POV Narrator:
Friday 20 July 2018, New York, United States of America
Diana finally found her mother, which could be a great new beginning for Cavendish's life as she has been discovering new things. In this time Akko had also received a letter from Amanda, where she bought a ticket for Kagari to spend a few days in the United States, to visit O'Neill, since in a few days her parents would travel again, leaving the family home free for visits, in this the American took the opportunity to invite some more people for this visit. Atsuko took the opportunity to pack her bags and with all the excitement of the world she went on this trip to visit her friend, since it would still be free, even more spending some holiday time with another friend.
POV Amanda:
I arrive at the airport, I wait for the girls, luckily their flight arrives at the same time, I hold the sign, the first to pass by is Hannah, which I hug her, giving a kiss then, how I missed those lips, then Jas and Cons arrived together, I hug them both, still waiting for Akko.
"Are more people coming?" Hannah asks.
"Ah cat, just one more, I invited four to come and visit me here" I tell her.
Soon Akko appears, she waves to me, she must have taken a lot of sun these days, she is even a little more brown than usual that I see her, when I arrive I give her a hug and a handshake, now we are all gathered here, I can't wait to go home, I'll show them everything.
"I'm glad you all came, I've been waiting for you a lot, it will be great to have fun here with you"
"I could call Diana too" Akko said and I don't want to be left in the lurch, but it was for another reason.
"Hmmmmm, you wanted Diana around here to pick her up a little bit, didn't you? I won't tease too much hahaha, Cavendish told me she didn't want to go, when I invited her, she said she is settling with her mother, which is very good, finally she being able to see who the mysterious other mother is, did you guys get to see it?" I say the girls.
"Yes, she is very beautiful, there are even photos with her and her sister, the two of them are not that much alike, but you can see that everything is going well, I'm just worried that it seems that her aunt has returned to the attack, then you know how it is" Akko said.
"Well come on, you must be tired of carrying all these bags, I made sure to come with the family Bronco to bring everyone" I tell them.
"Do you drive?" Akko said in shock.
"I got my driver's license as soon as I stepped foot here, since I turned 16 in March, I took the opportunity to get my license, look how cool it is" I say showing my driving licence to the girls.
We walked through the airport, arriving at the car park, the New York air, a summer day even a little colder than yesterday, became very mild, we arrived at the old Ford Bronco that my grandma has had for a long time, where I opened the boot and there is enough room to put everybody's bags without being short of space, besides fitting all the girls' seats, Hannah was in the front seat beside me and the girls in the back.
"What a huge car Amanda" Akko said impressed.
"The Bronco? There are much bigger cars around here, this one is even a bit old, my grandmother bought it when my mother was still a child, it is still with us today, anyway, welcome to the new York" I tell the girls.
We are passing through the traffic, the girls are looking out the window, enchanted with the landscape, mainly because there is the Statue of Liberty to be seen from afar, I am passing the bridge, driving through Manhattan, the girls are enchanted with the enormous buildings around them, the cars passing by, the trucks, it seems that they have never passed through a city in their lives.
"I get crazy enough in London, but this here is crazy," Hannah said.
"It reminds me of Tokyo, only it's not full of huge cars like here, how can you walk without being afraid of cars coming close, and even more these pickups" Akko said.
"I live in Queens, it may not seem like it, but you will be impressed when you get there" I tell them.
Even more so because I always gave the impression of being a girl from Harlem, but in reality I'm not that humble, mainly because I'm the daughter of those two... I'm glad they went to Hawaii and the bastards didn't want to take me with them.
Here as always busy and full of cars, Manhattan is always like this, I can't wait to get home soon and be more at peace, the girls themselves are taking pictures and filming, I love how they get amazed with anything.
When they arrive at Amanda's house...
We finally arrived, there wasn't much traffic after crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and the neighborhoods themselves, it always ends up slowing down around here, the girls look amazed by the size of the house, especially because the whole neighborhood was also rich, I hope it doesn't give the impression of being a rich girl, I hate to look like that, I park the car and we go downstairs.
"Wow! Amanda, do you live in this house?" Akko said in shock.
"I don't like to be remembered as rich, but my parents are very rich, this is just one of the houses, unfortunately I live in this hole.
