The shop was packed. Many people had been used to eating fresh meat in their home countries and they said it was much more delicious than what you could get in the supermarket. I knew it was hypocritical, since I ate meat, but I hated knowing a chicken had been slaughtered just for me.

When we got to the front of the line, the Vision said to the girl behind the counter, “We want to choose.” I took a step back.

The girl gave us a ticket and jerked her thumb toward the rear exit. I exchanged a look with Todd. I really didn’t want to go through there. He opened his mouth to say something to the witch but she had already started walking to the door.

We entered a room filled with all types of living fowl stuffed into wooden cages, which were stacked on top of each other. As the Vision went to the chicken section, we passed the doorway that led to the killing room. I caught a glimpse of a man in a blood-stained apron fitting a headless bird into one of the open-ended cones built into the stainless-steel table. His colleague hosed away the crimson blood that poured out onto the floor. There was another large vat of steaming water that must have been used to remove the feathers. I didn’t see Zan’s father.

I turned to the Vision. “Do you need to buy your dinner now? Can’t we do the ritual instead?”

She laughed, exposing her gold canine tooth. Ignoring me, she turned to the man in charge. “That chicken, with the yellow feathers.”

“Those are the tastiest,” the man said. He opened the cage door and reached in with his gloved hand. He grabbed one squawking chicken by the throat, keeping the rest from escaping with his other hand. “This one?”

“Wait,” said Todd. “Mrs. Purity, do you remember what happened the last time you released chickens in the park?”

I blinked, finally understanding what she intended to do with the bird.

The little witch pursed her lips, considering. “I hate those policemen. No respect.” She said to the man, “I’m sorry. We won’t need the chicken after all.”

The man let the chicken go and it fled to the back of the cage as he shut the door. He called, “Next!” and we left.

I was relieved to leave that place but also sorry we hadn’t been able to save the chicken. I would have bought it myself to keep it alive, but where would I keep it? The Vision then took us to the fish store, with Todd still trailing us.

“Only the liveliest ones,” she said to the fishmonger, indicating a tub filled with live crabs.

“Always the best for you, Mrs. Purity,” he said. “You choose.”

She selected eighteen live crabs, poking them with a stick to see how well they moved their pincers, which were bound with thick rubber bands. The fishmonger wrapped them up for her in paper, then tossed them in a plastic bag.

“Hold this,” she said to Todd. He took the bag by its handles. It looked quite heavy and its contents writhed whenever he set it down.

Then the witch took us through the street of funeral parlors, which most people avoided because they thought it was bad luck, made a sudden turn onto an alley and went up to what seemed like an illegal gambling salon. It was boarded shut. She knocked and a pair of eyes peeked through a slot that had been slid open.

“Release of Life,” the witch said. “Wong family.” She must have had this arranged by Todd when I was gone.

The eyes blinked and then disappeared. The slot slid closed. I looked down the street to see if any policemen were coming to bust us. It was as if we were trafficking in drugs. Of course, I realized, the Vision couldn’t get special religious supplies from the temples because those Buddhists shunned her, and she probably got a discount here. A few minutes later, the door cracked open and a hand covered with age spots thrust a filled shopping bag at us. The smell of incense escaped in a gust from the door. The witch handed it to Todd and we left.

As we started heading west, I said to Todd, “How are you doing? Can I carry one of those for you?”

“Oh no, thanks. I’m used to lugging stuff for her. How’s your new job?”

“How did you know about that?”

He shrugged. “You know, Chinatown. Small world.”

We went through Tribeca, crossed over the highway, and finally I understood that the Vision was heading for one of the piers on the water. There were only a few pedestrians passing by and seagulls flew overhead, screeching. The Hudson River stretched out before us and the smell of salt was in the icy wind.

Then the witch unpacked the second shopping bag she’d been given. She took out what looked like a plastic model of three sticks of incense in a metal holder, a bottle of rice wine and a paper plate, and set them all on the ground. She flipped a switch and the tips of the incense lit up, as if they were burning. It was battery operated.

I raised my eyebrows. “This isn’t real. Are you sure it’ll work?”

“The true gods don’t mind,” she said, shrugging. “It’s too cold to light anything. And the police will bother me again if I burn things in public.”

She set the electric incense next to the rail, then pulled a red octagon with the Chinese character for our surname, “Wong,” written on it out of the shopping bag. She held out her hand to me.

“What?”

She just gestured impatiently with her hand.

Todd said, “Please give her the photo.”

I took it out of my bag and placed it in her palm, muttering, “She can’t talk because the ritual’s too demanding?”

I thought I saw Todd hide a smile.

The Vision tucked the picture in between the sticks of plastic incense, then circled the whole thing with rice wine. I hoped she wouldn’t electrocute herself or spray the photo with wine. She closed her eyes and began to invoke the gods. Todd and I also bowed to the photo and my surname. Silently, I asked the gods and spirits please to help Lisa. I wasn’t sure if I believed in the Vision or not, but I hoped she could help Lisa.

Then she turned to the other shopping bag. She had me hold the paper plate while she extracted a crab. She slid the rubber bands off each pincer and placed it in the center of the paper plate. I pulled my fingers back in case it started moving as I gingerly balanced the plate from underneath. She took the plate from me, then called, “Gods, accept our release of life. Six for the entire Wong family. May the family be kept whole, may they live in safety.”

She flipped the crab into the bay below. There was a small white splash as it hit the water.

“When I have time, I take the train to upstate New York,” she said. “The water’s cleaner for them and you can let larger animals go there. But that costs a lot extra.”

She did this to six of the crabs, one by one. They arched, pincers extended, twirling in the air, and descended into the swirling water below us.

Then she started praying again. “Accept six for Lisa Wong. May the spirits that bother her be laid to rest.”

Was that what was happening to Lisa? I wished I knew.

She flipped another six crabs into the water and said in a ringing voice, “Spirits of heaven and earth, accept six for Charlie Wong, older daughter, about to embark on a new life. What one sister gains, shall the other lose. May balance be struck.”

I started. How did she know about my new position as a dancer? She was a force to be reckoned with.

The Vision released the final six crabs. She deliberately threw the last crab higher and one of the seagulls swept down and caught it neatly in its beak.

I gasped. “Why did you do that? You didn’t have to kill it.”

“That too is freedom,” she said. “That too is sacrifice. Yin, yang; no life without death.”

“What did you mean by what one sister gains, the other shall lose? Are you talking about pounds?”

Todd started to laugh then stopped himself by pretending he was coughing. She tossed the paper plate in the trash, and then she and Todd headed toward the train station. She didn’t answer my question. At the mouth of the station, the witch turned and I could see only the white of her left eye before she disappeared inside.