Capítulo Uno: A Sea of Good Fortune
"Raven, are you sure that this is the right train to Barcelona Centre?" I asked, pulling two heavy suitcases behind me. She was walking fast ahead of me and then stopped abruptly.
"Mira," she said as she turned to me, "have I ever lead you astray?" She asked.
"No you actually haven't." I responded with an assuring smile. She rolled her eyes playfully.
"Then what the hell are we waiting for? It's time to go party!" The two of us rushed off then rushed off to get onto the train.
When we got to Barcelona Center, I damned near cried because of how beautiful it was. We were surrounded by beauty. The bright sky beamed over modern architecture and vast gardens, and the whole city was teeming with culture. The smell of paella simmering and he sound of people laughing and talking along with the cool beach breeze pervaded the air. I was hooked. It was love at first sight.
As the two of us walked around the town in search of little trinkets and souvenirs to christen our apartment, a small, Spanish marketplace caught my eye.
"Hey, Raven, let's go here! They probably have tons of stuff that would be way cheaper than on the main strip." I said with a smile. She looked at the small alleyway and frowned.
"I don't know hon. Judging by the traffic going in and out of there, not many people are going or leaving, and if they are they look extremely suspicious."
"Oh don't be a Negative Nancy," I said, giving her a playful tap on the shoulder, "trust, me we'll be fine. Just come with me." Against her will, I pulled her into the alleyway and ignored her pleas. However, despite my curiosity, she was right. The marketplace did seem a bit…odd. Everything about it, from the fruit stands to the cigar stores seemed, in their own unique ways, ominous. We strolled through the alleyway, getting stared down by several suspicious characters. Suddenly as we neared the end of the alleyway, there was strong smell of sweet perfume. Mesmerized by the smell, I followed it intently.
Miraculously, the smell seemed to end at fortuneteller's shop. Raven shook her head.
"Don't tell me you want to go into that place." She sighed. I nodded my head and walked into the building. Reluctantly she followed me. Inside the building was a small room, filled with extremely old furniture, a caged crow with a glass ball strapped around its neck, and books titled in different, foreign languages stacked by the cage. In the center of the room was a small table with three chairs and a crystal ball. However, the fortuneteller was nowhere to be found. Suddenly as Raven began to look through one of the books, the crow began to caw loudly. All of a sudden, an old, chubby woman, clad in a floral, black sleep-robe and bedroom slippers charged into the room.
"María, ¿no ves que estoy tratando de dormi-oh Hola señoritas! Please have a seat!" The old woman laughed nervously and rushed back into the back room, and we sat down in front of the crystal ball. Five minutes later she came in with a gypsy woman outfit, complete with the headscarf and one gold earring. She smiled at us and sat down on the other side of the crystffal ball.
"Hola again, my name is Señora Feliciana, also known as Abuela Feliciana. Out of all the beautiful places in Barcelona, what brings you here?" she asked sweetly, her thick, Spanish accent pooling from every word she spoke. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Tell me about it." She mumbled under her breath. I nudged her and then put my attention back onto Señora Feliciana.
"Well, I came to get my fortune told. I'm hoping it's all good things!" I chimed. She chuckled at my statement.
"Well, dear, give Abuela your hand." Without a qualm (which at this point Raven had many) I gave her my hand. She inspected it intently, humming and grunting at all the things she found. After three minutes of just looking at my palm. She rubbed my hand softly and placed it onto the table. She looked grimly at it as if something just died.
"I see dark future! I see trouble and strife and darkness. But none the matter; Let Abuela help you with that…but with a small price. Two euro!" I dug into my purse and got out the money. She snatched from my hands and then put it in her bra. She smiled at me.
"Now were we, oh yes, I see a bright future, dear. I see much romance and opulence in the upcoming weeks. I also see that you aspire to be doctor , but you and your friend here are great writers. You will have trouble getting a job, but none the matter. I will make you the best writers Spain has ever seen! But first, I must make a deal! If I grant you all of your desires, you shall have to do me one small favor." She chimed. I paused for a minute to think about it. Raven shook her head at me with disdain and disagreement, but I decided to go along with it. I nodded my head in agreement.
"It's a deal! Now I just need you to sign this paper, which I will get for you now. Ay, Pepe, llevas el contrato de aquí! (Pepe, bring the contract out here!) Chop-chop!" Then out of the back room came a dwarfish, stubby man with a hump in his back. His face was covered in warts, and he had the most hideous, pointy nose in the world. Why does every gypsy have a hunchback for an assistant?
Pepe hobbled over to us and yanked a strand of hair from both of us, having to reach high on me because I had short hair. He then threw the contract onto the table and then hobbled back into the room with the hair, grumbling in Spanish. Raven was fuming.
"Hey, what the hell was that for? I don't want you doing any voodoo shit with my hair!" The fortuneteller fanned at her reassuringly.
"No, we promise we won't. We're a clean service. The hair was just for us to make…the spell, yes the good fortune spell. Now, you and your friend have no need to worry. After she signs this contract all of your worries will be over! Ok now mira; sign here, here and here." She handed me an ink pin, and I began to sign away, smiling at the thought of my impending future. Abuela cackled a little and then put the contract back in her bra.
"So will, I ever have to come back?" I asked. She nodded.
"Yes, after the first full moon of agosto, come back to me, and I will read you your fortune again. If anything I will give you a call to check up on you." I smiled and shook the woman's hand.
"Well, muchas gracias, Señora, I hope to hear from you soon." She smiled at me.
"Well, it's my pleasure, and trust me, you will hear from me very soon."
The two of us walked out of the shop and went back to the main street of Barcelona. Again, Raven was pissed.
"Chandra Mariah Jones… what the hell were you thinking? We're out in a place that's far from home, and you do fucked up things like signing voodoo shit! You don't know, you could be selling your soul to el Diablo himself!" I looked at her.
"And? What if I did? At least I know we get good fortune in return! Hey, I thought you didn't believe in all of that stuff anyway." I gave her a coy smile. You see, Raven can be quite hypocritical when it comes to controversial topics. For example, she doesn't believe in God, but she believes that a "higher power" created everything.
"Well, uh, you know I don't believe in that palm reading mess, but I do believe in black magic. Listen, actually, right now the only thing I believe in is Sangria and some tapas. You wanna go eat?" she asked. I thought about it.
"You know what? Let's just go to the apartment and freshen up a bit and then go out for drinks and tapas." She nodded.
"Ok, I'm game."
We waited near the edge of the sidewalk to get a cab, and then we were off to our apartment.
