Return of the Trickster

by Eden Robinson

Eliza had never shared her thoughts with him. He caught a glimpse of Eliza’s tall, nervous mother with blood on her arm, and then Huey zipped through the apartment, hit Jared on the head and zipped back out. Jared was halfway to the door when he heard the knock, and Eliza’s voice.

  “Jared!” she called. Jared, Jared, Jared.

  Olive stood in her doorway in a faded flannel nightgown, holding up her hand, wrapped in blood-soaked paper towel. It was bleeding down her elbow, dripping on the hall carpet.

  “Sorry. I’m so clumsy,” she said. She tried a smile, but it collapsed.

  Her dead ex-husband glided down the hallway, but now he couldn’t get into the apartment, crackling against the threshold. Yay, warding.

  “Get away from them, freak,” Dead Aiden said to Jared.

  Eliza had run back to her mother and now clung to her. He could hear her wishing, willing the cut to be nothing. Daddy broke the mirror to hurt her.

  “Come into Mave’s place,” Jared said.

  “It’ll clot soon. It scared Eliza, that’s all.”

  Bob emerged from their apartment, waving his arms slowly in an unseen surf, and the ghosts that had been waiting outside vanished. Huey came after him, tooting loudly, but Bob seemed to have grown immune to the whistle.

  “Olive?” Mave came into the hall, tightening her bathrobe.

  “I’m so sorry, Mave,” Olive said. “I don’t mean to cause a fuss.”

  “What happened?” Mave said.

  “We should call an ambulance,” Jared said.

  “Don’t be silly,” Olive said.

  “Let’s get you to Emerg,” Mave said. “Hey, Doodle-bug, can you stay here with Sarah and Jared?”

  Eliza nodded, but clung to her mother as they all headed for Mave’s.

  Sarah blearily emerged from the alcove and froze as Bob rolled into the apartment; Maggie’s warding zapped, but it didn’t slow him down. As Bob ran the tips of his tentacles up and down the walls, Huey butted him uselessly and Dead Aiden appeared outside their living room window. Sarah’s eyes went wider.

  “Let me just get dressed,” Mave said.

  Olive wobbled, and leaned against the wall.

  You should go with them, Jared thought at Sarah. Sarah? Sarah.

  I can’t leave you with that, she thought, not taking her eyes off it.

  I’m a Trickster. I’ll figure something out.

  Mave, who had thrown on a blue dress, grabbed her purse and car keys. She shooed Eliza away from her mother and Olive slumped against the wall. Sarah put on her coat, flattened herself to edge by Bob and then propped up Olive on one side while Mave held her on the other. When they disappeared into the elevator, Eliza ran to Jared. Bob retreated and then lunged, sizzling like a mosquito hitting a bug zapper when he touched Jared, one tentacle reaching the little girl. Eliza froze, eyes wide, when it touched her.

  Dead Aiden banged on the window. “Let me in!” he shouted. “For fuck’s sake, let me in!”

  Huey buzzed around, deflecting as many arms as he could as Bob flailed, trying to get to Eliza. She stayed still, dread radiating from her. Her breath hitched as another tentacle hit her, and Jared hugged her to him, trying to shield her. Bob’s arms waved in a frenzy, burning gold whenever they hit his warding.

  “Eliza,” Jared said. “I’m going to try to put my warding on you and I want you to tell me if it hurts you, okay?”

  Her face buried in his shoulder, she nodded. He remembered the moments when his mom wanted every single bit of him safe, down to the blood, down to the molecules, down to the particles so tiny even microscopes couldn’t see them, down to the void that lived between his smallest bits. Specific always wins over general, she’d told him. General wishes are loose nets and anyone with a specific wish can get around them easily. Sophia had wound fierce love around him like a hurricane, so that he stood in the stillness of the eye with her protection a scouring fury of wind. Sarah’d sent wishes that he be alive and whole, wanting him home, a single firefly seeking him out and circling his head. He smelled apples baking, Mrs. Jaks’s caramel apple tarts, the hopes she’d fed him for a long, sweet life with family and lots of fat babies. Granny Nita he saw pausing on the deck of a ferry, leaning on her walker. She wanted him safe, safe, and her wish came to him, landing on his shoulder as lightly as a monarch butterfly.

  The gold flowed off Jared, settled around Eliza like a glitter-filled fog, sparkling and warm. It disappeared into her skin, into her hair, into her face.

  Jared collapsed on the floor, shielding her as he fell. Bob backed off as he heaved. Leaving Eliza, he crawled to the bathroom, feeling firm bits of himself blocking his airway as his organs struggled up into his mouth yet again. He wanted to close the door so Eliza wouldn’t witness him falling apart, but she wished not.

  “Stop it!” she yelled. “Stop it now!”

