Read Ticket 1207 for Free Online Page A

too critical of your work. I see Theo all over the cathedral. That’s her face in the shadow. There’s her chicken foot on one of the spires. That’s her little turban on the clock face.”
    Jill stared at the clock in horror, the time was 12:07. She jumped off her stool and took a few steps backward. “She did something to me!” Jill didn’t bother with her coat and walked straight out the front door.
    Theo already had a customer. The woman wrung her hands nervously as she regarded a pile of things sitting next to the register while she listened to Theo’s instruction. Rudely, Jill pushed past the woman and stuck her finger in Theo’s face. “We need to talk right now!”
    “You gon ’ have to wait your turn, fool,” Theo said calmly.
    “You aunt doesn’t wait in lines. What’s her name? Marie, was it?” Jill started to walk around the store, her gaze to the ceiling. “Oh, Marie, I need a favor. Come out.”
    Theo stomped her foot. “Don’t you dare call that heifer!”
    Undeterred, Jill continued. “I’d like to meet you, Marie. I hate Theo, too.”
    Theo threw all the items her customer was waiting to pay for into a bag. “This is on the house. Merry Christmas, run for yo life!”
    “Wait,” the woman said. “Do I sprinkle the potion on my husband or do I make him drink it? How long do I have to wait for him to become nice to me?”
    “Pour it in his food! Now get on outta here, that white fool in the corner is callin ’ up a demon.”
    The customer’s eyes went wide as she grabbed the bag, and she made a dash for the door. “I already have one of those at home, I don’t need another.”
    Theo pulled the chicken foot out of her dress and started waving it around. “Marie! Don’t you listen to her. You know you’re not welcome! Get the hell out.”
    “Marie, I wouldn’t take that crap from her if I were you.” Jill planted her hands on her hips. “Come on out and whip her ass.”
    “What the hell is wrong with you?”
    “Ticket 1207 and feet—chicken feet. You’ve slipped me some hallucinogenic. I’m getting my blood tested when I leave here, then I’m taking whatever they find to the police.”
    Theo covered her mouth with her hand and laughed hysterically.
    “Oh, it’s so funny, but you’re not gonna think so when they slap the cuffs on you,” Jill said as her face flushed red.
    “You done worked yourself up into a snit. Fool, I ain’t put anything on you. Go ahead, waste your money if you want to, but they ain’t gonna find nothing in yo veins but a bunch of dumbass.” Theo held up a hand. “I swear, I ain’t put nothin’ on you, child.”
    Jill’s shoulders dropped, and she covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God, what’s wrong with me?”
    Theo waved a hand at the ceiling. “I got this one, Lord.” She started ticking off fingers as she said, “You hardheaded, you don’t want to look inside yoself , you scared of everything, you lonely—”
    “Okay, thanks!” Jill wrapped her arms around herself. “I was fine before you came into my store.”
    “No, you weren’t. You were the same then as you are now. You just tired of it, and you want to blame all the shit that’s going on inside of you on Theo. Child, you got some donkey in yo blood. Check yo family tree, I’m sure you got a auntie mule in there somewhere.”
    Jill gazed at all the little bottles, bags of stuff, and roots sitting on Theo’s shelves. “I know this is bullshit, it’s the power of persuasion. I’ll pay you whatever you want to make me believe that I’m someone else.”
    Theo walked over and put her hands on Jill’s shoulders. “You is good, you is—”
    “Are you trying to quote lines from The Help ? I saw that movie six times, you jackass!”
    Theo shrugged. “It was a great movie.”
    Jill shook her head slowly and sounded miserable when she said, “You can’t help me.”
    “I can get you started, but the rest gon ’ be up to you. The most healing thing on this old