The Transparency Tonic

by Frank L. Cole

  “No need to be modest,” Mrs. Brexil said. “It wouldn’t be right to turn up your nose to our discussion. Besides, you should be proud of your accomplishment.”

  Gordy swallowed a bite of cheesecake and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “I guess I discovered it a few years ago.”

  “He’s lying, Mom,” Sasha announced, prodding the Gravity Gouda with a plastic fork. The solid mixture quivered like Jell-O. “He must have a recipe somewhere. He didn’t just make that up.”

  “You shouldn’t be upset, my dear,” Mrs. Brexil said. “My daughter is a tad competitive, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

  “We noticed,” Pedro said, waggling his eyebrows at Gordy.

  Dez, Brianna, and Pedro left on their own bikes shortly after, each with a bag of goodies generously offered by the Brexils. As Gordy knelt in the kitchen, gathering his belongings into his backpack, Mrs. Brexil cleared her throat and nodded at her daughter.

  “Sasha has a gift for you,” she said.

  Though she acted as if she didn’t care whether Gordy accepted the present or not, Sasha handed him a large gift bag stuffed with crinkly pink paper.

  “Oh,” Gordy said in surprise, taking the bag and looking awkwardly away from Sasha. He hadn’t brought her a gift.

  “Don’t let her snippy mood fool you. It was her idea to get it for you.” Mrs. Brexil took a sip of her lemonade.

  “Mom!” Sasha glared at her mother. “Well, open it,” she said to Gordy.

  Gordy felt stupid kneeling on the floor, holding the brightly colored gift, while Sasha glowered down at him. He removed the paper and peered inside to discover a medium-sized bag folded over at the bottom. Gordy’s eyes widened. It was an Elixirist’s satchel! One with several clasped compartments as well as durable straps to latch test tubes and vials in easy-to-reach pockets. The outside material was soft, supple leather, while the inside lining was cushiony satin.

  Gordy stood, turning the satchel over in his hands. He knew it must have carried an expensive price tag and may have been even fancier than his mother’s. “I don’t know what to say.” None of the other Drams had walked away with nice parting gifts. What made Gordy so special? “Seriously, thank you!”

  Mrs. Brexil snatched up the discarded wrappings. “Shall we give you a ride home?”

  Mesmerized, Gordy looked up from fawning over his new satchel. “That’s okay. I rode my bike here.”

  “Nonsense. It’s after nine o’clock, and it’s quite dark. My husband will put your bike in the bed of his truck and drive you home.”

  That brought Gordy rapidly back to reality. A six-mile journey alone in a truck with Principal Brexil? Not a chance. He backed away from the kitchen toward the front door. “It’s no big deal. I like to ride my bike.”

  He turned and opened the door, only to see his mother standing beside the family Subaru down by the curb, headlights cutting through the darkness like two death rays.

  “Howdy, bub,” his mom called out.

  “Mom!” Gordy gasped. “What are you doing here?”

  “Huh. That was going to be my question.” She moved to one side of the car. “Let’s go. Now!”

  “Good evening, Wanda,” Mrs. Brexil said, moving up next to Gordy in the doorway. “You may approach the house if you’d like. I’ll keep the wards at bay.”

  Gordy glanced at Sasha’s mom and then understood. The wards were too powerful for his mom to just waltz right up to the door. She needed to be officially invited in order to bypass them.

  Mrs. Stitser’s expression immediately faltered. “Hello, Talia,” she replied, and then she walked up the length of the driveway. “I’m here to take Gordy home.”

  “I can see that,” Mrs. Brexil said. “You have a very talented son. Full of surprises.”

  Gordy watched his mom purse her lips, jaw clenching, as if she were about to square off with an archenemy.

  “You guys know each other?” Gordy asked.

  Mrs. Brexil nodded. “Yes, we do. We work together. Or we did, at least.”

  “Really?” Seeing that the two women were both powerful Elixirists, it made it highly probable that they would have bumped into each other on occasion. But Gordy hadn’t put that together until now.

  His mom forced a smile. “Gordy, Mrs. Brexil is the new Chamber President of B.R.E.W.”

