Celestial Sisters

Chapter 5: Trip Down Memory Lane

The repugnant smell of cigarette smoke and regurgitated alcohol filled the tiny pub. Twyla sat in a small booth, with her eyes glued to the mahogany table. It was Sunday night and the bar was overflowing with drunk men who had nothing better to do. Several of them casted lecherous looks her way but nobody got up to talk to her. She was tall, with subtle curves hiding underneath her ratty jeans and leather jacket. Her ebony curls cascaded past her shoulders. She wasn't a traditional beauty, her features were too sharp but that didn't stop men from flocking to her side. What did stop men, was the dangerous aura surrounding her.

It was silly, many of them thought, she was just a girl. What harm could she do? But even with those thoughts in mind none of them dared to approach her and Twyla was fine with that.

The tiny bell that rested above the shop's door, chimed as Laurel walked in. She casted the group at the bar and sneaky glance before quickly scurrying over to the table she spotted Twyla at. Twyla gave her friend a tiny nod in acknowledgement before throwing one of the menus her way. Boisterous laughter spilled from the bar as one of the patrons fell after one too many mugs of beer. Laurel tensed, stealing a small look at the men before returning her attention to Twyla. Thirty minutes ago, Laurel had been lying on her bed in a pair of leggings and an oversized sweater- reading Wuthering Heights for the eighth time when she received a text from Twyla. Twyla didn't say much, she never did, the text only contained the address of the pub and two words: come now. She expected that Twyla had something important to tell her, or else she wouldn't have drawn her away from her favorite book but as she continued to stare at her raven haired comrade- it dawned on Laurel that Twyla might have just been looking for some company.

"Why are you staring at me?" Twyla's eyes never strayed from the lamented menu.

"I-I had assumed there was something you wanted to talk about?" Laurel prodded.

Cocking an eyebrow, Twyla still kept her attention trained on the savory options of sirloin steak, double stacked bacon burgers, and barbecue bathed ribs. The pub wasn't exactly vegetarian friendly or people friendly in general. It was the kind of hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was favored in the south. Nobody in the pub, except for Laurel, intended to go there- they just happened to stumble upon it and stay for the booze and hearty meals.

"You assumed?" Twyla asked.

"Well I just thought with how spontaneous your text was that something had happened."

"Aren't I normally spontaneous?" Twyla asked.

Flustered, Laurel stuttered, "Well- I mean, yes you are but-"

"But you're right," Twyla interrupted. Pushing her menu to the side and she finally settled her silver stare on Laurel.

"I am?" Laurel spluttered.

Blowing a curled strand of hair out of her face, Laurel crossed her arms over her chest and furrowed her brows. The pouring rain had turned her mane of of twisting whisky colored locks into one big ball of frizz. She was already annoyed with the blasted weather, the Louisiana sky could never decide whether it wanted to rain or shine- but now she found her aggravation growing as she looked at Twyla.

Nodding, Twyla explained, "You are. I've got a bad feeling Laurel. Normally, I'm not the kind of person to trust their gut but there are some things going on that I can't ignore."

Laurel shook her head. Twyla was talking in circles and though Laurel prided herself in being a smart girl, she could never understand Twyla when started talking in riddles. "I don't understand, Twy. You're going to have to explain."

The leather seat squeaked underneath Twyla's body as she fidgeted. She wanted to explain it to Laurel but had no idea how, she didn't even understand what was going on herself. All she knew was that her Nana and Aunt were up to something, something that was so bad they couldn't even give her an inkling of a clue. The hushed whispers and secretive glances were driving her crazy! She didn't have Nana's power to see the future and when she tried to call Alix it went straight voice mail- she was left completely blind-sided.