Tag: life

Chapter Seventy-Five – King of Pentacles

by Jamieson Wolf, posted in A Tarot Guide, Memoir, Personal Growth, Someone Else’s Life, Tarot

The sky was the depth and wonder of black velvet.

The air around me was filled with the promise of something wonderful. It had taken me a week to make my costume. I was going as Demeter and Rhonda was dressing as a succubus. We had found my wig at the Zesty Mart on Bank Street; it had a good selection of stuff for Halloween costumes. The wig looked like real hair, and it gave me a black bob. It made me look older than I was. I had done my own makeup and had given myself blue shadowy eyelids and dramatic cheekbones.

I had found a long bolt of blue cloth and had arrange it to fall off one shoulder. I had found another bolt of black tuille and had sewn to hang from the waist of a simple black skirt. I wore my Doc Martins and carried a basket filled to the brim with leaves that I had collected and arranged. My costume was supposed to make me look as if I had been wandering among the snow, looking for her daughter. I had paled out my skin with white powder.

We were dressed for the Witches Ball. We were meeting Lisa and Darnelle there and a few more of our friends. I knew that Sophie, Fox and Jenn. Catherine was coming with Vince and Amanda. It was odd to me to me to have so many people I knew coming together. It filled me with feeling akin to joy, but it was somehow more. It shone brighter within me and I danced upon the thrum of this feeling as we skipped closer to Barrymore’s.

Barrymore’s threw the Witches Ball every year and I had never been before. I had been told to expect a night of magic and wonder and merriment. From the sea of people dressed in costumes, the others had not led me wrong. When we entered the bar, it was to find a sea of people in costumes and a band playing music on the stage. There would be a few bands tonight. The stage had been draped in webs and streamers that were made to look like a spider’s web. The triple moon had been painted on the stage wall and there were lights made to resemble candles everywhere.

It was too loud to speak sometimes, but we leaned in close and lost ourselves to the joy of finding others we knew in the crowd of people. I waved at Rainbow and Sunshine came in for a quick hug before heading to the bar. Catherine pulled me onto the dance floor so that I could lose myself to the music that was thumping through the room. It was filled with the bunt smell of smoke, the tang of sweat and a heady cloud of sage.

I let myself get lost in the music and the joy of the moment. The veil was thin tonight, and I knew that there was the potential for great things to be done tonight. I looked at everyone as I danced and I knew that I was lucky. In that moment, the air filled with the sounds of joy, I knew that my life had not gone to plan, but it had brought me here to be present when magic was being made.

The people around me, those that filled my life with such light, showed me that I was wealthier than I had ever thought possible. I had lost one family and gained another. Likewise, I had lost one home only to find another.

A lot had been taken from me, but I had found what mattered most: a place to call my own where I could build the foundations I needed. It felt weird and kind of magical to know that I had a home to go to, a bed of my own and a door that I could lock against the world if I chose to, or open to let the world in.

As I danced, I took hold of the Pentacle that I wore around my neck. It rooted me to this moment, to the earth around me. Within the room, I could see fire, breathe in air, feel the earth beneath my feet and drink libation. I knew at that moment, that I was everything that the earth offered. Holding onto that Pentacle, I knew who I was and I was finally at home in myself.

It was an odd feeling but one mad all the sweeter when the music changed and the bar started playing a remix of Rasputin by Bony M. I let out a laugh. My life was completely unrecognizable from where this path had begun.

I lost myself to the music and the scent of sage, sweat and booze that filled the air. I danced and I looked forward to what would come.

Chapter Seventy-Three – Knight of Pentacles

by Jamieson Wolf, posted in A Tarot Guide, Memoir, Someone Else’s Life

“And you’re going to need more clothes. You can’t move into your place without any real clothes, of and you need bedsheets.”

We were in the Giant Tiger in the Byward Market. Rhonda was putting things in my cart. She put a set of one-hundred percent flannel sheets in, along with a pair of comfortable looking pyjama’s. “I’m not sure I’ll need those.” I told her.

