Rogelia's House of Magic (6 page)

“You’re on!” Marina said.

Fifteen minutes and three races later, Xochitl was crowned the victor. After the final race, Xochitl swam another lap just to feel the silent water rush past her. She rejoined Marina and Fern at the other end of the pool.

“No one has ever beaten me on my own turf,” Marina panted.

“Looks like you’ve met your match,” Fern said.

After floating in the pool for a half hour, they dried off with the whitest, fluffiest towels Xochitl had ever used. A warm, sultry breeze whispered through the trees, sending pink and yellow plumeria flowers fluttering and spinning to the ground at their feet as they headed back to the house. It was like paradise for Xochitl.

When they ambled through the kitchen, Rogelia was busy at the stove. “My specialty,” she said, offering the girls three steaming mugs of hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows floating on top.

“Thanks,” Fern and Xochitl said simultaneously.

Nana gave Xochitl a special smile as she handed her the mug. Xochitl felt a strange mix of comfort and grief. Nana had made her delicious cocoa every Saturday night in Mexico. Xochitl thought of how she used to fight Graciela for more marshmallows. When would getting a simple treat like this not bring with it a rush of sadness, too?

Marina received her cup of cocoa like it was the Holy Grail itself. “Thank you so much, Rogelia,” she said appreciatively. “I don’t remember the last time anyone made me cocoa.” She took a sip. “Mmm. This is really good.” She reverently carried the cocoa in front of her as she trod carefully toward her bedroom.

Fern lifted both palms and scrunched up her shoulders. “Whatcha gonna do? She’s just a little kooky,” she whispered to Xochitl before following Marina to her room.

Xochitl hesitated. She looked down at the melting marshmallows.

“Go on,” Nana urged Xochitl, patting her on the back.

Xochitl nodded and walked down the hall. She felt twinges of nervousness again. Swimming was something she could do well, and it made her feel confident. But what would they do in Marina’s room? What would they talk about? Xochitl sighed as she walked into Marina’s bedroom with trepidation.

Marina sat at her desk looking at her computer. Music came from the speakers. “Do you like Nickelback? They’re my favorite band. They have really good lyrics.”

“I’ve never heard of them,” Xochitl admitted.

“I’ll burn you a CD,” Marina said.

“I don’t have a CD player,” Xochitl said. “I left it at home in Mexico.”

“I’ve got one you can have.” Marina stood up and crossed the room to her closet. She dug something from under a pile of clothes. “Here you go.” Marina handed Xochitl an ancient boom box.

Xochitl hesitated. “You don’t have to.”

“It’s okay, she’s got
tons
of stuff,” Fern said.

Xochitl accepted the CD player. “Thanks,” she mumbled. She wasn’t used to getting handouts. It felt really weird. She sat down on a hugely overstuffed pink beanbag chair.

Fern sprawled out on Marina’s bed. “Hey, speaking of music, I heard Los Lobos is coming to town. Even if you can’t speak Spanish, Marina, you can still sing ‘La Bamba.’ Plus, it’ll be good for you to hear some Mexican
corridos.
Pilar said she’d order the tickets online. We’ll have to pay her back, of course.”

“That sounds like fun,” Marina agreed. “Wanna come, Xochitl?”

“I don’t think I can go to a concert,” Xochitl said. “My dad is really traditional about me going out without an adult.”

“Pilar is an adult,” Fern said. “Most days.”

“I don’t think he’d approve,” Xochitl said softly.

“Well, maybe he’ll change his mind,” Fern said. “The concert isn’t for another month or so.”

“Maybe,” Xochitl agreed. Inside, she knew it wasn’t going to happen no matter how many times she asked.

Suddenly a girl with perfectly kept blond hair burst into the room. “Marina, where are my Lucky jeans? I know you wore them last.” She began rifling through the piles of clothes on the floor.

Marina leaned over, pulled a pair of jeans from under the chair, and threw them at her. “You said I could wear them, Monica.”

Marina’s sister caught the jeans in the air and inspected the rear of the pants. “Probably stretched them out with your fat ass.”

“Get out of here,” Marina demanded.

Monica closed the door in a huff.

Marina sat back down, exasperated. “Sisters can be so annoying.”

“Marina,”
Fern admonished.

