Red and her Wolf Ch. 13

Kade seems nervous, having chain-smoked his entire pack of cigarettes in the past few hours. I can't help but wonder if it's because I'm about to meet his mother.

I understand. It's not like we've been formally dating, like we have a real relationship. I don't know how he'll introduce me to her as anything other than his friend. Which will feel weird. Untrue. We're not friends. We're not devoted lovers, either. We're an undefined mess.

I trail behind Kade as we climb the weather-worn porch steps, stand on the Home Sweet Home welcome mat. Two knocks later and the door squeaks open. A very short, deeply tanned woman in a yellow dress appears. Long black hair, a crooked yet pretty smile on her face: the spitting image of what Phoenix would look if she were older and was the sun-loving, color-wearing type.

"Rowen!" she crows, wrapping Kade in a bear hug. Her head rests on his sternum, their height difference almost comical.It's bizarre hearing him being called a different name but I'm touched by how he holds his mother like she's precious to him, pecking her forehead before they pull apart.

Then she looks over at me with a wise gaze, jarringly familiar, as if she already knows me. "And who's this lovely lil' lady?"

"Emily," Kade says. "My neighbour."

"Hi," I smile politely before passing Kade a blank look, disappointed that I didn't even get mentioned as a friend.

"Nice to meet you, darlin'. You can call me Mary-Beth." Kade's mother shakes my hand, her many rings cool against my skin. Her voice has a much stronger twang than Kade's, rich with that Mississippi drawl. "Y'all came at the right time. Just finished making sweet tea."

If I thought Kade's house had a strong occult energy, his mother's house puts it all to shame. I've never seen so many altars, spread in every corner of the living room, every single one dramatically different in color, theme and style. All of this alongside the quaint cottage charm of lace doilies and summer landscape paintings, faded floral wallpaper in buttery yellows and blues. An unusual contrast.

Mary-Beth notices me staring in awe. "Each one represents a different facet of life, therefore each one needs different offerings." She glances at Kade. "You don't still think one altar's enough, do you?"

Kade lifts his shoulders, eyeing the premises with a grave expression. "Whatever gets the job done."

"He never learns." She winks at me and as we're guided deeper into the house, the pungent scent of simmering herbs invades my nostrils. "I'm making a prosperity brew. Would you like to try some, Emily?"

The brew doesn't exactly have an inviting smell, medicinal and seaweed-like. I waver as I sit down at the rustic kitchen dinette, right next to an old guitar hung up on the wall. "I wouldn't mind trying a little bit." A lie, but turning her down would feel like bad manners. She ladles a small serving into a teacup before sliding it towards me, a trickle of pale green liquid sliding down the rim.

I stare at the cup before taking a wary sip. It burns the entire way down, bitter and saccharine all at once. "That is...very, very strong." I cough through a strained smile.

"Has to be," Mary-Beth cheerfully pours her own serving into a blue plastic cup. "My pension is barely enough to survive on and this brew keeps customers coming." She chugs the entire drink back like a shot, then slams the cup back down on the table. "Ah! Hits the spot, don't it?"

"Customers?" I ask.

Mary Beth nods. "I make people special elixirs and sometimes I cast spells for them. It's an online business. And believe it or not, I'm getting savvy as hell with the marketing aspect. I'm on Instagram and everything."

I do enjoy how she's just laying this all out in the open, no problem with revealing her magickal background to me so soon. And that's where I see the strongest difference between Kade and his mother. Kade is as tight-lipped as a clam. Sullen and suspicious whereas his mother is positively jolly, more than happy to share.

As the seconds pass, I feel a warm glow at my fingertips, pulsing up towards my heart. When I close my eyes I see the color green in stark brightness. Then that green takes shape, fractalizes, flows. Soothing yet electrifying. "I think...I think it's doing something!"

"I'm no charlatan, hun," Mary Beth chuckles. "I'm the real deal. Real as they come in this day and age, at least."

"And this is going to bring a bunch of money to me?"

"Well, I'm no miracle worker, otherwise I'd be a millionaire. You should be getting a little extra something though."

"That's incredible." With bodily effects this instant I'm very curious to see the longterm results. I grin in Kade's direction only to find him looking austere and seemingly unimpressed. My smile disappears. I toss back the rest of my prosperity brew, avoiding his gaze.

"I'm gonna talk to Mama for a bit." Kade takes Mary Beth's hand and guides her towards the back porch. "We'll be right back."

* Kade:

It feels good to see Mama, though when I'm with her I feel like a child again and a clumsy one at that. She has a way of looking right through me. She did from the moment she opened the door, sending me curious signals about Emily and I without saying a word. Memories, so many memories of Mama and I in this house, with this exact same dynamic. The same smells and sounds. The same old fears, that pinned and helpless feeling there even without my father present.

Now that we're alone, overlooking the yard where I grew up, it's all vivid enough to make an inadvertent shiver shoot up my back.

Mama clicks her tongue, sitting down in her favorite wicker chair. "She's a pretty lil' thing, ain't she?"

"She is." I nod, knowing where this conversation is going to end up. My answer already percolating.

"Good heart too."

I sit down on the wooden chair next to her. "Bet you could see us drive the whole way here, all that red hair blowing in the wind."

"Yes, indeed. Saw that hair the second you got on the phone with me."

I smile, rubbing the grate of stubble at my jaw. "Of course you did."

"You best be kind to her." Mama waggles a tiny finger at me. "A woman like that'll do you good."

"A woman like what?"

