Tuesday Teaser

Now that my early chapter book is in the query pool, I began work again on my MG paranormal, THE BRACELET'S CALL.  So I figured I'd share what I'm doing with it right now.  You'll notice that besides the paranormal aspect, there's also some multicultural tension brought in with the MC's best friend, Migizi.

“Uh, your grandfather knows I’m coming, right?” I asked, jumping off the last step to the slush below.

“Nope.”  Migizi gave me a sly smile.  I swear he loved putting me in uncomfortable situations just to see me squirm.  He’d argue he was helping build my backbone. 

“Jerk.”

“You love me.”

I felt a nervous giggle rise up, but held it back, instead focusing on tiptoeing around the slushpuddles.  Migizi trudged right through, obviously not caring if his feet got wet.

Before entering the house, I wiped my shoes on the ominous Go Away mat his grandfather left out to scare away Jehovah’s Witness people.  According to Migizi, it worked.

A strong smell of pine trees and mouthwash met my nose as I walked into empty low-ceilinged living room.  “Where’s your grandfather?”

Migizi sniffed the air.  “Most likely in the sweat lodge.  He wasn’t feeling well this morning.”

The “sweat lodge” was a tin shed behind the house.  I glanced at the eagle shaped clock in the kitchen.  It was four-seventeen.  “How long’s he gonna be?  My mom’s picking me up at five.”

Migizi shrugged.  “Depends what time he went out.  Do you want to go check?”

I pulled my face back.  “Huh?  As if!”  Like I’d ever want to see his grandfather shirtless.

“Kidding!” he said, patting me on the shoulder.  “I’ll be right back.”

Migizi disappeared down a narrow hallway, leaving me alone in the living room.  I turned a full circle, observing the clutter around me.  A bookcase sat against one wall, its shelves packed with worn, hardcover books, and bright colored throws lay haphazard on the furniture.  The blankets looked soft but I knew from experience how rough they were.  The centerpiece of the room was a feathered headdress set over the top of the couch.  Migizi said it’d been passed down in his family for generations.   

Nothing had changed in all the years of coming here.  I took a step forward, my foot bumping into a pile of magazines.  I picked up the top copy of Tribal Tribune, and thumbed through the pages.  It was mostly boring articles on politics.  I tossed the magazine back down on the pile and wrapped my arms around myself.  How did Migizi live in a place like this?  His grandfather seemed obsessed with keeping their heritage alive and Migizi was so...not.

I tried to imagine living in a house surrounded by pilgrim artifacts.  Miniature Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria ship figurines and pictures of people dressed in funny hats and shoes.  It was kind of silly, really.  Migizi was right.  Why couldn’t his grandfather just get over it and be American?

I heard the back door open and Migizi popped his head around the corner, followed by his tall-as-a-building grandfather.  I don’t know if it was the man’s height, his piercing black eyes, or the perpetual scowl on his face that scared me more.  And Migizi thought I needed a backbone.  I was here, wasn’t I?  That took guts of steel.

Migizi glided over to me and lifted my wrist to show his grandfather.  “And I saw it light up with my own eyes,” he said.  “Like magic almost.”

The old man brushed a finger over the symbol embroidered into the beadwork.  A startled expression entered his eyes and he choked out, “Where did you find this?”

“A-at school,” I stammered.

“Have you seen it before, Grandpa?”

He didn’t speak for a moment and Migizi and I exchanged glances.  Before I could blink, the man’s large hands were on my shoulders, pushing me toward the door.  “Your friend must leave this house at once and never return.” 

“B-but-”

“Her mom’s not here yet,” argued Migizi.  “She can’t stand out in the cold!”

The man ignored his pleas and kept shoving me forward.  Soon the door slammed behind me and I was left standing on the Go Away mat, the unwelcoming wind slapping me in the face.

I could hear arguing from inside and my heartbeat throbbed in my ears.  I hadn’t expected that reaction.  Geez, it was like Migizi’s grandfather thought I was cursed or something.  I gulped as the possibility entered my head.  Cursed?