Chapter 7B

The glass doors slid open, and Roy Macedo stepped outside, greeted by the sun blazing overhead in the sky. Sunset was still a half-day away. There was plenty of time. He took a deep breath of the humid, warm air and could practically taste the pollen.

Welcome to Richmond, he thought to himself. This is a sticky place.

Less than an hour before, he had stepped off of an airplane into a new world. Though he had gone through immigration at Miami International Airport, he hadn't felt the culture shock until just now. Except that pretty much everything these days was culture shock for Roy. He was still getting used to the feel of his own skin.

Richmond, Virginia. Capital of the Confederacy. A city that had no idea what to do with itself. Roy had done some quick reading about this place before he left Trinidad, though he knew it would still take him by surprise. It would take awhile to get used to the friendly, Southern drawl that the locals tried to mask, and the strong suspicion against outsiders. Even the few native Richmonders he had met on the plane coming in had seemed both proud of and embarrassed by their city. This was his first assignment, and he already knew that it was going to be a doozy.

Roy crossed several unused traffic lanes and pulled his rolling suitcase to a stop next to a shuttle stop sign. He shielded his eyes from the sun and looked around for the blue Rodeo Elaine had said she would be driving. A black sedan with tinted windows drove past, slightly too quickly, and Roy laughed. These guys don't waste any time, he told himself.

He checked his watch just as Elaine's SUV pulled to a stop in front of him. She rolled down the passenger-side window with the touch of a button, greeting him with smiles and apologies. "Roy? I am so sorry I'm late. I meant to be here ages ago!" The pretty blonde woman jumped out of the car and ran around to his side to help Roy load his suitcase into the backseat. "This should go right in here with no trouble," she told him, grabbing the suitcase from his hands and loading it herself.

Aggressively friendly, Roy noted to himself. He guessed that she was in her late forties. Standing back up to face him, she was barely as tall as his shoulder. "Elaine Matthews," she proclaimed loudly, extending her hand to shake his. "I sure hope you're Roy Macedo!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "Otherwise, you probably think I just tried to steal your luggage."

Roy smiled, surprised by the strength of her handshake. Appearances can be deceiving, he reminded himself. "Yes. I'm Roy Macedo," he responded. The sound of his own voice still caught him by surprise, as did the way he seemed to interact with this world so smoothly. Roy Macedo, he repeated silently to himself. Who was Roy Macedo? Who will he be?

"Well, get in," Elaine directed with a giggle, opening the door for him. "I'll have you to your new place in no time."

Roy stepped up into the SUV and slid across the pleather seat. Elaine had already jumped back into the car and was putting it into gear when he reached for his seatbelt.

"I trust your flights were okay," Elaine asked as she pulled out into airport traffic, not expecting an answer from her passenger. "It's not the snazziest little airport we've got here, but it gets the job done." She followed traffic to a multi-pronged fork in the road and sighed, trying to make out which way she wanted to go. "You know, it's like this place is always under construction," she lamented, her Richmond accent drawing out her vowels. "As soon as they finish what they said they were going to do, they find it wasn't enough and start planning for more construction, and it's still just never enough."

Roy smiled. "Richmond doesn't trust it's own growth."

Elaine laughed and flashed him a quick smile. "Maybe so. You know, you have the cutest accent!"

Roy pulled his sunglasses out of his shirt pocket. "Thank you for meeting me at the airport, Ms. Matthews."

She giggled again. "It's no trouble! And you needn't be so formal with me. Elaine is my name. But other ladies might take offense at such presumed familiarity, just so you know."

Roy nodded. Elaine guided the car onto the highway as they sped back toward town.

"Now, I talked to your landlady," Elaine advised. "She said she's going to leave the key under the flower pot by the door, she she won't be there to meet you herself. Now, I don't advise you do the same thing with your keys," she warned him. "You'll find that Richmond is a big small town, so people can be right neighborly, but there are still some nasty elements you need to watch out for. Especially where you're going to be."

If she only knew, Roy thought to herself. "Thank you."

"Where are you from again?" Elaine was driving much too fast on the highway, though Roy noticed a similar disregard for road rule from the other drivers.

"Trinidad," Roy replied. "Port of Spain."

"That's right. I knew it was someplace exotic. I've never been that far down, myself, though I do love the Caribbean," Elaine said wistfully. "What's it like?"

"It's nice," Roy replied vaguely. Though he had left Port of Spain just this morning, it seemed a lifetime ago. He remembered Trinidad, his life there as a boy, yet those memories still felt foreign to him. It hadn't been his life at all. "It's hot there," he told her cheerfully. "And humid."

