Page 32 of The Killer Cupcake (Poison Cherry #3)
Janey took a shaky breath. “The Tinsel Man. Cajun. Swamp rat. He came. He said he needed a worker to collect all the tin cans for the recycling. Mae and Izzy fought about it, but Mae insisted I had to earn my keep, so Izzy couldn’t stop him.
He took me. He kept me. Mae and Izzy came looking when days go bye and I didn’t return, but he told them I was dead.
Said the gators took me on the river. It was a lie—I heard him say it.
Izzy didn’t believe him and came searching for me twice, but Mae never did.
He kept me there and did terrible things to me,” Janey started to scrub her face with the rag and bin of warm water on her vanity, her voice trembling.
“He hurt me so badly I can’t have children, and I can barely do anything with sex without the pain between my legs.
But one night, I gave him pain. Real pain.
I got away into the swamps and went back home.
I told Mae and Izzy everything, but Mae didn’t believe me.
Because I killed the Tinsel Man, she said I had to leave.
That if the law didn’t hang me, then the Cajuns would feed me to the gators.
Izzy packed me a bag and sent me to Big Mama.
I was there, and Big Mama tried to help, but Mae came for me.
Say I hers. I her sister. Take me again to give me away to another man.
Izzy help me run when she heard Mae make another deal.
Gave me Mama’s recipe book, and told me to follow the Mississippi—that she'd find me someday. So I left.”
“The Tinsel Man? He dead?” Kathy approached.
“I didn’t mean to hurt Willa,” Janey whispered.
“I wanted to help her. She needs to be strong, not a silly dreamer girl.
Do you know what Mae does to silly dreamer girls?
Willa has to face the pain, like we all did.
Then I can help her just like I helped you when I went to New York and dealt with the consigliere.
Like I've helped Pinkie and the others.”
Janey dropped the rag in the water with a sloshing splash.
She went to her vanity, opening a drawer filled with various hair bows and clips.
Kathy noticed one—a favorite she'd lost in Butts, when Janey came to stay. Janey had taken it. She also saw Willa’s hair scarf, among many other women's trinkets—tokens from lives Janey had encountered.
“I keep them safe,” Janey explained softly.
“I protect everyone from the Tinsel Man. From the spiders in the box. The knives he uses on you. I tried telling Brenda, but she called me evil when I explained and told me to repent. None of the sisters wants me around except Izzy. Only Izzy loves me. And my new family. And my Carmine. He likes to hurt me, too, but he takes care of me, too. And now I got you. Soon I’ll have Willa. She’ll be mine when Pinkie leaves.”
Kathy reached out and pulled Janey into a comforting embrace. Janey wept softly on her shoulder while Kathy soothed her gently, doing her best to understand despite the confusing revelations. After Janey calmed down, Kathy helped her get ready for Carmine.
She carefully washed her off, applied soothing oils, and gently groomed and styled her hair.
While Kathy tended to her, Janey recounted her wedding to Carmine, describing how all of Creole society attended and called her the most beautiful bride they’d ever seen.
Said that the painting is hanging in her special room and she will show it to her.
Before long, Janey was smiling again, and Kathy found herself smiling too. She selected a black lace dress for Janey instead of the white one, and Janey agreed happily. Once they finished, they stepped out of the room and encountered Pinkie waiting in the hall.
Pinkie glanced over Janey, raising an eyebrow playfully. “I thought we wore black at night?”
“Kathy suggested it,” Janey replied.
“She needs more colors than just white, green, and black,” Kathy explained. “We should go shopping and get her every color of the rainbow, but I think she looks the prettiest in this.”
Pinkie nodded approvingly. “I agree.”
“Is Carmine ready for me?” Janey asked eagerly.
“Yes, he’s hungry. He said to hurry,” Pinkie answered with a grin.
Janey smiled brightly and marched ahead of them. “He’s always so impatient, I swear.”
Before Kathy left to return to the Quarter, she paused in the courtyard, quietly observing Carmine and Janey.
Pinkie joined her, and together they watched as Carmine set aside his cane and guided Janey gracefully into a slow, circular dance as the jazz record played. Janey’s face lit up with pure joy.
“He truly loves her, doesn’t he?” Kathy murmured.
“More than you know,” Pinkie said softly.
“Then why does she run from him, from this place that gives her safety?” Kathy asked.
“She goes to find others who need her help—those who need her deadly candies,” Pinkie explained sadly.
“She thinks it’s her purpose, the reason she can’t have children, why the Tinsel Man still haunts her dreams along with the spiders that ate away at her every night in his cabin when he locked her in a box.
Carmine has learned to accept the bargain because she owns his soul. ”
“She says he hurts her during sex,” Kathy asked.
“She told you that?” Pinkie eyes stretched.
Kathy nodded.
“They are strange. Trust me, we protect her, and there is nothing anyone can do to separate those two.” Pinkie hesitated, then continued quietly, “Can I tell you something? Just between us?”
Kathy nodded. “Of course.”
“I’m leaving soon. I want an education, to marry, to build a life.
Carmine’s health is failing—he could live another day or another decade.
I believe Janey took your Willa and let Jean Baptiste hurt her, not to punish or teach her, but because Janey will need someone once Carmine is gone, once I’m gone.
She needs someone vulnerable she can care for, heal, and love.
Someone who will be loyal and love her back.
She sees that in Willa. That’s what I think. ”
Kathy stared out at Janey, now swaying gently in Carmine’s arms, his hand tenderly stroking her back as he whispered loving words only a husband would share.
“I don’t understand why there’s so much pain in the world,” Kathy said softly. “Why can’t we just love freely and openly?”
“Don’t ask why, Kathy,” Pinkie said gently. “Just live—live each day like it’s your last.”
Kathy smiled faintly and nodded. “I’ll try.”