August was finishing her night in my bed and I was having second breakfast when Jo called me back. “So, how’s things going? Is she still with you?”

“Still with me, happily snoring. I wanted to talk to you about her future if you have a minute.” She did, of course, have a minute.

I explained my plan and the issues we’d be facing, and how I proposed to fix them. She laughed. “Only you would think like that, Tina. I like it. Think Eileen will agree?”

“I do think so, yeah. This girl likes cars as much as Eileen likes physics. And she needs a better example than her coward of a mother. Besides, we can keep an eye on both and fulfill both contracts. All we need is to take care of these men in her life. I have a feeling this won’t be easy, though.”

Josephine agreed. “I’m guessing you have an idea?” I did, but she wouldn’t like it. I said so. I told her my idea. She didn’t like it at all.

“That’s no simple boobitybabbity shit Tina, that’s dangerous! If it backfires you’d get badly hurt and even the makeup team won’t be able to fix you. Are you really sure about that?”

Of course I wasn’t. But I wasn’t about to let her know that. “I’m sure Jo. I can’t see another way. And hey, I’m the best aren’t I? If I can turn a pumpkin into a carriage, and a man into a frog, why couldn’t I do this? Trust me, it’ll be fine. I got this.”

I didn’t, in fact, get this. What I was about to do was severely frowned upon by the Agency, but Jo gave her green light to it anyway. I had to get ready.

First, the boyfriend. I waited, coffee and cigarette in hand, until August woke up again, then served her another bowl of cereal. I let her eat in peace, but when she was done I made her call him. No need to wait, it wouldn’t get easier later. 

We moved to the couch, and she made the call. August was blunt. “I’m leaving you, man. Bye.” And that was it. Seeing how her phone blew up immediately, he didn’t take it well.

I told her to simply block his number and be done with it. She read the first 3 text messages, then complied. He was hurling insults at her. “Good riddance, I guess. I really liked his car though.”

She didn’t seem sad. In fact, she seemed rather shocked at what she’d just done. “See love, it wasn’t that hard after all was it?” She smiled a little. Shook her head. “No, no I guess it wasn’t. It feels too easy though. Way too easy…”

“I know what you mean, love. But I promise it’s just that easy. Does he know your parent’s address?” Hey eyes went wide. “Yes.”

I sighed. Of course it was going to be more complicated now. “Okay. Well, let’s hope he doesn’t go there yet. Is your father home at this time of day?” She shook her head. Nope. My plan wasn’t the best of plans and seemed more wobbly by the minute.

“Is he gonna be there tonight?” She nodded. Okay. I could work with that. “Here’s what we’re gonna do-” The doorbell interrupted me. It was Josephine.

She was out of breath, so I helped her over to the couch. “I thought about your plan, and I want in.” She gasped. I grabbed a glass of water and handed it to her. She downed it in a gulp. “I can’t let you do this on your own, girls. You need backup.”

“As a matter of fact, we do. The boyfriend knows her address. I was about to explain the plan to August then call you.”

Jo nodded. “Yeah, that’s part of what bothers me.” She handed me the glass for a refill, which I did. She took a sip then continued “the other parts that worry me are the number of guards on their property, and the mother’s safety. She’ll be caught up in the middle of this after all. And once we reveal ourselves, he’ll know she hired us.”

I had thought of the mother, but not the guards. I was grateful for Jo’s help. I still explained the plan I had, this time including the mother. All that was left would be taking care of the guards.

The heavily armed guards, August informed me.

“We have magic for that. It should be fine. We’ll make a shield around us or turn them into ugly toads.” I said, sure of myself. Josephine laughed. “Turning their guns into water guns would be easier and no less effective, you know. What is it with you and frogs these days?”

I smiled, and changed the topic. “Anyway, the first step is to make sure Eileen and Gianni agree to this. I’ll call her, you call him. Sounds good?” She nodded and went to the bedroom to make the call.

I took a seat in one of the kitchen chairs and lit a cigarette. The window was still open. I grabbed my phone and dialed Eileen’s number, but she didn’t pick up. I figured she must be working and sent her a text message instead. “Emergency here. 14yo girl needs to get away. Can she stay with you for a while? Thanks, Tina.”

I didn’t wait for the answer. If she was at work she wouldn’t have time to check her phone for hours, and if she was at school she’d call me during a break.