Cursed (18 page)

“No you did not!” Aunt Bess countered. “Lil’ white girl did.”

“Adrienne?” Jayden asked, surprised.

“Oh, you think only a man can fix things?” Aunt Bess demanded.

“No, Bess – “

“Shut it, Jayden. Shut it both of you! If not for me and Mama you’d be out on yo ass, Tommy. And you, Jay, why you couldn’t tell me kids can get scholarships to your school? You don’t want your cousins going?”

Jayden appeared harried while Uncle Tommy grumbled and slammed the door to the porch open.

Adrienne giggled, unable to help the nervous reaction to the insanity around her.

“What you laughing at?” Aunt Bess demanded.

She ducked her head and hugged the cat.

“It’s fixed. We’re done,” Jayden announced. “You ready, Addy?”

“You ain’t taking my cat!”

Adrienne set the cat on the cushion beside her. This time, she imagined the cat silently imploring her to take it with her.

“Sorry, kitty,” she murmured, patting it one last time.

“Jayden, you fix the AC?” another voice with a heavy accent asked from the kitchen.

“Go back outside, Grandmama,” Jayden said, turning to intercept someone. “Tommy fixed it.”

Adrienne almost objected this time, hurt he didn’t want to admit she did it.

“Jay’s girlfriend did it,” Aunt Bess said.

“Jayden has a girlfriend?” the voice asked.

“Grandmama, I think –” Jayden was trying to keep the elderly woman in the kitchen.

Curious as to why, Adrienne moved closer to see.

The round woman in purple stopped pushing at her grandson when Adrienne came into view. Her eyes grew wide, and she mumbled something in French. She hurried further into the kitchen.

Jayden shook his head and turned.

“You ready?” he asked Adrienne, forcing a smile.

She nodded, though she hoped not too eagerly. Jayden rolled his eyes, and she sensed he was as stressed out by the visit as she was. He moved towards the door, where his aunt stood with crossed arms. Adrienne watched him, once again glancing at the cat.

She pitied the poor creature.

“I’ll see you soon, Aunt Bess,” Jayden told his aunt, leaning forward to kiss her.

“Zombie!” shouted his grandmother.

Adrienne barely had time to turn. Purple filled her vision, and something soft knocked her to the ground. She landed with a grunt beneath the weight of the overweight woman on top of her, soon aware of something else: the flash of a pair of poultry shears heading towards her head.

“White zombie!” Jayden’s grandmother hissed at her. “You will not take him!”

Adrienne braced herself to be killed by the crazy woman with gold teeth, too shocked to scream.

Instead, Jayden’s grandmother grabbed a handful of her hair and sliced through it, taking a piece of Adrienne’s earlobe with it.

She screamed at the hot pain.

“Grandmama!” Jayden was the first to recover.

“You will not take him!” his grandmother shouted.

Jayden pried her off of Adrienne, who felt close to fainting at the pain. She reached up and touched her ear, horrified at the blood on her fingers.

“Why did you do that?” Adrienne asked faintly.

Jayden was panting from the effort of pulling the hefty, incensed woman away.

“You brought your family’s curse into my house!” the grandmother shouted, pushing Jayden away. She rose and stuffed Adrienne’s hair in the deep pocket of her housedress.

Aunt Bess and Aunt Tommy stood a few feet away, stunned. Jayden moved between his grandmother and Adrienne.

Adrienne stood, scared but ensnared by the talk of a family curse. How did Grandmama know?

Jayden gripped her arm and kept her behind him.

“I warn you, Jayden,” his grandmother said. “I warn you!” She reached into her pocket, and Adrienne braced herself for a gun or something worse to appear.

His grandmother withdrew a vial of what looked like blood and flung it at the two of them. Adrienne gasped while Jayden muttered a curse. The liquid seeped into the white shirts of their school uniforms.

“What is this, Grandmama?” Jayden exclaimed, pulling his shirt away from his chest as the wetness spread.

“My most powerful protection spell. Made with my own blood,” she replied proudly. Her eyes settled on Adrienne. “It will kill a zombie.”

Adrienne stared down at her shirt, horrified by the thought of being covered in someone else’s blood. She held the injured earlobe, disgusted by the warm liquid trickling down her hand.

“Adrienne is not a zombie. For the last time, stop with this nonsense!” Jayden yelled. “Stop filling my mother’s head with this ridiculous voodoo shit.”

His grandmother didn’t seem to be paying attention. “The spell does nothing. Her face is the same, but she is not the zombie I saw.”

“You know what? That’s it. Adrienne is a sweet, good person. She sings like an angel – she
is
an angel,” Jayden snapped, pulling Adrienne towards the door. “After what you did to her, I’m never coming back, Grandmama!”

Adrienne glanced back over her shoulder, as intrigued as she was surprised and grossed out by the blood. Her ear hurt badly enough to make her feel like vomiting.

Jayden, who hated voodoo, had a powerful priestess as a grandmother. One who had recognized Adrienne and her family’s curse.

Grandmama was studying her.

Adrienne turned away, fear running through her again.

They made it outside and to the driveway when Jayden stopped to look at her. She gazed up at him, wanting to cry, but not in front of him.

“Are you okay?” he asked, the angry edge leaving his voice. His warm eyes softened. He scoured her features then took the hand covering her ear.

He didn’t seem to care that she was bloody. He pulled her hand away and grimaced.

“I am so sorry, Addy,” he said. “You must hate me.”

“No,” she replied. “Just a little freaked out.” She stopped and swallowed hard, trying to contain the tears that were forming in her eyes. Jayden hesitated then wrapped his arms around her. She didn’t expect the warm embrace or the sensations it caused. She was too aware of the heat racing through her, his scent, the strength in the body pressed to hers to enjoy the hug.

