A Snicker of Magic

The next afternoon, Felicity meets Jonah at Jonah’s mom’s salon and car repair shop. Jonah’s mom combined her two passions, hair and cars, when she opened her shop. All her employees can do hair, nails, and oil changes. On the way to the shop, Felicity is anxious. She plans to tell Jonah that she’s backing out of the Duel because her family curse has doomed her to fail, and nothing will stop Mama from moving anyway. Felicity hasn’t written any poems yet, and just thinking about the Duel makes her feel sick and anxious. She’s afraid to tell Jonah that his know-how was wrong about her. She doesn’t want to disappoint him and fears Jonah wouldn’t want to be her friend anymore.

When Felicity arrives, Jonah greets her from across the room. He works on an old woman’s nails. Among many thousands of words in the salon, Felicity sees the hope across one of the mirrors. She writes it on her wrist, so she can add it to her blue book later. Jonah’s mom, Jewell Pickett, works on a client’s hair. Jonah waves Felicity over.

Jonah introduces Felicity to the large, bald, tattooed man sitting next to him.