“Mags,” Richie said.
“Fuck you all,” his mom said. “And the high fucking horses you rode in on.”
“What was it?” Jared said.
“A sorcerer,” his mom said. “Old as the fucking hills. He was probably powerful when he was alive. I’ll bet you dollars to dime bags he was one of those jackasses who thought he didn’t need to die like the rest of us chum. Borrowed, begged and stole enough power to cheat death. Now he’s just raw need in a skin-suit crawling around in the dark.”
“That creeping abomination used to be a person?” Sarah said.
“Big, swinging dick in his heyday.”
“Mother.”
“How did I squirt out such a prissy princess?”
“He won’t come back, right?” Sarah said. “Now that we know he’s here?”
“He’ll wait,” his mom said. “Jared is a juicy little fly wiggling in his web. Once we’re gone and Jared’s asleep, he’ll crawl back out of his hidey-hole because Jared’s now open for business. Right when shit’s about to hit the fan. Great fucking timing, Sonny Boy.”
20
THE BLOOP
Neeka and Hank showed up just before lunch to help move Eliza and Olive. While Hank studied the giant, old-fashioned tube TV and mused aloud about ways they could get it outside, Neeka toured the apartment, circling back to the kitchen table, where they were eating leftover pizza.
“What did you do?” she asked Jared.
Jared shrugged. It had worked, for now, and Eliza was okay. No one else needed to know the gory details. Neeka went to stare out the living room window, craning her head to scan the sky and then the ground.
“This is going to take all day,” Hank said. “How the hell did they get it in here?”
Mave and Olive arrived with cleaning supplies. “Sorry,” Mave said. “Traffic is unbelievable.”
“Thank you all,” Olive said. She held up her bandaged hand. “I feel like an idiot for not being able to help. I don’t even understand how I broke the mirror.”
“Moving is stressful,” Mave said.
Neeka came and sat on the chair beside Jared. She stared at him.
“What did he do?” she said to Eliza.
“He gave me everything.”
Jared could feel Neeka’s temper rising. Eliza reached over to grab his hand, frowning at Neeka. Neeka smiled sweetly.
Let’s go to Mave’s apartment, Neeka thought at him.
Mom’s giving Sarah a magic lesson, Jared said. She wants us out of the mix.
We’re going to chat about boundaries, Jared Benjamin Martin. We’re going to have a very long chat.
That means yelling, Eliza thought at them, and Neeka stared at her in surprise. Eliza didn’t share her thoughts normally.
What Jared did almost destroyed him, Neeka said. I’m upset. There are less traumatic ways to handle a poltergeist and a spirit.
“Pizza?” Jared said, pushing one of the boxes toward her.
—
Hank called Kota to help move the TV. His cousin arrived quickly, meaning he’d been nearby. Kota paused mid-step and stared at Jared.
“Are you dying?” Kota said. “You look like dogshit.”
“Hello to you too,” Jared said.
Neeka gave Kota a dirty look.
“Hey, look at this monster,” Hank said, waving at the TV.
“Just throw it out the window,” Kota said.
“That’s a horrible idea,” Mave said. “It’ll shatter and the apartment below us will get all the glass.”
“So? Olive’s moving. What does she care what the neighbours think anymore?”
“Just help move the damn TV,” Hank said.
“Fine,” Kota said, taking off his jacket.
Eliza let go of Jared’s hand and ran to find her stuffed Olaf doll. The grungy-looking toy was missing an eye. She sat Olaf on the chair between her and Jared, pretending to feed him root beer. Jared caught himself dozing. Eliza retrieved another doll and ran around the table with them, saying they were being chased by a hungry octopus, stopping every second circuit to lean into Jared for a moment.
“Did you miss Jared?” Mave said.
“Daddy was mad he was dead,” Eliza said, “so Jared gave me all his magic so I could send him away.”
“Oh?”
“Daddy protected me from getting eaten by the octopus, but he broke the mirror to hurt Mommy. He loves us, but we make him mad.”
“Oh, Eliza-kins,” Mave said, stopping to hug her. And then, as Eliza ran off with her dolls, she said to Jared, “What an imagination that kid has.”
—
Hank paused by the dumpster after throwing in a couple of bags of garbage. He held the lid for Jared, who tossed his too.
“Neeka says you’re not really her half-brother,” Hank said.
“Yeah? I thought you would have figured that out for yourself.”
“She says her family used to be otters until some Trickster changed her great-great-grandmother’s human skin and it wouldn’t come off.”
“Huh,” Jared said. “You guys must be getting serious if she started telling you the truth.”
Hank glowered, but Jared now could tell that was just his cousin’s thinking face. “You believe her?”
“Phil was the only guy I considered my dad. But the Trickster that messed the otters up was my biological father, Wee’git.”
“You think you’re the son of a Trickster.”
“I’m also a Trickster, but I’m pretty weak.”
“So you can…transform.”
“Yes. Not right now, though, because I used up a lifetime of magic.”
Hank looked up and then down the alley. “Mave says we’re free to believe anything we want as long as we don’t hurt anyone.”
I got my dad killed, Jared wanted to say. I’m worried Mave will be collateral damage. But Hank wasn’t ready for any more information.
“If Neeka didn’t care about you,” Jared said, “she’d keep lying.”
Hank sighed. “It’s hard to know when you’re being serious or when you think you’re being funny.”
—
By the end of the afternoon, the apartment was clear, the garbage all hauled to the dumpster and all the helpers gone. Eliza let go of Jared’s hand long enough to touch the pile of six boxes and two suitcases that she and her mom were taking with them tomorrow.
Mave said, “Let’s all go get some ice
