Reveal

When I first moved in and was midway through unpacking, she’d ushered me over to her apartment. She’d insisted on feeding me sweet tea and macaroons while telling me all about her Arthur. I remember going back across the hall to Da

“Trouble with smoking though, Robyn,” she interrupts and pulls me from the memories suddenly weighing heavily in the bottom of my heart, “is that I’ve gained almost fifteen pounds.” She reaches beside her and lifts her purse, retrieving a pack of half-eaten Oreos.

“Ah, the munchies…maybe you should cut some fruit up and keep it in a little tub to snack on when you finish your medication,” I smirk.

“Where’s the fun in that?” She smiles. “Speaking of fun, did I see you leave with a dashing young man in a di

“Nothing gets past you, huh?”

“Not if I can help it, dear. Now my sister always used to say that the best way to get over a man is to get under a new one, so which one are you getting under—or maybe it’s both?”

I choke on nothing but air and the smoke billowing from her doobie. She seems to think it’s hilarious, and I’m sure to anyone passing by, a high eighty-five-year-old woman trying to get the lowdown her neighbor’s sex life would be pretty fu

“I’m not under either of them,” I tell her and her face falls a little.

“Why ever not, dear? If I were twenty years younger there’d be no stopping me,” she a

“You want one?”

I take a cookie and nibble the edge.

“The guy in the di

“Ain’t nothing wrong with that, Robyn. When you get to be my age, you’ll look back and wish you’d spoken your mind more often.”

I stop looking at her and stare out at the street, watching the waves ripple as the traffic moves through the puddles left behind from the earlier rainfall. I can’t help wishing that Da

Friday nights at Reveal are brutal. A

I’m stu

“You’re here! Give me a hand, will you?” A

“Zane and Callum are in the back, and nobody set up the booth for the tarot reader. She’s in the bathroom at the moment. Everyone’s busy, would you mind decorating that booth over there? Just throw the material around the table and the back of the booth—you know, make it look gypsy-ish.”

“Gypsy-ish? Is that even a word?”

“It is now!” she fires back, rushing off in the opposite direction and grabbing a pile of costumes from one of the tables.

I walk over to the booth A

“Hello!” I startle and step back, knocking into a tall, billowy woman with wild, raven hair wearing a long, deep moss-colored dress that pools at her feet. The cards she’s holding drop to the ground and I immediately bend to retrieve them while apologizing.

“Stop!” I jump again at the shrillness of her voice and pause, looking up at her.

“Don’t touch them,” she says, looking from me to the ground and then repeating the motion. Slowly she bends and retrieves the three upturned cards, placing them on the table I was dressing, completely disregarding the rest of the pack scattered across the floor.

“I’ve never seen this before. Come sit down, if you will.”

I swallow and stand up. “Okay,” I mumble. I’m nervous about things like this; my mom always used to laugh that I’d never cross paths with a black cat, walk under ladders or step on cracks in the pavement. I’m a superstitious person. I always have been. I whole-heartedly believed in fate and destiny when I was younger. I guess I still do to a degree, even if the universe has been kicking my ass lately. I slide into the booth and wring my hands. I’ve never visited a spiritualist or had my cards read. I’ve always been too scared, you know, in case they tell you that your fate is doomed, and you’re about to die.

“I’m Athena,” she offers taking a seat in front of me. Her features are striking, from the coffee-colored pallor of her skin to her bright green eyes. They must be contacts, I decide. They’re so u

“This card here.” She points to a knight riding atop a white horse and carrying a black and white flag. “Don’t be alarmed, but this is the card of Death.”

Don’t be alarmed! What the hell?

I sit back wide-eyed and filled with a sudden burst of anxiety.

It’s not real.

It’s not real.

It’s not real.

The chant doesn’t soothe the panic, and I can feel my pulse begin to race at the mere mention of the card’s name. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m shaking. She senses my discomfort and begins to explain.

“People often take the meaning of this card far too literally. They fear that the indication is for the death of either themselves or others around them. You can relax; it’s not the case for you. Death is symbolic of the ending of a major phase or aspect of your life. It symbolizes the begi

“I’m not sure I’m following what you mean,” I confess.

“You need to put the past behind you and part ways, ready to embrace new opportunities and possibilities. It may be difficult to let go of the past at times, but you will soon see how important it is in order to bring renewal and transformation into your life. If you resist these necessary endings, you may experience pain, both emotionally and physically.”