  Gordy opened the back door of the Subaru to discover Max sprawled in the opposite seat. Max had his feet propped up on the center console, earbuds dangling from each ear.

  “For someone who didn’t really want to go, you sure spent a long time at that party,” Max said, yanking out one of the earbuds and sliding over an inch to give Gordy room to sit down.

  “How are you here?” Gordy slammed the door and peered out the window as his mom and Mrs. Brexil, the Chamber President of B.R.E.W., had a conversation outside of the house.

  “Your mom picked me up,” Max said.

  “Why?”

  Max shrugged. “Because I was walking all by myself down Granger Avenue.”

  This was all Gordy’s fault. If only he had told his mom about the party, he would have discovered the true identity of the Brexils and would have never gone, and his mom wouldn’t have been forced to make an unwanted visit to her ex-boss’s house. Through the window, both women appeared to be discussing something, but Gordy didn’t like the way Mrs. Brexil stood two steps higher on the porch, talking down to his mom as though she were the parent scolding an unruly child. This was the same Chamber President who had fired her! Gordy stared down at the expensive satchel in his lap, feeling like a traitor.

  Gordy whirled on Max. “Wait—Granger Avenue? What were you doing walking around over there?” Granger Avenue was at least five miles away from Max’s neighborhood. “And why are you soaking wet?”

  Max looked at his pants and grinned. His legs from his knees down were darker than the rest of his clothing. “Oh, you know, I was just fishing in Swinton Lake.”

  Was this a bad joke? Max didn’t do anything outdoors if he could help it. He often referred to himself as “indoorsy.”

  Max suddenly hooted with laughter. “I tried to sneak into Sasha’s party!” He pumped his fist triumphantly. “I followed you on my bike and then stashed it two blocks from her house.”

  How had Gordy not noticed Max huffing behind him on his bicycle? “Wait a minute! Was that you in the bushes earlier, crawling around?”

  Max nodded. “I almost blew my cover when my shirt got snagged on some thorns.” He showed Gordy the rip in his sleeve. “I swear you looked right at me, but I just laid there like a log, and you moved past. Then you went inside, and I tried to get a peek through the kitchen window when all of sudden I woke up down at Swinton Lake.”

  “The wards,” Gordy said knowingly.

  “Yep.” Max didn’t look the least bit perturbed by his unexpected detour. If anything, clearly Max had loved every minute of being hoodwinked by the Brexils’ powerful deterrent potions. “Strong suckers. I spent the next thirty minutes fishing. I hate fishing! And I didn’t even have a pole. It wasn’t until I was up to my knees in that mucky lake that I finally realized what I was doing, and I headed for home. Lucky for me, your mom showed up and gave me a ride.”

  “What was she doing down there?” Gordy asked.

  “Looking for you, I think.” Max shrank in the corner of the car, holding up both hands as if protecting himself. “You can’t blame me for this, but you’re in hot water. I didn’t even try to lie to your mom. Probably because I was still loopy from the wards.”

  Gordy’s parents must have come home early from their date, only to find him missing. Gordy could feel the mass of sugary treats he’d eaten sloshing around in his stomach. If only he had a shrinking potion handy. He would’ve downed it right then and crawled under the floor mat.

  Mrs. Stitser didn’t say anything as she got into
the car, buckled her seat belt, and pulled away from the curb.

  “I’m sorry, Mom,” Gordy muttered. An apology didn’t feel like enough, but what else could he have said? I’m worthless? I’m a moron? Max would be a better son? “I had no idea who she was. If I had known it was the Chamber President’s house, I wouldn’t have gone. I promise!”

  Gordy’s mom glared at him through the rearview mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy. Had they been that way before her conversation with Mrs. Brexil, or only after?

  “I won’t do anything after school, and I’ll break off my friendship with Sasha first thing on Monday. I’ll even give this back to her.” Punishment would be an easy fix, and Gordy was ready to accept anything his mom wanted to dish out.

  “What is that?” his mom asked.

  “It’s a satchel,” Gordy answered. “It was like a gift.”

  “She gave you a bag?” Max asked, unimpressed. “Wow. That’s awesome.”

  “It is awesome,” Gordy insisted. “I mean, not really.” He caught his mom’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “I don’t even want it.”

