“Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn!” I heard my mothers voice echo down the hallway. It seemed she was on the very verge of flipping her lid. I groaned as I looked down and then looked down at the toilet. Pieces of half chewed up chicken, sausage from this morning and bits of egg and corn floated in a light brown broth. Drinking the potion had forced me to empty my stomach.
“Would you mind telling me what mischief you've been up to, young lady?” She said as she popped her head into the bathroom and saw me hunched over the toilet. I blinked and reached up and flushed and sent what remained of my breakfast and lunch down the sewer.
“Cerridwen!” Mom yelled as she noticed me hunched over the toilet seat. She then rushed toward me and tossed her arms around me. She quickly threw her arms around me and felt my head. At that moment another wave of nausea hit me and a few seconds later I was once more emptying my stomach into the toilet.
“Good Goddess girl.” Mom yelled as she reached up and felt my head. “What kind of hellish potion have you tried to brew!” She said as she reached down and tried to pick me up. I could not stand on my own, as my legs felt like rubber.
“A love potion.” I muttered under my breath.
“Oh good Goddess.” My mother said again as she stood me up and marched me to the basin, she then reached over and snatched a white, cotton rag from the counter top, she then turned the cold water tap. She let the water run for a few seconds before she dipped the rag under the flow of cold water. Once the rag was damp she ran it out and started to blot my face and my flushing cheeks. “And I bet you used my grandmother's recipe too?”
I nodded my head, the cold rag refreshed me a little.
“Blood hell.” She muttered. “Who who were you trying to get to love you?” She asked as she guided me out of the bathroom. “Can't be that Bell boy. Lord he will lasso the moon for you if he could and give you all the stars in the night sky.” She said, sighing. “Unless that played out and you've found another boy you fancy. One not so devoted as that Bell boy and so you need a bit of magic to get him worked around your finger.”
“No mom.” I said, taking a deep breath. “Daisy and I are still going together. I mean we're going to the annual Homecoming dance together and I even volunteered to play the 'Hostage' because I knew I'll get a sparkling new dress and two tickets out of it.”
Mom blinked and blinked again as she peered at me. After a few long minutes she just sighed and gently guided me out of the bathroom, she guided me down the hallway toward the kitchen. The potion was still simmering and its smell had now filled the hallway. The smell was like rotten eggs that had been stuffed into sweaty gym socks and left to sour and spoil.
“I think you and I need to have another mother and daughter talk.” She said as she peered at me. “Once you're done throwing up what remains of your breakfast and I'm going to assume lunch.” She said as she watched as I gently started to walk out of the bathroom. “Once you feel like you can keep something down, come find me in the kitchen.”
It took me a few minutes, but after what felt like an eternity, I found the strength to walk into the kitchen. Mom had already discharged the remains of the potion and returned the book to the bookcase. Mom took one look at me, and motioned for me to take a seat at the kitchen table. I took the nearest seat and almost fell into the chair. Then without thinking, I folded my arms on the table and placed my head in them.
“You know.” Mom said as she watched me take a seat. “When I was your age, I tried the same thing. And I felt pretty crappy. Lucky for you the antidote is simple.” She reached into the fridge and pulled out a dark, brown bottle. “Switchel.” She said smiling as she unscrewed the cap and pushed the bottle toward me.
“Switchel?” I said blinking as I sniffed the bottle. It smelled of ginger and honey. Rolling my shoulders I held the bottle up to my lips and took a long sip. And then much to my amazement the sourness that had settled over my stomach seemed to ease a little.
“It's a drink. It's also a kind of potion. It's made by mixing water, pure filtered water, vinegar, ginger and molasses together. Though you can use honey, sugar, brown sugar, or maple syrup. I added a few drops of lemon juice to mine. It's good to help settle the stomach on hot days.” She paused and added with a slight smile. “Or to wash away the taste of a failed love potion from the mouth of a wayward witch who should have known better. And I'm sure I've taught you better too.”
I said nothing and finished nursing the beverage.
“Really Cerridwen.” She said, sighing. “Of all the potions you could have tried to brew, you had to go and try to brew a love potion? That borderline dark magic girl.” She said, “That’s forbidden magic.” She added.
“Why?” I said as I leaned back in my chair.
“Because it does not create love, nothing in this world can create love. All it does is make the drinker feel infatuated for the person who brewed it. And who added some trace of themselves.” She said, sighing. “Trust me, that's a slippery slope.”
