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Hostility toward hu into were clans is to be expected and taken seriously Potential sons-in-law may want to carry wolfsbane or silver items in their pockets Weres find both substances to be extre

—Mating Rituals and Love Customs of the Were

Despite Bob’s being laid to rest on a cloudy day, I elected not to go to his burial I thought it e expectations for Mao-to dayti than his visitation

Grand herself as some sort of poster veiled hat to the ce skirt and trailing sleeves I’ht it from the Gone with the Wind Widows Collection She wailed and screeched her way through the eulogy, screa, and tried to snatch Bob’s service flag away frouard Also, she demanded front-row center seats for her and her male companion, Wilbur

That’s right My grandht a date to her fiancé’s burial She’s all class, that lady Apparently, she’dinto an old Army buddy’s visitation Sparks flew, tied another victim On the upside, I think Wilbur’s presenceherself into the grave on top of the casket

But so cousin Junie as a day-shift dancer at the Booby Hatch made me an embarrassment to the family At the burial, Grandized to Junie I would think this odd considering that Junie was a cousin on randeneral population better than me, so why not cousins on the other side of the family?

During ive me all of the details of the ce this declaration when a little woman in a double-knit pant suit came into the shop to claim a phone order Aunt Jettie made herself scarce

On the phone, Esther Barnes’s voice had sounded deep and accented In person, she was squat, with dyed jet-black hair, deep wrinkles at the edges of her eyes, and a s the size of a door knocker Her voice was reedy and thin as she asked whether I had the “Barnes order” ready yet I pulled her reserved copies of Mind over Matter: Maintaining Your Psychic Ability and The Search for the Inner Id fro them up

There was soht, too sharp Her mouth was small, thin, pinched into a coral-painted, birdlikeacross the shop, I would guess she was calculating the value of every item in the store

“Are you new in town, Ms Barnes?” I asked, h a brittle a hands

“No” She put the blade down, slapped her uess this stare had put irl in her place over the years But, well, I was bored, and she was there

I smiled pleasantly “Have family around here?”

Her eyes narrowed as what little politeness she offered drained out of her voice “No”

I held up a newly printed Specialty Books brochure “Would you like to be put on ourlist?”