39 You Slay Me

She’s just a girl, and she’s on fire
Hotter than a fantasy, longer like a highway
She’s living in a world, and it’s on fire
Feeling the catastrophe, but she knows she can fly away
Oh, she got both feet on the ground
And she’s burning it down
Oh, she got her head in the clouds
And she’s not backing down

This girl is on fire
This girl is on fire
She’s walking on fire
This girl is on fire

Looks like a girl, but she’s a flame
So bright, she can burn your eyes
Better look the other way
You can try but you’ll never forget her name
She’s on top of the world
Hottest of the hottest girls say
Oh, we got our feet on the ground
And we’re burning it down
Oh, got our head in the clouds
And we’re not coming down

This girl is on fire
This girl is on fire
She’s walking on fire
This girl is on fire

Everybody stands, as she goes by
Cause they can see the flame that’s in her eyes
Watch her when she’s lighting up the night
Nobody knows that she’s a lonely girl
And it’s a lonely world
But she gon’ let it burn, baby, burn, baby

This girl is on fire
This girl is on fire
She’s walking on fire
This girl is on fire
Oh, oh, oh,
She’s just a girl, and she’s on fire

Images of sorrow, pictures of delight
things that go to make up a life
endless days of summer longer nights of gloom
just waiting for the morning light
scenes of unimportance like photos in a frame
things that go to make up a life

Maya Fey and Mia Fey 
Fey Manor, Master’s Office
September 17, 2020, 5:00 PM

The wallop never came.

Just as Mildred’s hand was about to connect with Pearl’s face, it was suddenly caught in mid-air, in a surprisingly strong grip.

“YOU!”

The thunderstruck elder found herself no longer peering into the terrified eyes of a child but at the exposed cleavage of Mia Fey, who, upon looking down to see whose wrist she was grabbing, only tightened her vice-like hold as she glared hatefully at the old woman.

“Sis!” Maya yelled. “The Dragon Lady was about to hit Pearly!”

“Is that so?”

Mia narrowed her eyes dangerously as she bent the harridan’s wrist backward sharply, causing her to yelp in pain. Still holding the crone’s wrist at the awkward angle, the former defense attorney jerked Mildred right up against her, forcing the old woman’s terrified gaze to meet her own murderous one.

“If you even so much as lay one gnarled finger on my cousin, Mildew, I will ensure you spend what’s left of your twilight years rotting in prison in a cell right next to Morgan Fey, you hear me?” She hissed, her normally warm eyes revealing her matchless fury. “And that’s assuming I even let you live long enough to go to trial, are we clear?”

“Crystal clear,” croaked Mildred, whose captive wrist had surpassed blinding pain and had now gone numb from lack of circulation in the former lawyer’s death grip. “Forgive me, Mystic Mia. I forgot myself! I assure you it will never happen again…”

“You better believe your wrinkled old ass it won’t!” Abruptly, Mia released her enemy, causing the elder to fall back again onto the floor with another graceless thud. “It’s just as well that I’m here anyway. I suggest you make yourself comfortable, Mildew. We girls need to have a little chat with you.”

Mildred slowly rose to her feet, her non-injured hand pitifully holding onto her newly battered knee as she did so. Mia strode over to Maya’s desk and leaned back against it, crossing her long legs at the ankle. The younger Fey remained standing but walked over to stand next to her sibling, arms folded across her chest. Both siblings glowered at the Dragon Lady with identical expressions of fierce determination, coupled with unmasked loathing.

Mia paused for a moment in her stare-down to take in her surroundings.

Know the difference between a catastrophe and an inconvenience. To realize that it’s just an inconvenience, that it is not a catastrophe, but just an unpleasantness, is part of coming into your own, part of waking up. Still, there’s unpleasant, and then there’s just outright…

“Son of a preacher man! What’s with the groovy, shagadelic, and completely barf-worthy décor?” She wrinkled her pert nose. “This has got to be your doing, Mildew! No way is my baby sister’s taste this outré!”

“You’ve got that right,” Maya grumbled. “Someone made themselves right at home in our ancestral residence, Sis, in obvious hopes I’d never wake up out of my coma and little Pearly, wherever she was, would remain absent as well!”

Mildred shrunk back at the scathing glare the sisters directed at her.

“Evidently, we Fey clan are unworthy only by bloodline and preceding reputation…yet our house is still desirous enough to be deemed ripe for the taking!”