"Oh! So just like it is here," Elaine laughed. Roy noticed that she laughed a great deal for someone who had so little real joy in her life.

"Not quite. I don't think there's anyplace quite like Richmond," Roy understated.

"Isn't that the truth!" Elaine exclaimed with glee. "I think you'll really like it here. Everybody does," she asserted, not catching herself in her own lie. "And you've come in plenty of time to get settled and learn your way around town before your classes start up in the fall." She frowned, for a split second, before her face lit up again.

"That's the idea," Roy responded, knowing full well that he would never see the inside of a classroom.

"I normally pick up a full carload when I've got airport duty for the school," Elaine rambled on. "I think you'll enjoy our program. It's the best anywhere in health administration."

Roy just nodded absently and checked the rearview mirror. No further sign of the black sedan. He relaxed into his seat and watched his new world pass by outside the car window.

* * * * *

Elaine had dropped him off at his rental property and had kindly left him to go about his business. She had been surprised by the Civic hatchback that had been waiting for him -- keys in the ignition -- in the driveway , but he had feigned some story about a friend of his cousin's living nearby, and she had seemed more willing to accept the invented explanation than to dig further. She directed him to the local grocery store and the post office and then had mercifully departed, speeding off toward the highway.

Roy climbed the worn wooden stairs to his second-floor apartment and let himself in with the key from the flower pot. This was the only true apartment in the house -- a large, single-family place that had been converted into a kind of dormitory for professional adults. Unlike the other renterts, Roy had a private entrance and wouldn't have to go through the larger house, save for the monthly "resident dinner" his landlady insisted upon. The small, furnished, one-bedroom apartment was as expected: clean, modest, and simple. He took a quick walk through the place, noting to himself the eastern-facing bedroom windows and the decent-sized balcony with a southern exposure. The kitchen -- boasting antiquated but working appliances and fixtures -- shared the same space as his dining area and living room, but it was just what he needed; nothing more, and nothing less. He rolled his suitcase into the bedroom, hefted it onto the single bed, and unzipped it. He hung up a few items of clothing in the closet, whose "door" was fashioned out of a beaded curtain, but he couldn't tear his attention away from the large house across the street.

The Hermitage House, he had been calling it to himself, though it was known better as the Old Frye Place. Lily would be giving Tarot readings in the house right about now, he reminded himself. He glanced back at his suitcase, then smiled at the books that had already been stacked on the bookshelves before his arrival. He could unpack later.

Roy quickly changed his shirt, exchanging his starched white oxford for a casual sweatshirt and traded his leather loafers for a pair of sandals. He stepped back outside onto the stoop at the top of the staircase, locked the door behind him, and slipped the key into his pocket as he jogged down the stairs.

* * * * *

Lily was taking a break. She sat at the breakfast table, the afternoon sun streaming in through the windows. Lily sipped a soda and munched on a small bag of chips while she slowly thumbed through this months issue of Whole News. She always checked the practitioner listings in back first thing, to make sure that her information as correct. She also, even now, got a small thrill seeing her name listed there amongst the area's growing list of healers, feng shui consultants, animal communicators, and new age ministers. This time, though, she made a mental note that Susana should get her own listing soon.

Finishing an article about lunar transits, she checked her watch. She still had an hour until her next appointment was due to arrive. Plenty of time to relax, maybe even watch some television.

There was a weak knock on the screen door leading to the back porch. "Umm, hello?" an unfamiliar voice called to her. Lily looked up, startled to find this dark skinned stranger on her back steps, smiling in at her.

"I'm sorry," he said smoothly "I didn't mean to startle you. I heard you were doing readings here today?"

Lily stood slowly and walked toward the door. She was glad that the hook was in place, barring his entrance. "I am. Who are you?"

"My name is Roy," he responded with a gentle smile, sliding his hands into the front pockets of his trousers to effect a casual air. "I'm new in town, but I heard you were the best."

"Of course," Lily accepted the compliment cooly, crossing her arms over her chest. She couldn't place the accent. "But why did you come around to the back of the house?"

"Just had a feeling you were back here," Roy replied.

Lily's regarded him through the screen, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. Roy laughed nervously.

"Listen," he began. "I just moved in across the street, into the upstairs apartment at Mrs. McKenny's place." He gestured toward his new home. "So I can come back another time, if you want." He looked Lily directly in the eye, disarming her with his genuine smile. "I really didn't mean to make you nervous."

"No, it's okay." Lily checked her watch again, as a diversion, then decided it was okay to let this guy inside. She reached forward to undo the latch and pushed the door open for him. "I have a little time before my next client comes by."

