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do
so.”
    “ I want the reading.
Please.” Not like I could operate a crystal ball.
    Teri carefully folded and
set aside a piece of orange cloth that had been used to shroud the
cards. She handed the deck to me and said, “When you shuffle the
cards, be calm. Focus on the cards. And only stop when you feel the
energy tells you to stop.”
    I closed my eyes and tried
to remain calm, but images of last night kept flashing across my
mind, dark and disturbing visions that seemed more real than I’d
have liked.
    Leo cradling my head in
his arms.
    Leo shouting for
help.
    Leo crying a river of
tears.
    When I couldn’t take any
more of the gloomy visions, I handed the cards back to Teri.
Expertly, she spread them on the table into the shape of a cross.
Although the cards lay face up, I viewed them from upside down.
Upside down, right side up, who was I kidding? These cards meant
nothing to me and I wished I’d stayed curled up in bed.
    “ A pattern has emerged.
These cards—” Teri’s finger tapped the three centre cards one after
another, “—are Tower cards. They mean a sudden and unexpected
disruptive change. Life will never be the same again.” She waved
her hand over the remaining cards. “And these are Moon cards. They
signify dreams and illusions. Everything may not be as it appears
to be at face value. Does this mean anything to you?”
    I squirmed beneath her
expectant gaze. “I had a fight with my boyfriend. We’ve broken up.
I guess that’s pretty disruptive and unexpected.”
    She tilted her head. “What
makes you think you’ve broken up?”
    Oleander the cat grabbed
this opportunity to launch his fat body onto the table, scattering
the cards and crystal ball onto the floor. The cards just slipped
off, however the crystal ball exploded and shattered glass flew in
every direction. Then, adding salt into my already wounded pride,
Oleander arched his back and hissed at me. His reptilian eyes
drilled into mine with such hatred that I pushed the chair out from
under me.
    Teri grabbed the cat
unceremoniously by the collar and used her foot to hold the back
door open. Then she flung it through the air.
    “ Bad cat. Ungrateful as
the day I saved you from the dumpster.”
    When she returned to the
room I had almost made it to the exit via the velvet
curtain.
    “ Please stay,” Teri
begged. “I’d say that Oleander doesn’t mean to be horrible, except
sometimes I think he does it on purpose. It’s like he’s possessed
or something. Please, don’t go. I’ll do an astrology reading
instead?”
    Tears nipped at my
eyelids. Mom had often said Dad loved his art more than his family.
It made perfect sense that I would fall for a guy like my
father.
    “ What’s the point?”I
moaned. “I already know the future. It’s bleak and lonely because
Leo loves his music more than me.”
    Teri smiled and crossed
her hands over her heart. “Oh, Leo loves you, all right. And he
always will.”
    Now this was what I’d come to hear. I
threw myself back onto the chair. “Are you for real?”
    Teri had been a
step-mother to me for about eight years. We were like family. Maybe
she’d have told her customers what they wanted to hear, but surely
she wouldn’t lead a susceptible teenager who had once been family
down a desolate path.
    Audrey chose this moment
to make another appearance, this time sticking her head around the
hallway. She put her finger to her lips. I understood the universal
sign for ‘keep your mouth shut’. I just didn’t see why she would
make a fuss about sneaking out of the house when she could easily
have taken the stairs leading down from their home which was
located above the store.
    Teri stiffened. “Is anyone
here?”
    Audrey quickly disappeared
behind the door. Teri snuck a wary look over her shoulder, as if
sensing someone was hiding from her. By now my patience had worn
thin.
    “ Maybe I should go,” I
said, pushing the chair out from under me.
    Teri looked up at me with
tears in her