Blackwater Read Free Page A

will get my grandmamma to come and do the protection spell again. Keep them spirits out of your room. We gotta wait till your momma and daddy are gone though, Cher."
    "I love your grandmamma." I roll my eyes, "She needs to come and get the demons outta my momma." I smirk at him in the rearview, "I almost forgot. Speaking of devils, Angie said to say hi." I mock her high pitch voice and up my accent a notch.
    He makes a face, "You of all people should know she ain't exactly my type."
    "I know." I nod and stifle another yawn, "Lordy, I need some sleep. I need Grandmamma's remedy."
    I can't wait to see his grandmamma again. I need her to bless my room and bunny so badly. I am dying of exhaustion. The last time she did it was six years ago and I have had six years of bliss. Until recently.
    "Can we go to Grandmamma's now?" I'm almost in a food coma, I'm so tired and full.
    He nods in the mirror, looking worried. I ignore it and eventually he mellows out. He natters on about us doing a beach run in the Hamptons. There is a beach he wants to run at. I put my hand out the window and let the air wash over it. I wish we would happen upon a cool breeze.
    I hold my hand out the window; the air glides against it like warm water. I feel the weird sparks I always get when I hold my hands out in the air and snap my fingers and make them happen. I don’t even realize I'm doing it. I'm not supposed to. I close my eyes and let the sparks creep up my arms, they light me on fire. I love the feel of it.
    His voice breaks my concentration. "You been feeling anything weird, lately Cher?" he asks into the mirror. He looks funny, like he knows about the sparks. He doesn't though. I know that. I'm not allowed to do them, but when I was little I did them in front of daddy and he couldn’t see them. But when Ramón's grandmamma came to cleanse my room, she saw me do it. She told me that if my momma knew about the sparks she would beat me silly. I almost never do it because of the fear my momma will find out I can.
    I glance up at him and shake my head, fighting the blush on my cheeks. "Just sleepy from the icy whispers. Why?"
    He smiles and shakes his head, but I can see it's the one I don't like. It's the one that says he's hiding things from me. I swallow hard and wonder if he saw the sparks. The light from them is fast and bright. In the midday sun it would be impossible to make out - hopefully. I push it to the back of my mind.
    He starts nattering again and I distract myself with thoughts of Angie letting the help touch her. I glance at Ramón still speaking, and imagine his callused hands on my breasts. I instantly feel nauseous. He's no Marcello. He's more of a brother than anything. It's wrong to debase him that way. He deserves so much more than to be trifled with.
    I do however like to rile him up. "Marcello put his hands up Angie's shirt," I mutter.
    He raises his eyebrows up in disbelief.
    I shrug and snuggle into the seat better, "Apparently."
    He tilts his head with a chuckle, "Oooooeeeee. That Marcello is running a big risk. The Palatino family has connections that will get him a nice pair of cement boots. The word is they're related to the Chicago and New York crime families and they're running some imported goods in The Keys."
    I blush, thinking about Marcello with his hands inside of my blouse. It's easy to imagine. He is beautiful. He is the Italian Stallion. That’s what all the mothers call him.
    The air feels thicker when I imagine his hands moving to other places.
    I decided a while back that I don’t want to be pure on my wedding day. I don’t want to be with one man my whole life. I know I'll be forced to marry and honestly, it'll be such a relief being away from my momma. But I know how marriage works in the South. My marriage won't be no different than my parent's marriage, filled with secret trysts and hidden kisses. I kinda hope my husband will be like my daddy. I don't mind the idea of being married to a gentle cold man