Mama G took the lid off the jar and rummaged inside. A downy white feather spilled over the edge and drifted down onto the table. The jar must have been filled with them—although feathers weren’t the only thing it held. Her eyes sparkling, Mama G lifted out a snake. For a moment, I thought she really had performed magic by resurrecting the creature I’d found dead on my doorstep. It was a twin of the one I’d just put in the trash, a buff and brown snake with turquoise flecks, as long and thin as a chopstick. But as it wound around Mama G’s lean brown fingers, I heard rustling inside the feather-lined pot and realized she must have more than one snake inside it. I shuddered and placed the lid back on the jar, then watched with my nose wrinkled as she lifted the snake to her face and brushed her lips against it in a kiss. The tiny serpent flicked its tongue out in response.