Page 62 of A Shade of Myself
“Good arm workout.”
She flexed for me. Her biceps were rocks. “I am one toned muthafuckah.” She paused. “You don’t have to do this now if you’re not ready.” The clay made a sucking noise as Jude worked it into a ball.
“No. I sought this out and I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” I pulled out the first sheet of loose-leaf paper, squinting at the illegible printing.
The message was brief. One sentence brief.
“‘It wasn’t an…’” I shook my head. His writing was a garbled mess.
Jude looked at the paper. “Accident.” She pinched the balls of clay together with her thumbs.
“Their murders? He knew that from the house fire.” I flinched as Jude slammed the smushed clay together again.
“Sorry,” she murmured. “Last bit.”
I flipped the page over, hoping for something else, but that was it. “Maybe this really just was his drugged-up last ramblings.” I shook my head. “Let’s see what else we’ve got.”
“Hang on. Let me just finish this.” She placed the glossy, smooth clay that she’d shaped into a Yule log in a bag that she rolled tight around the clay to press out any air. She twisted the end and wrote the date on it in black marker. “Done. Show me.”
Setting aside the letter, I pulled out the rest of the papers and almost dropped them. Jake had drawn pages and pages of stars along with the words “the Ascendant.”
Jude took them from my trembling hands. “Does this star mean something to you? It’s not a Magen David. Those have six points.”
The Jewish symbol consisted of two triangles forming an equilateral six-pointed star. The Lonestars’ tattoo also had six points though it was more stylized, like a starburst, or a spur, which was apt.
Jake’s drawings all had five points, but regardless of that, why did I keep coming up against stars?
Was learning the truth behind my parents’ murders my mazel, my destiny?
I shook my head. I wasn’t following any predetermined plan. I made choices born of free will and circumstance. Anyone in my position would be determined to find out why their parents were killed.
“I have no clue what the star means,” I said. “And why ascendent? Like an ascendant star? An astrology thing?”
The air-conditioning kicked in, blowing my hair into my face. I held the strands clear with one hand, flushing despite the breeze.
Jude tapped the paper. “Ascendent meaning gaining power? A star as in a celebrity and ascendant meaning they’re an influencer? Ooh. Or literal star power as in nuclear fusion.”
“What?”
“Remember when I was toying around with a line based on the night sky?” She moved the basin out of the sink and washed her hands.
“Yeah.”
Jude tossed the paper towel she’d dried them on into a trash can. “I got really into astronomy for a while. Stars shine because of nuclear fusion.”
“I can’t see my parents being tied to either famous influencers or nuclear fusion.”
“True. That doesn’t seem likely. Did he write anything else?”
“That was it.” I stuffed the pages back in the envelope.
“What now?”
“Now I convince a certain golem to tap into his faulty divination magic.”
“Well, you handled lawyers for long enough,” Jude said. “This ought to be a piece of cake.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears,” I said in an exaggerated Yiddish accent and we both burst out laughing.