“You really think I’m an angel?” she asked.

“Without a doubt.” Jayden hugged her closer. “I can’t tell you how bad I feel. I never should’ve brought you here.”

“It’s okay, Jayden,” she said, lifting her face to see his eyes. “Your grandmama wanted to protect you.”

“That crazy old bat,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I don’t know how she could’ve done that to my angel.”

My angel.
Adrienne’s pain almost disappeared at the gentle words. He meant them. She saw his sincerity in his features. For a moment, she was almost glad she’d been attacked by his crazy grandmother.

“Come on. We gotta get you to a doctor,” he said. “You have to be on your feet and ready to sing for the school tomorrow!” Jayden withdrew and took her hand, walking with her the rest of the way to the car.

Adrienne couldn’t answer. First he’d called her his angel. Now, he held her hand.

He really did like her.

If her ear didn’t hurt, this would replace the day before as the best in her life!

They got into the car. She glanced down at her bloodied shirt, uncertain which was hers and which was his grandmothers. Worse – how did she make a decent impression at school when she had to choose between a soda-stained shirt and a bloodstained one?

“You have a doctor in town or should I go to urgent care?” Jayden asked.

“Um, it’s okay. This doesn’t look that bad,” she replied.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” She feared looking in the mirror to learn how bad it really was.

“I’m taking you somewhere. This is my fault, Adrienne. I’ll pay for it, whatever it costs.”

She flushed. She hated that he’d guessed why she didn’t want to go to the doctor.

“You don’t owe me, Jayden. It’s okay. I can take care of myself,” she said firmly.

“Look, Adrienne, I kinda know you’re probably on scholarship for a reason,” he said. “Not being mean. Just saying I care about you. If you’re hurt, let me fix it.”

“You can drop me off at the free clinic,” she said. “But I won’t let you do more.”

He frowned.

“And … maybe you can take me to that arts and crafts fair,” she said then quickly added, “If you want.”

Jayden glanced at her. “Yeah. Okay. It’s a date.”

Adrienne smiled. If her daddy had a phone, she could call her best friend from Georgia and tell her she was going on her first real date. She’d have to email instead.

“There are napkins in the glove box,” he said.

She wiped her hand on her shirt before opening it then grabbed a handful. Adrienne wadded them up and pressed them to her earlobe. Her adrenaline wore off too fast, and the injured body part began to ache badly.

Her thoughts settled as well, and she dwelled briefly on why Jayden hadn’t wanted his grandmama to meet her. Did the older woman always try to cut off the ears of people, or was there something about the
white zombie
that Jayden had known about when he took her there? She couldn’t think poorly of Jayden, not with how sweet he was being.

But she did wonder how his grandmother knew of the family curse on sight.

You will not take him!
What did this mean? She didn’t know how to even get through Therese’s journal, let alone use magic to do anything to Jayden!

“So your grandmama is into voodoo?” she ventured.

“Unfortunately. She’s ruined the lives of all her kids with that nonsense.”

Sore topic.
Adrienne said nothing, wanting him to like her. If he thought she was like his grandmama, there was no way he’d take her on a date.

She wanted to know more but didn’t ask. Clutching her ear all the way back, she was almost relieved when Jayden dropped her off in front of the free clinic. It hurt more than she was willing to tell him.

“You want me to come in?” he asked, eyeing the crumbling brick exterior doubtfully.

“No. I’ll be okay.”

“Adrienne – ”

“Jayden! I can do this.”

“I know you
can.
I’m just worried,” he said, his warm gaze on her.

“I’ll email when I get home. Okay?” she asked, touched that he was concerned.

“All right,” he said grudgingly.

Adrienne got out before he could insist again. She closed the door and waved with a smile, then faced the free clinic.

Ugh.
She smiled until she walked in the front door and saw the overflowing waiting room. There was little more standing room than on the city bus at rush hour. Adrienne squeezed herself to the front to sign in then started to make her way back. Even with a bloodied shirt, she knew she’d wait for a few hours at least.

“You again,” a familiar woman said.

Adrienne turned to see Rene and Jax’s aunt waddling with a small stack of files to the front desk. A stethoscope was draped around her neck, and she wore red scrubs that made her round form look like an apple.

“C’mon, cinnamon rolls,” their aunt grunted. “If you walking with that much blood, can’t be that bad.”

Adrienne almost smiled, but didn’t, aware of the glares she was getting from those who had probably been waiting since noon to be seen. She maneuvered through the patient packed hallway to follow their aunt, who disappeared into a doorway.

“Rene, you and yo’ friend need to stop fighting.” The aunt was saying sternly.

Adrienne walked into the room and saw Rene on a chair near the computer, holding ice against what looked like a black eye. His blue-green eyes glowed, and dried blood was on his shirt.

Rene did a double-take, his eyes narrowing as he took in the blood on Adrienne’s shirt.

“Hop up,” his aunt directed her, patting the exam table.

Adrienne dropped her book bag by the door and obeyed.

“What’s bleedin’?”

“My ear.” Adrienne removed the wad of napkins with a grimace.

Rene’s aunt peered at it. “Cut your lobe right off. You need stitches. Wait here.” She left the room.

Adrienne met Rene’s gaze. He rose and crossed to her, resting his hands on the table on either side of her as he leaned in to see her battle wound. Adrienne’s breath caught in her throat at his nearness. Jayden smelled clean and of cologne; Rene smelled of male musk and sweat, a heady combination she found herself breathing more of.

“She got most your hair. You win at least?” he asked, leaning back.

“That’s um … kinda hard to say,” she said. “Someone attacked me with scissors. I just kinda laid there.” She reached back to feel for her hair.

“So you lost.”

“It wasn’t a real fight.”