"It's a nice house Amanda, you had already told me that your family was a bit rich, on the bright side the house has plenty of room" Hannah said picking up her bag.
"But it's an empty house, a house that gives me fear and makes me have bad memories, I just keep thinking about the bad things that have happened because of it"
"We can make these memories change" Hannah said with her hand on my shoulder wanting to calm me down.
From there we walked around the inside of the house and there was my grandmother simply wiping one of the guns that she was taking care of at the time, which was kind of scaring my friends, also, an old lady with a gun, she soon stops what she was doing and looks at us, going with the biggest smile of the world.
"Mandy! So these are the girls? Welcome to the O'Neill house" said my Granny.
"Oh, Grandma, I'll introduce them to the house. Can I take them to our cottage in Maine tomorrow? There's not much to do here in New York" I tell her and she shrugs.
"That's fine with me, as long as you take care of yourselves and be careful Amanda, you won't break anything in there, you know that your parents will talk a lot" said my grandma.
"Like they care about me" I say laughing.
"They may call a little yes, but things of value are important, sense then, ah and drive carefully, on the road it's not like walking in the city" and I'm already getting more anxious.
Then the girls are kind of waving to my grandma until she nicely gives us a thumbs up and we go to our room to leave our bags before we have to pick them up again tomorrow, my huge room, which they are impressed, they had no idea.
"Amanda, you live better than us in Luna Nova, I'm still perplexed, I expected you to be, I don't know... Be a Harlem or Brooklyn girl, but not from a place like that, you live pretty well," Hannah said.
"I would rather be poor living in Harlem having a family that loves me than rich and loveless, my parents pretend I don't exist, I am merely seen as a failure to them, who always still talk as if I am a mistake, an accident, that I prevented them from enjoying, only my grandmother who is the only nice person who treats me like a daughter" I tell them.
"It seems that this is common in all families of witches" Akko said.
"Not everyone can have a perfect life, unfortunately that's how things are, come on I'll show you the rest" I tell the girls.
We left my room and I showed the rooms next door that were also with a certain luxury, then we reached the kitchen, here is always very empty, mainly because we don't have servants in the house, the cleaning is done periodically with someone we call, the luxurious dining room, seriously how this place has to always look like this, the family trophy room, where some of mine are also there.
"Queens elementary academy baseball champion, our Mandy, you really didn't lie when you said you played" Hannah said.
"That was a while ago, before I was forced to be a witch, my goal was to be a Baseball player, I was the best at pitching and the best at using the bat in the whole school, everyone thought I was awesome, I even had long hair... I decided to cut it as a sign of revolt when my parents put me in Luna Nova" I say showing them my big hair picture.
"You look good either way Amanda" England said being affectionate.
"Oh thank you Han, at last there is not much to show besides empty rooms, outside there is also something or other too" I say already starting to leave the trophy room.
We walk outside and there was a pool which was quite dirty, it's been a while since we called someone to clean it, my parents just abandoned it, the girls even look a bit disgusted.
"One thing about those who have a pool at home... Nobody uses the house pool, I've emptied it a few times to go skateboarding, my parents were annoyed, then they filled it up again, just to use it for a day and then leave it abandoned, the house always has to be in accordance with them" I say showing the pool.
"Wow, it would be nice to swim in it if it was clean, its decoration is beautiful, but it gets very sloppy" Akko said.
"The best of all is that it has a Jacuzzi too, unfortunately it's also where my parents use to catch themselves and I've ended up a few times accidentally running into them in the middle of the night doing things... And they already saw me and didn't care, it seems that after I was born, I cursed them to never have another child haha" I tell them that they get a bit of a shocked face.
Then I show the tennis court of the house, which is pretty dull, my mum kind of likes it here too much, I even know the reason, I think I'll gossip to the girls just for fun, but it's kind of obvious that.
"The tennis court, this is where my mother cheats on my father from time to time, she calls the coach and I've caught her cheating on this coach many times, but it's not like my father is an underdog, he cheats on my mother all the time too, both of them are no good and they know it, I just wait for the day they catch each other cheating"
"Amanda that's awful, how can you laugh at something like that?"- Hannah said.
"This is the O'Neill family, so I don't get attached to it, only my grandma who is nice" I tell them.
