​Girls it’s bed time. I don’t want to have to tell you again, go brush your teeth and get in bed I’ll come give you a kiss good night once you’re in bed. 

I got up from the couch and made exaggerated windmill movements with my arms to help express my frustration.

I hugged my cousin and her girlfriend goodnight  and apologized for not being able to visit with them longer.

Staring at my bedroom ceiling I squinted my eyes expecting to be able to hear more clearly the muted voices coming from the living room. I’d been laying in bed long enough that it would be assumed I was sleeping.

Witchcraft. Sorcery. Spells. I had heard these words from my bed and I knew I couldn’t sleep without eavesdropping on the rest of the conversation.

I swung my legs over the edge of my pull out sofa bed, i had for some reason requested to sleep in although i had an actual bed in the room down the hall, and very quietly stood up. As I tip toed to the door I was mindful to avoid the creeky floor boards I had mapped out on similar occasions.

My door was already opened a small crack to allow a sliver of light into my room and cross my ceiling. I pushed the door a tiny bit more, just wide enough to listen but small enough to still hide in the shadows.

We were among the first to arrive at the party. My cousin began to recount the details of the night in question. When we came in they showed us to a bedroom and instructed us to leave our coats on the bed so we did. As the night went on, more and more people showed up, there was dancing and food. So much food. Of course we had been drinking but nothing over the top. About an hour in it was announced that we should gather in a  circle to hold hands, I did so and everyone started chanting. The room began to spin and I fell to the floor feeling the room close in on me.

By this point My eyes were wide with fear and awe. I put my hand over my mouth to muffle any gasps that might escape and give me and my spying away.

I started to throw up a thick black substance. I yelled for my girlfriend and demanded that we leave. I crawled on the floor to the bedroom that had my coat. Once inside, I stood up and grabbed my coat. The funny thing was it was on top of the bed. We were the first people there, our coats should have been on the bottom! She paused. There was silence. I wish I could have seen my mom’s face. Was she like me, leaning forward eager to hear more or was she sitting back head tilted skeptical of the tale.

I know why my coat was on top. She continued. Because they used it to put a spell on me.

I had heard enough. I retraced my steps, tiptoeing between the squeaky floor boards to my bed. I crawled between my floral quilt and my miss piggy sheets. I was somewhere between childhood and adolescence. The story I had just heard had cemented that fact even more so.

The shadows that night and for several nights later seemed darker and guilty of something.