Then suddenly, I was back. Back to the day she came home from her trip.
——
"Trixie, I brought you something from abroad," Yolanda Jay said with a smile, pulling out a red-stringed locket from a little box.
Before I could say a word, she was already fastening it around my neck.
I instinctively reached up to take it off, but she grabbed my wrist. "No, don’t. This one’s special. It keeps you safe. I went through a lot to get it, you have to wear it."
I glanced down at the locket and for a moment, I just stared.
The gemstone looked normal at first, but when the light hit it a certain way... I could’ve sworn something like blood was flowing inside.
"Yolanda, is there blood in this?" I asked, half-joking, half-creeped out.
She just smiled and said, "It’s sacred. Blessed by a real shaman. You’re lucky to have it. Don’t ever take it off."
Back then, I didn’t question her. I actually felt touched. Like she really cared. But not long after I started wearing that thing, my period just... disappeared.
I wasn’t sleeping around. I was still a virgin, so pregnancy didn’t even cross my mind. When it didn’t come for three months, I told Yolanda I should probably go to a doctor.