He scrolled to the bottom to see it stop at 25. He stopped breathing and Cedrica furrowed, she shook him. "July?"
He pointed at his mother's name. "How do I get in contact with the Touch?"
"Your mama's name is on the list. But it's not like you can call by phone number." said Cedrica. He kept scrolling till he saw 'How to join'
"This coven sends invitations."
Cedrica gasped loudly, "Black market! Uh, fuckin—Brain Society!"
"You think?" he faced her, "I mean, is it like your follower count?"
"Let's make one and snoop!"
He already had an account but he didn't want to prioritize it for this. What if it didn't work?
"What's our user?" he typed in the website. "How about Bloodedup!"
"Something witchy."
"I doubt it matters." Cedrica tapped her chin. "Forest?"
"Go on..."
She rasped, "I don't know use Godelieve's name."
He typed in the box, 'GOLDlikesBLOOD'
"Ok..."
"You're 48. Witches are pretty old." she shrugged.
"What's my birthday?"
"Combo. I was born in April."
"I was born in July." he said. "Four, seven—I need a year."
"Tori was born in october."
He went to typing, "Four, seven, nineteen ninety... eight."
"It's 2020! She's twenty two!"
"1954." he corrected it on the computer. "I need an email." he looked at her. "Make one up."
"Gmail or yahoo?"
Cedrica's mouth hung open, "no one uses yahoo. Just use the regular gmail."
July tapped the keys. "It's asking for a credit card."
"What! Skip it!" she waved her hand in front of the pc frantic. "They might think we're dealers."
"And proof of address. Also, I need a twelve-character password that includes Letters, uppers and lowers, no numbers, and a full word."
Her mouth parted into an O shape, "What?"
"I'm fucking with you..." he tittered.
.
.
.
"What are those idiots doing?" Mokiri gazed at the upper floor, wearing a frown. "What's with that light skin bitch?"
"Hoe shut up! She's just love lorn. Boy crazy..."
"Oh..." Mokiri smirked, "She's fast, you mean?"
Torielle rolled her eyes. Mokiri continued throwing jabs though Cedrica was nowhere in sight. "When I was posing, I heard y'all talk about a nigga named Vijay. That her boyfriend?"
"Too old." said Torielle. "Pedophilie."
"Well, she's fond of him."
"Because he stabs people." Torielle exhaled. "Cedrica doesn't know what love is. She was going on about it while we were running from the imps and those crackheads."
"Love is an emotion." Mokiri stated. "It's not like cake, you don't ingredients."
"Then why do people get married?"
Mokiri sucked on her teeth, "Because they stupid. Being bonded in marriage is dumb. It's a trap because when you get a divorce, you lose half yo mama. That's why we have baby mamas and baby daddies." Mokiri wagged her finger in the air. "You are ratchet! A ratchet dog!" declared Torielle.
"You mad cause I'm right."
"No! You're retarded!"
"It's the thirst trap," she lifted her shoulders. "Like, my daddy was Zeus. Like he told me things..."
Torielle's forehead crinkled, "Zeus the God?"
"It's dog backwards."
"Bitch..."
Torielle had been around Mokiri for far too long. She wanted to put the dog outside. "So, where did you come from?"
"Me?" Mokiri laid her hand upon her chest. "I'm Ghytto."
"You from the streets?"
"Yep!" she grinned, "I was born on Buckspring Plantation House."
"Where's that?"
"Virginian." she nodded happily. "Where I come from, we tough. Like everyday we be fightin'. Tori gasped, beating her chest. Suddenly she was unable to breathe. "Like one time, my mama was fighting this female. She chomped her neck."
"Oh..." this was awkward.
"She was bitin' this big bitch and this bitch cheated in the ring. Like her eyes started glowing and she stood on two legs and punched my mama in the face. But my mama was ok—she ain't sorry ass dog. Like she real out here."
"What?"
Mokiri spoke rapidly, Tori kept her face twisted in great concern. "So, my mama stood up and she was ducking and dodging. I saw it from the fence and niggas was in there throwing money at her. I shouted, I said, "Stop treating my mama like a hoe!"
"Uh..."
"And another time, my mama was put in a kennel with this other dog. He was big and had a bunch of scars just like my mama. But he these nasty teeth and snub nose." tears collected in her eyes. Though she tried to hide it, her voice was a snitch. She choked before she spoke again, "He got on top of her and bit her neck. I heard her scream but I'm puppy and I can't fit through the bars--"
"Girl, stop, you don't have to talk no more." shushed Torielle.
"She kept bleeding and I'm begging the Bow. But—But--" the memories of the fighting ring came with feeling. A wetness slipped down her thigh onto the floor. She stood still, frozen. "Hey! Mokiri?"
Her words reached her but she couldn't move. "Mokiri... what's wrong with you?" Torielle went to grab her arm and she shook her. "Hey!"
All she saw in her head was the grey wolf. Gold chain around his neck. Silver clamps around his paws, his jaw crooked, they said he had hip problems. Fangs grew out his head. She had never seen a wolf that big. Patches across his chest and a budging eye.
The Bow howled and the Kaatcher sounded the bell.
Her mother, a silky brown female wolf with a limp leg. She left the cell to meet, Samanya. His steps wide, as he snorted, a red powder around his nose. Drool escaped his joules like a waterfall. "Introducing the golden breed!" announced the Kaatcher. "This one might be a taker y'all. Bred with a Tibetan Mastiff and Cane Corso. With the soul of Mandingo from the Mandinka. In his human form..."
"Oh, get on with it!" shouted on lookers.
"Standing six feet six, with a bold 57 inch chest, weighting in at 317 pounds."
She stared from her cage. She hopped on the bars, barking excessively, one of the Kaatchers beside the cage beat the poles with a metal rod. "Shut yo ass up," he threatened. She calmed down and focused on her mother.
"My, my," the mangy wolf spoke softly despite his size. "What a pretty beast you are."
"I greet you... though this time is short." said the female wolf. "And is thy name, precious."
"Lesedi... Oyenusi."
"Beautiful.. I may not kill you. I may save you."
Her ears lowered, he stepped to her, "All you have to do... is bow."