“That’s kind of how my husband has been,” Daisy said softly. “He’s acting like I did something wrong because I’m upset. It doesn’t seem fair.”
“Well, the problem is, all these men get told that they’re good,” Soraya said, speaking for the first time in a while. “At least, that’s what I’ve seen. Like my husband, for example. Everybody thinks he’s such a great guy, literally just because he goes to church all the time, so they assume he shares their values. But he doesn’t. But he has this credit that’s been given to him that he hasn’t even earned, and it’s like they think they’re untouchable. No wonder billionaires and world leaders end up so corrupt. Our husbands are just mildly successful men in small-town America who haven’t been told no enough, and look at how out of control they are.”
“A good point,” Nora said.
“They need to be taken down a peg or two.” Madison spoke while taking inventory in the little kitchen area.
“We put spells on them.” Nora could still feel all the rage, all the heartache, and all the triumph from that moment.
“Really? Like real witchcraft?” Madison asked.
“No,” said Soraya at the same time Nora said, “Yes.”
“Did it work?”
Nora thought about her failed love spell. About poor Soraya getting kicked out of her house. About Daisy having great sex.
“The jury is out,” Nora said.
“I know I feel more powerful than when I started.” Soraya studied her chewed nail. “That has to count for something.”
Suddenly, Madison’s eyes glistened with emotion. “You know, I came in the store the other day, and it just seemed right. But I’ve been so lonely since my mom ... I have my partner, and my other partner, but I don’t know. I’ve been missing something.”
“Community,” Nora said.
“Yes,” Madison agreed. “Community.”
Nora spent part of the day working on a sandwich board to go outside, harnessing some of her latent artistic talent to advertise tarot readings and their new café items. Madison was delightful, if terribly young, and Nora enjoyed watching her scandalize Soraya with commentary on her many polyamorous relationships and her casual approach to sex in general.
The day went by quickly, and when they closed up shop, Nora felt like lingering. Going back to her empty house felt ... like a mess. She still hadn’t dealt with Ben, and she was beginning to feel like a coward. But he wasn’t here, which added a layer to all this that made it challenging. She was angry. A phone call or a text wouldn’t adequately satisfy that. If she couldn’t look him in the face when she was talking to him about ...
She had never wanted to get married. But her deepest, darkest, most embarrassing fantasy was that she had always wanted a traditional life. Had always wanted a home and the kind of family she’d never had growing up. She hadn’t believed she could have it, though. Hadn’t believed she deserved it. Because something had always felt like it was fundamentally broken inside her. Falling in love with Ben, and him falling in love with her, marrying her, had made her feel like she had defeated that long-standing narrative.
This was cruel. It would’ve been better to have never had this love. To have never had that hope. Because it wasn’t like he had been honest with her. It wasn’t like it had been a relationship that wasn’t working, a relationship where they had communicated honestly about that, andthen worked together toward fixing it. He had let her believe they were happy.
Then he had blindsided her by going off on this trip, where he hadn’t wanted to find himself at all but had wanted to find himself inside another woman. At least, that was the best she could assume based off what she’d seen. Fundamentally, even if it hadn’t escalated to sex, it was a betrayal all the same. Because he was lying to her. About what he was doing, about why he was doing it.
“Have you read any new spells in the grimoire, Daisy?”
Daisy reached out and picked up the old book, sliding it toward her. “I’ve been reading more about revenge spells.”
Nora smiled. “I’m all for that.”
“We already did one,” Soraya said.
“Yes,” Nora agreed. “But nothing is happening yet.”
“Much like prayer, I assume spells aren’t always activated right away.” Leave it to Soraya.
“I have to figure out how I’m going to handle Ben,” Nora said. “I need him to come home.”
“You could ask him to,” Daisy pointed out.
“I think we’re past cordial requests.”
“Is there a reason you won’t talk to him?” Daisy asked.
Nora scowled. “Because it doesn’t change anything. At the end of the day, it doesn’t change anything. It just is what it is, and I have to process it, and I have to deal with it, so I might as well deal with it on my own time. Without him here to watch me have a breakdown about the total and complete degradation of my life.” She was breathing hard, so she sat down at Aggie’s table and touched the top of the tarot cards. “I can think of nothing worse than having to make myself vulnerable to the man who’s cheating on me.”
