All That She Can See

  ‘Chase, stop playing around, what are you —?’ Then he spat into the drink. ‘CHASE!’

  Quickly, he stirred it with a black plastic stirrer until all the saliva bubbles had disappeared. Chase straightened up and placed the drink on the bar.

  ‘Here we go! Seven-fifty please, mate.’

  Cherry watched the money exchange hands, horrified.

  ‘How could you?’ she hissed when he turned back to her, ignoring the endless rumble of shouted drink requests.

  ‘Oh, come on. As if I’m going to spend my time infusing gin. I wouldn’t know where to start. This is much more efficient.’

  ‘You’ve not practised at all, have you? This has been six years of my life, perfecting this. The measurements are so exact, Chase. Too much of something and someone could get seriously hurt! You don’t even have enough time with each person to get to know them or figure out what they need. You could be putting anything into their drinks!’

  Cherry rarely raised her voice in anger and even though the noise levels meant it was impossible not to shout in this place, she had a feeling that she would have been yelling regardless of the noise.

  ‘I know what these people need. Everyone wants love and happiness and comfort. I’ve seen it all my life. They’re all the same.’ He widened his eyes with his fingers. ‘Even you, Cherry. Self-righteous, high and mighty Cherry. Fancy a drink while you’re here?’ He winked, and that was when Cherry saw red.

  She didn’t know what she was doing until it was done. The idea flitted into her head and by the time she’d fully processed it, she’d already pulled her fist back and her knuckles slammed against his face with a crunch. Chase’s eyes widened in shock as he fell back into the wall of glasses and bottles behind him. The noise bubbled to a simmer until there was just a low hum. People were staring at Cherry. Her stomach churned but she took a deep breath, kept her eyes on the floor and said as clearly and steadily as she could, ‘He spat in all your drinks.’

  She turned on her heel and made her way out of the bar and onto the street where she found George. He was arguing with someone in the queue.

  ‘I’m just trying to find my friend! She went in five minutes ago – please just… wait, there she is!’

  Cherry grabbed George by the hand and pulled him back in the direction they’d come, ignoring his calls for her to slow down. She didn’t stop until she saw the familiar red and yellow shop.

  ‘George, I’m so sorry tonight turned out like this.’

  ‘Like what, Cherry? You’re shaking! What happened in there?’ George held her shoulders, trying to steady her.

  ‘Nothing… I mean. Not nothing. I punched Chase in the face,’ she admitted.

  ‘You what?!’ George laughed, a look of disbelief on his face.

  ‘I know, I know. He wound me up and I rose to the bait. I’ve never hit anyone before. I’m so ashamed of myself, but —’

  ‘No, that’s great! I’ve wanted to hit that snarky bastard for years!’ George held up his hand for a high five but Cherry took it in both her hands and pulled it back down to his side.

  ‘I shouldn’t have done it and I will apologise but right now…’ Cherry heard a bell ring and there in the shop doorway were two faces, watching her with interest. ‘But right now, I need to have my fortune told.’ Purposefully, she strode towards the shop with the crystal ball in the window.

  ‘Are you mad?’ George asked.

  ‘Absolutely,’ she said. ‘Isn’t everyone?’

  11

  Family

  ‘I knew you’d be back,’ Madame Danior said, showing her lipstick-stained teeth. ‘Didn’t take you long at all.’ She opened the door wide to let Cherry inside but Cherry’s feet remained stuck to the pavement.

  ‘Your nephew is Chase Masters?’ Cherry asked.

  ‘Mmm.’ Danior rolled her eyes but Velina stepped into the dim light and hit her sister’s arm with the back of her extravagantly ringed fingers. Velina’s make-up was the same as her sister’s; thick and colourful. However, her fake eyelashes had been stuck on almost half an inch above her real ones and her real eyebrows had been covered with porcelain foundation and harsh, angular black fake eyebrows had been drawn above them giving the impression that she wore a constant scowl on her face. She wasn’t wearing any lipstick either so her lips were almost invisible. She had hidden any trace of natural expression, which made her incredibly hard to read. Her head was wrapped in a pink headscarf so there was no hair on show and Cherry wondered if she had any at all whereas Danior had pulled strands of her red hair, presumably dyed considering her age, out from under her orange headscarf. Danior was a good foot and a half taller than Velina but there was something about the way Velina held herself that made Cherry curl in on herself. Strangely, the only thing that gave Cherry some comfort were the two Meddlums fixedly staring at each other while sitting on one of the sofas. She watched through the shopfront window and saw that each Meddlum was mesmerised, scrutinising every inch of the other with puffy, narrow eyes. One belonged to Danior and one belonged to Velina, their rubbery skin tinged the same colour as their respective owners’ headscarves but despite them belonging to different sisters, Cherry could identify that they were both, undoubtedly, Doubt. The sisters, while outwardly confident with their own fortune telling talents, very much doubted the other’s ability. Cherry felt a little less intimidated knowing that they might not be as omniscient as they portrayed themselves to be.