"Thank you," he said the Lily as he crossed the threshold into the kitchen. "I don't need anything elaborate anyway."

Lily nodded and led him down the hall toward the living room. "What did you say your name was, again?"

"Roy," he said, catching up to her. "Roy Macedo."

They stepped into the living room, and Lily closed the french doors behind them. "You're not from around here, are you?" she asked as she gestured toward a chair for him to sit down.

Roy shook his head and laughed. "No, and I'm beginning to think I stick out like a sore thumb." he took the chair she offered and pulled it closer to the small table she had set up for card reading. "I'm from Trinidad. I just arrive in Richmond a few hours ago."

Lily's eyes flashed on his face, then she smiled. "If you just got here, then how did you know I'd be reading cards out of this house today?"

Roy knew she had caught him, but he still had a ready answer. "My cousin has visited here before, and she has a friend who recommended you."

Lily pulled her cards out of their velvet bag and laid them on the table between them. "And what's the friends name?"

Roy looked up at the ceiling. "Umm. Anne, maybe?" He shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Lily. "I'm sorry, I really don't remember."

Lily relaxed. "I'm sorry to give you the third degree and all. Just trying to be careful."

"I understand. Back in Port of Spain, my grandmother is a medicine woman, and she has to be careful who she takes for clients."

"Exactly," Lily nodded. "Now, if you'll shuffle the cards a few times..."

Roy already had the deck in his hands, letting the cards mix easily between his fingers. "I know what to do," he smiled at her, putting her at ease. "And I just want to draw a few key cards, if that's okay. Instead of a full spread."

"Sure," Lily replied. "But the cost is the same."

"Of course," Roy agreed. He placed the deck back down on the table, face-down, and pulled four cards in succession, laying them down facing up. With each card, he told Lily its purpose. "This one is my recent past, my origin," he said, laying down The Star. The card startled him, and he sat back a moment to study it. Lily watched him carefully as he regained his composure.

"This card is my current situation," he suggested, and pulled The Fool.

Lily leaned back in her seat, observing him. Why had he come to her? He obviously could have read his own cards just as easily.

"This card is the immediate future," Roy chanted. He turned the third card over to reveal the eight of cups.

"Hmm," Lily commented involuntarily.

Roy stopped and looked up at her in surprise. She waved away his concern. "No, go ahead," she told him.

These same cards had come up -- though in different placement -- for Susana at the bookstore. And Lily had noticed a similar pattern in the readings she had been giving clients all morning. The card that had come up the most frequently in recent days had been The Tower. Lily couldn't think of a single reading in which it hadn't appeared. She saw that Roy was ready to draw his final card, and she was certain she already knew what it would be.

"This last card, then, is for my destiny," Roy said wistfully. He drew a fourth and final card from the deck, and turned it over: The World.

"Huh." It wasn't what Lily had expected after all.

Roy put the rest of the deck down on the table and gazed thoughtfully at Lily. "I gather it's not what you had anticipated."

"Hmm?" Lily responded in surprise. "Oh, no. I was just.... Nevermind." She leaned forward over the table and turned the cards around to face here. "Let's see what we've got here." She rested her fingertips on The Star. "So you're coming from a place of inspiration, your serenity and clarity restored, perhaps recapturing faith after a time of doubt or darkness."

Roy leaned back in his chair and smiled. Yes, darkness indeed. Only weeks ago, the old Roy had been lying on an emergency room table in Trinidad, his life's blood splattered across the floor as doctors and nurses had worked frantically to save him. He had been restored alright.

"You could say that I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel," he offered, deliberately cryptic.

Lily cocked her head to one side. "This card caught you by surprise. I could see it."

Roy pressed his lips together. He wouldn't be able to fool this one for long. "Let just say that it was more literal that I had expected." His realm of origin was The Star. He enjoyed the joke on himself.

Lily trained her eyes on the card in question, letting her gaze drift out of focus and inviting her intuition to step in. She felt a spark go off in the center
of her forehead. The card of origins, Lily thought to herself as he mind played. Spark, star... From the stars.... From the stars! Lily's eyes grew wide. She looked back up at Roy and found a patient and understanding smile waiting for her.

"Hold that thought," Roy suggested. Lily found herself nodding vigorously. Yes, she would hold that thought indeed. How could she have wrapped her mind around it otherwise?

"And so the next card is The Fool," Roy continued forward. "What is your take on that?"

