Breakup from Hell by Ann Dávila Cardinal

Author:Ann Dávila Cardinal [Cardinal, Ann Dávila]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2022-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

XIII

Those who practice magic arts . . .

—Revelation 22:15

I open my door and listen. I can hear Abuela snoring from her bedroom. I tiptoe toward the front door, then decide to make a detour and grab my black knit cap from the coat hook. As I’m tucking my mass of hair under the wool, I notice she’s put a new quote on the board: ‘Woe to the obstinate children,’ declares the Lord. Isaiah 30:1

Subtle, Abuela. Subtle.

I slip out the front door and I’m glad I decided to ditch my hoodie at the last minute. It’s warm as a midsummer night out here. I jog up toward the coffee shop, wishing I could go for a run instead, just do something normal. With all that’s going on, I’ve been off my routine, and I can feel it in my tightened leg muscles. Not to mention my anxiety.

Zee’s car is sitting in front of the shop, and I slide into the passenger seat to find her smiling at me.

“What’s with the hat? We cat-burglaring him too while we’re at it?”

I grin. “You never know.”

Zee backs out and inches the car through town.

I look out the window at the shuttered storefronts, the empty sidewalks. Even the six-foot stuffed bear in front of Shaw’s looks sleepy beneath his fishing hat.

We turn onto Mountain Road, and as we pass the first few hotels, it hits me how little Stowe has changed throughout my life. “Think about it, Zee: we know who owns each and every one of these businesses; we even went to school with half their kids.”

“We do, and we did. Why does that matter?”

“It doesn’t. Wait, no, it kind of does matter. I never thought about how safe and familiar this all is, you know?”

She looks at me, then back at the road. “Is this about UCLA, or about the next-level goings-on?”

I sigh. “A little of both, I think.”

“Cottage Club Road, right?”

“Yeah.”

We turn onto the road and pass the Alchemist Brewery, the yeasty smell of hops heavy in the air.

Zee glances at a house number across the street. “This one is number four hundred and two. What’s the address?”

I grin at her. “Um, Cottage Club Road?”

“You don’t know where he’s staying?”

“He said he’s renting a house here.” She’s staring at me, so I do a small shrug and look out the windows as we start going uphill. “I’ve never been so far on this road before.”

As we drive, I begin to feel a slight pressing on my chest, like a shadow of fear is passing over my heart. I take a deep breath and try to center myself, like in tae kwon do. In my gut, I know Sam is the reason why my world is turned upside down, but a part of me is hoping that I’m wrong. I would never say this to anyone else, not even Zee, but in some ways, Sam has been good for me. But I feel guilty even thinking that.

The scenery thins out, and the businesses

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