“Oh my gosh,” Marina said immediately, covering her mouth with her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

Xochitl looked suspiciously from Marina to Fern.
I guess they know about Graciela.
Xochitl braced herself for the questions, willing herself not to vanish into the air. That would only bring about more questions, of course.

“We heard about what happened to your sister,” Marina said.

“The accident must have been so scary,” Fern said.

Xochitl tried to respond, but she could only nod.

“I heard you didn’t end up with any injuries,” Marina said, awestruck.

“Your nana is a
curandera,
isn’t she?” Fern asked.

Marina whipped her head around, staring in shock at Fern. Fern shrugged and lifted her hands, palms up, as if to say,
What? You want to know as bad as I do.
Marina bit her lip and glanced at Xochitl.

“She stopped the voices in my head the other day,” Marina said. “But I heard them again the other morning. It’s so creepy.”

“How did your nana do it?” Fern asked.

Silence blanketed the room. For one dreadful moment Xochitl thought she should leave and seek refuge in Nana’s room. As much as she wanted the company of friends, she did not want to talk about her nana’s magic. She had completely lost faith in it and had no intention of delving back into the world of
curanderismo
anytime soon. Even though Nana had calmed down Marina, she had not been able to save Graciela.

Fern got up and scrambled over on all fours to plead at Xochitl’s knees. “Today I met this really cute boy, Tristán. I thought he was gorgeous, but then this horrible gray light appeared all around him. I don’t understand it, but maybe your nana could help explain it.”

Marina placed her hand over Xochitl’s slightly trembling hand. “We want to be your friend, regardless of whether you tell us or not.”

Fern put her hand over Marina’s. “But we are dying to know.” She looked intently into Xochitl’s dark brown eyes.

A dark suspicion rose in Xochitl’s mind.
Why are they so interested in magic and Nana’s secrets?
Xochitl wondered. She wasn’t sure if they truly wanted to be her friends or if they were using her to get to her nana. A bad feeling sat like a heavy rock in the bottom of Xochitl’s tummy.

“Fern, don’t be so insensitive.” Marina pushed Fern’s shoulder so that she fell over.

Fern got back up on her knees, glared momentarily at Marina, then turned softer eyes to Xochitl. “I need to get to the bottom of this. The magic doesn’t have to stop after one night. Why can’t it go on forever? The spell we did seemed to work.”

“We asked for magical powers,” Marina explained to Xochitl.

“Marina hears voices,” Fern said. “Though I’m not exactly sure how that qualifies as a power. It seems more like a problem to me.”

Marina threw a pillow at Fern, then turned her attention to Xochitl. “I gotta tell you, hearing voices isn’t something that brings on a happy feeling. Makes me feel like I’m going to be locked up in a white padded cell.”

Fern caught the pillow and put it under her knees. “Well, Xochitl?” Fern asked.

The silence dragged on. Xochitl felt increasingly uncomfortable the more Fern and Marina pushed, but then she remembered how Graciela used to tease her for her skepticism and distrust. Graciela had always been the openhearted one, while Xochitl was afraid to let people get close to her. However, now that Graciela was gone, maybe it was time for Xochitl to live more like her sister had.

“Nana is a
curandera,
” Xochitl began tentatively. “She heals people, working mostly with herbs. She does spiritual work, too, kind of like spells, but maybe not exactly what you might call magic. She’s like a shaman, but that term is mostly used for men. Back home, everyone called her Mamá. She taught me some things.” Xochitl pushed some stray strands of her long black hair behind her ear. “But I haven’t had any lessons since my sister, Graciela, died.”

Xochitl knew she was leaving some information out. Nana had wanted to continue teaching her the ways of the
curandera,
but she had refused. It was just too painful without Graciela.

“Do you miss it?” Fern asked. Marina shot her another warning look. “What?” Fern said to Marina.

Of course, I do, but…

“I miss Graciela more,” Xochitl answered plainly. “And magic can’t bring her back.” Xochitl’s eyes welled with tears. “Actually, Nana’s magic wasn’t even strong enough to prevent the accident.”

“Do you think she would teach us?” Fern asked.

Xochitl hesitated. “I don’t know….” The pressure was too much.

“Just ask her,” Fern suggested.

“She doesn’t take on strangers as students,” Xochitl said, hoping to stop this conversation.

“Marina isn’t
that
strange,” Fern said.

“Hey!” Marina protested.

“I’m kidding,” Fern said reassuringly. “We won’t bug you about it forever, Xochitl. Just ask her this once.”