"Well..." Lily forced herself back into focus. "This card obviously reinforces the one that came before it." She sighed, putting her feet flat on the floor to help her pay better attention to what was right in front of her. Who was this man? She tensed her shoulders and released them, and pulled herself back to the cards. "New beginnings, an adventurous kind of humility as you venture out into the unknown. Whatever just sparked you here," Lily pointed to The Star, refusing to allow the card to engross her again, "Is manifesting into action here with The Fool. And then, this continues on here," Lily tapped on the face of the third card. "With the eight of cups here, you're allowing this new direction to lay out a road map before you, even though it's something you've never done before."

Lily looked up at Roy, her eyes searching for something in his face. He waited patiently for her to continue. She dismissed the moment with a smile. "Still, I get the feeling that it's new, but it's not new. Does that make any sense?"

"It makes a world of sense," he replied.

"And speaking of world..." Lily turned her attention to the last card. "The World card is very positive in its placement here. All of your dreams fulfilled. Mission accomplished. You'll need to watch out for world-weariness, of course," she said, indicating the eight of cups and the wold cards together. "But this is a card of integration and wholeness. So whatever your destination is, even if you're not always able to keep it clearly in sight, you're going to reach it. Eventually. No problem."

"Good," Roy said with satisfaction. "That's what I was hoping to hear."

Lily shook her head. "No. Why do I get the feeling that this isn't why you came over here?"

Roy smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "That I can't tell you." He stood up and straightened his trousers. "What do I owe you?"

Finding herself suddenly off-balance, Lily leaned on the arm of her chair as she rose to her feet. She waved off his question. "Call it a house-warming present."

"I insist." Roy reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick wallet.

"Yeah," Lily ran her hands through her hair nervously. Maybe it wasn't a good idea for this man to owe her any favors. "It was a short reading, so let's say, uh, twenty-five?"

"That's fair." Roy pulled two crisp bills from his wallet and dropped them onto the table, on top of the cards he had drawn.

"What brings you to Richmond, anyway?" LIly asked as she walked him toward the front door.

"I'm hear to pursue a masters degree in health administration, but I have the feeling I'm about to get seriously sidetracked," Roy laughed. "Thank you for your time." He was half-way out the door when he turned back to face Lily. "Will you be continuing with your uncle's herb business?"

A confused smile spread across her face. "How did you know about that? How did you know about my uncle?"

"My, uh, my cousin's friend..." Roy explained.

"Right." Lily wasn't buying this for a second, but at least her suspicion had grown instead into curiosity. "Yes, it looks like we will be doing just that. Is there something you're looking for?"

"I'll let you know." Roy walked across the front porch and descended the stairs.

"Hey, Star-man," Lily called out after him. Roy froze in his tracks and turned back around. She smiled at him. "See you around."

"Yeah," he responded in relief, then continued on down the walkway.

* * * * *

Lily climbed out of her beat-up Mustang convertible, toting take-out bags from La Casita. Feeling the weight of the food as she trudged up the front walkway, Lily knew that eventually, she and Susana would have to start cooking. She paused when she saw Susana's car in the drive. She couldn't wait to tell her cousin about their new neighbor. But what would she say?

She half-expected Susana to be curled up on the couch in the living room, absorbed in one of the books she'd leant her. But Lily walked through the front door into an empty house. "Susana?" she called out into the hallways, listening to her voice and footsteps echo through the house. But she did catch an unenthusiastic "yip" from Baird on the back porch. Susana must be outside.

Lily dropped the paper bags of burritos and enchiladas on the breakfast table and pushed open the screen door. It was only 7pm and still mostly light outside, but the season wasn't yet in the long days of summer. Still, the growing shadows on the grass told her that night would be upon them before too long. She stepped off the bottom of the staircase, pausing a moment to slip off her sandals. She loved the feel of the cool, crisp grass beneath her bare feet. She tossed her shoes up onto the stairs and stepped further out into the yard. There was still no sign of her cousin.

"Susana?" Lily called out as she scanned the gardens.

"In here," came the muffled reply from the greenhouse. Lily saw that Susana had left the door standing open, the light from Tic's desk lamp spilling outside. Tic was the only person Lily had ever known to keep an antique desk inside a greenhouse.

Stepping inside, Lily found Susana sitting at the desk, hunched over the file of papers on aengus wort. She had propped her bare feet on one of the open desk drawers and was making notes in a spiral notebook.

"I brought dinner, if you're hungry," Lily offered as she approached.

"Mmm," Susana responded, not really hearing her cousin.

Lily looked around, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. But what would constitute "out of the ordinary" in a place like this? "I'm surprised to find you in here," Lily commented. "Since Maimie gave you such a scare last time."

