Ophelia was still there.
But her ink had been touched up.
Her eyes were now wide open.
Track [32] “If You Have Ghosts”/Roky Erickson
Fen
June
“Not on the baby grand!”I shouted.
“Fennec,” my mother warned. “Why are you angry?”
I took a deep breath as the mover shifted the box from my piano onto the floor. “I amfrustrated, not angry. That’s why I’m using my inside shouting voice, not my outside howl.”
“Just checking, my love,” she said, pulling the plastic off a newly delivered armchair. “I wish they would’ve delivered all the furniture at once.”
Me too. Everything was in chaos. The movers were supposed to do their thing yesterday, but that got changed, and now they were running into the furniture delivery people, who were coming in two different groups. I just wanted everything perfect, was that so much to ask?
I checked my phone to see if there were any updates from Jane. Nothing yet.
“Where are the blinds?” Mama asked.
“Tomorrow.”
“You can’t sleep in an apartment without window coverings,” she said.
My father made a gruff noise as he emerged from the bedroom. “It’s one night. Keep the lights off or put a sheet up with thumbtacks.”
“And ruin the window casings?” Mama was horrified.
My father just lifted his hands.
“Tape up newspaper on the windows like they do in old movies,” Ani suggested.
“Yeah,” Ari said, bouncing on the new armchair as he sat. “Make it look like a criminal kingpin’s den up in here. That’ll be more fun when I sleep over.”
“No sleepovers,” I said.
“You can fit a guest bed in that little room back there,” Ani said, pointing. “In case you wanted one. You know, for when Eddie comes home from Grandma and Grandpa Sarafian’s?”
Hell no. Eddie and I were getting along, but notthatwell. “The tiny room is going to be an office for studying. Everyone stays in their own homes from now on. Can I get an amen?”
My father made another gruff noise.
“Hey, wait a minute…,” Ari said, tilting his head as he draped himself over the armchair and peered into the bedroom doorway. “Did you know that you can see into the record store office from your bedroom?”
Yes, I knew all too well. Someone knocked on the apartment’s front door, which was cracked open slightly. “Hel-lo? We come bearing tidings of comfort and joy.”
A mermaid-dyed head appeared in the door, followed by Starla’s body. She smiled as she entered, carrying a box filled with food containers. Exie followed behind her with another box, and suddenly the scent of rosemary and mint filled the apartment.
“What is all this?” Mama said as my father helped Exie with the box, hefting it on the kitchen counter.
“Just some nourishment to keep you going for a few days,” Exie said. “Mostly picnic stuff that doesn’t need to be heated. Got paper plates and napkins in here too, in case you don’t have any yet.”
“And homemade cheese crackers so good, they’ll make you wanna slap yo mama,” Starla said. Then she glanced at my mother’s arched brow and amended, “Not literally.”