“Cus you’re such a slut, right?” She winked at me. “No, trust me, you’ll want these. The sheets will keep you warm in the winter, make no mistake. Unless you have someone to cuddle up to.”

“It’ll be a while before that happens.”

“Never say never!” Rhonda added a comfortable looking sweater in robins egg blue to the basket. “This is totally your colour.”

            I tried to put the sweater back, but Rhonda slapped my hand. “Hey, once its in the basket, it stays.”

“I can’t afford all of this.” I watched as she threw a three pack of ramen, a box of granola bars and jars of peanut butter and jelly into basket. I was trying to think of what little money I had and how I would make it stretch.

“Nothing doing. I’ve told you already that you aren’t paying for any of this.”

I watched her move through the store like a woman on a mission. She added what looked like a soft blanket and packs of underwear and socks to the basket. She handed one basket to me and grabbed another. She moved with purpose but also with patience. She was being very patient with me. “I can’t let you do that.”

“You can and you will. I’m loyal to my friends, Jamieson. Let me be a friend to you. Friends help friends when they need help. You’ve been told you have to do everything yourself all the time. But you don’t have to, okay?”

We walked up to the second floor which handled housewares and linens. She threw bath towels into the second basket. “You’re going to need these, and look! A fuzzy housecoat!”

“That will look out of place in a boarding house.”

“What, you’re going to rush across to the bathroom stark naked? Plus, what if you want to do a strip show for someone?” She gave me a wink and threw in a few t-shirts.

“Like that will happen.” I said.

“Only cus you don’t want it to. Be open to new possibilities, Jamieson. That’s all you have to do, the rest will follow.”

The items in the baskets were piling up. She handed me one of the baskets and grabbed another. On the third floor, they had things dishes and small pieces of furniture. Rhonda grabbed a small table and put it in the basket.

“I don’t need a table.”

“Yes, you do. Where do you have your altar right now?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Right, so you need a table. You need to have somewhere in your home that’s a sacred space for you, so that you can converse with Spirit.”

She picked up a box that contained an unassembled table and put it in the new basket. “Easy peasy, you just screw the legs in. Did you any candles for your altar? How about a burning dish for incense?” She plunked one in the basket.

“You don’t have to do all this.”

“I know I don’t. Just let me help you, okay? It means a lot that you let me help you.”

The look she gave me was one filled with hope. I could tell that this simple act of kindness was as huge for her as it was for me. All I had to do was accept the gift. “Why is it so important to help me? I’m not anyone.”

“You’re wrong. You are Jamieson Wolf and you are my friend, okay? That’s a good place to start.”

The cashier helped us bag everything and Rhonda and I took the bus back to Monk Street to put everything in my new room. It felt odd to know that I had a place of my own where I could lock the door and have safety.

Even now, as we stood in the middle of the room deciding where everything would go, it felt like it was too much. Catherine had found me a used bed and boxspring in the basement downstairs. “People often leave their beds when they move out.”

“I can’t take this,” I told her.

“Yes, you can,” Rhonda said. “Now tell Catherine thank you.”

“Thank you, Catherine.”

“Don’t mention it.” She gave me a brilliant smile, and I wondered what I had done to be graced by it.

I helped Rhonda make my bed. She had gotten me a simple duvet for the bed, too, even though I told her that I had blankets already. I carried them with me everywhere I went with everything else I owned in my purple backpack.

“Those were blankets for when you needed to run. This duvet is for a home. Keep the blankets for an emergency, okay?”

We spent the afternoon putting things together. I had a new bed, a table and a chair with a plate, bowl, knife, fork and spoon to eat with. We put that the corner of the room so that I could eat and look out the window. The other smaller table she placed on the other wall so that my spot for spiritual guidance could also be given the light of the window. I had my clothes nicely folded and kept in boxes that I placed at the foot of my bed. The door to the sunroom was open and it had a small carpet and a fold up chair so that I could sit out there and enjoy the sun and the growing plants that covered the windows. There was another box that served as my bookshelf.