Susana shot her a cross look, raising her index finger to her lips to quiet Lily. "Don't call her that!" she whispered sharply. "Besides, I did see her, briefly," Susana turned back to her reading. "I told her to back off."

"Making progress with the ghosts," Lily commented as she stepped up behind Susana to look over her shoulder. "How long have you been back?"

Susana put down her pen and stretched her tired arms out to her sides. She turned her head from side to side to work out the kinks that had developed. "Not that long," Susana replied as she spun around in the chair to face Lily. "After lunch, I just.... I just spent some time walking around Maymont. I don't know where the time went."

Lily walked over to the work table, where the single leaf of aengus wort still lay. It was in surprisingly good condition, considering how long ago it had been clipped from the plant. Lily hopped up to sit on the table, facing Susana. "How did that go?"

Sighing, Susana extended her arms out in front of her for one last stretch, then laughed as she leaned back into the chair. "Not particularly well." She pulled up her feet to sit cross-legged. "So, overall, about as expected."

Lily chuckled in sympathy. "I guess you step-monster isn't too thrilled about you being here. Or about me."

"I don't know what bug is up her ass," Susana replied, surprised at the crudeness of her own language. "She was wearing her halo of martyrdom in full glory this afternoon. Told us some crazy story about a centuries-old, bitter feud between the Fryes and the Randalls."

Lily slid down off of the table and landed gently on her feet. "What did she say?" she asked, trying not to appear too curious.

"Ah," Susana waved a hand in the air in frustration. "Some nonsense about kidnapping and human sacrifices."

Lily laughed nervously. "Yeah?"

Susana nodded. "Oh, and then she went all racist about some rumor of 'dark blood' running in the Frye line. She actually used the word 'negro,' if you can believe it."

"Oh, I can believe it," Lily replied. She traced the edge of the ceramic-top table with her fingers. "Don't forget where you are."

"Yeah," Susana's voice darkened. She spun herself back and forth in the swiveling chair. "How was your day? Anything juicy come up in the cards?"

Lily leaned back against the table, her hands on her hips. "Nah. Same old, same old." She looked down and crossed one foot over the other. "There was this one guy, though.... Let me tell you about our new neighbor."

"Before you do that," Susana cut her off, spinning around in the chair to face her. "Take a look at what I found." Susana hopped up out of the chair and pulled an old milk crate out from underneath the worktable. With obvious effort, she hefted it up and placed the crate on top of the table, accompanied by the clinking sound of glass bottled.

Lily looked down into the crate. There had to be four dozen two- and four-ounce brown tincture bottles. Each bottle was full and labeled simply with a name and a date, in Tic's meticulous handwriting.

"What's all this?" Lily asked without taking her eyes from the bottles before her.

"You tell me," Susana replied, standing beside her. "But those bottle are dated just three days before Tic's death."

* * * * *

Back in his apartment, Roy had finished unpacking and had rearranged the books on the small case. It was an impressive though small collection, and he knew that he would become very familiar with their pages over the coming weeks, however long this would take.

He glanced quickly at the telephone on the wall out in the kitchen area, then thought better about calling home. No one there was expecting to hear from him anyway, given how he had left things. He knew that it would be a long time before he was back in Trinidad, if her ever returned there. Better to burn those bridges now and leave it all behind. No ties to bind him.

He turned back to look out his front bedroom window, toward the Frye house. A quick glance to the street showed that familiar black sedan parked just a half-block up the cross street of of Hermitage. "These guys are unbelievable," he whispered to himself. "How they ever manage to catch anyone is simply beyond me."

He stepped over to the bookcase and opened a box of incense he had brought with him in his suitcase. Lighting a single stick, he set the burner on top of the bookcase and closed his eyes to inhale the first whiffs of fragrant smoke, immediately picking out the peppermint, cinnamon, and juniper from the rest of the blend. The exact recipe sprang immediately to his mind, and for a moment, he was back up the star-filled sky of the new moon, grinding the herbs, roots, and resins together in the stone mortar and pestle. It as as though he had been born that night, the mysterious knowledge suddenly fully accessible to him. But that had been before the accident.

Roy stepped away from the bookcase, and from the memory. He pulled one of the small chairs from the kitchen table into his bedroom, and set it up facing the window. Sitting down, he made sure he was oriented in the direction of the Frye house. He took in a deep breath through his nostrils, letting the air completely fill his lungs and sink deep into every cell of his body. Exhaling slowly through his mouth, Roy closed his eyes and began to chant.