Page 26 of Mama Si's Paradise

Hannah, who was looking right at me as she sipped her drink.

I couldn’t see her eyes from the mask with blue rhinestones on it that covered most of her face, but I felt her attention just fine. Her dress rose around the shoulders in sharp spikes, and it made her look like she was wearing ice. I literally couldn’t look away, until Mama Si said, “Here, Fall Doll. I think you’re going to like the taste of this.”

She put a beautiful glass in my hand with a small piece of dragon fruit at the top of the slightly foamy, orange-colored drink.

“Thank you.”

“Tell me, how do you feel? Have you rested enough?”

“I did, yes. I did. Everyone’s staring at me.” The words slipped from my lips almost involuntarily.

Mama Si laughed. “Of course, they are—lookat you, Fall Doll. You shine.” And she squeezed my forearm just a bit. “Drink and observe—and don’t be afraid. You never have to fear people when they’re wearing masks.”

I turned to her. “I don’t?”

“Oscar Wilde once said,a man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.I happen to believe it. I’ve confirmed it myself many times over the years.” Again, she laughed like she really was having the time of her life right now.

A man and a woman who were standing by the closest cocktail table started walking toward us. I could see it in the way they looked at me, the way they smiled—both wearing black and silver, their masks two parts of a whole each wore on one side of their face. I knew they were going to come talk to us, tome,and I’d never wanted to disappear into thin air so badly in my life.

But when they looked at Mama Si, they stopped.

They turned.

They walked away.

“Cheer up, Fall Doll. Have fun,” she said, stepping in front of me. “Drink your drink. Make small talk if you want. Hang out with the girls.”

“They actually hate me,” I said and felt pathetic about it a second later. I didn’t need them tolikeme, damn it. So why did I even bring it up?

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll come around very soon,” Mama Si said, and I could have sworn she winked at me.

“Thank you for having me,” I forced myself to say. “It’s…it’s all so beautiful.” And it really was, exceptIdidn’t belong in this place. I didn’t belong in this room or among these people or in this mansion. Which was no surprise because I didn’t really belong anywhere at all.

“It’s only the beginning,” Mama Si said. “I promised you wonder, and I will show it to you. You just have to open those beautiful eyes wide and see it. Now go! Go mingle. Walk around. I have guests to attend to.” And she turned toward thesame couple who’d been about to come greet us a moment ago.

I was thankful for it. I didn’t want to talk, anyway. I just wanted to get the hell out of here and hide behind closed doors.Too much, too much, too much…

My knees were shaking again as I made my way to the middle of the room, searching with my eyes for a familiar face—Adam or Marissa or even the girls I’d seen just minutes ago among the crowd of people standing everywhere else in the round room. It seemed they were slightly separate from the cocktail tables where Mama Si had been standing, and in those moments, I was too overwhelmed to even wonder why or to find it odd. As it was, I just kept walking, and the band was right there,a man with a violin in his hands, eyes closed as he played, another with a clarinet, pouring his heart out with each breath and each perfect note—and a woman wearing a gorgeous white dress sitting in front of a piano.

It was a grand piano, the surface of it black and glossy, the keys moving so beautifully under her fingers as she swung to the sides slightly and played with a smile on her face.

The entire room disappeared as I watched her, and I moved closer to the band without really being aware of it. I just knew that I wanted to see more of that woman. More of that piano. Hear every note coming out of it better. I just knew that I wanted to be in her place so badly I’d trade the whole world for it. The whole damn world.

I reached out and touched the glossy black wood of the back of the piano as the woman played the beautiful, slow melody. I touched it and it was like I was brought back to life. Ever since I could remember myself, ever since I found the toy piano in the trash two blocks down from the trailer park where I lived, I’d wanted nothing more than to play it. I had been twelve years old. That piano had awakened something in me,something I could never quite put into words. I could only play it or paint it with Missy’s tools when she had so much to drink she passed out for days. Colors understood it, too. It’s why I’d created this absurd dream of one day owning a home big enough to be able to do all of it—play the piano, play all kinds of instruments, and paint, and even make my own clothes sometimes, too. Mykingdom,I called it. My home.

Before I knew it, I was smiling. Before I knew it, I brought the cocktail to my lips and took a small sip—it tasted wonderful. It had alcohol in it, too, though Mama Si knew I wasn’t twenty-one yet. Guess she didn’t care about it anymore than I did.

“There she is,” someone said from behind me, and it was a miracle the glass didn’t slip from my hands. I turned, completely disoriented, to find five girls standing around me, among them Melahni and Eva.

“The new girl,” said a brunette I’d seen by the pool yesterday, and I only recognized her because of her wavy hair that reached all the way down to her hips.

“Fresh blood. What was her name again?” said another, this one blonde, but I couldn’t see much of her face through the green mask she wore.

“Fall Hayes,” said Eva, arms crossed in front of her as she looked at me and smiled—not a pleasant smile.

“Hello,” I made myself say, trying my best to hide the nervousness that was making my hands shake.

“Fall? Who calls themselvesFall?” said the other brunette, and her mask only covered her right eye, so I saw plenty of her beautiful face, all sharp angles smoothed out by her perfectly round cheeks.

---