The following day at Lamais remedy and portion shop.

Seana and Bounty

"What yuh mean a jus dat yuh mek?"

Seana stepped back from the man who stared in disdain at her as he shook the small coil of bills at her menacingly.

"What yuh think it mean? Dats all mi get from the batch a remedies mi mek."

"Dis a waste a my time enuh!" he said hissing his teeth but still shoving the coil in his pocket.

"Well yuh muss know this was your idea," she said with indifference even though she was very much afraid of the tall lanky man with the bloodshot eyes and the spliff tail nestled in the corner of his black thick lips.

"Yes an yuh did up to it," he spoke with a cold stare.

A look of defiance washed the attractive features of her face before she masked it with a look of anger. "Well if the gyal Cullayne neva come back yah things wudda up an running the way wi plan."

A look of unmasked interest was displayed on his face and it only increased Seana's dislike for both him and her cousin.

"What a way she grow up gud," he said his interest increasing as he looked out the window into the yard where the very person they spoke of stood talking to a middle-aged man smartly dressed.

Seana glared at him and gave a disgusted grunt as she stood there hating how every male seemed to get all out of sorts with Cullayne. What the hell was so special about her? Unlike her that have all the curves in all the right places with ample assets to match.

First, it was Kemar who really pissed her off because she had deep feelings for him and he seemed more indifferent to her than ever before. 

Then there was that businessman of yesterday who came to pick up his package blatantly ignoring her request to add a few of her selected potions to his purchase, thus her lack of further monetary gain.

When he had return today with two other prominent men to pay over quite a large some of money to Cullayne for readings of their own she had tried with them too but they too had purposefully ignored her.

She could by no means entice them with the promise of sexual enhancement and the monetary increase they would receive from her potions and tonics.

If only Cullayne had not cemented herself as the next Read~er woman by helping Alithia so effectively yesterday she might have been able to have the old crows eating out of her hands.

Keeping her out of the reading room as well was another sore point as that would have helped her to know what oils to entice their money from their pockets with.

"Listen yuh guh watch ar or find a way fi mek di ting work?" she snapped feeling disgusted at the blatant look of lust that outlined his face.

"Mek mi get this straight," he asked turning to her with an inquiring raise of a razor-slit brow. "A your Aunty and cousin an yuh live yah wid dem an yuh expect mi fi tell yuh fi how fi mek dem chuss yuh?"

"Move fra yasso if yuh know dem nuh truss mi why you bring it to mi fi get Lamais fi lef mi in charge?" she asked hating the man before her for knowing exactly where she stood with Lamais.

"Cause mi think you did worth it fi mek weh mi want happen but seem all yuh good fah a fi mek Bryan dig out yuh belly bott---"

"Frig off an gweh," she said cutting him off and cutting her eyes at him ignoring the fact that the man before her had no qualms about being cruel.

He was in front of her in seconds and before she knew it she was pinned against the wall of the shop where she had been packing on the shelves newly bottled remedies.

"Listen lil one day grease can nuh bright up yuhsef wid mi. If yuh know way good fi yuh yuh get Cullayne fi put yuh fi help Miss Shanty and yuh wuk yuh way up to getting wat mi want."

The burning splif was inches away from her cheek and his lanky body pressed her hard into the wall. She swallowed visibly and took a shaky breath but whatever she was going to say only amounted to a hasty nod.

He gave a humourless laugh as he looked down at her. "It seem fra wah a gwaan yuh a nuh d reader weh yuh claim fi be or a yuh wudda a read and a handle d money nuh in a shop a mask yuh oil and potion dem fi mek two shillings."

Seana wanted to tell him she was good at making remedies and verse in the properties of all the roots, leaves  flowers and barks that were used to make the very things he mocked.

If only Lamais was not so high, holy and mighty that she frowned upon using them for obeah.  The stupidity of not making such use of the other aspect of what she did only made her resent her aunt more.

The amount of customers they lost because of her being so adamant about not conducting such an act was totally absurd. She could hear her telling them over and over I choose to do the will of God and use my gift given by Him to perfect His Kingdom. No one is to come here and leave saying I am practising hoodoo..."

She had been tempted to go behind her back and do for those customers what she denied but it was too risky. When she could slip a few portions to a few who were just willing to get some oils and mixtures to aid their purpose she could not perform the full context of the practice.

Her aunt was not a fool and it was with great care that she kept away from her reading her up. She knew she was treading on thin ice by even agreeing to do what Bounty wanted. But he gave her a chance to make something of what she so desired.

It was hard sitting by wanting and waiting for three years to have Lamais take her under her wings and make her work with her side by side to build on the legacy of female readers that graced their family so she did what she had to.

It was just a bitch that Cullayne came back home and took away her chance of having just that. Why the hell did she not stay in Ontario and be the perfect Pastor's wife?

A few months back it seemed Lamais had given up on Cullayne ever coming back to take her place as a reader while she focused more on being the Bishop and her more frequent travelling.

With only her there with the ability to read it had seemed like her dream was coming through and Lamais was finally going to let her fill the role that stood void due to Cullayne's absence.

She was tired of being the bottle washer when she was good and perfect to be the head cook. She loved working with the herbs and plants and brewing the various concoctions but she knew there was more to her than being the next lacky.

She was not going to be the next Shanty. She had dreams of being the next Priestess and no one was going to stop her especially not an unappreciated wench like Cullayne who ran back home with her tail between her legs.

A wondah why though? She thought as she stood there pressed hard against the wall. A wah really mek she come back yah?

"Bounty tek yuh han off a mi," she growled thinking this was something she really needed to know.

If she was to get what she wanted she had to know what card to play.

"Jus mek sure mi get the fifteen gran by Thursday are else a right in a church mi a come Sunday come mash yuh up."

Seana resisted the urge to hiss her teeth and only nodded. The one thing she needed was to make her enemy her friend. It was time she treated her cousin nicely and use her to get where she really needed to go, right in the role of the next Read-er Woman and build a new legacy.

She felt a renewed sense of hope and was basking in the feelings when she heard Cullayne's voice laced with suspicion asked.

"What is going on here?"