  “We’ll discuss this at home,” she answered, her voice trembling.

  “Yeah, man, be quiet,” Max added. “Now’s not the time. Not with me in the car.” He leaned toward Gordy and mumbled, “I don’t want to witness your murder. Oh, hey, Mrs. Stits, do you think you could turn around and pick up my bike?”

  Gordy’s mom exhaled loudly, and her head bobbled. “Where did you leave it?”

  “In the bushes behind the Brexils’. It probably won’t get stolen, but still, I don’t want to leave it out all night.”

  Gordy hadn’t expected to be having this conversation with his mom with his best friend in the car. It made it all the more awkward. “What can I do to make this right?”

  “You Blind Batched in the Chamber President’s home!” Gordy’s mom said as she flipped a U-turn and headed back in the opposite direction. “I told you to keep a low profile. I told you to blend in, but you had to go show off. And you put her daughter and those other three Drams at risk while Talia Brexil watched.”

  Gordy dug his fists into the sides of his head and drummed his feet on the floor mat. “It was so stupid! I shouldn’t have done that.” It sounded so much worse hearing what he’d done from his mom’s weary voice. “Ground me from brewing, Mom. I won’t go into the lab for a week—two weeks! I promise! Whatever you want.”

  “Whatever I want?” She scoffed. “Believe me. This is not what I wanted.” She held up something in her hand that Gordy had never seen before. It was a long blue strap, almost like a belt but without a buckle. The strap’s material emitted a mysterious sparkle despite the almost utter darkness inside the car.

  “Dude!” Max gasped. “She’s going to beat you!”

  “I’m not going to beat him.” Gordy’s mom glared at Max. “This is a Sequester Strap. The Chamber President has issued it for Gordy.”

  A Sequester Strap? “What does that mean?” Gordy asked, anxiety burning in his chest. And then Gordy saw tears dropping from his mom’s eyes.

  “It means you are not allowed to set foot in our family lab anymore.”

  A continuous stream of goop pooled beneath Bawdry’s foldout cot in his solitary prison cell.

  “Disgusting!” Bawdry said, only it wasn’t the mummy’s voice that emerged from his gnarled lips. Esmeralda Faustus was going to lose her mind if she spent much longer imprisoned in Bawdry’s body. The mummy had an endless reserve of goop. Where it came from and what it consisted of, she didn’t have a clue, but she couldn’t tolerate the sight of it. To make matters worse, no one would be able to mop up the mess until the next morning, when the guards changed shifts.

  Esmeralda collapsed onto the cot, the pillow squishing beneath the weight of the decomposing corpse, as she interlocked her thin, fleshy fingers behind her skull. She stared up at the mildew-covered ceiling and stewed over what she would do to the Stitsers if she ever escaped her banishment. B.R.E.W. had taken things too far. Sure, Esmeralda had been exiled to a hut on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific, but at least there she had the freedom to move around and forage for ingredients. She could even watch the rolling waves of the ocean, though her banishment prevented her from ever touching the water. There were worse places in the world to be exiled.

  But this was beyond cruel and unusual punishment. It had been more than twenty-four hours since her capture. How long would B.R.E.W. keep this up? Somewhere, at that very moment, Wanda Stitser and her intolerable son Gordy were laughing themselves cross-eyed!

  Beside Bawdry, lying virtually untouched on the floor, was a meal of a crusty roll, a cold piece of cooked chicken, and a dollop of instant mashed potatoes. The Elixirist officer on duty was new to the force and had followed protocol to the letter. As a mummy, Bawdry had no need for food, and as long as Esmeralda inhabited him, her actual body remained frozen in a wicker chair inside her hut, practically in a vegetative state. She would never grow hungry or thirsty or need to sleep. She could remain like this for quite some time. Years even. It was absolute torture!

  “I demand to speak to a lawyer!” Bawdry sat up as Esmeralda screamed at the top of her lungs.

  “What good would a lawyer do for an old, rotting king?” someone asked from beyond the iron bars.

  Bawdry’s neck produced an elastic sound like a balloon being twisted into a shape as he turned to see whom the voice belonged to. The door to the cell suddenly unlocked and slid open, and a familiar woman walked in.