After walking on the tennis court we pass by the backyard, where I get to the garage, just to show the family cars and some of the nice things I have too, like my bike and my skateboards, the cars themselves I don't give a damn, it's just an appearance thing, only my car I make a point of showing, my beautiful Toyota Supra that I found very cheap.
"I have never seen one of these up close, it is like something very rich, I have seen it above, but a Ferrari like this? This is something for very rich people" Akko said, impressed with my father's convertible Ferrari.
"Ah this is my father's old Ferrari, I don't recommend touching it, he hates that anyone touches a finger on his Ferrari, he said he spent a fortune and I don't doubt it, this one you can touch, it's the Toyota Supra that I bought with the pocket money I gathered, but I will still touch it, this one here is my bike, I tried to practice MotoCross when I was younger too, it was with this other mini bike, but my mother forbid it and I went to Luna Nova" I say showing the things of the house.
Then I walked back inside, where we stayed in the living room and there my grandma was sitting kind of watching TV, and the girls sat on the other sofas, still impressed with so much luxury.
"You've never seen it all, have you? I'm not used to it since Melina married George, we used to live in Maine until my daughter married George, who I could never trust. We lived quite simply before, the O'Neill family origins are much more interesting than you think"
"Look I'm used to it, but not to the idea of Amanda being like this..." Hannah said.
"Ohhh it's a long story, my son-in-law is a "businessman" who married my daughter who at the time was a secretary in his office, I remember she moved here, but it was still in a humble flat, only that interest rose and today they are together, before that the O'Neills were different, I miss how it was... We are Irish descendants, the O'Neills came here when we were McLaren, we were great-granddaughters of Victoria and we fled to America when the great famine came, we settled here and until my generation we used the old surname, my mother herself had, until she passed on her wife's O'Neill, but I am proud of the family origins, I keep reminding this girl that we are Irish" said my grandmother remembering the family traditions.
"I'm even proud, it's family stuff that I like, I even want this cool part back, but my parents only spoil it" I tell the girls.
"So Mandy, go out and change that, make your journey, show that you're not like them" said my grandma stroking my head.
"I will do it Granma, I don't want to be remembered by them, you know how I feel just remembering" I tell them.
Amanda spent the time of that day talking to her grandmother and the girls, about the family's past, until they decided to go to their room where they spent their time playing on the O'Neill's PS4, enjoying themselves for what's to come the next day, where they wake up bright and early and take a long drive arriving at the family's cottage in Maine...
We finally arrived, now that things are going to get interesting, I pull the bronco close to the house, which is a little simpler than the other one and I open it with the key, I pull the power lever and let's enjoy it, there is even internet here, since my parents don't mind throwing away their money, we get in and the house is well kept, a little dusty I would say.
"Cleanse" I say using the cleanse spell, which leaves everything in order.
"Even the cottage is big" Akko said, you will love it here, do you know how to fish? - I will ask them because that is the coolest thing to do here.
They get a bit confused, then I leave the bags in the rooms, with Hannah staying with me and the girls staying with the others of their choice, I stayed exactly where my parents' room would be, I take the opportunity to go downstairs, where they sit on the sofa and were installing the PS4.
"Who wants to come with me to catch a fish, so that we can prepare what will be our lunch? - I tell them
"I want to fish!" Akko said excitedly.
"I admit I've never done it, but I want too" Hannah said.
"I'll leave the food ready to make the fish later" Jas said and cons replied pointing at the TV going to kind of play on my PS4, so I'll kind of go with Hannah and Akko.
We leave the house, I go to another counter where the fishing rods were, I get one by one for them, then I get the box of hooks, I walk to where the compost is and I'm already looking at the earth, I'm kind of using a clothespin to cover my nose, I put on a glove and I'm filling the tin can with worms, which I'm getting out of there, showing the girls, and I also got some ham and a tin can with other baits, in this case I like to use the worms.
"Ewww mandy, you're going to use worms" Hannah said as I held up the pot.
"Would you like some?" I say laughing.
"Disgusting Amanda! Take that thing away" she said disgustedly as I laughed.
Then we walk to the pier in front of the house, we get into the boat and I pull the engine, but it wouldn't start, things were already prepared and I was forgetting something, but soon I see that there is a gallon in it, I shake it and notice that there is still petrol.
"Great, there's still fuel left" I say, already putting it in the boat's engine.
