The Magic Touch (16 page)

“Come on,” Rose said, as they arrived back on Glenwood Avenue, not far from the Assembly Hall. But she didn’t look all that enthusiastic about hurrying to another appointment. For a change she didn’t go striding off.

“You need a little break,” she said kindly. “So do I. You can come with me while I run an errand.”

“Errands,” Ray grumbled. He loped along behind her. His nice pants weren’t as good for slouching as his baggies. He couldn’t walk hunched over with his fists in his pockets without cutting off the circulation to his legs. Rose walked briskly. Eventually, he had to straighten up and hustle to keep up with her. She turned a corner.

“Where are we going?” Ray asked. This time he didn’t even have a need string to help him guess their destination.

“My kitchen light finally gave up,” Rose said. “I want something new and bright. I’ve promised myself one of those combination fixtures with the fan underneath. Ah, here we go.”

Ray hated to guess the electric bill the owners of Enlightenment must pay every year. Or what it cost them to replace panes of glass. If he’d been a different kind of person, those huge, immaculately clean, plate windows would have been irresistible targets. Inside, thousands of lights of every kind glowed golden and white. The customers and staff were only dark blobs of shadow. Ray jumped forward to pull open the door for Rose.

“Thank you, sweetheart. It’s nice to have gentlemen around one, isn’t it?”

Rose sailed past him into the shop. A motion detector in the door announced their presence with an electronic tweetle. The place smelled heavily of dust, polish, hot metal, and chemicals. At once, a beautifully groomed man in a perfect charcoal gray suit became visible between all those lamps, and swooped down on them.

“Good evening, madam and sir!” he said. He smiled at Rose, up at Ray, and went back at Rose. Ray thought defensive, anti-racist thoughts at him for a moment, then realized of the two the older woman was more likely to be buying light fixtures than the teenaged boy, and this man knew it. “How may I serve you this evening?”

“I’d like to see a combination light and fan for my kitchen,” Rose told him. The man ushered them both toward one side of the store. As the man talked, Ray began to distinguish departments in what looked like a single mass of lights. Formal living room lights, casual lamps, illuminated sculpture, and glowing fountains were all grouped artistically together so a customer didn’t have to charge all over to compare items. He liked best a hanging lamp probably intended for a family room. It was a long rectangular box made of patinaed bronze and green glass shades. Then something about the design made him think it was too sophisticated for a family room, but he really liked it.

“How much is this?” he asked, when the man paused for breath.

“Two hundred forty dollars,” the owner answered, turning his full attention to the young man.

“Oh, well,” Ray said, with a sigh. “Maybe someday.”

The man gave him a chummy smile, one that said “you and I know something everyone else doesn’t.” “Do you like it?”

Ray glanced up at the hanging lamp, and admired the way the colors in the metal picked up the tone of the glass. “Yes, I do. It’s … subtle.”

“You’re very perceptive,” the man said. “Few people your age would even notice it. I hope someday you can buy it.” He swung back to Rose and resumed his description of a fancy white-enameled fixture. Ray let him babble on for a while, then wandered the store. A girl behind the counter gave him a wary smile in return for his friendly one. She glanced up to the right toward the ceiling. Ray guessed that security cameras were watching them both. He kept his hands hooked in plain sight on the edge of his pockets.

“Raymond?” Rose called to him. He hurried back to her, carefully squeezing between the display of standing floor lamps. As he got closer, that chemical smell that had been bothering him became stronger. He wondered if the man was wearing too much of a new kind of yuppie cologne. In any case, it offended his nose.

Rose looked a little uncomfortable. She moved alongside Ray and tucked her arm into his. “What do you think of this one?” she asked, nodding up at a beechwood-stained wooden fan with five lights pointing in five directions.

“Nice, I guess,” he said.

“Good. I’ll take it,” she told the proprietor. Ray tried to shake loose, but Rose held on tight. He was surprised to see fear in her eyes.

The man rang up the sale and agreed to have the box delivered.

