Indulging my best friend, I followed her into a dimly lit store where we were greeted by a blue-eyed woman in her early twenties. She wore paisley-patterned pantaloons that tapered at her ankles and an ivory T-shirt. Her raven hair fell long on one side of her head but was buzzed short on the other, giving her a curious asymmetry. One wall of the shop held cracked geodes, fabric-covered pens, and incense. The other wall held one shelf of books and small statues of Buddha, peacocks, and Hindu deities. A glass case displayed chunky jewelry, including a few pieces of lapis lazuli set in silver.

With her hands pressed together, Everly said, Welcome home, in a voice as smooth as a river stone. If I had dared to look at Dayo at that moment, my eyeballs might have rolled irretrievably to the back of my head. Dayo told Everly we were both interested in getting a reading. Everly smiled as if she’d guessed as much and flipped the front door sign to closed before picking a turmeric-colored scarf off a rack and hanging it loosely around her neck. Dayo motioned for me to go first, and I obliged, my joints loosened by the fizzy drinks we’d just consumed. I followed the woman to a carpeted nook in the back of the store, hidden behind a bookshelf. In the center of the cream carpet was the steel frame of a pyramid.

Everly motioned for me to join her in the square, and shooting another glance at Dayo, I did so. When she lit a bundle of sage, the burst of flame illuminated the peach undertones of her face.

I will expel the entities attached to you. Close your eyes and breathe it in, she instructed.

Through the mesh of my eyelashes, I watched her tap her nails and produce a deck of cards from a wooden box behind her.

When is your birth date?

I hesitated. I briefly considered daring her to guess but thought it would only drag this session out longer.

And her question gave me pause. For years I’d been using my sister’s birthday. Though I was born in the month of Aqrab, a Scorpio, my sister had been born in the month of Jawza, making her a Gemini, clever and imaginative.

The first of November, I told her, which was the day my mother brought me into this world and named me Sitara.

I waited.

Everly closed her eyes and began tapping her nails against the crystal again.

You are passionate and stubborn and so very brave, she whispered. You move with the force of waves and shape the earth around you.

I felt a hairline crack in my skepticism and chided myself for it as she began to turn over tarot cards. The first was the King of Fire. She half-closed her eyes as she continued.

You are determined, impatient, and restless. Something makes you so very restless.