  ‘Careful, Danior. You don’t want to put that sort of negativity out into the universe. Karma will bite back when you least expect it.’ Velina took each end of her blue silk scarf in either hand and flung it from around her neck, over her head and then threw it over Cherry’s head and around her neck with a flourish. ‘No need to be afraid of us, dearie. We don’t bite.’ She tugged gently on the scarf and Cherry felt that she had no choice but to enter the shop.

  The walls were covered in crushed red velvet from floor to ceiling, and purple sofas adorned with several throw pillows lined the room. Cherry guessed it was supposed to look plush and expensive but when she looked closer she could see that the sheets of fabric had been stapled to the walls and the sofas had many small cigarette burns which explained the faint smoky smell and the haze you could only see when you looked up at the badly fitted lights.

  ‘Why have you come, child?’ Velina batted her badly placed eyelashes.

  Cherry smiled as sweetly as she could despite her mistrust. ‘Why don’t you tell me?’ Her own confidence startled her and instantly she felt her stomach flip.

  ‘We don’t do readings for free.’ Danior snapped.

  ‘Now, now Dani. I’m sure we can make an exception. After all, my son isn’t treating you with the respect you deserve, is he?’ Velina walked to the back of the shop where there was a curtain of multi-coloured beads. She pushed it aside, making the beads clatter against each other and glint in the light. Just when Cherry thought she had disappeared, her hand pushed through the beads and she beckoned Cherry with curling fingers. The noise grated on Cherry and she clenched her teeth as she walked through the doorway before Danior, careful not to disturb more of the beads.

  ‘Sit.’ Velina said.

  There were two blue wooden chairs that looked like they belonged in a nursery, and a small wooden table in between them. The table was full of scratches and dents and had red nail polish marks scattered across it from where the sister’s nails skimmed the surface when they held customer’s palms or turned card after card. Cherry took the seat opposite Velina, and Danior tutted when she realised she’d have to stand.

  ‘Tea?’ Velina asked, pouring herself a cup of steaming green liquid from the Chinese teapot that had been heating on a hot plate in a corner of the room.

  ‘No, thanks.’

  ‘I insist,’ she said, pouring a second cup.

  ‘Really, I’m fine,’ Cherry said.

  ‘She insists,’ Danior said with a glare.

  ‘Okay…’ Cherry took the cup from Velina. I
t smelled like normal green tea but when she took a sip it tasted exceedingly grassy, as though the tea leaves had been left to brew for too long. Cherry tried to turn her grimace into a smile but the gag that caught in her throat couldn’t be stifled. She put the cup down, ignoring the disapproving look Danior gave her before she sank back into the shadows.

  ‘Feeling better?’ Velina asked.

  Cherry didn’t know what to say. Surely they hadn’t spiked the tea? She felt normal but still, she nodded her head.

  ‘Good,’ Velina said and Danior’s lips smacked as they cracked into a smile. ‘Have you ever had your palm read before?’ Velina looked her straight in the eyes.

  ‘I can’t say I have,’ Cherry said, rubbing her cold yet sweaty hands together under the table.

  Velina placed both her hands face up on the table and raised her faint, real eyebrows, the drawn ones fixed. Cherry’s hands twitched as she hesitated.

  ‘We haven’t got all night,’ Danior said from the shadowed corner of the room.

  Reluctantly, Cherry placed her hands, palms up, in Velina’s, and she was transfixed by the contrast of her dark skin against Velina’s white skin. Their hands created a yin-yang of sorts.

