Enchantment (20 page)

Josh accidentally-on-purpose brushed against a mom dragging a couple of squalling toddlers behind her. She said, “Hey, watch where you’re going,” but didn’t so much as twitch.

He apologized to the woman then leaned closer to Channie and whispered in her ear, making her heart race. “I’d say the experiment’s a success. Let’s go get something to eat.”

He slid his hand under the curtain of her hair and pressed his palm against the middle of her back then guided her to the food court. A medley of exotic spices tickled her nose and made her eyes water.
 

Josh promised to buy Channie some french fries at McDonald’s, but insisted they buy the rest of their meal somewhere healthy and eat that first.
 
He said, “I can’t eat too much junk food. I have to stay in shape.”

Channie used Josh’s comment as an excuse to let her gaze travel over his lean, hard-muscled body and said, “You’re not going to get fat no matter what you eat.”

Josh wasn’t fooled. Channie knew he could feel her energy pouring into his shield, but he just chuckled and said, “I’m not worried about getting fat, I’m worried about getting enough protein to maintain the small amount of muscle mass I’ve managed to build over the last year. I need to bulk up before Grands.”

“What’s Grands? It sounds important.”

“It’s sort of the Superbowl of BMX racing, so yeah, it’s really important. It determines your ranking for the next year. If I want to race in the 2012 Olympics I need to do well at Grands from here on out.”

“I’d like to see you race at Grands. When is it?”

“Thanksgiving, but since it’s in Tulsa, we leave as soon as school’s out on Wednesday afternoon.”

Thanksgiving was a big deal in Channie’s family, at least it had been, before they moved. It wouldn’t be the same without all the aunts, uncles, and cousins — or Abby. Channie tried not to think about her sister. She and Abby hadn’t been close for years — not since she’d gotten pregnant and shut everyone out of her life — but that one conversation after Channie had kissed Josh had given her hope that they could be friends and confidants again. False hope was worse than no hope at all. Channie pushed all thoughts of Abby into the back of her mind and said, “What about Thanksgiving dinner?”
 

Josh said, “My family’s eaten Thanksgiving dinner at Mimi’s cafe for the past four years. Before that, Mom tried to cook it in the trailer. Mimi’s is better. We don’t even take the trailer anymore. We just stay in a hotel. If you want to come, I’ll rent you a separate room.”

“That sounds expensive.”

“You’re worth it.” Josh laced his fingers behind his head and tipped his chair back, balancing on two legs. “But if you’re worried about the expense, you could always share a room with me.”

Channie’s mouth fell open, but she was speechless.
 

Josh slammed the front legs of his chair onto the floor, grabbed the edge of the table and laughed.“I’m sorry, but you should have seen the look on your face.” He continued to chuckle as he stacked their trays together and gathered up their trash. “Why don’t you let me make it up to you? I’ll buy you dessert.”

Chocolate raspberry crepes had to be the most delicious thing Channie had ever tasted in her entire life. They were better than Momma’s oatmeal cookies. Better than Nana’s blueberry pancakes. Better than McDonald’s fried potatoes.
 

A middle-aged woman moaned and said, “I swear, these crepes are better than sex.”

Channie choked, snorting a piece of raspberry up her nose.
 

Josh chuckled and said, “Are you okay?”

She nodded, but her eyes were still watering and she couldn’t stop coughing. Josh started to pat her back, but Channie twisted out of reach and shook her head. If she got hit with his IFB spell on top of everything else, she’d probably choke to death. Josh waited until she quit coughing then offered her a sip of water. “We gotta get home before Elijah.”

Josh was quiet as they walked back to the car. Channie was amazed that he was able to find it without a seeking spell. Every third car was a dark blue SUV identical to his mother’s. He opened the door for Channie, then slid in behind the wheel and filled the car with lustful energy. He bit his lip and pulled it, ever so slowly, through his teeth.
 

The corners of Channie’s mouth tugged upwards against her will. She gave in to the urge to smile and said, “You do that on purpose.”

