Chapter Twenty-Nine: Protecting the House:

Henry took measures to protect the house. He started with pouring brick dust around the bottoms of the doors. Mama stood over him with her head tilted.

“Are you sure this will work?” she asked.

“This is a start,” Henry said. “My mother practices hoodoo.”

“Voodoo?” Mama asked.

“No, hoodoo,” he said.

“There’s a difference?” she asked.

“Yes,” Henry said. He leapt to his feet. “In any case, this has to be done.” Mama watched as he walked into the kitchen. She followed him with no emotion on her face. Meanwhile, I sat in the parlor with unease. I had another therapy session today. My shoulders tensed up when I could feel fingers pulling me into a choking embrace.

“Trying to get rid of me, huh?” Miranda whispered. I shook my head.

“Don’t lie to me,” she hissed in my ear. “You will never be able to get rid of me.” I tried not to cry. Why did she turn out like this? Miranda used to be so nice. I am scared of what she can do. I pushed her off and walked out of the parlor room.

“Don’t you walk away from me!” Miranda shouted. I wouldn’t even turn around. I found Ms. Doris taping up strips of white paper on the walls. She looked up and smiled at me.

“Hello there, Kinsey,” she said. I turned towards the wall next to the doorway.

“What is all of this?” I asked.

“I had the local pastor bless all of these,” Ms. Doris said. “I am putting them all over the walls of this hall. Your grandma is doing the ones upstairs.” I stood with my mouth agape.

“Is there anything that I can do?” I asked. Ms. Doris put the last strip on the wall.

“I have it here,” she said. “You can run along and play.” I slowly shook my head.

“But…” I said.

“It is okay,” she insisted. “Henry, your grandma, and I have everything covered.” She reached over and patted me on the head. “You do not have anything to worry about. We will fix this mess to the best that we can.” I forced myself to smile. I couldn’t convince her otherwise. I dropped my shoulders and sighed.

“Alright,” I said. I turned and went up the stairs. I could hear Ms. Doris humming to herself as she worked. Why couldn’t I shake the feeling of being useless?

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My room was the first place to be charmed. Strips of paper all covered the walls. I had to step over the brick dust at the doorway. I froze when I didn’t hear Miranda’s voice. She wasn’t there when I turned behind me. Well look at that. It must be working.

Somehow, that is not too reassuring.

I walked over to my bed and flopped down. My face disappeared into my biggest, fluffy pillow. My family’s efforts are rather sweet; I will give them that. But somehow I didn’t feel like it was going to be enough. I turned over onto my side and drew my knees to my chest. Miranda didn’t talk to me anymore when I was in my room. I couldn’t see her, but she was still there. She couldn’t touch me when I was in a room with paper and brick dust. I closed my eyes and tried not to think of anything else. At first, I could see Miranda’s angry face looking at with a judgmental look in her eyes. I reached out as if to wipe away her image from in front of me. Maybe she was right. I couldn’t get away from her. Even so I tried to think about something else.

For some reason, Joe came into my mind.

My cheeks turned bright red as I yanked open my eyes. I sat up before flopping back onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Why was I thinking about him?