“No,” Nora said. “He definitely wouldn’t. But maybe not for the reason you think. None of the men in my life would approve of me being here right now.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

“Probably.”

Mercedes said nothing. Nora folded her hands in her lap, crossed her legs and patted her thigh. Gmork rested his head against her leg. Nora took comfort in his presence.

“They’re all scared of you,” Nora said.

“I believe I would be, too, if I were them. It’s not often I get this involved in a situation that’s out of my control. I just…I didn’t know what else to do. When something’s boiling, you can’t but watch the pot.”

“They think you’re a crazy stalker,” Nora continued.

“Stalker? No. Crazy? Ah. Who’s to say?’

Nora smiled. “You’ve been putting cursed Mardi Gras beads on my house for three years. Hard to explain that away as harmless.”

“Blessed,” Mercedes said, her voice sharp. “Blessed beads. Not cursed. Charged with power, good power. Nothing evil. I don’t curse anyone. Unless you cut me off in traffic. And those are just the usual curses.”

“Charged Mardi Gras beads?”

“Something my mother used to do,” Mercedes said. “A lot of women got hurt around here during Mardi Gras. It’s a prime hunting time for male predators. She would charge beads with protection spells every year on Fat Tuesday, hoping to protect some of those girls from rapists. That’s all I was doing with those beads in your tree. Trying to protect you from bad influences.”

“Bad influences? Like what? R-rated movies? Violent video games?”

“Men who don’t know what they’re talking about,” Mercedes said. “Men who don’t know anything about anything. In other words…men.”

Mercedes pointed at the silver bracelet she wore around her wrist.

“Silver,” she explained, “is feminine. Female energy. Female wisdom and intuition. That’s why I put up the silver beads. The black beads are straight-up wards against evil. Red for courage and blue for opening your mind. No curses in there at all.”

Nora stroked Gmork’s long back as she considered how much to tell Mercedes, how much to keep to herself.

“One of the men in my life tried to call a tree-trimmer this morning to cut all the beads down. I wouldn’t let him.”

“Good.”

“He’s scared.”

“Of me?”

“Of everything. His girlfriend’s about to have a baby. He’s seeing danger everywhere.”

“Potent days, right before a baby is born. The veil thins between the other world and this one. Has to thin so the soul can break through. Tell him to burn some sage incense and sleep with an agate under his pillow.”

“Got anything that’ll just knock him out until the baby’s born? He’s turning into a control freak.”

“Fear will do that to a man, make him into a tyrant. You can’t let him rule you.”

Nora smiled to herself.

“What is it?” Mercedes asked, her head tilted like a curious cat.

“His name is King,” Nora said. “Just funny, you called him a tyrant, said he shouldn’t rule me.”