Page 59 of A Shade of Myself
13
With the addressof the self-storage place firmly fixed in my head, it took only a couple of minutes’ travel along the poorly lit rocky path until another door led me out to the parking lot alongside the building.
It was raining, but after the high temperatures in Vancouver, the cool, wet air felt delicious. I cloaked myself, hopping puddles across the gravel driveway to the large awning. My hair and feet were soaked, but the rain masked the sound of my approach to the couple opening the front door. I grabbed it just before it locked and slipped inside.
Stealthily I moved from one storage unit to the next, testing out Jake’s key. After the twenty-seventh locker, I figured it was a bust, but to my amazement, I unlocked the next heavy padlock.
Rolling the orange corrugated metal door up, I slipped inside, recalling my magic as I turned on the light. An entire living room had been re-created inside. A faded brocade armchair sat on a threadbare Persian rug next to an old standing lamp. Photos of kids and grandkids lined the upper shelves of metal bookcases. Super weird. Especially since Jake didn’t have kids.
I hauled one of the Rubbermaids from a lower shelf, which was filled with children’s artwork. Another container held old Halloween costumes while the third one I checked was filled with cracked Christmas ornaments. I picked up one of the books stacked on the rickety antique table. It was a baby book for some kid called Tiffany. This definitely wasn’t Jake’s unit.
“Tiffany! You’ve come home.” A hundred pounds of tiny grandma rushed into the storage locker from the hallway and knocked me into the armchair with her cane.
“There’s been a mistake,” I said.
“The only mistake was you staying away for so long.” Her eyes misted up and her cane wobbled. “Two years? Why didn’t you come home?”
I jumped up. “Maybe you should sit down.”
“You were always such a good girl.” She eased herself into the seat, her legs not even touching the ground. “Tell me what’s been happening with Nathan.” She tapped the container with the Halloween costumes, motioning for me to sit down.
Staying here would be a waste of my time, but she seemed so eager for company. What could it hurt to answer a few questions and make her feel better? I’d take fifteen minutes to do a mitzvah and then go check out Jake’s old house.
“Nathan’s still a scamp,” I said.
“I thought he’d settle down in his teen years.”
“I wish.” The first few lies about Nathan’s troubles at school were clumsy, but then I really found my rhythm, expanding to include the joyous news of Aunt Elma’s daughter who had triplets and cousin Jody’s new puppy. “Sadly, this is a short visit, but I’ll come back, okay? Did you come to get something from the locker? Do you need help to your car?”
“Yes, dear. If you could reach that box of photo albums over there?”
I obliged, stretching onto tiptoe to grab it—and froze in that position.
What the hell?
My eyes moved back to the old woman, who was no longer smiling. Instead, her cane jabbed my hip, her Ohrist magic coursing through it and paralyzing me in place. “Now, you little hussy. Why did you break into my locker?”
“I’m Tiffany,” I protested, struggling to free myself. My magic felt like it was trapped under glass. I still had my powers, I just couldn’t access them.
The lady jabbed me again. “If you were the real Tiffany, you’d know that Nathan is a horse.”
Were regular horse updates a thing? Because she’d sounded very invested in catching up on his life.
The woman’s frown deepened and I chose my words with care.
“All right. You caught me. But I wasn’t trying to steal from you. My uncle Jake left me this key and it opened your locker. I thought his stuff was here.”
“Jake didn’t have a niece.”
My Achilles tendons burned from holding this position and my arms were getting heavy. “It was honorary. Could you release me?”
She forced me even higher onto my toes and I winced. “Last chance before I call the Lonestars.”
“No! Please. My name’s…” I was going to say Miriam and then a gut instinct had me change it. “Sam.”
Another jab. “Bully for you. What was Jake’s favorite color?”
“I have no idea.”