“My neighbor will take in the box if I’m not home,” Rose said. “That’s fine. Thank you. Come on, Raymond. We’d better go.”

“Thank you, ma’am, sir,” the man called, as they hurried out of the shop, weaving an intricate dance between the lamps to take the shortest path to the exit. Rose practically towed Ray out the door. The electric eye tweetled at them again. “Come again!”

She led him out across the street, almost under the wheels of a van that screeched to a halt. The driver rolled down his window and shouted at them over the roar of his air-conditioning system. Ray glanced back, giving an apologetic shrug, but the man had already closed his window, muttering to himself under his breath.

Once they were a safe distance from the shop, Rose stopped and took a couple of deep breaths, bracing herself against a light pole.

“Are you okay?” Ray asked, concerned. “I’ve never seen you run away from anything before.” If she was going to have a heart attack, his CPR was a little rusty. He leaned close to get a good look at her in the poor light. Her color was all right, and so were her pupils. The red blotches on her cheeks were from exertion out in the hot night air, not circulatory distress.

“Whew!” she said, fanning herself with her hand. “It was whatever was in that shop. I was all right for a while, but then I just had to
get out
of there. I felt like someone was chasing me.”

“I don’t know about that, but did you notice the smell? I don’t know what he used to clean those lamps, but it R-E-E-K-S.” Ray looked at Rose. Her lips were pressed together.

“That was evil,” she said at last. “You wanted to know what bad magic smells like? That’s it. I didn’t like that man, either. He was too smooth. Ecch.”

Ray reviewed the proprietor’s looks. He had tried too hard to be friendly and suave, but most salespeople didn’t know when to back off. There was something oily about him. Ray thought again about the expensive, fashionable suit, then concluded he wouldn’t like to touch it, not after that man had had it on. And the guy kept shooting his cuffs, like he was hiding illicit aces up his sleeve.

“Yeah, he was creepy. You mean he’s practicing bad magic?”

Rose tilted her head, and gave a wry grin. She was recovering. “Maybe not. Remember, I told you there were natural magicians around? He might be one of them, not even know he’s giving off the signs. Nice place, though. I was glad to find what I wanted so close to home. Very good selection.”

“Yeah,” Ray said, thinking of the art lamp with affection.
Maybe someday I’ll get you out of there, pretty thing.

“Ah!” Rose said, stretching out her arms. “I feel better. How about you? Did the break do you some good?”

Ray thought about it for a moment. The horror inherent in rescuing Mariana’s dog had lessened already. He could think of the circumstances with distaste and regret, but it no longer crippled him. He felt much, much better. His natural humor was recovering.

“I’m okay,” he said. “I guess a change was good. Hey,” he said slyly, to break the tension, “I just thought of a movie the two of us can be in together.”

Rose’s lips twisted in a maternal half smile. “And what’s that?”

“
Driving Miss Tinkerbell.
”

Rose laughed. “As long as we’re talking movie magic, I prefer
Top Wand
,”
she said, and Ray groaned, but playfully. “You see,” she continued, drawing the picture for Ray with her hands as they walked down the street, “the Fairy Godparent Squadron, in order to win their lacy little wings.…”

Chapter 15

With bounce restored to his step, Ray walked Rose back to her apartment. The night was fine and so clear he could actually see a few stars out toward the lake in spite of the overpowering light pollution of the city. Kids were chasing each other across the front of the yards and in between parked cars. Boys and girls his own age hung out near the street, gabbing about something in loud voices. A couple of young mothers sat on a concrete stoop, pushing their baby carriages gently with one hand to soothe the sleeping infants inside as they chatted softly. A male tooth fairy, hurrying purposefully up the street, carrying one of the oddly shaped white briefcases, gave them a quick salute as he passed.

“It feels good out tonight,” Ray said, getting a faint echo of agreement from his wand, now nestled safely in his shirt pocket. “Peaceful. This is the best of summer. It’s times like this when I really love the city.”

