LITMIR.BIZ

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Lilith?” Suddenly, he was more interested. I was dying to ask what Tommy had been saying about me, but with Jas and Ari in the room, it didn’t seem like a good idea.

      Neil picked up Tommy’s battered duffel bag, then with a final look at me, he and Tommy left.

      Ariel burst into tears and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her. Jas sniffed a few times and wiped her eyes. Already, the flat seemed too empty.

      “I promised to take Ariel to the Coney Island for dinner,” I said. “Do you want to come along?”

      “I can’t. I have a job interview.”

      I hadn’t heard news so shocking since I’d found out that I was to become a succubus. “Are you serious?”

      Jas nodded. “It’s only a waitressing gig in Greektown near the casino, but a friend of mine works there, and she says the tips are pretty good.”

      “Jas, that’s amazing! What brought this about?” For the past three years, my dad, Jas’s mom, and I had been nagging my stepsister to find a job.

      She shrugged and folded the blanket that had been lying on the couch. “I want to get my own place.” She held the folded blanket to her chest. “I was hoping Tommy would move in with me if I did.”

      I’d never thought of Jasmine as the type to settle down with a guy. Especially not a guy as decent as Tommy. I hugged her.

      When I let go, she slowly sank onto the couch. Worry lines furrowed her forehead. “I don’t know if he’ll do it, though. Move in with me, I mean. I’m not sure if he’s into me.”

      I had no doubt that he loved her. “Honey, he crossed three continents to keep you from marrying Karl!”

      “True.” She smiled sadly. “But now he’s so distant.”

      I didn’t let on that I’d noticed. “He’s still not feeling well,” I said. “Once he’s better, things will change.”

      “Maybe.” Jas pressed her face into the folded blanket for a moment. When she resurfaced, she said, “The worst part is that he sends me mixed messages. I mean, he hardly ever holds my hand, and he won’t kiss me, but he spends all this time drawing tattoos on me.”

      “He does the same thing for Ariel,” I said.

      “No, you don’t understand. This is way different from those cats and stars he puts on her arms. Look.” She turned around and lifted the back of her shirt. Inked in henna between her shoulder blades was an intricate mandala, one of the most beautiful designs I’d ever seen. “He drew it the other night. He lit candles and played this CD of chants that he’d picked up in Tibet. And the way he touched me! There was nothing innocent about it, believe me. I lay there for two hours feeling his hands brushing against my skin. Two hours!” She shook her head. “Do you have any idea how sexy that was?”

      I imagined lying on my bed while William lovingly drew patterns on my naked back. I started to feel warm. “Yes, I can imagine.”

      She lowered her shirt. “He’s driving me crazy! If he doesn’t do something about it soon, I swear I’ll…” She screamed into the blanket.

      While I patted her shoulder and consoled her, I wondered where I could get my hands on a CD of Tibetan chants and some henna paste.

      Only the promise of a Coney dog lured Ariel out of her room. We went to East End Coney and sat at our favorite booth by the window overlooking the broad expanse of Lake St. Clair. From here, we could see the yachts and fishing boats traveling the famous, nautical mile.

      With Grace gone, Ariel and I were spending a lot more time together. To my delight, Ari had not only warmed up to me, she had also lost her habitual scowl. She’d even started smiling at people.

      I’d also found out some surprising things about her. Like the fact that she enjoyed eating French fries with mayonnaise instead of ketchup (something she had learned from one of her mother’s many boyfriends), she loved lions (which was the reason Tommy had started her on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), and she was surprisingly good at basketball (despite her small stature). I’d signed her up for a three-week basketball camp so that she could make friends before the school year started, and the coach had taken me aside to remark how well Ari could pass and dribble.

      Ariel ordered her usual: two chili dogs with no onions, fries, and a Coke. I ordered a gyro and a small Greek salad.

      “Where should we go for your birthday?” I asked. My stepdad and I had consecutive birthdays, so every year we shared a party. This year, Ariel would be a part of the tradition as well since she was turning twelve in less than a month. I wanted to throw her a real party since I didn’t think she’d ever had one before. I planned to invite the girls from the basketball camp. “Have you ever been to the zoo? They have lions there.”

      Ari seemed less enthusiastic about the party than I thought she’d be. “Yeah, okay.”

      “Or we could take everyone to play miniature golf,” I offered.

      She shrugged again. The waitress brought over our drinks and Ariel sipped her Coke thoughtfully. “Do you think Tommy would want to date my mother?”

      I nearly spilled my iced tea. Ariel’s mother was currently in jail for child endangerment, possession of narcotics, and drunk driving. There was no way in hell I’d introduce her to Tommy. If my sister-in-law saw what a good guy he was, she’d cling to him like a leech. “I think Tommy’s got his eye on Jasmine,” I said.

      “Oh.” Ari slumped in her seat.

      “You’re very special to him, though,” I said. “Like a little sister.”

      She continued to look disappointed. “I wish he was my dad. My real dad.”

      Instead of pointing out that Tommy would have had to father Ariel when he was twelve, I said, “I know what it’s like. Growing up wondering who your dad is.”

      “But you know who your dad is.”

      I frowned. “I do?”

      “It’s Simon? Hel-lo?”

      “Simon’s not my real father.” It amazed me that she hadn’t figured this out on her own. “He’s Japanese. I’m not.” Simon hadn’t even adopted me since my mother had never been around long enough to sign the papers.

      “Oh, good point.” Ariel mulled this over while she drank her Coke. “Did you ever want to find your real dad?”

      The difficult question made me shift uncomfortably. When I became an adult, I’d given up fantasies about finding my sperm donor, figuring I was better off without him. However, once I’d discovered that I could not only see Heaven’s doorways but enter them as well, I’d become curious again. Maybe my father had been one of the many humans my mother had slept with. Then again, maybe he’d been supernatural.

      To answer Ari’s question, I settled on a compromise. “I used to want to find him, but after a while, I realized that Simon was the best dad a girl could have. Just like you’ll realize that Tommy is a really good substitute big brother.”

      “He is a good big brother,” she said, “but he’d be a really great dad.”

      I couldn’t argue with that.

      Midway through our meal, Ariel got up to use the bathroom. The moment she left, someone slid into her seat. It seemed that the otherworld had caught up with me again.

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