"Someone who can keep you from staying in your hidey-hole forever." She chuckles. Then she goes very still. Her soot-lashed eyes shut tight, then snap open. "Your brother is up to something, isn't he? Doing evil again." She blinks hard. "Something real damn evil."

"That's why I'm here."

"He came by for a visit about a month ago. Well, more like a break-in really, but you know how it is between him and I." She shakes her head. "I don't know that boy anymore. It's like talking to wall. He doesn't give a damn about me." Her voice raises as she flails a hand. "He even tried his mind-control bull-crap. On me, his own damn mother! Didn't work of course. He clearly has no idea what kind of witch I am."

"He should know by now that no one can pull the rug from under you."

"It's hard to believe he's my son sometimes. I gave him the potion he wanted and he ran away with that creepy damn smile of his. I feel ashamed."

"Mama." I cover her hand with mine. "You're not responsible for how he is."

"But you're here because of him, aren't you? What did he do? I'm getting some horrible visuals but I need the details."

I explain the entire situation to her, beginning to end. I hold back the information about Emily invading my dreams, but I cover his mind control on her and our escape. How Phoenix is now- hopefully- on her way to New York.

Remarkably, after all of this is revealed, the only thing Mama has to say is: "How serious are you about this girl?"

Taken aback, expecting her to be more concerned about her other depraved son on the loose, I clear my throat. "I like her enough."

Mama purses her lips. "You've never liked a girl enough to bring her home to me."

I pause to mull over my answer. "I don't think it's a good idea that she's here, to be honest."

Mama shakes her head. "What's wrong with you, boy? You've got a woman that stunning and down-to-earth on your arm and you're not eager to have her with you? Smarten up. You're over thirty now, honey. It's time to start taking things seriously."

In one swoop of a comment I feel like the world's most terrible coward. I still rush to defend myself.

"You're acting like I'm just a typical human. If I were one this would be a lot easier." I glance over my shoulder in the window, where Emily is currently skimming through one of Mama's herbal medicine books, sipping sweet tea. My heart kicks in my chest. "The closer she gets, the more danger she's exposed to. Just moving next door to me has pulled her into a whole bunch of bullshit I'm now responsible for." I look back at Mama. "And don't you remember what it was like growing up? How Papa was so good to us at first before his Wolf came out to ruin our whole family?"

"Why are you comparing yourself to your father? You're nothing like your father. You've never, ever taken after him. Asher did that all for you. You're free, honey. Be your own self."

"As long as I have that urge to shift, as long as that thirst to hurt and maim is inside me, however small...I'll never be free."

She goes silent for awhile, looking stunned by my conviction. "You've entrapped yourself, honey. With your own mind. That's why you won't be free. It has nothing to do with what you are. Papa didn't have to do what he did. He did it, not because he was a wolf, but because he was not a good man. That's the difference. You're a good man, Rowen. Don't ever forget that."

Damn. An unexpected wave of emotion hurtles through me, my chest and throat clotting. I lean back, palm running down my face before I shoot her a weak grin. "God, I've missed you, Mama."

"I know I saw you when I came to visit at Christmas, but I do wish you'd come up here more than once a decade."

"I know." I release a slow breath. "I don't know why being here scares me so much. It's just-"

"It's okay. It was a traumatic experience and I understand. I just miss your handsome face is all." She reaches out and pats my cheek with warm fingers. "I'm glad you're here."

I nod, those dark memories welling up in uncomfortable bursts.

"And Phoenix will be fine," Mama says. "She's a slippery one, though, ain't she?"

"Definitely. What did you guys fight about in the first place that made her have to come stay with me? She was real vague. Said you were hard on her."

"Misusing her magic. The fire stuff again. It was literally a big blow up and she stormed out of here. I won't even go into the boys she attracts to her. All the worst."

"Figures. She acts first. Thinks second."

Mama waves a dismissive hand. "Symptom of being young."

"And stupid."

"Par for the course." She gets up, smoothing her dress. "I'm starved. Help me make dinner? We're having chicken pot pie with extra gravy."

My stomach growls, a Pavlovian response. "You got it, Mama."

*

As I fork a piece of gravy-covered chicken in my mouth, I still have an uncanny sensation of going back in time. That guitar hanging over my head like a sword. My gut in my throat. It's like any minute Papa is gonna burst in and box my ears, call me weak. Everywhere I look all I see is him, the pain he inflicted.

Thankfully, Mama has hijacked the conversation, chatting with Emily about all the things I should have learned a long time ago. About her post-secondary education, her pursuit of being a lawyer and her abandonment of it. Her art, her well-to-do upbringing, her sister's trip to Europe. A whole bunch of questions I should have asked the first day I met her.

What the hell was I doing? Going after her like a hound without really getting to know her?

I really do lack social skills.

Afterwards, I do the dishes, telling Emily to sit her ass back down when she offers to help. That's when Mama comes down the stairs wearing a tennis skirt and a visor. A racket swinging in her hand.

"I'm going to practice now, and when I come back both of you better be out and about town."

I drop a fork in the dirty dishwater. "I don't know if we should risk-"

"You'll be fine!" Mama picks her keys up off the counter. "If you were in danger, I'd feel it." She pauses with a sniff. "Nope, don't feel a thing. Now you two go out and have fun. No moping and worrying about the future in this house. In this house, we do shit."

Emily and I look at each other as Mama exits out the front door. "Uh..." I set a dripping dish on the rack. "Want a tour of downtown?" It might actually be a good idea. Being in this house is giving me Vietnam-esque flashbacks.

She beams at me from her chair. "I'd love that."