Mia’s amber orbs lit up then.

“On that note, little sister, have you had a chance to present our unwelcome house guest with that special package that I see good old Edgy sent over, as promised?”

“No, not yet. But now’s as good a time as any.” Maya walked over to Mildew and whacked her in the arm with the envelope Phoenix had given her earlier. “Consider this a … present, Mystic Mildred. No refunds or exchanges though.”

She flashed a cheeky grin at the uneasy expression on the elder’s face as she cautiously opened the envelope and scanned the documents within it.

“Read it and weep, Mildew,” Mia snickered, her eyes dancing as she saw the blood drain from Mildred’s face. “Do one better, won’t you dear? Read it out loud.”

“Dear Miss Mildred Latrine,” the elder began, her voice quaking slightly. “I attach hereto a copy of the Barrister’s opinion, dated September 9, 2020…”

“Ooh, I forgot, old Edgy did a portion of his legal studies and got his credentials in England, didn’t he?” The buxom beauty smiled delightedly. “Therefore, he gets to use the title of barrister rather than just boring old lawyer, despite the former being so much more pompous sounding!”

The diviner wasn’t listening to what her sister was saying, however. She was too busy doubled over mirth, unsuccessfully attempting to wipe the tears of laughter with her oversized T-shirt.

“Latrine?” She howled, bursting into a fresh fit of laughter. “Seriously? Your last name is latrine? Hoobah, that explains so much! No wonder I think you – stink!”

“Not now, Maya!”

The older Fey attempted a frown of disapproval at her sibling’s childish conduct but felt her own lips twitching with amusement, regardless.

“That being said,” she snickered. “I can’t imagine a more aptly fitting surname myself!”

“Oh, Mystic Ami, help me, that felt so good!” The necromancer finally stopped cracking up, although she was still wiping her streaming eyes with her hands. “I’d almost feel sorry for you, Mildred, if the circumstances were less severe. I mean… Latrine! That’s pretty … shitty!”

“Are you quite done, Mystic Maya and Mystic Mia?” Mildred shot them a look so lethal that it would have made Medusa proud. “Or shall I continue or give you ladies – and I do use that term loosely with you Fey clan! – a few more moments to recover?”

“Huzzah!” Maya clapped her hands gleefully. “The good part’s just coming up now!”

“By all means, yes! Do go on, Mildew!” Mia feigned graciousness while trying to affect a more solemn tone, even though a smug grin played on her lips. “I insist!”

Scowling, Mildred continued to read, the blood draining from her mien as she spluttered out the words.

“Under the l- legal definition and repercussions to be had from this day forward, s-slander of any persons beholding the Fey surname will no longer be tolerated and will result in a proceeded legal lawsuit, which, if c-convicted, may potentially result in undisclosed monetary sums payable to the holder of the said family name for damages accrued due to this defamation of character…”

Mildred huffed and flung the papers to the ground, crossing her arms defiantly.

“This is ludicrous, cockamamie drivel not even worth the paper it’s written on! You can’t enforce this! You can’t sue me or anyone else for spouting alleged disparities about you Fey lot! Especially you!” She sneered, pointing at Mia. “Need I remind you that you’re dead?! It’s not against the law to speak ill of the deceased! Social convention just decrees that it’s generally frowned upon!”

“You’re right,” Mia replied calmly, swiftly retrieving the strewn papers and straightening them out. “My mother and I are indeed both departed.”

Mildred lifted her chin haughtily in response to this deceptive acquiescence but then froze at the next words.

“However, both Maya and Pearl Fey,” the legal legend flashed a knowing grin at her sister, who returned it with a knowing one of her own. “Otherwise known as your exalted Master and her second-in-command, are still very much among the land of the living! And as the former is a holder of such a venerated, influential position, she is obliged – as you countlessly remind her! – to maintain an untarnished reputation, both inside and outside this village, which cannot in any way be sullied or besmirched! Should she have to bear the consequences of such slander to her good family name and it creates defamation of character, it potentially jeopardizes her career and livelihood. Consequently, such occurrence could inhibit her from being able to continue in the role of Master of Kurain…”

Jumping elephant fleas, she’s good! Maya marveled, eyeing her sister admiringly before turning back to Mildred. I’m watching a true artist at work here! If lawyering were an art form, Sis would be Leonardo Da Vinci!

