Kali grabs my arm to keep me from leaving.
I listen to her order three pizzas, one just the way Cell said I like.
Once she’s done, she slides her phone back into her pocket and releases my arm.
“Sorry,” she says, looking where she touched me.
“It’s okay,” I reassure.
“Let her do this. She’s been bouncing off the walls for days. I wanted to wait until tomorrow to bring her by, but my husband said Dark was at the bar, so he was gonna go sit with him, and I figured…”
“That you’d come here now that you know he’s not,” I guess.
“Something like that.”
“It’s nice to meet you, officially.”
“It’s really nice to meet you, too,” Kali replies, sounding like she means it.
“I hope my coming hasn’t been… too much of a problem. I know Dark got hurt, and I was part of that and… It’s been a lot.”
“It has, but you’re a gift.”
My nose scrunches at her odd way with words. “What?”
“When my husband brings me new sisters, like when he brought me Cell, or Sola, or one of my other sisters, it’s what I call a gift, gift.
It’s silly, I know. But I love seeing women find their way in the world.
I’m glad you’re here, Iris. I want you to text or call me anytime.
Pop by Dark Delicacies whenever you’re ready, and I’ll show you around. Cell would love that. So would I.”
Staring at Kali, I open and close my mouth a dozen times, like a fish out of water. Words take forever to form on my tongue. “You don’t know me.”
“Not yet.” Her smile is sweet. “But I know Dark, and I know Cell, and you’re a good one.”
I’m not so sure about that. Being a good one. Ha. I’m not sure what I am. But not that.
Incredibly uncomfortable with this conversation and where it might be headed, I change the subject. “Ummm… so… I know what you do and what Cell does, but just so you know, I don’t want to go back to what I was doing before.”
“That’s not why I’m here. I’m not trying to recruit you.”
“Then… I don’t understand.” Isn’t that the point? To meet me and bring me in? Why else would she be here?
“I know, and that’s normal. Most of the sisters feel out of place when they reclaim their autonomy. You probably think everyone wants something from you. You’re expecting there to be a catch.”
There’s always a catch.
“Yes. Actually.” I bark an awkward laugh. “That’s exactly it.”
“Please listen to me when I say there is no catch. No strings. No shoe to drop. You get to live your life on your own terms.”
Wow. Okay.
“In this house.” I gesture to the whole place. It isn’t much yet, but it will be.
Kali grins. “Yes. Your house.”
Just hearing her say my house doesn’t seem real.
“Does it… Is it… ya know… hard to be in here?” I ask, wondering what it’s like, given Kali’s history with this place.
“Dark told you about Todd, huh?”
“Not a lot.”
“No, it doesn’t bother me. As long as it doesn’t bother you that he died in this room.”
“In this room?”
Kali inclines her head to the floor less than five feet from us. “Yep. Right over there.”
“No shit? Who did it?”
“My husband.”
That tracks.
“Sunshine.”
“Yep. You’ve met him.”
I pull a face. “Yeah, I have, and no offense, but once was enough. I never planned on meeting him again.” Ever.
Shaking her head, Kali chuckles. “And now you’re here.”
“Yes. Now I’m here.” It’s wild how life works, isn’t it?
Lugging armfuls of bags in through the front door, Cell huffs as she drops them right inside. “Damn,” she wheezes. “You weren’t lyin’ when you said you got stuff.”
“Cell, you can take more than one trip.” I laugh.
She looks at me as if I’m crazy. “Uh. No. I’m a woman, and so are you. You know we don’t do that. It’s all or nothin’,” Cell grunts dramatically, then grabs the rest of the stuff from the stoop out front.
Together, we unpack a pot, a pan, enough silverware for me, a tin of tea, mugs, some sheets, towels, random snack foods, and other odds and ends that Kali brought from her house, including a smudge stick, palo santo wood, a bottle of lavender oil, and a crystal dream catcher that looks similar to the one at Dee’s.
“Did you make one of these for Sola?” I ask as I set it on the kitchen counter next to the deed to my house that I refuse to look at just yet.
Kali places a bag of rice into my cupboard. “Oh. Yeah. I made them for all the houses for the women in Kings Cursed.”
“There’s one at my sister’s. It’s beautiful.”
Kali hums as if she appreciates the compliment before nodding to the one she made for me. “I added turquoise to yours for wisdom and healing. It also aids in communication.”
“So I’m gonna talk more?” I tease.
Lip twitching, Kali winks. “Maybe.”
Chuckling, I rub the soft feathers of my gift. Once I get a hook, I’ll hang it in my bedroom, right above my bed, where it belongs.
Cell enters the kitchen laden with pizzas. “It’s time to eat,” she sings, and we do.
Sitting on the kitchen floor, we eat directly from our boxes and talk about anything and everything. It’s another first for adult me. Sure, Dee and I spend time together, but she’s not much of a talker, and it’s never like this—carefree and full of laughter.
When Cell smears sauce across half her face with the back of her hand, Kali wads up a pile of napkins and throws them at her. The ball poofs open and rains individual off-white squares over the top of Cell’s pizza, and we bust a gut until we’re all crying.
After we finish and put away everything Kali brought, her husband texts her because he needs a ride home. My mind strays to Dark and why he left. Did I do or say something wrong? Will he come by tomorrow? Is he still with his father?
Keeping my thoughts to myself, I see Kali and Cell out.
The sky is now a grayish black, with little specks of stars peeking through the thick cloud cover.
We exchange quick one-armed hugs, and I wave goodbye to them from my stoop.
Their taillights are long gone by the time I turn around and lock up for the night.
A soft smile and a lightened heart stay with me through my nightly lotion routine, all the way through me curling up on top of my floor mattress. I snuggle the pillow Kali brought under my cheek, and off to sleep I drift… safe and content.
Happy in my home.