Page 2 of Witch's Dawn
I came to San Francisco last year to get away from my strict, religious upbringing down south. When I stepped off that Greyhound bus with nothing but a duffel bag and the clothes on my back, someone tried to pickpocket me within seconds. Nona just happened to be riding by on her bicycle and yelled loud enough to get a cop's attention. She'd been a guardian angel to me eversince.
Until I opened my shop and started networking with other small business owners in my neighborhood, she had also been my onlyfriend.
And in a large city filled with people, politics, and attitudes that gave me a hefty dose of culture shock, I couldn't ask for anyone better to huff and puff up a hill besideme.
We finally crested the hill and came to a row of businesses and commercial buildings, almost all of them closed. Not even in San Francisco would an accountant be open at nearly eleven at night. But on the next corner, we approached one shop with a warm glow from the inside and the muffled sound of punk rock playing from speakers. People in leather and denim jackets already pressed against the windows from theinside.
"Damn, she really decked the place out," Nona mused as we paused to look at the outsidefacade.
I nodded my agreement. The large window facing the street readTrailblazers, Inc.in flowing gold and black vinyl paint. Just underneath the shop name was an illustration of a laughing skeleton riding a motorcycle and kicking up a cloud ofdust.
I stepped back slightly and smiled at the window, feeling a sense of pride swelling for my fellow local businessowner.
"Shall we?" I cocked an eyebrow atNona.
"After you, madame." She pulled the front door open with a flourish and swept her arm back as she lowered into acurtsy.
I chuckled as I stepped through the open door. Nona's quirks never ceased to amuseme.
Right away the noise of fast, upbeat punk music hit me like a slap to the chest. The heat of many bodies pressed into a small space soaked into mypores.
Yellow glassy eyes with odd, rectangular pupils were the first to meet my gaze from across theroom.
"Holy shit," I breathed. "That thing ishuge."
The goat's head mounted to the wall was gigantic, easily three feet tall by my estimate. It was entirely black and its horns curled back in perfect, majesticsymmetry.
It looked like some kind of pagan deity overlooking a heathen gathering of drunkenness and debauchery. My parents would have gasped at the sight, clutch their cross jewelry, and run home immediately to say theirprayers.
"Deja, you madeit!"
An arm carrying a drink that looked dangerously close to spilling, wrapped around my neck while a pair of lips kissed my cheek at the same time. Myranda, the shop owner, pulled away and beamed atme.
"I'm so glad you came," she gushed. Her cheeks were flushed and her raven black hair was tossed carelessly into a messy bun, but her dark burgundy lipstick and winged eyeliner remained onpoint.
"Congrats on your grand opening!" I yelled into her ear. "The place looksgreat!"
She grinned with all the giddiness and excitement that could only come from working your ass off to open a business and finally being able to kick back and enjoy the labor of your blood, sweat, andtears.
"Thanks, babe! I can't believe there are so many people here!" she shrieked with joy and swirled the ice in her cup. "I used your peppermint tea to make mint juleps and they are the bomb! Come have adrink!"
"In a minute," I promised her. "I want to check out your shopfirst."
"For sure! Take anything that catches your eye, babe. Just keep bringing me that bomb-ass tea." She winked and went off to mingle before I could protest. Her wares were far more expensive than my meager dozen bags oftea.
"She's a generous drunk," Nonaobserved.
"She's really sweet," I said almost as if trying to convincemyself.
Not that it wasn't true, but San Francisco definitely shook my deep-seated perceptions of people who did not look like me or my family growing up. Myranda was covered from her feet to her neck in tattoos and I never saw her wear any color other than black. Many of the people in here had similar looks. Until I left home, it never even occurred to me that nice, caring people could also smoke, drink, wear dark lipstick and have sex beforemarriage.
"Oooh, look at these!" Nona's coos pulled me out of mythoughts.
She pulled me over to a display shelf of crystals in every color imaginable. Some were polished to a high shine, others further cut into shapes like skulls and dragons, while others appeared to be in their rough, naturalform.
"This is what you need." She wiggled her eyebrows as she picked up a smooth orange stone and placed it in my palm. "Orange calcite for awakening sexualenergy."
"Sure. I'll get right on that," Iscoffed.