  “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Madame Brexil,” Esmeralda said. “The Chamber President gracing me with her presence on a Saturday night? You’re the last person I expected to see.”

  “I trust your stay has been pleasant,” Mrs. Brexil said.

  “It has,” Esmeralda replied with a fake, sophisticated tone. “My quarters have been acceptable, although that dummy over there keeps bringing me meals.” She pointed Bawdry’s finger toward the guard’s desk several feet beyond her cell. “It’s a waste of good food.”

  Madame Brexil raised an eyebrow and smiled. “I suppose old habits die hard.”

  Two other Elixirists, dressed in suits and neckties, followed Madame Brexil into the crowded room.

  “So, tell me, is the Chamber President going to finally let me go home? You know you can’t keep me like this. It’s inhumane. It’s indecent. It’s—” Esmeralda stopped short when she noticed what the two men held between them. A silver cup, much like a golfing trophy, with a pearly liquid roiling below the lip. “What is that?” she demanded. “Is that the—”

  “The Vessel?” Madame Brexil answered. “Yes, it is.”

  “You carry it around with you now?” Esmeralda slid back on the cot, pulling her gnarled feet from the floor. She flicked her chin toward the two goons standing behind the Chamber President. “What are they here for?”

  “We’re here to grant you your wish to be sent home,” Madame Brexil said.

  “Well, let’s get on with it. What do you have to do? Philter me out of the mummy?” Esmeralda thought it odd to see the powerful Vessel away from its usual hiding place. If only she had known it could be moved so easily. Maybe instead of going after Gordy, Esmeralda should have orchestrated another attack on B.R.E.W.

  “Philtering is part of the ceremony, but first—” Madame Brexil pulled a long glass cylinder from an inside pocket.

  Bawdry’s eye sockets narrowed as Esmeralda peered at the strange instrument. That was no ordinary eyedropper. Chemically enhanced runes had been etched into the glass cylinder, and on one end there appeared to be a piece of porous yellow sponge.

  Madame Brexil dipped the spongy end of the cylinder into the Vessel. The two men steadied their grip on the handles as the Chamber President extracted about an ounce of liquid. “Esmeralda Lilian Faustus . . .”

  “Ooh, my full name,” Esmeralda inter
jected, slouching against the wall. “Had I known this would be such a formal ceremony, I would’ve worn something more appropriate.”

  Madame Brexil smiled genially at first, but that changed into a grim expression of seriousness. “Your recent attack on B.R.E.W. and your use of a highly illegal Enfetterment Extract on a corpse have left us little choice,” she began with an authoritative voice. “You have shown no sign of remorse, and you continue to endanger the lives of others as you seek for personal gain. Therefore, by the power vested in me as Chamber President of B.R.E.W., and in front of these court-appointed witnesses, I hereby declare you ExSponged.”

  “As if I . . .” Esmeralda started, but then Bawdry’s arms suddenly dropped, his head snapping between the Chamber President and the bubbling Vessel. “ExSponged? You can’t!” Her feet scrambled against the rickety cot as she tried to get away. But there was no escape. The cell door was blocked by the two men gripping the Vessel.

  Madame Brexil approached, holding the cylinder of pearly liquid in her hand like a poisonous dagger. Now it all made sense to Esmeralda. The reason for the Vessel. The appearance of the Chamber President with her two witnesses.

  “I demand to speak with other members of the Chamber. They won’t stand for this barbaric act,” Esmeralda shouted.

  “They have already signed a Writ of ExSpongement. My judgment will stand.”

  “Please!” Esmeralda begged. “I’ll just go back to my island. I’ll stay there forever, if you wish. I won’t cause any trouble ever again!”

  Madame Brexil stood over Bawdry’s panicked body. “You are correct, Esmeralda. From now on, you will pose no threat to anyone from B.R.E.W. henceforth and forever.” She jabbed the end of the cylinder down upon Bawdry. The mummy instantly crumpled into a heap of dried flesh and brittle bones.

  Several thousand miles away, Esmeralda opened her eyes as tears flooded down her cheeks. She sat in her wicker chair in a ramshackle hut on an island in the South Pacific. She could hear gulls cawing from above the trees and the surf tumbling against the beach.