“Do what?” He did it again. Licking his lips afterwards and letting his eyelids drift to a half-closed-come-hither expression. Even though she knew he was teasing her, Channie couldn’t help the whole-body-shiver his little display inspired.
 

She shook it off as best she could and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. She mimicked him — exaggerating everything, from the slow drag of teeth across her bottom lip to the low sigh as she exhaled. She decided to improvise a little and ran her hands through her hair, lifting it off her back then letting it slide through her fingers and drift back into place.
 

When she finished her little demonstration, Channie tossed her hair over her shoulder, stuck her chin in the air and looked down her nose at Josh. “It’s not so much fun when you’re the one being teased, is it?”

His pupils dilated. He gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white and said, “Do it again.”

~***~

When Mrs. Abrim got home from work at a quarter ‘till six, she seemed genuinely pleased to see Channie … although she made a point of leaving the media room’s door open. Josh rolled his eyes and shut it as soon as she went back upstairs.

Channie worked on Josh’s shield every day. By the end of the week she could fine tune the spell so it lasted exactly as long as she wanted. A three hour spell before school — so she could sit on his lap during lunch without breaking out in hives — and another spell afterwards that lasted until they got home from school.

Channie and Josh were watching “Shrek” with Elijah after school on Friday when Channie’s phone rang. It was Daddy.

“Hey, baby girl, I hate to bother you, but your momma and I are ready to head back on up into the mountains. We need you to come home and keep an eye on the boys.”
Daddy always shouted into the phone, as if he didn’t believe in the technology and it was all up to him.
 

Channie held the phone away from her ear to keep from going deaf. “I’m going to watch Josh race all day tomorrow. You and Momma can go gamble after I get back.”

“We need you to come home now.”

It sounded like Daddy needed another demonstration of Chastity’s power. “No.”
 

“How about if I pay you to babysit?”

“Seriously?” Daddy had never given Channie so much as a dime. She leaned forward and said, “How much?”

Josh slid his hand off her back and folded his arms across his chest.

“How much would it take to get you to come home right now?”

“A hundred dollars.” Channie smirked. She might as well ask for a million.

“Done. Now get your butt home.”

“What? Really? You’re gonna give me a hundred dollars?”

“If you’re here within the next thirty minutes I’ll give you an extra fifty.”

Channie closed her phone and stared at it for a few seconds. She was so stunned by Daddy’s generosity she didn’t notice Josh’s resentment until it seeped into her power-well.
 

“Josh … I really want to go to your race tomorrow, but—”

“I understand.” The tone of his voice was anything but understanding. What was his problem?

“I’ll call you later, okay?”

He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Whatever,” then walked her to the door.

Usually, Josh tossed Channie’s bike in the back of his momma’s Four-Runner and drove her home around ten o’clock, but it was only three-thirty and his momma wasn’t home from work yet. He couldn’t leave Elijah alone, but he didn’t even kiss her head or say good-bye or anything.

By the time Channie got home she was in a foul mood. She hadn’t even gotten off her bike before Momma started up the bus — filling the garage with an oily cloud of black fumes.

Channie banged on the passenger side window and said, “Hey, Don’t you dare leave without giving me my money!”

There wasn’t enough room to open the door, so Daddy removed the folded cardboard that held his window up and said, “I’ll give you your money when we get back.”
 

“I ain’t in no mood to mess with you, Daddy. You promised me a hundred and fifty dollars and I want it now.”

“Alright, alright, don’t get your drawers in a bind.” Daddy shifted his weight to his left hip and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He handed Channie three fifty-dollar bills and said, “There you go, baby girl. We’ll see you in a few days.”

“Hold on just a dang minute. I want you to leave the boy’s car seats.”

“What for? You don’t even know how to drive.”

“In case there’s an emergency and I have to ask one of the neighbors to drive us to the hospital.” Or in case Josh can talk his momma into taking me and the boys to his race tomorrow.

Channie waited until Momma pulled the bus out of the garage, then called Josh. He answered on the first ring. “Did you make it home in time to get your fifty-dollar bonus?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Good for you.”

“Why are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you.”

Liar.
 