“Me, too,” Rose said, smiling around. One of the mothers glanced up as they passed and waved to Rose. She waved back. “You have the leisure to observe and react at your own pace, meet your neighbors, take care of little things, without the cold wind hammering at you. In summer people don’t get so mean about parking spaces, either. Tell me how things work out with Chanel, won’t you?”

Ray jumped. He’d forgotten all about having come crying to Rose that afternoon, and for three days it had been the most important thing on his mind.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” Rose said, watching his face. “I’m glad you feel you can ask me for help. You know, Ray, you can call me anytime if you need to. I’d be happy to help you work through any problems, anything at all. You have one of my cards, don’t you?” Ray shook his head. Rose looked shocked. “You don’t? How remiss of me.” She pushed through the debris in her purse until she found her little card case. She tucked one of the pasteboard squares in his hand and clasped his fingers with hers. “You’re not too old to need a fairy godmother yourself, honey.”

“I’d rather do it for other kids,” Ray said. “You know, I read the manual over the weekend.”

“You did!” Rose exclaimed, pleased beyond words. “There are people who’ve been in this organization fifty years who haven’t cracked the spine! My goodness, you’re dedicated.”

“Well, I like to be prepared for situations,” Ray said, then he remembered something else, and was suddenly slapped by a wave of guilt. “Uh, what happened to the need string that got us back to the neighborhood?” he asked, feeling a little ashamed of himself for dragging them off the scent of a child in need.

“It’s okay,” Rose said. “We’re not the only FGs working this patch. Someone else took care of it. There’ll be more for us next time.”

“Tomorrow?” Ray asked hopefully, although he knew it was unlikely he’d get two days of magic-making in a row.

“Better make it Friday,” Rose said. “Is that all right? You’ve got two more days of work this week. Or are you going out with that lovely young lady Friday?”

Ray grinned. “I’m going to see her tonight, and almost every night. Stay well, Rose.”

She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Bless you, honey. Don’t lose that compassionate heart.”

O O O

Ray went home to change for his date. His good shirt still looked nice, but he felt that it was full of the smell of intense emotions and bad magic. He stripped it off and hung it over the back of his desk chair. On top of his bureau was a stack of clean T-shirts. Most of them were adorned with slogans or team logos. Was that too casual a note to strike? Antoinette always looked nice for him, no matter if they went out for dinner or just a walk around the neighborhood. He glanced at his watch. It was just about ten. They could be together for almost two hours before he had to go to sleep. He grumbled to himself about his job, but if he didn’t have it, he wouldn’t have any money to spend on Antoinette at all.

A raised voice and a burst of laughter outside on the street caught Ray’s attention. He glanced out of his bedroom window. Under the lamp down on the corner, a group of neighborhood guys in black jackets were hanging out, smoking and showing off. Hakeem was among them. He must have been hoping to spot Ray, because as soon as Ray moved into view, Hakeem started waving wildly, gesturing for him to come down.

Ray counted sixteen people. They were all Riverside Jackals or their hangers-on. The latter were either drug customers, or the unfortunate kids who hadn’t been allowed in as full members of the gang yet, because they hadn’t passed the dire initiation ritual. Kids had died fulfilling the requirements. Either way, they were risking their lives.

He put on a Rockers group T-shirt, then slipped out of the house. His wand had allowed him to hide it down the side of his sneaker for confidence. It radiated comforting vibes up one half of his body and down the other. Too bad it couldn’t provide him with a solid steel shell.

“Hey, Ray!” Hakeem shouted, as soon as he appeared. Hakeem looked calmer and happier than when Ray had seen him last. In fact, he seemed excited.

“Hi, man, long time,” Ray shouted back. Hakeem grinned, his round cheeks bowing out and his white teeth gleaming. Things were better with him. Ray didn’t know whether to cheer up or worry more if his best friend was enjoying being with the Jackals.

“Hey, Ray!” Zeon called, motioning him over. The big youth put a heavy arm on his shoulder and drew him into the circle. “Tonight is decision time, man.”

