me that I’m something special, that my being able to see the future clearly, not in stops and starts and not in pieces, makes me somehow better than the usual, then I’m going to use that. I will not kill Jimi Ministry. That’s why I’m not in prison in the future.”
Lynne yawns. To no one in particular she says, “Another hero. That’ll change.”
Anka adds, “A comic book wannabe.”
Gilberto shushes them, lights another smoke and, again, offers me one. Again I decline. He says, “I don’t think you’re an idiot, Ade. You’ve got balls. While I don’t think it’s going to make any difference, I’m going to recommend some people for you to meet with. Other Diviners. If anything, they’ll help talk you out of this. When you’ve had enough, you come back here and see us and let us groom you for something better.”
I choke. “Groom me? For what?”
Gilberto says, “Talent like yours is once in a lifetime-”
“I quit,” I say. “Went clean, remember?”
“Yeah, you said that already,” Gilberto says. “Look, let the Metal Sisters try their thing. If they can’t help you, maybe Slow Bob can. Grandpa Razor’s a last resort. Think of him as the puppet master. All of us, we live by Grandpa’s rules. What he says is law.”
I look over at the twins. Almost forgotten they were in the room.
The girls, they wave.
FOUR
Remember that one really old movie about a town filled with creepy children?
And at the end of the movie it turns out the kids have telekinetic abilities and they’re like the offspring of UFOs? Yeah, well, the Metal Sisters are their older siblings.
I can’t tell which one is which, but the one on my left, she pats the seat next to her.
I nod. Walk over, uncomfortable under her gaze.
She says, “I’m Katrina. I don’t tell the future. Just read what you have. But if I try, I can really get in there. Get in deep. It doesn’t always work flawlessly. It’s sometimes all hazy. Sometimes people just aren’t enough in tune to really get a good reading. But it means knowing everything. Intimately. All the moles and stray hairs. You want more details, you’re going to have to open up to me. You game?”
The way she talks, it’s totally at odds with the way she’s dressed.
“Sure,” I say. “But what’s in it for you?”
Katrina makes this disappointed face. “How rude, Ade. Of course I’m just here to help you. You know, member of the community and all.”
“Community, right.”
She makes a thinking face. “Looking inside people’s heads, there’s a certain, you know,
I say, “I know.”
She smiles. Pats her lap. “Come on over here. I’ll be sweet.”
I sit next to her. She puts her hands on my forehead. It begins like a massage and I close my eyes. Her nails in my hair. The sound of her soft breathing. The smell of spearmint.
All breathy, she says, “Think about how you got here. Rewind back to the vision.”
Her hands on my head, I see it all unfold backward. Everything from school and Vauxhall and Paige and then I’m in the car with my mom and suddenly, in reverse, my head is leaving the steering wheel.
She says, “Oh, and I should mention that sometimes, depending on how I’m feeling, et cetera et cetera, I can erase your memory. Hasn’t happened accidentally in a superlong time, so try not to stress too hard about it. Cool?”
I look over at Belle, the Diviners. All of them, in unison, as if this is some cheeseball sitcom moment, they give me a thumbs-up.
And then everything goes white.
FIVE
The feeling is sensitive.
Raw.
At first it’s just the brush of Katrina’s fingers through my hair. Like a cat’s tongue. But then it hurts. Burns, even. This is when the white clears and I see Katrina smiling.
“How long?” I ask.
“Only a few minutes. But felt long, huh?”
I nod. Try to stand up, but I’m woozy like I’m plastered.
“Don’t,” Katrina says. She holds me down. Gently. “You’re going to want to sit there for a few more minutes. Let things settle.”
It’s only when she says it that I realize I’m totally seasick. At least that’s the feeling. Like trying to read in a car. I close my eyes. Pull myself together. Think happy thoughts. Steady thoughts.
“So?”
Katrina rubs my back. Her long nails clicking on every vertebra bump. She says, “Messed up. You’re very angry. So much rage inside you. I tried to gather some details for you, stuff that you might not have noticed. You noticed the moon, right?”
“No.”
“It was shaped like a C,” Katrina says. “Waxing crescent. If it happens this month, that’s in like next week.”
“Okay. And if not?”
“Then next month, maybe three weeks from now. But, to be honest with you, I think it’ll go down next week. Soon, huh? Last but not least, you saw the tattoos, right?”
“What about them?”
Katrina snorts, the same as her sister, and she says, “Silly, he’s got a picture of your mom tattooed on his left forearm. It’s freaking ridiculous you didn’t notice it. Big and she’s smiling. Kinda spooky, really.”
“How about the masked guy? Any chance you saw him?”
Katrina rolls her eyes. She says, “You got yourself a parasite, Ade.”
“A what?”
“Parasite. You know, like a tapeworm or something. Only this is the psychic kind. This guy, I’ve seen some like him before. They get into people’s dreams. People’s memories. Sometimes, like with you, it can be visions. He’s feeding off it most likely. Getting kicks from it. You want to really change what you’ve seen, and I’m not saying you can but if you really, really, super really wanted to, I’d find that parasite of yours. Then again, eventually, he’ll find you. Not easy to lose them once they’ve locked on.”
When she says the word “locked” she makes a clicking sound with her tongue.
My stomach turns.
“Who do you think he is?”
Katrina shrugs. “Could be anyone. You need to see someone else about that problem. Grandpa Razor will know.”
I ask Katrina if she thinks I can change it. I ask if she knows anyone who’s ever been able to change the future. I say, “Even if I knew that one person did it once. That would mean a lot.”
Katrina says, “I can’t think of anyone.”
“You think I’m stupid for trying?”
“You did try before. Didn’t work so well that time, did it?”
“Don’t think it’s possible, do you?”
