Page 54 of Snow Blind

"You're smiling; life must be good. Catch me up on the world of Helen," Cherry said, sending Naomi off to her room to play.

"Nothing much to tell," she said. "Daddy came for a visit this past weekend."

Cherry arched an eyebrow. "There is a lot to unpack in that single sentence. One, you have another home where he came for a visit because I know like hell that weirdo Passion Fruit didn't let some strange black man in her home. And two, I warned you about allowing demonic spirits to enter your safe spaces."

"Demonic spirits, Abi?"

"You can feel it on him," Cherry said. "Even as I child I felt the wrongness of that silver tongued, suit-wearing demon."

"He told me we are sisters," Helen said.

"Yeah and? You and I have always been together and had each other's backs. My child has called you Aunt from the beginning; that was one of her first words, so what's the issue?"

"I didn't know, that's all."

Cherry pursed her lips, "And now that you do, how many fucks does it take to get to the center of how this has changed your life?"

"Wow, you're still angry with him," Helen said. "You're right, it doesn't, but he was surprised to learn he was a grandfather. I'm certain at some point today that he'll be calling, wanting to be a part of Naomi and Luke's lives."

"I don't give a llama's right coochie lip about what that man wants; he is not, nor will ever be, a part of my children's lives." Cherry said. "He forfeited that right by leaving us with your nihilistic mother."

Helen reached over to touch Cherry's hand. At one point in their teen years, Helen had learned her touch often soothed Cherry's bristling fur. She wasn't high strung, or even low strung for that matter, but she hovered between pessimism and fuck it on a regular basis. In other words, the woman was exhausting.

"I thought about, well, the other day, with my mom being a nurse and having access to medicines and Aunt Stephanie being so spacey...never mind, I shouldn’t have brought it up."

"It's up. It's in the air, so let's speak on it," Cherry said. "I think for years your mother doing the Munchausen by Proxy on Stephanie to control her and make her dependent on Anita was enough for any soul. I figured that out years ago, and when my mom got away from her and left for Europe with Darnell, she started getting better. However, he's just as controlling, but in a different way. My mother has never known freedom."

"He said she has a new yoga studio," Helen said.

"Well, namaste for her and whoop-de do-da doo," Cherry replied, looking at Helen's face. "I'm sorry. You brought him up, knowing how I feel about him."

"You asked for an update; I gave an update."

It grew quiet between them. The energy would shift from this point, and Cherry would change the subject to a neutral topic. She had never wanted therapy but rather allowed the anger to fuel her. Helen didn't want to be that person. She wasn't going to be angry. She planned to be happy.

Cherry smiled and said, "So, have you broken out any teeth on a dead body yet?"

"No, not that mishap, but I did burn off his fingerprints and watch his corpse get set on fire," Helen admitted.

"My first one, I cried for days. Do you remember that time I came home and couldn't stop crying? Yeah, I had a big one that I broke out his teeth, burned off his fingerprints, and then burned his body," Cherry said. "I almost quit the Technicians that day. The contract said it needed to look personal. A long-range shot wasn't going to do it, so I had to get in there and make it happen. How are you handling it?"

"I was given three weeks off to process the fucked-upness of it all," Helen said. "On my way home, I stopped by a sewing center and dropped ten grand between that and a fabric shop using up the coins I didn't know I was still making from the craft site deposited on one of those debit cards. You have lots of homemade cute shit for Christmas for you, Michael, Naomi, and Luke."

"Crafting is your go-to stress reliever. Personally, a good...hah, let me stop," Cherry said, cutting her eyes at Helen. "How are you and the Mustang fairing?"

"Well," Helen said, "I messed around in Lemon's lab and made a love potion. I used it on him. The man married me."

Cherry sat still, looking at her cousin. Helen held up her hand to show off the rings. The two burst into laughter.

"Can I get some of that love potion after I have this child?"

"Nope, my Sista, you'll have to make your own," Helen said, chuckling. "Yeah, the special ingredients requires that a chick will need to make her own."

The space between them was quiet as the sound of a truck pulled them away from the much-needed girl time. Cherry looked out the window to see Mustang unloading a live tree. He was looking for the water hose while Michael unloaded his own tree. Soon they would bring them into the home, and the holiday festivities could begin.

This would be the first Christmas Helen was ever looking forward to celebrating. She had presents for her family. She had love in her heart, and as far as she was concerned, it would be enough to charge her cells to get back to Illinois for her training.

"I am a Technician," she said softly. "I am the protector of the defenseless and the women and children of the state of Indiana. My name is Helen McDaniel Neary and my handle is The Cranberry."

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