Ray looked around at the gang, which closed around him like the claws of a wild beast. He became aware of an acrid smell, worse than sweat, worse than decaying garbage. Evil magic! No, he thought to himself. It couldn’t be.

“Decision?” he asked numbly.

“Yeah.” The big, bearded man who stepped up to face Ray was Mario Lewis himself, the high, almighty, great Howler. “See these?” Mario held up his wrists so Ray could see what was on them.

Gleaming steel blue in the lamplight were a pair of smooth bands like the cuffs of gauntlets. Ray examined them closely, but he couldn’t see how they went on. There were no seams or clasps. It was as if they had been welded to the skin around his wrists. He knew Mario was tough, but Ray doubted the head Jackal would have stood still for hot-fitting.

“Go on, you can touch ’em,” Mario said. Ray did. They were cool and smooth and undoubtedly metal. There was no way that they could have gone on except … by magic? He glanced around, and all the others stuck out their arms to show him they were wearing a pair of wristlets just like Mario’s.

“Where’d they come from?” Ray asked.

“From a ba-ad club we joined,” Zeon said, his long-lashed eyes looking more satyr-like than usual. He was high again. Mario jerked a hand, and Zeon stepped back into line like a whipped puppy.

“We are looking to expand membership,” Mario said, carefully. “You’re a smart guy. You would be a good addition to the gang—I mean,
group.
Because of the way their initiation is structured, we would be willing to waive the Jackal ritual, and make you a member of both
organizations
at once.” He said “organization” with a hoity-toity inflection, suggesting he heard the word recently from someone else.

“What other group?” Ray asked. He was trapped. If he said no, he’d probably get the hell beaten out of him, right here. No one in the house knew where he had gone. He couldn’t hope for rescue.

“The Djinni, Demons, and Efreets Guild,” Mario announced, carefully enunciating each syllable with pride. “This is the most incredible association you have ever heard of in your life, young brother—with the exception of the Riverside Jackals, of course.” He nodded his head around at the others, who all agreed loudly. “They offer you power, man!”

“Power? What kind of power?” Ray asked.

Mario grinned. “The best kind, man, and all you have to do is become a member. Watch this!”

It happened in an instant. Where the man had been standing, there was a cloud of black and brown haze about the same size. Ray felt his jaw drop. They
did
have magic.

“Ain’t that the baddest?” Zeon asked, and he turned into a puff of smoke, too. One by one, the physical bodies of each of the gang members around him burst from solid to gaseous. They swirled in a ring around him, weaving a complicated pattern, almost like a dance. All of a sudden, they were back in the same places they’d left, crossed arms held out stiffly before them. They broke the pose a moment later, and high-fived one another gleefully. Hakeem grinned at Ray.

“What do you think, bro?” he asked. “You going to come in? You’ll love it.”

Ray was astounded. None of the FGU had ever told him the Djinn Guild had such abilities. He was really impressed, and wished he could turn into a puff of smoke, too. The Fairy Godmothers had so far displayed only wimpy powers that they could use for themselves—except for flying, of course. That was great. But he couldn’t give up and join the DDEG. He had a calling, to help the kids.

“What’s the purpose of the Djinn Guild?” Ray asked.

“Purpose?” Zeon looked blank. Mario was more cagey.

“What purpose do you need, dude? You sign the paper, and you can flick in and out of existence for fun!” He jerked a thumb at one of his captains. “Baron, get the man a carton of smokes.”

“To hear is to obey, mother,” Baron said gleefully, and crossed his arms. Ray gulped at the insult the gang leader had spouted off before he vanished, but Mario dismissed it without a single twitch. Baron reappeared holding a couple of cartons of cigarettes, and presented them to Mario with an elaborate flourish. Mario extended one to Ray.

“Go on. Take it as an initiation present,” he said.