I looked around at everything and was astounded to realize that this was my home. I hadn’t had a place of my own for so long that I had forgotten what it was like. Rhonda came to stand beside me, and she took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

“All kinds of fucking fantastic, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

We were silent for a moment. I took in the sounds of people and the music of the house that I could hear. Finally, Rhonda spoke.

“I remember when I first got off the streets.” She said. “I got my apartment and it was most amazing thing in the world because it was all mine, you know? Everything in the apartment was mine and no one could take it from me. The home was mine and only I could decide who I let in. The whole place felt too big, but not big enough, as if my spirit was bigger than it was, you know?”

I nodded and didn’t say anything at first. She had just voiced everything that I was feeling. These two room were all mine and only I could decide who would be allowed in.

“You asked me why I was doing all of this for you before.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Because you’re my friend and you have been kinder to me than anyone else, I have ever known. Because I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“I have to know that you will be okay, okay? I have to know that whatever happens to us, that I made sure you had the footing to see yourself as I see you. I have to make sure that you’re going to be okay.”

“Hey,” I said. “We’re okay, we’re always going to be okay.” I was worried by the way that she was talking and the tears that were sliding down her face.

“Yeah, I know. I know we’ll be.” She let out a breath and lit a cigarette. I handed her the ashtray that she had gotten me at the store. “Mostly because when I took the leap to get off the streets, there was no one to help me land on my feet. I had to do it all on my own. You’ve already had a lot happen to you. I wanted to make it easier for you than it was for me, okay?”

Now tears were sliding down my cheeks. I wiped them away. “Okay, thank you.” I took a breath. “I love you, Rhonda.”

“And aren’t you lucky that I love you back?” She let out a shaky wet laugh. “Let’s go get a coffee to celebrate your new home. I’ll let you buy, okay?”

“All right.” I hugged her, careful of her cigarette and we left my home. I took out the keys and locked the door behind me.

Chapter Seventy-One – Ten of Pentacles

by Jamieson Wolf, posted in A Tarot Guide, Memoir, Someone Else’s Life

The ride to the hospital was a blur.

I called the cab and while we waited for it to arrive, I called Lisa’s boyfriend Carl and Darnelle to let them know that Lisa’s water broke. I reached out to Sophie and let her know and I knew that she would let everyone else know.

I packed a bag for Lisa and helped her into the cab, giving the driver instructions to drive us to the general hospital. Lisa was trying to do deep breathing exercises and was attempting to light a cigarette for herself at the same time. I took the cigarette from her and butted it out. “Now is not the time.”

“I’m fucking stressing out. Now is the perfect time. I want a smoke before we get to the hospital.”

When she reached for her bag again, I took it and placed in my backpack. I had packed my own bag in preparation for this day as I knew that it would be coming soon. I sat in the cab and tried to encourage Lisa to do the breathing exercises that we had practised. Thankfully, the cab driver drove very quickly to get her to the hospital as fast as he could.

“You’re doing great, Lisa.”

“I want a fucking cigarette.”

“You can have one when this is all done. For now, just try breathing and focus on little Rosalind and try to calm yourself.”

“That’s kind of hard to do when a baby is trying to push it’s way out of my vagina.” She said harshly.

It’s almost over, I said to myself. It’s almost over and then I will be free.

I tried to keep her calm during the ride and when we finally arrived at the hospital, I thanked the driver. “Good luck to the lady,” he said.

“Thank you,” I told him and gave him a nice tip.

“Okay, I want to have a cigarette before we go in. Give me my fucking smokes.”

I ignored her and got Lisa into a wheelchair. I took her to the main emergency window and told the nurses there that Lisa’s water had broken.

The next hour or so was a blur as the nurses got Lisa comfortable on a bed and rolled it towards one of the rooms that were available. I was asked to help Lisa strip down so that she could put on a hospital gown. I was given a gown for myself so that I would be allowed into the delivery room.  

The doctors and nurses wheeled her into the surgery room and after that, it was a blur of motion, sound and the music that only a hospital room is capable of, the endless beeping and breathing and the beating of heart. During all of it, I held Lisa’s hand and told her that she would be okay, that she was a goddess, that she was capable of creating magic.

