She laughed, “You’re not really him anyway, so who cares?”
It was true, and I couldn’t help a laugh. She’d been razzing me since the first day she’d tried using sign language on me.
“What’s for dinner?” Kenny called from the kitchen.
“Oh, it’s an old family recipe,” Mariska said, skipping past me into the kitchen. “Sarmale, which is basically stuffed cabbage with pork and sauerkraut and tomatoes.”
Lifting the lid off a Dutch oven, Kenny took a deep breath. Even I caught the savory aroma from where I stood. “It smells delicious.”
“Mmm,” she winked, giving it a stir. “Wait til you taste it!”
Leading us back into her elaborate sitting room, she made us all pull up huge pillows around a small table where a strange-looking copper pot sat. Three water glasses were placed beside three tiny cups on saucers.
“First, the fun part.” Our hostess was clearly excited. “Fortunes!”
“Oh, you know I don’t believe all of that.” Kenny flopped back against the couch.
Mariska’s place was exactly what I’d expected. It was small like Kenny’s apartment, but she had elephants as lamps and all sorts of paraphernalia on the shelves in front of her mountains of books. The books were the only things that outnumbered the trinkets.
I was pretty curious about these fortunes. “How does it work?”
Her eyes sparkled as she hopped forward on her cushion across from me. “First you have your coffee.” She lifted the copper pot and poured the black beverage into each of our cups. “Give it just a few minutes so the grounds settle to the bottom.”
While we waited, Kenny took a bright yellow, candy square off a dish by her cup. It was covered in powdered sugar. “I thought coffee was for after dinner.”
“Don’t be so technical.” Mariska fussed, picking up an orange square and holding it out to me. “Turkish delight?”
“Really?” I took it from her and looked at it closely. I’d only heard about this stuff in a children’s book. It didn’t look at all how I expected.
“Your coffee’s ready,” she said, and I lowered the candy.
Lifting the small cup, I took a hesitant sip. Thick and rich, it was smoky and earthy and had the faintest taste of mushrooms. I’d never had anything like it.
“Mmm,” Mariska said as her eyes slid closed and she licked her lips.
“It’s good,” I agreed, taking another sip.
Kenny ate another candied square before sipping hers. “I need more sugar. It’s too bitter.”
“Baby!” Her friend laughed before finishing off her cup. I followed suit, but she stopped me. “Remember not to drain the cup. It has a lot of grounds at the bottom.”
“That’s how she’s going to tell your future,” Kenny said, leaning into my arm.
I lowered the small cup that was decorated with purple brush strokes and what looked like a blue egg with a black yolk, sunny side up. “What’s that?”
“The Evil Eye,” Kenny whispered ominously.
“It’s a nazar.” Mariska held out her hands. “Protects against the evil eye. Hand it over.”
Taking my cup from me, she removed the saucer from underneath and placed it on top. Then she flipped the entire thing and rubbed her palms against the upside down coffee cup. “Let’s see what we have here.”
She was clearly turned on by the spectacle of the entire thing. She removed my small cup and studied the black mess of grounds now sitting on the saucer.
“Hmm...” she stared into the mound. “Interesting.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “What does my future look like Madame Mariska?”
“It appears you are going to take a long sea voyage.” She turned the saucer a few times. “But you have to finish the journey to find what you desire.”