Winter approached. By early November Jahil had contracted pneumonia. He had and intense fever and a horrible cough. He had tried to keep going to work, but that day he had collapsed on his way to his truck. After school my mother was in her bedroom grading papers, and Austin had gone to the gym. I pulled down a few of my mother's notebooks for a recipe that would help Jahil. I found a recipe for a broth made with root vegetables, small amounts of toxic flowers and lots of salt. I had seen my mother make it once for a neighbor with a sick baby. But when my mother made it, the liquid sparkled; the steam rose up in waves that felt like electricity.
When I made it, the liquid was black and tasted like tar.
Austin appeared behind me covered in sweat. He yanked the book out of my hands. "Wow, you really can't cook."
"Hey, give that back!"
Austin raised his hand creating a pink transparent force field around himself.
When I kicked the force-field my foot made a clanging sound, as if kicking a car door.
"You can be such a pain in the ass," Austin muttered. He fixed the broth by simply waving his hand over the small pot.
"Shouldn't you be out working on your abs?"
Austin glared at me. "Look at the clock- I've been gone for over an hour!" He put the broth in a mug. "Go make yourself useful and order us a pizza."
"It's not my fault I don't have magic," I cried.
Austin sighed. "Yes it is."
"What's that supposed to mean? I don't have magic because I wasn't born with magic!"
Austin shook his head, rubbing his temples. "How blind can you be? I know you've touched him! I know you've seen the golden energy!"
I followed him down the hall. "How blind can YOU be? You were the one who let Elena feed on him!"
Austin punched the wall "Shut up Sunny! Just shut up!"
I could hear my mother's voice. "Austin baby, are you okay?"
Austin stomped off in the direction of her bedroom.
"Don't cry," my mother said. "Take your clothes off and let your sugar mama make everything alright."
This is such bullshit. I made my way to the living room. Jahil was sitting up, on the sofa. The mug was in front of him, along with five pills. "Do me a favor and flush those down the toilet."
I recognized the pills as a certain illegal street drug. "Did Austin give them to you?"
Jahil leaned back, taking the cup. "His intentions were good, I just don't want them." Jahil took a sip of the broth. He struggled to swallow but managed to get a few sips down before going into a coughing fit.
I took the cup from him. "Relax, lay back all the way." I put a pillow under his head as he lay on the sofa. I unbuttoned his dark blue work shirt, revealing his dark muscular chest. I caressed my lips to his. But there were no sparkles of energy, not a single one. "Damn it, this is the fifth day in a row! It can't be all gone!"
Jahil stopped me. He motioned for me to lie on his chest. "Sunny, I will forever be grateful for your kindness."
* * *
The day after thanksgiving Elena awoke laughing. Instead of going to work she tossed Austin her keys and started to walk down the road in the direction of the movie theatre. "Austin, what's wrong with my mother?"
Austin unlocked the minivan to drive us to school. "Something I've only read about: she's overdosing on red magic. I have no idea what's going to happen but we can only hope she comes out of it."
"Comes out of it?" Jahil's magic had transformed her. There was no way she was simply coming out of it.
Austin opened the passenger door for me. "No matter what happens, we need to protect our parents. I know a lot more about magic then you do, which is still not very much. But I need to know that you trust me."
I could hear the fear in his voice. Something bad was going to happen, in the immediate future. "Jahil told me your mother was psychic, are you?"
Austin turned on the ignition and backed out of the driveway. "Why did he tell you that?"
"I don't know! He just kind of volunteered the information. It was something special about her."
Austin sighed, "It's also the reason she's dead."
As he pulled into traffic Austin changed the subject. "You know Sunny I thought you were the one. But if you can't figure out how to save my father, he was never meant to be yours."
I did love Jahil, and in my heart I knew what he was talking about.
* * *
That night we all ate dinner in silence. My mom had somehow made it back from the movies and ordered Chinese take-out. She sat on Austin's lap eating noodles out of a paper box as they watched television. I motioned for Jahil to come to my room "I need your help; I don't know what to do. I need to understand, what's wrong with my mother."
Jahil wore a heavy winter coat that formerly belonged to my father. "Sunny, do you know what a succubus is?"
I motioned for him to take a seat on my bed. "I know she's been feeding on you."
"She has, but her cravings are not fully to blame for my current condition. There was an accident at work- a rig collapsed crushing my chest. I used my powers to get out from under the car. But the pain, with my cough it's even worse. That's why my healing energy has been disappearing at such a rapid rate."
I placed my hand on his thigh, even through his jeans I could feel the muscles of his leg were in spasm. "Lay down Jahil, just relax." I undid his belt opening his jeans. I lowered them to caress his thigh.
I knew what I had to do. I had to treat him myself. As long as my mother stopped feeding on him his body could have a chance to heal. I focused on his scars, I kissed his inner thigh. Once then twice- I began to suck on his skin, as if trying to leave a bruise. I could hear him moaning. I could feel his hand grasping at my hair: I needed to go further.