“I don’t have enough brightly-colored puppets to explain in a way you’d understand,” the spirit medium stated bluntly. “Ergo, I’ll put this into basic layman’s terms. You’re here on my land, at my discretion and I’m sick and tired of your bullshit! If you keep trashing me and my family while staying on these grounds, forget kicking your keister out my house, Mystic Mildred, because I’d simply take things up a notch and throw you out on your ear and out of my village!”

“Your village?” Mildred snorted derisively. “Oh, that’s a good one! I’d love to see you back up that claim!”

“We can, and we did.” Mia loped over to the hag and flipped the stack of papers underneath her nose. “I suggest you keep reading, Mildew.”

“I will not!” Mildred snapped, snatching the papers out of her foe’s hand and crumpling them in her fist. “Even if you did find some legal loophole to try to make this stick, you still need an official lawyer to have signed these forms! And while you talk a good talk, Little Miss Bimbo, you no longer fit that bill, since you’re also as dead as a doornail!”

Mia was visibly seething at this unprecedented insult. With a murderous gleam in her eye now, she started ominously stalking in Mildred’s direction but Maya put a hand on her sister’s arm, effectively halting her. She then directed her own wrathful glare at the barbed-tongued termagant.

“You have exactly five seconds to apologize to my sister,” she uttered in a surprisingly deadly calm tone that was more alarming than any anger-fueled one. “And I hope you savored that final slight, Dragon Lady, for it’s the last one I will ever allow to leave your lips within my presence. Do I make myself clear?”

“Oh, and how can you enforce anything, pray tell? Being the Master doesn’t make you a lawyer. And your precious Phoenix Wright is no longer an attorney!” Mildred gloated. “Or do I need to give you a much-needed reality check, too, Miss Too Big For Her Britches?”

“You will find several important papers within that presented package, which you’re foolishly refusing to read,” Maya continued, as though Mildred hadn’t spoken. “Amongst them is the signed barrister’s opinion document, along with the official last will and testament of Misty Fey, former official Kurain Master and lawful owner of all Kurain Village, its land, properties, and surrounding areas. This form irrefutably bequeaths all land and assets to one, Mia Fey. It also cites that in the event of my Mother’s death, and then after, in the event of Sis’s demise, everything shall then be passed onto and inherited by me. There is also legal documentation proving my proof of sole land ownership. In the interest of saving us all some time, however, I suggest you take a long, hard look at the bottom of those pages.”

Mildred blenched then. She frantically scanned over the papers in her hand in record time. As she finally reached the last document in the pile, her beady eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she saw the unmistakable and impossible-to-miss legal signature.

“Edgeworth?” She croaked; her voice now suddenly hoarse. “As in … Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth?
The… Miles Edgeworth?”

“That’s High Prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth! He’s a very good friend of mine. Moreover, he’s quite efficient and thorough at his work, too, considering he’s not even in the country right now! Isn’t it nice to have friends in high places?”

Maya flashed her most shit-eating grin and put an arm around her still-seething sister.

“However, before we go on, there’s that pesky matter about that apology you still owe Mia. The other alternative is that I release her and just let loose that famous Fey wrath on your wizened, decrepit heinie!
As you’ve so gleefully reminded her, she’s dead, after all … so good luck trying to make any sort of criminal or assault charges stick!”

“You may be the one in need of a reality check reminder, as you’ve conveniently forgotten that we the dearly departed can’t do any time, Mildew.” Mia gave a devilish smile at the idea of being unleashed, which was nearly as terrifying as Maya’s quiet inflection. “And good luck finding a lawyer to take, or even believe your case! Because no legist worth their salt would ever fathom that the nightmarish damage I will elatedly inflict upon your person could ever be caused by the tiny 10-year-old girl whose body I’m presently borrowing…”

“Sweet merciful Theotokos!” Mildred put up her palms then, in the universal surrender gesture as she backed away in terror. “Please stop! I’m sorry! OK? I apologize for calling you a bimbo, Mystic Mia! But tits on a dog, if you aren’t as indecent in the afterlife as you were when you were alive! Could you not somehow cover up those obscenely displayed mammaries at least somewhat, so I could at least pretend to take you seriously?”

Mia’s nostrils flared at this graceless forgiveness request.

“Are you sure I can’t hit her – just once?” She implored Maya. “I promise I won’t leave any tell-tale marks?”