"I didn't know you had a boat or that you could sail one" Akko said, until the engine finally started.
"My grandmother taught me, many of the lessons I learned from her, my parents never came here and it was very rare, I always came here to learn how to fish and about the family's past, she told me a lot of things, that's why I have an attachment to this place"
"Ohhhhhhhh, I'd love to hear more about it, your grandma sounds like a really wonderful person" Hannah said.
"She is, my grandmother is the kind of person I have as an image, she always taught me things and mainly, she told me that I should not obey the rules if they are unfair, that I have to question the system, that's why I have this way of mine, and now I think it's good, there are plenty of fish around here, now we just have to be patient" I tell them, already taking the fishing rod and starting to set the bait.
"I have fished a few times in Japan, going with my parents and Keiko, but never with rods like this" Akko said.
"It is very simple, you just pull the reel when the fish bite, then you go rotating in a direction you take it more down, in another you leave it more up, when it bites you pull it to the direction that goes up and also use the arms, ah and do not forget to always look at the buoy, it indicates when the bait was bitten" I explain to them.
I made the first bait with a worm, I started to unload the line on the side, waiting for the fish to come and take the bait, I looked at the girls and Akko was all clumsy trying to put the worm, she even made one fall in the water and I was laughing, then she got another one, Hannah put a small cube of ham as bait, she put it well, then she put it in the water.
"Is that so?" England asks and I nod.
"Now we just have to wait, when the fish come, put them in this net, just be careful because these fish jump a lot"
Soon I feel the line being pulled, seeing the buoy pulled, I notice that it is a beautiful fish, I start to pull the line, spin the reel, this one will not escape me, it must have hooked me, I keep pulling more, until finally the damn comes close, a catfish, how nice, this one is delicious and has plenty of meat, besides being a little heavy, which I catch nicely and leave in the net, even with him struggling.
"The first one has already come - I tell them and see Hannah already pushing.
"Mandy! - She said.
I help her by holding her hand and this also seems to be a big catfish, I help her with the pulling force while she focused on turning the reel, until the fish arrived and it was a huge catfish, I was shocked with the size of the creature, wow, this is a big one, I get close to Hannah and she is a little bit disgusted to catch it.
"Come on Han, you need to pick it up to take in the net" I tell her.
"His skin is strange" She said getting up the courage to pick it up.
"Look, that's how it is, but there you go, Han, you caught your first fish, let's put it in the net" I say excitedly.
"I got one! What the hell!" Said Akko who had caught a trout the size of her hand which is not so small.
"Ah a trout, we caught a different fish, it's already valid Akko, you can put it there" I say all happy and she, when she was about to put the trout, it sort of slips out of her hand, the Japanese girl tries to catch it, but the fish slips and falls in the water, which I could not stand and started to laugh.
"Hahahahha, only you yourself Akko, how can you be so unlucky like that?" I say laughing.
"Wow Akko even I in disgust managed to get the catfish into the net, it's not that difficult" Hannah also said laughing.
"This trout tricked me, but you see, I'm going to get a bigger one" she said confidently.
We go fishing again, this time Hannah who catches one and I even look at her smiling, she came with a salmon, this is the best she has, I didn't even know they still had them around here, which she carefully leaves in the net.
"This one is good Han, salmon are delicious, let's try to get more of these" I say excitedly.
We keep going and I finally see my bait being taken, when I go to see it and pull it out I see a trout, the same one that escaped from Akko's hand, which I take the opportunity to take from my hand and leave in the net, seeing that the Japanese was still concentrating to catch something.
Minutes later, a total of 3 trout, 4 salmon and 3 catfish are caught, which was more than enough, to the point where they returned to dry land after seeing that the net was quite full.
Not bad, we made the biggest feast here, I can't wait to eat, what am I going to do even outside, when I arrive I see that Amanda had lit a fire, just the way she wanted, it will be useful to use as a barbecue.
"That's wonderful Jas, I was going to tell you to leave it like that, I'm going to open each one of the fish, it's going to be a bit disgusting, who wants to see?" Nobody raised their hand.
I went to the kitchen, I left the net in a huge sink, where my grandma always leaves the fish, what next I went already starting to catch the first one, a trout, I go with quick movements, it was still alive, until I cut the head and start to open underneath, I hope it was delicious.