  ‘My, my, someone’s nervous. Got something to hide?’ Velina said, slipping her right hand out from underneath Cherry’s, picking up the end of her blue scarf and wiping Cherry’s palms down. Cherry tried to pull her hands away but Velina closed her fingers around her wrists.

  ‘Definitely got something to hide.’ Velina smiled with her invisible lips. Cherry unclenched her hands and Velina’s fingers relaxed. ‘Hmmm.’ She hummed as she closed her eyes.

  Cherry suddenly felt very exposed. She’d just wanted to find out about Chase. She hadn’t expected this kind of supernatural interrogation from the sisters.

  ‘You’ve a strong aura, Miss Redgrave.’

  ‘How do you know my last name?’ Cherry asked, her heart starting to thump harder.

  ‘Darling. Look around you,’ Danior drawled in a bored voice.

  ‘Oh, yes. I suppose that was a silly question,’ Cherry said but it wasn’t a silly question. She didn’t believe in what Velina and Danior did. It wasn’t real – it couldn’t have been.

  ‘Now. Let’s see.’ Velina finally looked at Cherry’s palms. ‘Oh… oh, my dear. You’re a mess.’

  ‘No, I’m not,’ Cherry said defensively. Velina looked up at her through her rows of eyelashes and Cherry met her gaze with her own steady one.

  ‘According to all these broken lines on your left hand, you are.’ She tutted. ‘So sad.’

  ‘Okay. Why am I a mess? What do the broken lines mean?’ The more Velina went on the more Cherry fought the urge to roll her eyes. Velina sucked in a sharp breath.

  ‘Your heart line is split perfectly in two. See? Right there?’ She took her left hand out from underneath Cherry’s right and pointed to a crack in the line that ran along the top of Cherry’s left palm. ‘You have a habit of putting other people’s needs before yours. Your… emotions sit on the back burner. You know how everyone else feels but they rarely get to know the real you in return – do they?’ Velina didn’t look up so Cherry took the opportunity to swallow. ‘This line here,’ Velina pointed to the next line down that swept in from an inch below her index finger and ran right through the centre of her palm but, yet again, was broken. ‘You’re a sensitive soul. You’re so easily swayed by how other people feel. It’s a long and deep line though, Cherry. You’re a clear thinker. Focused. I’ve heard people appreciate that about you.’

  Cherry had almost forgotten about Danior but suddenly she coughed and spluttered and Velina stole a glance in her direction. Cherry looked up and could only see the light glinting off Danior’s jewellery but she was sure that cough wasn’t anything to do with clearing her throat. It was a warning to Velina to tread carefully, Cherry was sure of it.

  ‘What else have you “heard”?’ Cherry asked, but Velina just stroked Cherry’s palms.

  ‘This line here is your life line.’ Velina ignored the question and instead gestured to yet another broken line, this time in two places. ‘Did something bad happen to you as a child, Cherry?’

  ‘What does my hand say?’ Cherry raised her palm a little.

  ‘Each break represents a traumatic experience. There are two breaks – both are near the start of the line but there’s a significant gap between them. Something bad happened as a child and then again later on, perhaps when you were in your late teens.’ Cherry clenched her teeth as memories of one father leaving and one father dying ran through her mind. Velina closed Cherry’s palm and stroked it with her pointed red talons. ‘Not all just… smoke and mirrors, now is it?’

  Danior coughed again, louder this time, and Cherry was now certain it was a tell. She was hinting to Velina to stop talking.

  ‘How did you know I’d said —?’

  ‘You best be off now. It’s getting late.’ Velina stood and Danior pushed herself off the wall and stepped forward, back into the light.

  ‘No,’ Cherry said, wiping her hands down her cardigan.

  ‘No?’

  ‘Did she just say no?’ Danior hissed.

  ‘I came here to ask you something. About Chase.’

  ‘You can ask but it doesn’t mean you’ll get any answers.’ Danior turned to leave the room but Velina caught her arm.

  ‘Now, now Danior, now now.’ She nodded at Cherry.

  Cherry’s mind was racing. Now that the moment was here, she wasn’t sure how to ask the question. ‘Is he… different? I mean… can he do anything like what you claim —’ Danior scoffed and Cherry redirected the question, ‘— anything like what you do here?’