Maya shook her head and her sister pretended to pout.

“Come on, we both know she’s not worth tainting your hands over! Besides, you’ve got to admit, attacking the beast with the one thing she fears most is so much more fun! You were sure right on the money with that one, Sis!”

Mia cracked a half-smile.

“True! We do know how much these old bags love the long arm of the law!”

“So, what happens to me now?” Mildred asked meekly. “What are my options here?”

“You could try to fight me on this, ignore all my orders and go along being the thorn in my side you’ve always been, I suppose.” Maya shrugged insouciantly. “In which case, I might just say to hell with it all, wash my hands of all this drama, sell the land and move back to the city.”

“Y-You wouldn’t! You couldn’t possibly do such a cruel, selfish thing!” Mildred’s veiny hands flew to her birdlike throat in horror. “That would mean the end of Kurain and leave us all the villagers destitute and homeless!”

Of course, she wouldn’t! But Maya had studied and perfected her own poker-faced technique over the years from watching the Baron of Bluffing himself in action, so Mildred had no way of discerning whether she could seriously call out her foe on the fake pretense.

It’s just like Bruce Lee said: I too, am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I honestly do not know where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a discovery. I treasure the memory of past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude.

“Well…” Maya pretended to think, tilting her head to the side and cupping her elbow while pressing the fingers of her free hand against the side of her face. “As another option, you could always try to pool your sources – although, obviously not a cent of it will come from Kurain – and try to hire a lawyer who will try and fight the motion of me giving your freeloading, non-rent paying, squatter’s rump 30 days’ notice to eject itself off my property if you don’t want to play by my rules and regulations on my land! I’m feeling charitable though and will advise that it’d all just be a waste of your time, so I wouldn’t bother.”

Despite not having a cent to her name, Mildred couldn’t help but be curious about the Master’s logic in that instance. Maya caught the quizzical look and smirked knowingly.

“I’m telling you this because it would merely be an exercise in futility! There isn’t a lawyer within 500 kilometers that you could ever hire who could beat mine! Miles Edgeworth has a virtually undefeated track record against every single courtroom adversary he’s ever had! Except of course, for one…”

“That’s right!” Mia snapped her fingers as if this realization had just dawned on her. “Now, what was the name of the sole man who had ever defeated the formidable barrister again?”

She assumed a mock pondering pose as well and tapped a thoughtful finger against her cheek.

“Hold it! I’m trying to remember!” Maya squeezed her eyes shut as if trying to drum up the memory and when she opened them again, there was an exultant glint in her eye. “Oh yes, now I recall! The only lawyer to have ever been able to historically beat Miles Edgeworth in the courtroom … that would be Phoenix Wright!”

Mildred groaned, and both sisters barely stifled triumphant snorts of laughter.

“What a crying shame.” Mia shook her head in mock sadness. “As Mildew here has happily reminded us, my former protégé is no longer a practicing attorney.”

“No, he’s not. Plus, good old Mystic Mildred also banned him from our village under the threat of trespassing charges,” Maya purred with relish as Mildew face-palmed – hard. “No harm, no foul though, Dragon Lady, considering it’s my property and not yours, you don’t have the authority to ban anyone! However, you can easily be banned! I hereby veto that previous restriction of yours against Nick! Take that!”

“Indeed, Mildew, there is just one thing keeping you from ever having my sister’s lover take your case, even if he did still have his badge.” Mia smiled broadly as Mildred barely stifled a whimper. “You see, there’s still the small, teeny, tiny fact that Phoenix hates your goddamn guts!”

“Please! I can’t take this anymore!” The old woman wailed. “What’s to become of me? What are you going to do to me? I throw myself at your mercy, Mystic Maya! I will do whatever you wish, I swear! But please, don’t banish me, I beg of you! I’m naught but a helpless old woman!”

“About as helpless as a sleeping cobra,” Mia muttered darkly, but to Maya, the Dragon Lady was so genuine in her pathetic pleading that it was almost touching.

“I have no family, no money, and no home of my own!” Mildew pleaded. “Kurain is all I’ve ever known! If you send me away now, I shall be in the streets. Where shall I go? What shall I do?”

“Is this the part where I get to quote Rhett Butler?” Mia inquired hopefully, unmoved by the intended pitying performance as she directed a cold stare at Mildew. “Because, frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”

The Burger Queen shook her head, and her tender heart softened a tad at the sight of the elder’s self-pitying tears, even though her sister grunted and rolled her own eyes disgustedly.