“You’re all I have,” she said. “Where is Carl?”

“He’s on his way. Try and stay calm.”

“I’m going to make him rue the day he got me pregnant!”

“That’s the spirit,” I told her. “Hold on to my hand as tightly as you want to.”

Lisa huffed out a breath. “I’m going to make him eat his fucking balls.”

“And I’m sure that Carl will appreciate that.” I told her. I thought it was best to agree with whatever she was saying, she was giving birth to life after all. She had seen me through so much and had given me a nest to grow in. Now, she would be raising another life in her home. I didn’t belong there anymore.

Lisa followed the doctor’s instructions, pushed when she needed to, breathed and paused when told. The entire time, she had hold of my left hand. I could no longer feel it. She looked at me and I was seeing the Lisa as she truly was: afraid and terrified. In that moment, Lisa and I shared something with each other. She looked at me with fear in her eyes, and I tried to tell her that everything was going to be okay. While she had hold of my hands, I tried to whisper this to her spirit. Lisa was in no fit state to hear me at the moment. It was my hope that her spirit would be receptive of the energy that I was giving to her. I pictured all my chakras sending her spirit what she would need, a beautiful rainbow shared between two people waiting to welcome a new person into the world.

In what seemed mere moments, but I’m sure it was longer, the doctor handed Lisa her beautiful baby girl. They cut the umbilical cord and made sure that Rosilind was okay. She was a beautiful five pounds and four ounces with a smattering of blond hair on her head. Rosilind seemed impossibly small, hardly even real, but she was. This tiny, beautiful human that had not existed a moment before but was here in front of me now.

Lisa handed her out to me without words. She didn’t need to ask; I came closer and wrapped her in my arms. She cuddled right in and hid her head in the crook of my arms. I wondered if she was excited for what the world had waiting for her. There would be a lot to fear, a lot to fight for but also a lot of joy. As I held her, I hoped that she would experience more joy than I did in her home and that she would grow into someone that would create rainbows out of rain.

There was the sound of footsteps behind us. Darnelle and her son, Fox, Sophie and Jenn came into the room, closely followed by Carl and the sound of others. We had all come together to celebrate this new life. None of us were related by blood, but we knew each other in our hearts and our spirits spoke the same language. We were kin and together, there was light.

I remembered to pull down some of the light from the air so that I could remember this moment and feel its warmth. I wrapped the light around my wrists like bracelets so that I could carry this memory with me.

Chapter Seventy – Nine of Pentacles

by Jamieson Wolf, posted in A Tarot Guide, Memoir, Someone Else’s Life, Tarot

One night at Frankies, I got a shot handed to me at my station.

I was no stranger to customers buying me drinks and giving me extra tips. Some even brought me books; I always read when I was waiting for someone to show up at the entryway of the second floor. Tonight’s book was a paperback copy of The Silence of the Lambs without a cover. I kept it in my bag when I wasn’t reading it, afraid of beer or cocktails landing on it.

Taking the shot from the bartender, I asked “Which dancer is this for?”

“It’s for you. It’s from Jake downstairs.”

“Jake the bartender?”

The bartender gave me a wink. “Do you know any other Jake around here?”

I smiled and tipped the shot back. Sambuca always left my mouth feeling like it was full of peppermints. “Tell him thanks,” I said, putting the cup back on the tray.

“Let him know on the way out. I think you two live near to each other.” He winked again. “In case you’re interested.”

I let out a laugh and waved a hand at him. “Get away with you.”

Truthfully, it would be nice to have a bit of affection. I didn’t care if I worked with him, he was always trying to take boys home the same way. It wasn’t the first time that Jake had sent me a shot, but it was the first time I was thinking of taking him up on it. I didn’t want to spend the night at Lisa’s, and it had been so long since I had any kind of romantic touch; though at this point, I would settle for a bit of lust. Though Jake took a lot of boys home, he always treated them kindly.

At the end of my shift, I walked down the stairs. I had chosen to wear skinny black jeans that I had found out of the free clothes at the Mission. I had paired that with my black army boots and a green V-neck shirt with the V going low, leaving a lot of my chest bare. Jake gave me a an appreciative look as I moved down the stairs.