  ‘No,’ Velina said bluntly. ‘Next?’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Cherry pushed.

  ‘Extremely. Why, do you think we don’t speak? He thinks we’re mad, we think he’s plain, ordinary,’ Danior said, yawning.

  ‘I see. That’s all, then.’

  ‘You can see yourself out,’ Danior said, brushing aside the beaded curtain to let Cherry through. Cherry ducked underneath Danior’s arm but Velina and Danior’s air of intimidation irked Cherry and made her feet pause and turn on the spot. ‘Respect your elders’ was something Cherry had been taught very early on in life, but as she grew up, she realised respect was something to be earned and sometimes wasn’t relevant to age or experience. Velina and Danior certainly hadn’t shown her anything closely resembling respect and so despite her wobbling knees, Cherry said,

  ‘Actually… I suppose there is one last thing.’

  ‘What now?!’ Danior stamped her foot.

  ‘You might want to get that cough seen to, Danior. It really gives you away.’ Danior’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, and learn how to make a decent cup of tea. Yours tastes like grass.’

  12

  Not Good Enough

  Cherry had never liked mysteries. She was usually so full of anxiety that she often avoided anything full of suspense. However, now that she found herself inside of one, she found it far more intriguing than she thought it would be and far less worrying than when you’re watching from the outside.

  ‘They’re fraudsters!’ Cherry exclaimed when Sally came into the shop the next day. It was 12:45 p.m. and Sally was much later than usual. Margie had already been in at her usual time of 10:30 a.m. and Cherry had had to put some cling film over Sally’s walnut whip. ‘Where have you been?’ Cherry asked.

  ‘Nowhere special. Who are fraudsters, dear? Velina and Danior?’

  ‘Yes! They must be! Velina somehow knew about things I’d said like… like when I said what they did was just smoke and mirrors! She repeated the same phrase to me, like she wanted me to know that she knew, but then Danior coughed really hard and warned her off. Like this!’ Cherry hacked up phlegm from the back of her throat.

  ‘Lovely,’ Sally said drily, moving her plate away from Cherry’s coughing.

  ‘Don’t you see? Danior was coughing because Velina was getting too
arrogant. She was giving away too much. She also said that she’d heard things about me. I bet you anything they’ve got this place bugged.’

  ‘Bugged?’

  ‘Yeah! Isn’t that what it’s called? When they hide those secret devices so they can record what everyone’s saying?’ Cherry had never watched much TV but with the internet now at her disposal, she’d found a love for crime shows. The thrill she got from fast car chases and close calls with death was far beyond anything she could ever imagine having in her own life.

  ‘Yes, that is what it’s called, but would they really go to that expense? Let alone that length?’ Sally dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand and picked up her walnut whip with the other.

  ‘Okay,’ Cherry conceded. It was a bit far-fetched. ‘Maybe they haven’t bugged my shop but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways of listening.’

  ‘Or maybe they really are just psychic?’ Sally said, shrugging.

  ‘You really think that?’ Cherry was surprised. ‘But yesterday you said that it was all guesswork masquerading as fact.’

  ‘I know what I said!’ Sally snapped, and then took a breath to calm herself. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.’ She looked around to make sure the shop was empty. ‘They are fraudsters but you have to be very careful what you accuse them of, Cherry. Especially without any real evidence. They may be old but they’re a vital part of this community. Been around for years. You’ve only just got here and with the influence they have over this tiny bit of town, they could wipe you out. It’s best to just… leave them to it.’ Sally didn’t wait for Cherry to respond. She picked up her plate and went to her usual spot in the corner by the window.

  ‘Sally…’ Cherry said but Sally merely waved her attempt at an apology away. Cherry hadn’t realised she’d been touching a nerve and wished she hadn’t poked so hard. She made a mental note to whip her up something special to say a proper sorry later on. Now, however, she had other things to worry about. It was 12:50 p.m. and George hadn’t shown up. He’d been in every day for over a week at exactly 12:45 on the dot. She’d thought they’d become good enough friends that he’d let her know if he wouldn’t be visiting. Maybe he’s on his way and just bumped into a friend or something, Cherry thought. Cherry hoped. She hoped until 1:15 when the bell above the door rang and Cherry looked up eagerly but the face in the doorway wasn’t George’s.