Sensing the Master’s wavering, Mildred upped her pleading.

“I swear I shall never speak another ill word against you or your family, Mystic Maya. All I’ve ever done, I have truly done with Kurain’s best interests at heart. This village means everything to me!”

“I believe you, Mystic Mildred,” Maya agreed quietly. “While I do believe you’re the most God-awful, overly ambitious, self-serving shrew since Lady Macbeth…”

“Not to mention Morgan Fey…” Mia muttered under her breath.

“… I do genuinely think you want what’s best for Kurain,” Maya continued. “Save the crocodile tears. Against my better judgement, I’m not going to exile you.”

“You’re not?!” Both Mia and Mildred gasped in astonishment, but the spirit medium’s mind was already calmly formulating her thoughts on a deeper philosophical level.

Since becoming the Master, I’ve learned a lot about life lessons from the late, great Bruce Lee. At times like this, I must heed his words. “Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

“No, I’m not.” Maya shook her head. “You’re many things, Mildred, cunning, shrewd, manipulative…but you’re not stupid. You do run this village and have kept things afloat before I even got here. You’re entirely adept at doing as such, and I’m going to let you continue to do so. My Master’s travels keep me away from Kurain quite often, and I know things will still be running smoothly if left in your capable hands. But it will be on my terms, hence, not yours. Do you follow?”

A slightly more humbled and subdued elder nodded vigorously in understanding.

“Here’s how this is going to play out,” the spirit medium began, pacing the office as she began to think out loud. “First and foremost, Mystic Mildred, you are going to turn this place back to exactly as it was before I was gone. I mean it. 48 hours.”

“I promise, I will!” Mildred promised. Her relief was as clear as day. “I didn’t throw out your mother’s portrait or Mystic Ami’s statue or anything that belonged to you! They’re all stored in my cabin and I only made these changes a few days ago when it seemed unlikely that you’d be returning anytime soon…”

Also, garbage collection is only once a week, but she doesn’t need to know that part!

“If you can drag that statue of yourself to your final destination of choice, feel free to do with it as you wish,” Maya offered benignly. “But first and foremost, I want that eyesore out of here! And then, we will have a bonfire later tonight to dispose of that portrait of you in the hallway…and use the wooden part of the frame as firewood, of course…”

“Can I roast some marshmallows?” The former defense attorney begged. “Pretty please?”

“Of course,” Mildred nodded amicably, trying not to be too heartbroken about the painting, as well as the fact that the glorious statue that she’d commissioned the artist to make of her would now never be completed. Although she supposed it was a small price to pay, all things considered. There weren’t too many job opportunities for spirit mediums of close to senior age, with no formal training or education outside of a remote village.

“There are some things, of course, that will cost money to undo, however,” Mia noted astutely. “Like this repugnant wallpaper, for starters! Wherever did you get the money for all this horrendous, outdated furniture? Moreover, where, in the name of all that is holy, were these eyesore atrocities even still available to buy?”

“I didn’t buy anything!” Mildred’s cheeks burned with humiliation at the debasing commentary. “These were all my belongings from over the years! I just moved the existing furnishings from my cabin into here!”

“Ugh, so this is what the inside of your place looked like?” Mia shuddered. Her sister shot her a look, but she simply shrugged. “Sorry Maya, but come on! If that’s the case, her whole cabin should be used in the bonfire as firewood!”

“As tactless as my normally more eloquent sister is being at the moment, she is right about one thing, though,” the younger Fey sister tittered. “Changing the wallpaper and restoring the windows will cost some money. And it’s unfair that it be paid for out of Kurain’s budget. Therefore, Mystic Mildred, I think a good plan of action would be perhaps determining if any of the more remote cabins on the further outskirts of the village get put into a suitable rentable condition for people seeking a place to do spiritual training, a romantic getaway, or just some rest and relaxation … starting with Heavenly Hall.”

“H-Heavenly Hall?” Mildred stammered; her eyes wide with horror. “The one out on the furthest outskirts of the village?”

A mean little smile played on the Master’s lips.

“I see you’re quite acquainted with the particular dwelling! Once that gets spruced up, you can tackle the other sorely neglected humble abodes within the surrounding areas! What better way for you to determine if it’s fit to be lived in other than staying there yourself while overseeing things and construction and renovations from there directly?”