“There are those great legs,” he said.

“Well, they are pretty awesome.” I stepped off the last step and went closer to him. “Thank you for the shot.”

“I wasn’t sure whether to give you peach schnapps or sambuca.”

“Sambuca was a good choice.” I told him. “Thank you.”

Giving me what he probably thought of as a seductive look, he came closer to me. I could smell sandalwood, sweat and beer. “I’m not far from here, if you’d like someone to walk you home. My shift is done and we’re closing up.”

I nodded. He was giving me his best bedroom eyes, and they were a deep brown so dark they were almost black.

“I’ve already dropped off my till so I’m good to go when you are.”

“Let’s go,” he said. “I can get us breakfast.”

I bristled at the idea of someone buying food for me. “It’s okay, I did good in tips tonight.”

“Can’t you just let a guy treat you to breakfast?”

I thought about it. I had a better chance of getting laid if I went along with what he wanted. “Thanks,” I said. “I’m just used to doing things on my own.”

“Well, let someone else do it for you every once in a while.”

We walked down streets that were lined with houses and trees that were beginning to shed their leaves. He didn’t take my hand as we walked. This far downtown things could be difficult if two men were spotted holding hands in public. We were no longer in the gay bar and had to be careful.

That didn’t stop us from looking at each other. Every time I looked at him as we walked, he would look away. I would do the same as he looked at me, even though I could feel his eyes on me. He took me to the Elgin Street Diner. We waited until the food came to start speaking. It’s always easier to speak when you have something to occupy you. The food was acting as a barrier so that we could finally be ourselves.

“Do you have a large family?” he asked.

“Yeah, I used to.”

“Dead?” he took a bite of his toast and dipped it into his eggs.

“No,” I told him. “I left home and then was kicked out.” I didn’t feel like going into too much detail. I was sure that after everything happened, Jake would go on to someone else. I would be but a notch on his bedpost and I was okay with that. Sitting across from him, eating my eggs and bacon, I was desperate to be touched.

“You’re too young to be on your own.”

I shook my head. “I’m not on my own, I have friends.” I thought of the people that I knew in the Pagan community, of Lisa, Sophie and Fox.

“I get that, but do you have anyone? Everyone should have their someone.”

I raised my eyebrows and let out a small laugh. “So that doesn’t count for you?”

“I live the bartenders life. I’m not ready to settle down yet.”

“And I am? I’m younger than you.”

“Not my time.” He took my free hand in his. “You want to love for ever after. I can see it in your eyes. You want the whole thing, a man who can love you and give you everything you’ve ever wanted. You deserve that. You deserve to be honoured, cherished and loved.” He let my hand go took a sip of coffee and a last mouthful of eggs. “I can’t give you that and that’s what you deserve.”  He put his cup down. “But I can give you tonight. If that’s okay?”

I nodded and let him lead me to his apartment. He told me that it wasn’t much as he only had his bartender’s salary to pay the rent, but when he unlocked his door, he ushered me into a modest studio apartment. He had his bed right against the window and there was a couch and a television with a bookshelf filled to the brim with books. He closed and locked the door, and I turned around and looked at everything that he could call his. There were dishes in a dishrack, a small stereo with a record player that looked as if it had seen better days.

There wasn’t much on the walls, but there was a boho chic to the place. It looked like him and it was his. I stood in his apartment and envied him because to me, he had everything he could possibly need. It seemed so unreachable to me.

The lovemaking was clumsy because I was so unsure of myself, but Jake was wonderful. He made sure that I was taken care of, that my body was loved and that I was happy.  We laughed a bit and though it didn’t last long, there was joy. We lay there afterwards having a cigarette, the air filled with our smoke, and I watched as the two tendrils of it left lines in the air, though they did not intermingle. A breeze came in through the open window and when it left, it took the smoke from my cigarette towards the window. I knew that I was meant to move onward.