Ray looked around him. How could he keep from getting conscripted? If he took the carton, certainly stolen from the tooth fairy on the corner, he was in. If he didn’t take it, he was dead meat. At that moment Raymond felt grateful that he had let Rose prevail on the issue of clothing versus identification badges. The Jackals didn’t know he was a member of the FGU.

Mario was losing patience. “Go on!”

Ray hesitated. Certainly his friends at the Magic Bar would think less of him if he went over to a guild in which they had no faith. It was doubtful he could be in both societies at once, and he didn’t want to give up granting wishes for kids. Most of all he had no intention of joining the Riverside Jackals, no matter what fringe benefits came with it. But how could he escape without suffering grievous bodily harm?

“That’s serious magic,” Ray said, shaking his head, holding his palms upright so Mario couldn’t put anything into them. “It’s a big responsibility, accepting power like that. I don’t know if I can handle it.”

Before the sentence was completely out of his mouth, Ray felt rough hands strike him in the middle of the back, sending him sprawling on the street. Ray picked himself up to his hands and knees. A foot slammed down on his back, holding him in place. He turned his head to see Zeon glowering down at him. One of the other Jackals walked up, and drew back a toe and kicked him hard in the stomach. Ray gasped with pain. A thick ribbon of steam that turned into Mario appeared beside him and pushed the other gangbanger away.

“Not like that. He’s got to decide of his own free will. The lamp won’t take him if he doesn’t recite the oath.” Mario looked down at him, his eye sockets shadowed by the angle so they looked hollow and empty. Ray suppressed a shudder. “We’ve made you the offer you
can’t
refuse, Crandall. Start thinking. Become a combination Genie and Jackal, or maybe they find you in the river tomorrow.”

“I … I can’t decide right now,” Ray whispered, hating himself for sounding like such a coward. His ribs hurt like hell. He felt a stitch in his side, and wondered if one of the bones was broken. Hakeem materialized beside the gang leader, his usually cheerful face stricken. He had accepted the magical gifts without thinking about the source or the cost, of course, and was hurt that Ray didn’t want them, too. Ray felt his heart sink. His friend was lost to him. “Really. This is not for me.”

“You asked for it, moron,” Mario said, drawing back his own foot to kick him again.

“Ray?” Grandma Eustatia’s powerful voice echoed down the street. He turned his head. In the gap left between two parked cars, he saw that she was leaning out the door of the house, the light throwing the shadow of her body down the stoop. “Where are you, honey?”

Ray twisted out from underneath the restraining foot and leaped up. “I’ve got to go, man,” he said quickly. “That’s my grandmother. If I don’t turn up, she’ll call the cops.”

“She will, too,” Hakeem spoke up. He was clearly disappointed in Ray, but still acted out of the friendship they had once shared.

“Mama’s boy!” Zeon taunted him, giving him a hard shove. Ray staggered. Another man pushed Ray back the other way, and in no time, all the Jackals had joined in the fun.

“All right,” Mario said, sweeping his hand across his throat in a ‘cut’ gesture. “You can have a little time to think about it, but your answer next time I ask had better be yes. Got that, Crandall?”

“I understand,” Ray said, “but …”

But suddenly he was talking to no one. All of the gang members, including Hakeem, turned into smoke, and joined together, whirling faster and faster in a ring that narrowed, becoming a funnel cloud that lurched away down the street. As it passed under a power cable, it tore it loose from the utility pole, sending sparks flying everywhere. The cable end landed on the street and lay there, spraying out hot, blue arcs of electricity. It bounced, arching up like a jumping rat, and struck the side of a parked car, which promptly burst into flames. The windows blew outward, showering the street with glass.

“Grandma! Call 911!” Ray shouted.

He heard the door slam behind him, and he stood, staring at the hissing blue sparks as the cable flailed around like a loose garden hose. He had to do something about it. What
could
he do? He knew he shouldn’t get anywhere near a hazard like that. It would kill him as easily as it would anyone else. The burning car threw up clouds of harsh, black smoke against which the blue sparks looked like the effects from a science fiction horror movie.