If it was about my abilities and not me, then wouldn’t this fascination he had for me go away? Birthmarks and fate and all of that aside, Sky deserved freewill. He was such a bright light in a world of chaos and the unknown, and I didn’t want to trap him into being with me.
“Okay, Patchy,” he said, breaking into my worries and fears. “What we need tonight is different than swords. We get to kick back and relax since there aren’t any spookies around, and you get to do that with us.” The little pup barked, jumping into Sky’s face and licking his nose, obviously excited by Sky’s tone.
Sky giggled and hugged Patchy to him, then he leaned back. “First, we need a yellow and white plaid blanket to sit on.” Immediately, a spread cloth appeared next to Sky’s feet. He fist-pumped the air, then dropped down onto it and patted the spot next to him, blinking up at me coyishly.
As I sat next to him, Patchy jumped into his lap. “Next, we need a basket that has sliced cheese and apples, crackers, and…” He turned to me. “Do you want pepperoni or salami, King?”
Gran had given me a snack before bed, but now that Sky mentioned eating, my stomach rumbled like I was starving. Sky leaned up and kissed my cheek. “Both it is.” He nuzzled Patchy’s neck. “Did you hear that? King needs pepperoni and salami. And oh! Water bottles.”
He'd no sooner voiced his request than a brown handled basket appeared. It had two flaps that flipped open toward the middle. I expected Sky to dive in, but instead, he picked his pup up by the middle and held him up into the air. “And what do you want? You need to have a snack too, and something to drink. What do you like, baby?”
Patchy yipped and wiggled, jumping down from Sky’s arms, and nosing at the basket. I leaned over, opened it, and pulled out a piece of the apple that came cut into slices. He licked at it, then scampered back. “Hm. I know what you want.”
“Try a piece of salami,” Sky said, wiggling on his butt like the puppy did. Seriously, how could anyone this exuberant have a good life with me?
Pushing my concerns to the side, I grabbed a piece of the salami and held it out. Patchy snatched it out of my fingers so fast that I barked out a laugh. He chewed a couple times, swallowed, then jumped onto my lap, butt wiggling as he nosed at the basket.
“Aww. King, look how cute he is.” We settled in with me holding Patchy in one arm, away from the basket, and us slipping him little pieces of the snacks from the basket as we shared the contents. It was…nice.Relaxing.
“So tell me your favorite memory as a kid,” Sky said before popping a piece of cheese in his mouth.
Sighing, I thought back. We’d already discussed my teenage hijinks with Jetty, but that was because a lot of those involved our ghost hunts, and Sky was as obsessed with those as I was. He’d digested every word with rapt attention.
Then an image of my gran, younger and less feeble, free and uninhabited, popped into my mind.
“What?” Sky asked. “Why are you smiling like that?”
I shook my head, letting the memories wash over me. Remembering my childish delight that my grandmother had been so cool—eccentric in the best possible ways. “Gran. All of my favorite memories from childhood are tied up in her.”
The frustration I’d continue to harbor toward her dissipated just that much more. A part of me still felt so betrayed by her and Pops’ silence. Silence that my mind kept telling me was lies by omission. But my heart—my heart understood.
It hadn’t been easy for me growing up in this town. Not only because of who Gran was, but because it was a predominantly white area, with the influx of other minorities happening when I was a teen. I couldn’t imagine what it had been like for my mother growing up here, the product of an interracial couple during that time in a small, often backwards town.
Would it have felt more like a burden to know what my future might hold? Would I have been more like my mom, more eager to give up the abilities in our family bloodline if I’d grown up knowing that the taunts from the other kids held shreds of truth?
“King,” Sky prompted with concern.
Determined to enjoy this interlude with Sky, I once again pushed my thoughts to the side and let myself picture Gran dancing under the light of the moon instead. “When other children were adhering to strict bedtimes and going on playdates with other children, Gran gave me the most magical childhood.
“She’d let me stay up late while she danced in the backyard under the stars. Our home was full of music and laughter. She’d light candles in the darkness and we’d build forts where she’d read me stories of mystical places and realms.”
As I spoke, the memories swamped me. Things I’d forgotten as I grew up and let reason and normalcy dictate my own thoughts and actions. Sky lay down on his side, leaning on his elbow. “Go on.”
Like a large cedar chest unlocking, the rituals she performed and the potions she made, all the conversations I’d witnessed with someone who wasn’t visible, but I’d never doubted was there, swirled and came together into crystal clear images. “I knew, Sky.”
“What?” he asked, eyes glimmering with excited curiosity.
“Everything.” Picking Patchy up from my lap and setting him down between us, I mirrored Sky’s position. “I’ve told you how Gran and I used to go to the Hallowed Tree on the back of the Willowhope property and how people used to stare at us when she still left the house regularly for strolls through town.
“But somehow, I’d forgotten all the other cool things she did. Sky, she used to talk to Pops all the time. And when I was a kid,I believed he was right there. She never told me. Hell, I didn’t ask her because I just knew.”
“What else do you remember?”
I sifted through all the images hitting me at once like someone had taken a lifetime of Polaroid pictures and thrown them in the air to flutter and fall around me. “She used to have this cauldron. It sat on the edge of the counter, and I’d sit on the counter next to it while she tossed things in, and we’d talk about our days and anything and everything else that came to mind.”
I rolled over onto my back, resting my head on my clamped hands. “And…Holy crap. She used to get visitors all the time, Sky. Not to the front door, but they’d come to the back. Gran would send me to wait in the other room, and sometimes I’d hear chanting or tears, and then they’d leave with little boxes or bags that Gran gave them.”
Wide-eyed, he said, “That’s so cool. What do you think they came to see her for? When did that stop? Did something happen?”