“Would you rather I add vandalism to the list of potential charges against you?” Mia raised an eyebrow. “That is exactly what you did to our house, you know! Are you aware that the penalty for vandalizing happens to be caning if we were in Singapore?”

“Heavenly Hall! No problem!” Mildred agreed quickly with a feeble smile. “I will fix anything and everything you ask me to! Erm, just to be clear, you are referring to the dilapidated, ramshackle hovel that isn’t fit for human life, which is situated out of the boundaries, located near H – Hazakura Temple?”

“That’s the one!” The Kurain head nodded, affixing her most benign expression. “Turns out, I own that land, too! Sister Bikini will be so happy to assist you, am sure, as well as being elated about the additional revenues of the business we shall be bringing her!”

She clasped her hands in front of her happily.

“What better way to thank her for saving my life? And it’s way up in Eagle Mountain! I bet it’s nice and cold… just perfect for training!”

“Hurray!” Mildred cheered dryly, with no real enthusiasm. “What a clever, innovative idea!”

“Well, we won’t have you move out there until this place is back to normal,” Maya assured her, now wearing her most roguish smile. “I’m so cheered and excited about this development, I’ll even give you 72 hours instead of 48 to restore the place to its normal order before you need to pack your bags!”

“You’re the epitome of kindness, Mystic Maya,” the Dragon Lady’s voice was hollow. “But if I’m off in Eagle Mountain overseeing that project, how am I to run this village when you’re away on your travels?”

“As my second in command, Pearly is in charge when I’m on regular daily meetings and local travels, for the most part,” Maya replied breezily. “And when I’m gone for longer trips or going abroad, my little girl will come with me. Sister Bikini can oversee the cabin renovations, and you can oversee the village. I don’t imagine the cabin rental project taking longer than six months anyway.”

“Mystic Pearl will be joining you when you travel?” Mildred echoed in surprise. “What brought about this sudden decision?”

“Pearly is a very gifted medium, and there’s no better way to show off the Channeling Technique than to demonstrate it first-hand!”

While it was the truth, in a nutshell, the necromancer wisely opted not to voice the rest of her thoughts out loud.

You bet your withered bony keister, I’m bringing Pearly with me! After what the elders nearly did to me, and to my mother, there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that I’d ever leave my cousin alone in the care of any of you, ever! I said I trusted you to run the village, Dragon Lady. I never claimed I trusted you! The adage says to keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer, right? Or in this case, keep the enemy far enough away to keep an eye on, if need be.

“But what about her ongoing training and studies here in Kurain?” Mildred inquired. “Is it wise to just have her abandon them entirely?”

“Mildew, Pearly channels as easily as breathing, and no doubt will be the one teaching the classes herself in a few years,” the elder Fey sibling pointed out. “She’s a powerful medium with more spiritual ability than the three of us put together, hence my ready presence before you! Her training at this point is a mere formality if anything. You tell me one thing that’s left to teach that child that you have always expressed as being a more suitable future leader of Kurain than my sister?”

Mildew hung her head at having her own words and actions thrown back in her face for the umpteenth time. A response to Mia’s query was unnecessary.

“That being said,” the village leader noted, walking over to her desk and absently flipping through her datebook. “Pearly made some very good friends while she was down in LA, so the next time I have a conference, I will be taking her with me – what better place, also, to show off a first-hand demonstration of channeling, than on local grounds?”

“I guess that means you’ll be visiting with me more often then?” The legal legend asked cheerfully. “Wow, this is a win-win situation for all!”

“You have no idea, Sis!” The diviner put her finger on a page in the next week’s calendar section and flashed a huge ear-to-ear grin. “Guess who’s got a two-day conference at the Gatewater Hotel in Los Angeles this coming Monday and Tuesday?!”

The sisters smiled happily at one another, each knowing exactly what else Maya’s next trip truly meant, without having to utter the words aloud in the newly humbled Dragon Lady’s presence.

And guess who better take advantage of my baby sister’s presence in his neighborhood this time around if he knows what’s good for him? Mia thought darkly. Because if for any reason he doesn’t mile this golden opportunity, let’s just say there are more uncomfortable things I could do with that beanie of his than just swatting him over the head with it…

Alicia Keys – Girl On Fire