I took a moment to look around at everything that Jake had achieved for himself and knew that I could do it, too. It would take time, but I knew that eventually, I would have my own apartment. I knew that I had to move out of Lisa’s and that it would mean going to another boarding house. That was okay, I would have my own place soon, I could see it. Looking around me, I knew that this was possible for me.

I looked at Jake who was staring out the window lost in thought. “Thaks for this.” I told him. I butted out my cigarette and got dressed.

“You’re welcome. You gotta good home to go to?”

I nodded. “For now.”

He laughed and ran a hand along his chest. “I know all about ‘for now’.” He stood and reached out a hand to caress my cheek. “See you at work on Thursday?”

“You bet,” I told him.

When I got home, I found Lisa pacing back and forth in the living room. She looked agitated and a little frantic. As soon as I had walked in to the apartment, it hit me in the face like a slapped, my euphoria from Jake withering away almost immediately.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You’re my fucking birth coach and you’re asking what’s wrong?” The cigarette in her hand and the wild look of her hair made her look like some kind of crazed person at their wits end.

“If it’s that urgent, tell me what’s wrong.” I asked her, my voice tired. I felt like I was talking to a two-year-old. I couldn’t stand her when she was like this.

“My water broke, ten minutes ago!” She told me, gesturing at her jogging pants with her lit cigarette.

Chapter Sixty-Nine – Seven of Pentacles

by Jamieson Wolf, posted in A Tarot Guide, Finding Balance, Memoir, Someone Else’s Life, Tarot

I began to go to Frankies with Rhonda a lot.

The place became a home away from Lisa’s. Time spent there discovering myself and who I was. I found myself in allowing myself to have some kind of pleasure, to dress as I wanted and to even feel attractive. Frankies provided me with time to see my life as I wanted it to be. It gave me space to think, to lose myself to the music of the dance floor Rhonda sometimes dancing nearby, or if I was lucky another man. It felt freeing to be away from Lisa. I tried not to think about that after what she had given me.

“Jamieson, that’s complete bullshit and you know it.” Rhonda said. We were outside of Frankies having a cigarette. The air was crisp with the scent of fall, and I knew that the leaves would start falling soon.

“It’s not,”

“It so is. You think that’s what you have been planting all this time? You have been wishing for a home, and you still feel guilty about hurting Lisa. You can’t do both. You need to think of yourself. You don’t do that enough.”

I shrugged. “I’ve always been told that thinking only of yourself is selfish.”

“Yeah, and who told you that?” She butted out her cigarette. “You’re fucking ex-boyfriends? Your family? I don’t see them here, do you?” She motioned around us. “Putting yourself first isn’t selfish, it’s self care.” At that moment, she looked at me and I could see the light shine brightly in her eyes. “I have an idea, come with me.”

“I’m not my cigarette yet.” I was being stubborn and I knew it. I took one last drag from the butt end and let the smoke out and dropped it to the pavement. I stepped on it with my high heeled boots. I was wearing a poet’s blouse in a light pink colour and a lose flowing broom skirt. It had once been black, but it had faded to a lovely shade of heather grey. I wore my black Doc Martin’s and thigh length black and white socks.

“Are you fucking done? We have places to go, come on.”

She took hold of my hand and headed downstairs towards the dance floor. I let her drag me with her and thought she was going to take us to the floor, but she took me to the darkness of the shadows towards a door that I hadn’t noticed before. It was under an exit sign, and I thought she was taking us to the back alley, but when she opened the door, I could see a hallway of black walls and a stone floor. It was lit by soft white light, and I had a moment of worry fill me.

Rhonda must have felt my hesitation and squeezed my hand. “It’s okay, we’re almost there.”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. I wondered where this would lead me and what seeds I was planting by going in this direction. Did I want whatever I would find at the end of this hallway? My boots clacked on the stone, and I pretended that it was music, joining with the beat that I could hear from the dance floor and I let the beat push me forward to whatever awaited me.

Stopping in front of a door that I hadn’t noticed before, she knocked on it and opened the door before anyone could answer. “Hey Mike, what’s up?”

An older man with a strong jaw and brilliant grey eyes stood from behind a desk. He held out his arms to Rhonda and wrapped her in a big hug. “What’s shaking hot stuff?”

