As the days went by my mother monitored Jahil's health. When his condition began to slip she would start a course of treatment. She used needles to ease the pain, oils to help with the sickness, and sex (lots of sex.) Something about their energy exchange was changing my mother. She was able to create new spells and potions, even improving on existing recipes.
There was one night that changed everything. It was late October; she had been treating him for nearly a month when I caught her in the kitchen at two in the morning. She was being so loud I was surprised Jahil and Austin had been able to sleep.
I got out of bed in my pajamas: a long t-shirt, worn over not much else. "Mom is that you?" I yawned, desperate to shake the sleep from my eyes. "What are you doing? You have work tomorrow."
My mother turned to me, "Sunny, my dear daughter- taste this!" Her voice was several octaves higher than normal; she sounded like Glenda from Wizard of Oz.
"Uh sure," I obliged since she never worked on anything deadly or dangerous. The pink colored tea tasted abnormally sweet, like a flat soda.
"Now look at that plant!"
"The dead sunflower you brought in the house yesterday?" I asked. It had been placed next to an open bag of potting soil.
"Talk to it."
"Hello sunflower, I'm very sorry my mother's new boyfriend forgot to lock the gate and our neighbor Lola tried to steal you."
Our neighbors, Rocky and his wife Lola were a constant source of stress. The elderly retired couple always bullied us, even when my father was still alive. Lola loved stealing from my mother's garden and her husband loved calling the police on my mother for all manner of lunacy. Once her ivy vines were touching his property, he demanded she uproot the plant. Another time he accused her of cooking meth, because of a foul smell that was coming from her kitchen. And he constantly accused her of growing marijuana. Every time he would point the police to a different herb. I genuinely believe Rocky has never seen a marijuana leaf in his life.
The sunflower suddenly grew feet- like roots. Like something out of a cartoon it started to stand on its own. Slowly but surely it moved towards the potting soil.
"Wow, unless I'm hallucinating that was super cute!"
"You're not hallucinating. This is red magic- isn't it amazing!"
"What's red magic?" I asked.
"Red magic is Jahil's magic- the glorious power of fire and demons." My mother waved her hand again and suddenly every single planet in the garden was in bloom. And three new plants that had at first been empty pots sitting in the kitchen now contained poblano chilies, jalapeños and bright purple saffron flowers.
As she turned back to me her eyes were glowing red, "The power to control energy, to control life."
I tripped on my feet as I fell backwards. This was not my mother.
She blinked her eye and instantly returned to normal. "Do you think he'll like my little gift? I figure it's the least I can do."
My mother was powerful but never this powerful. And did she just call Jahil a demon? My mind went back to Austin's conversation where he called my mother a succubus- was she stealing his powers? The idea was horrifying. Jahil's powers were the only thing keeping him alive. I took a nervous breath. "I know Jahil likes to cook."
"Oh yes, Jahil is an amazing chef," she replied. "Much better than I could ever be."
Ever since he and Austin moved in he insisted on doing all of the cooking, since Elena insisted on not charging him rent.
"How is Jahil doing?" I asked. "Is he getting any better?"
Elena shrugged, as if the question of his health didn't matter. "There's less pain, but unfortunately whatever sickness dwells within his body doesn't seem to be responding to my course of treatment." She started a new potion, taking out a piece of cinnamon and some cloves and placed them in to the bowl of a mortar. As she ground them up with the granite pestle she infused the mixture with Jahil's red energy. "You're always welcome to try."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Austin appeared wearing only boxer shorts and put his arms around my mother's waist. "Come back to bed, Mamacita."
My mother made a pouty face. "But Austin, I have so many new ideas!"
He kissed her neck "If you don't come back to bed I'm going to have to start limiting your playtime with my daddy. You don't play with me nearly as much as you used to."
"Mom, please go back to bed, before Austin's balls explode all over the kitchen and I have to clean up the mess."
Austin laughed. "Thank you for your kind consideration of my most valued possession."
I flipped him off. "No problem. Now get my mother back in bed, even if you have to carry her."
Austin swept Elena off her feet and carried her back to the bedroom.
I cleaned up a bit around the sunflower, and then went to check on Jahil. He slept in a sweatshirt and sweatpants that Elena bought for him. Like Jahil my father had been a muscular man with broad shoulders, but he had stood a mere five-foot-nine so only a few items of my father's clothing fit Jahil's six-foot-two frame. Jahil's dense facial hair was grown out into nearly a full salt and pepper mustache and beard.
Jahil was shivering, despite the warmth of the central heating system and the quilt covering his body. I went to grab an extra blanket from the closet. I selected a soft down comforter and carried it to the sofa to unfold over him. "Sunny?" he cried out through pain stricken breaths. "Is that you?"
I touched his forehead. The poor man was sick with fever. "Yeah, it's me." I made myself comfortable under the blanket with him. There was no way I could go back to bed knowing how ill he was. "What's hurting? Is it your head?"
He was wheezing. "My chest, it hurts to breath."
It was clear to me he had somehow developed an infection in his lungs. And it happened within the past six hours, because he was definitely not this sick when he came home from work.
Jahil shifted his body so I could comfortably sleep on his chest. the warmth of my body appeared to be soothing to his discomfort. "Will you stay with me?"
"Of course," I replied. I scooted up to softly kiss his lips. I gently bit his lower lip. His mouth opened as if begging me for more.
Jahil don't ever shave, your mouth looks so seductive, like a hot Hispanic woodsman, destined to save little red riding hood.
I moved my lips to his neck and sucked on his skin with intense pressure. I was trying to leave a mark but what happened was even better. At first my mouth tasted bitter, but then I felt his body begin to stabilize. Was that all it took, for me to suck the toxins out? Straddling his hips I did it again, and again.
