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signaling me to come, too.
    “Alaafia, Iyalosha,” Hector says, bowing at Mama’s feet.
    Emilio follows suit, but Mama’s not amused.
    “What can I do for you, Hector?” Mama asks without returning the false love. Rising without her blessing, Hector nervously answers her inquiry.
    “We again have come to plead for the life of our ile, Queen Jayd,” Hector says, again being overdramatic about the situation. “Would you please reconsider becoming the head of our little house?”
    Netta and Mama exchange looks, knowing Mama’s about to blow.
    “I’ve tried to be nice about you showing up unannounced at my home, but you’re pushing devotion to disrespect,” Mama says, putting her right hand on her hip and looking Hector in the eye. “Get off my porch and don’t step one foot back on it unless you’re invited personally by me to do so.” Mama steps back into the house and slams the door behind her. I know they got the message loud and clear this time.
    “The nerve of some people,” Netta says, heading back toward our original destination.
    “Jayd, turn the porch light on and lock the door. We won’t be back up here for a while,” Mama says, taking a deep breath before following Netta into the kitchen.
    “Lynn Mae, look.” Netta points toward the living room window, through which we see Emilio and Hector walking across the narrow patch of grass separating our house from our evil neighbor Esmeralda’s yard. She opens the gate for her guests, welcoming them into her encumbered animal fortress. Just the thought of stepping foot in her house gives me the chills. With all of the clutter Esmerelda’s got going on over there, she could be on one of those hoarder shows.
    “I don’t care, Netta. As long as they’re off my property, I’m happy.” Mama turns around and heads back toward the kitchen and out the door. “Jayd, hurry up. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Mama says, closing the back door.
    I guess we’re going to be in the spirit room all night. So much for me practicing my lines for the spring play. Opening night’s in two weeks, and I still have a lot to memorize, not to mention that I need to go over the notes from my mom’s lessons on managing her powers in my head. If I don’t review them soon, I might not be able to recognize some of the words. My handwriting’s so challenged even I have a hard time reading it.
    I step onto the front porch and flip the wall switch next to the door several times, realizing the light’s out. You’d think that with all the men in this house, things like this would never go unnoticed. I bet it’s been out for days. I quickly retrieve a new bulb from the hall closet and change the light. Before I can successfully retreat back inside, Esmeralda looks up at me from her porch, locking me in my place. Shit: When will I ever learn? Looking at Esmeralda is like looking into Medusa’s eyes, except instead of turning her victim into cement, Esmeralda gives you a headache that makes you wish you were dead.
    “Your grandmother should’ve joined us when she had the chance,” Esmeralda hisses, grasping the iron bars of her porch railing with her pale hands. The veins running through her wrinkled fingers are as blue as her cold eyes.
“Then I might’ve shown her little prodigy more mercy,”
Esmeralda says, this time in my mind.
    I’m not sure if that was intentional on her part, but that was her first mistake. The second was threatening my grandmother.
    “I don’t need your mercy, but you might want to ask for some of your own,” I say as my mom’s vision takes over. This time unafraid of Esmeralda’s evil glare, I shoot her back a look of my own, instantly sending a cold front to her mind while releasing myself from her visual hold.
    While inside Esmeralda’s mind, I notice her emotions about Mama are going every which way. She’s afraid of Mama, but at the same time she’s hell-bent on destroying her. Esmer-alda still has love for her former