behind.
Jen watched her dump the rest of the shoes into her suitcase. “You’re really doing this, aren’t you.”
“Yes,” Beth said. “I told you, I shouldn’t have come. I’ve got cases piling up-I don’t know why I let you talk me into this trip in the first place.”
Jen said nothing. Just stared at her a moment, then moved to her bunk and sat, looking down at her hands.
Then she said, “You know what next week is, right? Next Wednesday?”
“What?”
“The twenty-seventh. Fourteen years since they died.”
Beth felt her gut tighten.
Jen turned her left hand palm up and began tracing the lines with a finger.
“I remember once, a long time ago, I read a book about palmistry and all I wanted to do when I grew up was be a fortune-teller. How stupid is that?”
“Pretty stupid,” Beth said.
“I learned about the head line, the life line, the heart line…and one day, when we were home for the weekend, I asked Dad if I could read his palm.” She smiled at the memory. “He had really strong hands, you know that?”
Beth sat on her own bunk, nodded. “I know.”
Jen’s smile faded. “When I started to do the reading, the first thing I noticed was his life line. It was really short. And I thought, This is not good. This is not good at all.” She paused, looked up at Beth. “But then I told myself I must’ve misunderstood what I’d read. So I didn’t say anything to him. I just made up some bullshit prediction about his future, then went off to watch Saved by the Bell. ”
“What are you saying?” Beth asked.
“That I knew he was going to die. I knew he was going to die and I didn’t tell him. I didn’t warn him.”
Beth shook her head. “They died in a plane crash, Jen. How could you warn him about that?”
“I don’t know. But maybe if I’d told him to be careful, if I’d shown him his life line and told him what it meant, maybe they wouldn’t have chartered that plane.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I know,” Jen said. “I know it is. But I can’t help it. I think about it almost every day. And I know none of it’s my fault, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling like it is.”
“Let me say it again,” Beth told her. “They died in a plane crash. So unless you performed a Vulcan mind meld and told that pilot to fly into a mountain, what happened to Mom and Dad was purely accidental.”
Jen nodded, was quiet for a moment.
Then: “I tried to contact them last night.”
Beth frowned. “Contact who?”
“Who do you think, dummy? Mom and Dad.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Jen paused before answering. “I know you can’t stand Rafael and Marta, but contrary to what you might think, I didn’t spend all my time fucking last night.”
“Oh, brother.” Beth rose again, moved to the dresser, and started pulling out her underwear.
“I’m trying to tell you something here, Beth. Can you at least give me the courtesy of listening?”
“I have absolutely no interest in anything remotely related to those two.”
“Just listen, okay?”
Beth sighed, threw a fistful of bras and panties into the suitcase, and sat again.
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“Promise not to laugh?”
“I promise,” Beth said, and waited for Jen to tell her story.
21
Jen took a breath.
“By the time Marta showed up, Rafael was pretty much passed out, so she and I spent a lot of time talking. She told me she’s what they call a bruja. ”
“A what?”
“A bruja. A witch.”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
Jen shook her head. “She says she has powers, including the ability to communicate with the dead.”
“I’ll bet that comes in handy.”
Jen frowned. “It’s not a joke, Beth. After last night I’m convinced it’s true. She’s psychic. Knows things that are impossible for her to know.”
“Like what?”
“Stuff about my love life. About Mom and Dad. About me being…” She paused. “About a lot of things. Like she was inside my head.”
Beth stared at her. It took everything she had to keep from rolling her eyes. Over the years she’d run across more than a few so-called psychics. Every one of them had been a con artist.
“Have you ever heard of a cold reading?”
Jen shook her head again.
“It’s a technique used by people who claim to be psychic,” Beth said. “They extract information from you without you realizing it. Ask leading questions. Study your body language. It’s all designed to make you think they have special powers. But the only real power they have is the ability to extract money from your wallet.”
“That’s not true. Marta didn’t ask me for a cent.”
“Not yet. But if you keep hanging around with her, it’ll happen. Believe me.”
“Why are you always such a cynic?”
“Not a cynic,” Beth said. “A realist.” She reached across and took Jen’s hands in hers. “I know you miss them. Mom and Dad. I do, too. But Marta can no more communicate with them than we can. And if you let her convince you that she has some supernatural power, you’re only gonna be dis-”
A bell rang over the loudspeaker in the hallway.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen; this is your purser speaking. We have now docked in Playa Azul, Mexico, and will begin debarking in five minutes.”
Beth released Jen’s hands and stood. “That’s my cue.”
Jen grabbed her arm. “Don’t go, Beth. Please don’t go.”
“I have to,” Beth said. “I’m sorry. But I can’t deal with-”
“I promise to be good. No more me, me, me. From now on this vacation is all about you.”
“We both know that won’t happen.”
“I promise. I swear to God. And if I step out of line, you can kick my ass.”
“Punching, kicking-what’s gotten into you?”
“I just want you to stay, okay? Leave your suitcase here and we’ll go into town and do some shopping. You love to shop.”
Beth sighed. “I also hate it when you beg.”
“Does that mean you’ll stay?”
Beth thought it over and, against her better judgment, nodded. “All right. One last chance.”
“Hooray!” Jen said, pulling her into a hug. “And when we’re done shopping, let’s go to Armando’s for some Jell-O and tequila shots.”
Beth pulled away abruptly, glared at her.
Jen grinned. “I’m kidding, ” she said. “Just kidding.”