“But they seem harmless enough?” I said looking dead at my mom. “I mean most of the cradle stories you told me had a helpful witch brewing a love potion to help a princess win over the heart of some handsome knight or a handsome prince. Some stories also had the knight or prince going to the witch to have her brew the potion so they could win the heart of the fair maiden they longed for.”
“Cerridwen, how old are you?” Mom said as she placed her hand in her head and sighed.
“Fifteen..” I said blinking. “Mom, don't tell me you don't know how old I am?” I said tilting my head in confusion.
“Young lady, I know how old you are. And you're far too be reading those cradle tales.” She said, sighing. “Cerridwen, you were not born a girl, you were born a boy. So there are some things you can not do. Having children is one of them.” She said swallowing hard. “I'm not trying to be mean here. And I know some women I know can't have children, and some women don’t want children. But those who can must be careful. A love potion.. can lead to well.” She paused.
“.. Go on mom..” I said standing up. I walked over to the fridge and pulled out an ice cold can of RC Cola.
“Honey, would you mind getting me on too?” Mom said, sighing as she started to rub her head.
I wanted to say 'You can get it yourself' because of the remark mom threw in about my former life. But I decided to be the better person for the moment and pull out another can of ice cold RC Cola. I handed it to mom who popped the tap and took a long drink.
“About fifty years ago there was this witch who lived in the hollow.” Mom started. “She fell in love with this handsome young man who came from a wealthy family. His father was the board of the directors for Bank of Yazoo.” Mom paused again. “Now not only was his father on the board of directors, but his grandfather was president of the bank. And he had a promising future ahead of him. He was an Eagle Scout, he had also been elected student president. And was valedictorian of the first class to ever graduate from the newly opened Benton Academy. In short he had everything working for him. She on the other hand was working as a carhop down at the local burger joint. According to some she was saving for community college or saving to buy a car or something. Anyway her life was a dull three to closing shift.”
I nodded my head.
“Anyway what happened is one night she spotted this young man in his fancy new car, surrounded by all his handsome and successful friends. And she just fell in love with him. Well she fell in love with his money. Coming from a poor family as most Hollow families are.” Mom paused. “Anyway, according to the story that was passed on to me, she spiked his drink with a love potion that she brewed herself. And as predicted the boy fell in love with her.. for a moment.” Mom
I nodded my head again.
“Of course it was not true love, it was false love, a feeling of love made by the magic of the potion. And it caused quite the scandal around town. And for a while this girl became the belle of high society. She was taken to all the fancy dinners and shown off. And this could have kept going till the day they died if she had just kept feeding him the love potion. But then something happened. The girl happened to become pregnant and she was overjoyed. She thought at last she had trapped the boy of her dreams. That if anything he was honor bound to stay with her, if not for love, for the life that was growing in her.” Mom said, sighing. “She’d been reading way too many fairy tales. It’s too common for a boy to get a girl pregnant and then vanish on her. Way too common indeed.
“I see.. I think I know where this is going..” I said, taking a deep breath.
“Let me finish.” Mom said, taking a deep breath. “So she stopped giving the boy the love potion. And what happened, the moment the effects of the magic wore off. The boy dropped her like a hot stone, and broke the girl's heart. Leaving her heavily pregnant with a child.” Mom paused. “The girl did not really want the baby, so got rid of it. So she went to a back alley clinic located in the bad part of Benton and they used a coat hanger to perform and abortion on the baby.. but because it was an back alley clinic the girl suffered horribly and bleed out on the table and died.”
I blinked and blinked again.
“That's why you have to be careful around love potions dear.” Mom said. “It's borderline dark magic. And improper use of them can lead to wella tragedy and tarnish the name of witches everywhere.” Mom then stood up. “And trust me, we don’t want a modern day Salem Witch trial on our hands.”
“So now that you've heard my story, I need to ask you one question. Why were you brewing a love potion in the first place?” Mom asked as she peered at me.
“I was..” I said blinking in quick succession. “I was planning to sell them to some classmates since Homecoming is just around the corner and many of the girls are wanting to get a certain boy to ask them out. I figured I could get twenty dollars a pop for them and become popular?” I said, shrugging my shoulders.
Mom sighed.
“Cerridwen.. that is the most..” She paused. “That is the most.. Cerridwen you and I need to continue this discussion in private.” She said as she stood up. “Come on my wayward daughter, let's get this over with so I can start on dinner. Daddy will be home in a few hours and I like to have something prepared for him when he gets off.”
To be continued.