After cleaning all the fish...
I return with the pieces already in a pot and very well seasoned, it will be delicious, I arrive at the girls and see that the rice was ready, it seems that Jas did very well, Hannah also arrives with the soda and I start to put the fish on the grill, which is already raising the smell.
"Hmmmmmm, grilled fish like this is very good, I even remember my grandma when she used to do it like this"
"You can't even tell which one we took now" Hannah said until I showed her another pot with our heads.
"Look, I can indicate with the head of each one of them, so you don't get confused" I say laughing.
"Gross Mandy, not like that too, by the way where is the salmon? It's not that fish with all the red meat" Hannah said.
"That's dye, I've picked one up in Japan and I also thought it was red inside, but the taste itself doesn't change, it's just as good" Akko said.
"Besides I made sure to remove all the bones from the fish, so you won't have a problem eating and finding something unwanted" I tell them.
The fish are getting in a cool spot, which I turn them to the other side, starting to bake legally, so much that they are even marked by the grill, making the most noise and steam, the smell itself is rising, I can already see the girls even drooling to eat the fish.
"I'll get the soda, be right back" I tell them.
I go to the kitchen, where the cooler box was, which was full of soda cans, I also get some packets of garlic bread, I come back with them and sit on the chair, I take the opportunity to take some fish, I take advantage and put the garlic bread to start grilling, I love a good garlic bread, by the nine witches, this is fantastic here.
"Hmmmmmm, Jas that rice you made is wonderful, the fish too Amanda, you seasoned it nicely" Hannah said delighting herself with the food.
"I said, this is just the beginning here, we can still have more fun, today is just the first day, my grandma also used to hunt other foods, but I was not a fan of that, kind of poor animals... I like the fishes, but hunting others makes me feel sorry for them, I have eaten hare meat many times, it is delicious, but I prefer not to mistreat them, that look makes me feel sorry for them" I tell the girls.
"And do you have many animals around here?" Hannah asks.
"From time to time foxes, weasels, hares, skunks, I've even seen a moose around here, those really drove my grandma crazy, she wanted to hunt them, but she never did it since she prioritized leaving them well, bears are what you have to be careful too, they are hungry this time of the year and go out, but they are not so common around here" I tell them they are even amazed to see the nature around them.
"For a person who doesn't want to be so connected to witchcraft you are more connected than you seem, a witch who has a relationship with nature, you can see that your magic flows well when you are here, Diana always told me how important this is for a witch, that we should not forget that our roots are connected to the world we live in, nature" England said and I was getting a bit enchanted.
"Oh Amanda, don't forget the garlic bread, I know you're getting all gay for Hannah, but you're going to end up toasting our food like this" Akko said, pointing to the garlic bread that I soon make a point of turning, making it more delicious, it was even turning brown the part I baked.
The girls and I are enjoying the fish, each one having a particular flavour that I can differentiate only by its taste, I even have memories of my childhood, when I used to run in this yard, it was my greatest happiness, I loved how nice it was to play around here, how nice it was to play with my grandmother, fishing, hunting, everything brings me good memories, I love this place.
"You really like it here don't you?" said Hannah looking at me.
"I can't stand New York, it makes me too nervous, I remember my parents, whenever I am there I can't stop thinking about them, they are so annoying, they are always terrorizing me, ahhhhh, for the nine witches, seriously, you would go crazy to stay a minute with them" I tell them.
"The way you talk it really sounds like they are terrible" Akko said.
"And they're... I just really wanted a real family, you know? You have no idea how jealous I was of you Akko, seeing you all happy with your parents and the girls, I can see from a distance how you get along with them, even Diana with her mother who she found now, I'll never have that, both my parents don't treat me as a human being, I'm a mere nuisance to their tranquility" I say sort of letting off steam and then receiving a pat on the back from Hannah.
"You know Amanda, sometimes family doesn't have to be blood, you found a new family in us, we are your family now if you want" She said all affectionate and I even hugged her, despite everything I'm liking her more than a friend.
POV Narrator:
And so began another part of the holiday, where the girls visit Amanda in her hometown, having fun in the middle of the O'Neill family's country house that she quickly went to in order to feel more at home and in this ending up building more of this relationship with her friends, which will still yield many moments between friends during this summer.
See you, American witches...