“Okay,” Xochitl relented, figuring Nana would say no anyhow. She got up and walked out of Marina’s room and across the hall to her nana’s room. She knocked once, then entered. Nana was kneeling reverently and meditating at her altar. Xochitl didn’t want to disturb her, so she started to back up.

“What it is,
mija
?”

Xochitl was always impressed with Nana’s sharp hearing.

“Nana, Marina and Fern want to learn
curanderismo,
and they would like you to teach them. You don’t have to, though.” Xochitl chewed on her bottom lip. Looking around at the hanging herbs and crosses and at the altar, Xochitl had a bad feeling she had made a mistake in asking Nana.

“Will you return to your lessons as well?” Nana kept her eyes closed and her head bowed.

Xochitl felt panic rise in her throat. This was not going well at all. To get herself out of this, she would have to make it seem like Marina and Fern were looking for something flashier than
curanderismo,
which they probably were. “I don’t think they are serious, Nana. I mean, they might think your magic is like Harry Potter or something,” Xochitl said.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Nana said, opening her eyes and turning to face her granddaughter. “I insist that you work alongside them, too.”

“Why?” Xochitl whimpered. “What’s the point of learning magic if you can’t save the people you love from dying?”

“It’s not wise to use magic tricks to avoid life’s difficulties, Xochitl,” Nana replied calmly. “Death is part of life.”

“Well, what if they think we’re weird?” Xochitl sniffled a little. “First you wanted me to have friends, and now you’re willing to scare them off.”

“We are weird,” Nana said matter-of-factly. “Who would want to be normal?”

Sometimes Xochitl thought her nana had forgotten what it was like to be a teenager.

“Come back with your friends in fifteen minutes,” Nana said.

Xochitl took a deep breath and returned to Marina’s room, where her nana’s new apprentices were awaiting the news. “She said to be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“Oh my gosh, this is so cool!” Fern squealed. “I’m so excited. Let’s eat something.” She got up and led the way to the kitchen.

“Why do you always eat when you’re nervous? If I did that I’d never fit into my jeans,” Marina asked as she and Xochitl followed Fern.

“Dunno.” Fern shrugged. “But it works for me. I’ll make quesadillas.”

Fern whipped together the first quesadilla and handed it to Xochitl on a plate. Xochitl tore off a corner and took as long as possible to chew, gnawing on it until the cheese dissolved. Fifteen minutes could take forever, as far as Xochitl was concerned.
They have no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into,
she thought. Stalling for more time, she started to pick individual pieces of melted cheese off the plate.

“Come on, Xochitl, it’s time,” Fern pleaded.

“Okay,” Xochitl grumbled as she pushed herself away from the table. As she led the way, she had the distinct feeling she was walking to her execution. Tentatively, Xochitl pushed open the door to her nana’s room. On the altar sat four glass advent candles: blue, green, white, and red. The heady scent of copal incense filled the air.

From the doorway, Xochitl, Fern, and Marina watched as Rogelia held a bundle of dried sage to the flame of the white candle, which burned brightly in the center of the altar. The sage caught fire. Rogelia blew on the sage to extinguish it and waved the bundle around the altar, letting the smoke waft over all her sacred items.

“Come closer. I don’t bite,” she laughed.

Fern ventured in first, Marina followed, and lastly Xochitl stepped into the room. Xochitl watched Fern and Marina carefully. She fidgeted, shifting her weight from side to side. Nana wielded the ash-tipped torch over Marina, then Fern, like a conductor with his baton. She beckoned to Xochitl. Reluctantly, Xochitl took a few steps forward and allowed Nana to waft the sage smoke around her. Nana gestured for them to sit on the bed after she had blessed each of them with the smoke and kissed their foreheads. Xochitl sat on the bed between Fern and Marina.

Rogelia crushed the sage’s burning leaves in an abalone shell. Slowly, she turned to face the girls, making eye contact with each of them. “Why are you interested in
curanderismo
?” she asked.

“I’ve always been curious about magic,” Fern spoke first. “After we did a ceremony the other night, I began to see a strange light around this guy.”

“Auras,” Rogelia said simply. “You are seeing auras. Auras are a magnetic energy force around people, plants, and every living thing. If you use your ability to see the energy around plants, you can match medicine with sickness.” Rogelia turned her gaze to Marina.