Chapter 12
Mallory ran for the phone ringing in the next room. “Hello?”
“Mallory, honey, are you all right?”
“Mom?”
“Yes. Dad is here too. We have you on speakerphone. So, are you okay?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Oh, thank goodness.”
“I knew it,” her father grumbled.
“What’s going on, Mom?”
“We just had a strange experience. One of the native tribesmen came to us with an interpreter. He said something about a group of men having put a curse on you. He wondered why we would abandon you when you needed us.”
“Huh?”I’ll be damned. It was a curse!
Her father’s voice became gruff. “I knew it was all bullshit. I just didn’t know why he would say something like that and walk away. He’ll probably be back, asking us for money to remove it.”
“But you’re okay?” her mother asked again. “Nothing has happened?”
“Yeah. I mean, sort of.”
“Well, which is it?” her father barked. “Are you okay or not?”
Mallory let out a sigh. “I’m fine…now. I went through something upsetting, but everything’s all right. I lost my job, but now I have a better one.”
“You lost your job?” Her father sounded alarmed.
“It’s okay, Dad. A customer at the mall kind of overreacted and got me fired. But then she felt bad and introduced me to a gallery owner. I had a show, and from that, I got a better job.”
“That’s exciting. What kind of job did you get?” her mother asked.
“It’s something in my field, actually. I’ll be a textile designer—designing printed fabric on a computer. For clothes and stuff.”
“I’m glad it all worked out, honey.”
“You will be? In other words, you haven’t started yet.” Her father had a way of drawing conclusions and stating his suppositions as if they were facts.
“No, I’ve started. The fashion designer asked me to use three of my paintings as inspiration. He picked the ones he especially liked. Now I’m just learning to design straight on the computer.”
“Well, that’s great,” he said. “I never thought that useless art degree of yours would come in handy.”
She sighed.
Her mother huffed in the background. “Give me the phone, Albert.”
“No. I’m talking to my daughter.”
“So, how are you guys?” Mallory asked.
“We’re fine, but we’re coming home soon.”
“Really? I thought you were going to be gone for a few months. Not a few weeks.”
