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, high.”
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?”
Licking her lips, she says, “Not really. Grandpa Razor frowns on anyone trying to break the rules. Besides, as I’m sure you already know, bad things happen when you try and take control. Trust in Grandpa, Ade. He wouldn’t lie.”
I’m getting very aggravated. I ask Katrina why she does this. Why she bothers.
She says, “Money, mostly. We’re also famous. You seen the Web site? The photo spread? This is our life. Could be yours too, if you were willing to go with the flow. You know, not try to fuck up so much.”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
I stand up, look back at them, point to Janice, the silent sister. “And what about you? Do you have any thoughts on this? Do you want to do a-”
Janice, she just shrugs.
I look over to the Diviners, and Gilberto stands up and walks over to me. He puts a hand on my shoulder and tells me that I really should consider just accepting the status quo. He tells me that even though deep in his heart he hates clichés and he hates corporate culture, he’s convinced that being able to really live means learning to accept certain truths. “Basically, Ade,” he says, “it means putting yourself in the driver’s seat.”
Him, I flick off. The rest of them, I ignore.
Charlie shows me the door, opening it and waving me out. Belle follows.
In the hallways leading to the parking structure, Belle tries to talk me into coming back. Just to talk for a bit longer. She says, “Promise we’ll just talk casually. I so want you to be a part of this.”
“I need a breather, Belle.”
Belle blows me a kiss. Mouths, Sorry.
And I leave.
SIX
I take back roads.
Lose myself only a few blocks to the west of Paris.
My frustration boils over. The Sisters, the Diviners, no one wants to change the future. No one wants to even try. I tried to save Harold and still, he died. Jimi will die and no one but me wants to lift a finger. I smash my steering wheel repeatedly with my fists.
Then, still fuming, I pull over and slam on the breaks.
Also I roll down the window and chuck CDs onto the street. This is the new really pissed-off me getting crazy. Just needing to act out. Mostly I toss old CDs. Mostly beat-up, scratched-all-over CDs that work about half the time. Dinosaur Jr., Minor Threat, and some mix from Paige titled Everyone About Everything go sailing into the night.
And that’s when I notice the smell in my car.
It’s like heavy perfume.
I scan the rearview and see nothing.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say loud. Just in case.
“No.” The voice comes from right behind my seat. A girl’s voice. Brittle. I know the voice immediately. It’s Janice Zinc, the lesser of the Metal Sisters.
I ask, “Janice?”
“Yeah.”
“Any chance you’d crawl out from back there? Almost scared the living crap-”