“I’m just disappointed that your dad could buy you off so easily.”

“You’ve got some nerve, judging me. You throw money around like it grows on trees. I’ve never had more than ten dollars to my name, and now I have a hundred and fifty and I hoped that your momma would be willing to give me and the boys a ride to your race tomorrow, but you know what? Forget it. I don’t want to go to your stupid race if you’re gonna be mean.”

“Channie, I’m sorry—”

She slammed the phone shut. “Gotta Be Somebody” started playing almost immediately. Channie opened her phone, shut it without answering, then turned it off and went inside.

Courage met her at the door and said, “We’re hungry.”

“Are you kidding me? Granny left without feeding you guys?”

“She said you’d fix us mac and cheese.”

“Well, she lied. You get peanut butter and jelly.”

Courage stuck his lower lip out and said, “You ain’t no fun no more.”

Channie didn’t want to admit it, but Coco was right. She was less patient and more aggressive than she’d been when Enchantment was in charge. The littlest things pissed her off. Chastity’s influence was changing her personality — but how she acted and how she treated others was up to her. She’d learned to control her lust around Josh, she could control her bitchiness too. It was her choice.

She looked at the money that had caused her first real fight with Josh. It didn’t seem like such a blessing anymore. She fisted her hands, crumpling the three fifty dollar bills and decided she would not be a stingy, money grubbing, tightwad like Daddy. “I’m sorry, CoCo. Let’s go inside. I have an idea for something way better than mac and cheese.”

~***~

When the bell rang, all three trips stampeded the front door screaming, “Pizza’s here! Pizza’s here!”

Channie couldn’t help laughing. They’d never even seen a pizza before much less tasted one, but when she described it to them, and explained how all she had to do was call in their order and the pizza man would deliver it right to their door, the little monkeys went berserk.

Zeal threw open the door and said, “Ah, damn it to hell and back, it ain’t a pizza man, it’s just plain old Josh.”

“Hey, nice to see you too, kiddo.”

“Zeal Belks, watch your mouth!” Channie was going to have to be more careful about her own language in front of the boys. “What are you doing here?”

Josh looked at his feet and rubbed the back of his neck. “I came to apologize.”

Not only did Josh apologize, he paid for the pizza when it was delivered ten minutes later, even though he didn’t stay to eat it.
 

He said, “I have to get back home, Mom’s really pissed that I left and since I’m still officially grounded … this sounds so rude … but she said that you and the boys can’t come with us tomorrow.”

“I see.”

“It’s nothing personal against you … she just wants to punish me.”

Channie didn’t want Josh to see the rush of blood that was reddening her face so she turned away from him and said, “Wash your hands boys.”
 

Zeal scrambled onto the counter top while CoCo drug a chair across the floor. Savvy was the only one that would still let anyone baby him without a fuss so Channie picked him up and carried him to the sink. She balanced him on one hip and kept her back turned to Josh as she supervised the hand washing. When Zeal started to climb down, Channie grabbed the back of his neck and said, “Use more soap.”

Josh moved behind Channie and put a hand on her shoulder. “If you decide you want to go to the race, my dad said he could pick you and the boys up around eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Channie shut off the water and handed a dish towel to Savvy. “Dry your hands and get some pizza before your brothers scarf it all up.” She turned to face Josh and said, “That’d be real nice, as long as it’s no bother to your Daddy.”

Josh said, “Dad’s pretty laid back about stuff. Besides, he likes you and thinks the trips are entertaining.” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was wondering … if you put that itch spell on my shield tonight, will it last until you get to the race tomorrow?”

“Oh, crap. I forgot about that.”
 

“Yeah, I don’t want a repeat performance of last week.”

“How long do you want the spell to last?”

“You guys should get to the track no later than ten, but let’s say noon, just to be sure.”
 

~***~

Josh won both of his races by a huge margin, but Channie was so busy trying to keep up with the trips, she didn’t get to see either one of them. She was tempted to put a be-calm spell on the little monkeys, but Josh’s Daddy didn’t bring his trailer this time so there was no good place for them to nap.