“Not a heck of a lot for me, but I have a solution for you.”

“And what solution is that?” He sounded interested. Mike was not humouring her. Clearly, they had a good relationship and had known each other for a long time. He looked at her as if she were not four feet nothing, but a woman who had proven her worth to him.

“You need an everyday boy, and I’ve found one for you.”

His eyebrows raised and his eyes looked even brighter. “Him?” he motioned at me.

“Yeah, him. This is Jamieson.”

“You trust him?” He asked her.

“With my life.”

Then he looked at me. He gave me an up and down look so that he could take me all in. I had the feeling that I was being assessed, not judged. I held his gaze for as long as he stared at me and then he nodded as if he had made up his mind.

“Jamieson, my name is Mike. Me and my partner run this place. We need a guy to be the doorboy for the dancers. Maybe some nights, we need help cleaning the bar, especially the champagne rooms. Washing floors and the like. That sound okay to you? We’ll pay you under the table, twenty-five bucks to do the door for a few hours plus tips. Probably the same for cleaning.  Does that sound okay?”

I had never thought about getting any kind of job. I knew that I wanted to do something more than sitting around reading and eating bread with peanut butter. Magic and Pagan gatherings didn’t take up a lot of my time. I spent all my time with Lisa, and this job would give me something to do and somewhere to go that wasn’t her place.

“Of course,” I said. “Yes, it does. I’d like that.”

“We only have one rule that you have to follow. Ready for it?”

“Sure,”

“Have fun. Life is too short. Okay?”

I nodded and I shook the hand he held out. “Okay.”

“Good, I’m glad. Can you start this Thursday? Dancers are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.”

That was in a couple of days. “That sounds awesome!” I told him.

“I like that enthusiasm. You’ll fit in fine here.”

As we were leaving the bar, Rhonda took my hand. “There you go, honey. You’re all set. Now we just have to find you a new place to live. Don’t worry, though. I have ideas.”

We walked onward and I let go of her hand briefly so that I could light a cigarette. I took her hand again with my free one. “Why would you do that for me?” My words came out in puffs of smoke, and I was reminded momentarily of the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland. I tried to see if the words I wanted to say would come out in smoke. I watched as the smoke from my mouth fell to the ground to grace the pavement

She gave me an incredulous look. “Really? Don’t you get it? I’m trying to plan for your future. You’re not going to be on welfare forever you know, not like her. She may have decided that this is it for her, but I know that you’re capable of so much more.” We stopped walking so that she could light her own cigarette. “I have dreams and I want more than this. Don’t you? I want you to realize that it’s not wrong to dream. And you already know how I feel about how she treats you.”

She was angry and though I was used to her temper, I had never seen Rhonda like this. Tears appeared in her eyes, but they remained unshed. Her walls were down and she stood bare in front of me. This was the part of her that was planted beneath that tough bitch exterior, and I was honoured that she was showing herself to me like this.

 She blinked a few times and took a few deep breaths so that her mascara would be saved. “I mean, you’re one of the best people I’ve ever met and you’re so fucking nice. It pisses me off to see how she treats you, like you are forever the protégé, never the master, but you’re ten times the person she is, and you can’t see it.”

Butting out her cigarette, she took my shoulders in her hands. “I’m trying to do something for your future, Jamieson. You deserve so much more out of life than being someone else’s fucking lapdog. You’re capable of greatness and you can’t see it yet, but I can.”

“And working in a bar will lead me there?” I gave her a soft smile. I couldn’t describe what it was like to have someone believe in me this much.

She took my hand again and we were walking again. “It will get you out of her house and into the world again. You can’t hide forever. Sometimes, you have to step out of the nest and fly, honey.”

I looked down at my arms and wondered if I was capable of growing wings. I wondered what colour they would be. The wind picked up and I could hear the sound of music and the noises of traffic. The wind made the leaves around me rustle and I added the whisper of leaves to the music that I heard around me. I could hear my breath as I let smoke leave my lips and the beat of my heartbeat and the click of my footsteps and I wondered what was possible.