  He heard her in his head as loud as an air-raid siren. She wanted all his parts back in his body. Now.

  Huey rolled into the bathroom. He touched his forehead to Jared’s, and Jared’s organs settled in place. He took a shaky breath. Another. Huey closed his eyes and then Jared closed his.

  * * *

  —

  Wake up, Jared.

  The tiles were warm from his body heat, but the bathroom floor was unforgiving and he ached everywhere. Dead Aiden glided back and forth outside the bathroom window.

  “You keep your witch stuff off her,” Dead Aiden said.

  “You should go,” Eliza told her father.

  He blurred, vibrating furiously. “You want to deal with that thing all by your lonesome?”

  Jared’s mom could disperse ghosts, but she had to put her hands on them and will it. But Eliza only thought Go and Aiden burst into dust like a movie vampire.

  “He’s still a ghost,” Eliza said to Jared. “But he can’t throw things around when he’s like this. I know things now.”

  “Yeah,” Jared said, as he struggled into an upright position. “I gave you everything Mom taught me, too. Hope it helps.”

  The living room was still filled with Bob and his wriggling, wet coils of arms. Jared was going to suggest they go to Hank’s, but Eliza and the space around her sizzled. Out, Eliza demanded. Bob bungeed out of the room as if yanked by an invisible string.

  Jared staggered out of the bathroom and eased himself down onto the couch. His organs were silent and non-sentient, as all good organs should be. Eliza curled up beside him. He heard her, in his head, very clearly. She wanted him to come to her birthday party. All her birthday parties. He was going to bring her good birthday presents—toys—not lame ones like socks. She wanted him to take her to the Pacific National Exhibition next year when she was tall enough to ride the wooden roller coaster. And buy her cotton candy, the one with blue and pink in pretty swirls. She wanted him to come to her graduation. She was going to have two babies, a boy and a girl. She didn’t want to get married. But she wanted babies and she wanted Jared to come to their birthday parties too. She wanted him to stay together and not fall apart because that was gross and scary. If he was going to give her all his magic, she wanted him to stay in this world. With her whole heart, she wanted Jared to be okay.

  Jared said, “You’re gonna be okay, Eliza.”

  Don’t die.

  “I’m juss tired,” Jared said. “Need. Lil nap.”

  * * *

  —

  “Jared! Wake up!” Eliza shouted. “Get off him!”

  The thing that had lived in his bedroom wall, the skeletal creature with its pale, halibut-belly-yellow skin, was latched onto his toe, sucking, eyes closed in ecstasy. Jared kicked at its head and it rocked back, sullenly opening its mouth and its black, black eyes. It leapt onto the wall, crawling up it, zigzagging like a centipede.

  You left me with the Lady, it thought at him, and Jared saw the airless world and the ogress. It m
ade a dry, rasping hiccup that Jared realized was laughter.

  “Bad thing,” Eliza said. She laid her hands on a fine thread, black and moist, that connected Jared to the thing. It broke, puffed like spores from a clump of dry mould. “Go away!”

  After I helped you, you left me far away.

  It sank into the wall, its eyes fixed on Jared.

  Going to eat you and bring you back, eat you and bring you back, it thought. Our chew toy forever, the Lady says.

  * * *

  —

  “It’s not gone,” Eliza said as they huddled together on the couch.

  “Are you sure?” Jared said.

  “Can’t you feel it?”

  “No.” But he did feel watched again.

  “It’s creeping around. Very still and then very fast, jumping from shadow to shadow.”

  “Probably waiting for me to fall asleep,” Jared said.

  “Gross.”

  “Do you remember the painted heads on the wall? They used to warn me when it was coming.”

  “Can you repaint them?”

  “I have no clue how to do it.”

  “Let’s go to Hank’s place.”

  “I think it would just follow me.”

  “Maybe we should smudge.”

  Neither of them moved. Neither of them thought smudging would help when warding couldn’t keep it away.

  “It would still be feeding on me if you hadn’t woken me up. Thank you, Eliza.”

  “You should have kept some of your warding,” she said.

  “I have Mom protecting me, but you didn’t have any protection at all. It must be hard with Shu gone.”

  She buried her face in his armpit then and cried. He wanted to put his arms around her, but he slipped under, felt the drag of sleep, like being swamped by an unexpected wave.

  * * *

  —

  He woke to his mom slapping his face. Richie and Sarah stood behind her. He was back in his bedroom, Huey asleep on top of his dresser. Jared sat up when he realized Eliza was gone.

  “Eliza,” he said.

  In the silence, Jared realized they were all staring at him. He looked down at himself to see if he had anything on him.

  “He’s okay,” his mom said to Sarah. “If it meant to kill him, he’d be dead. Looks like it wants him weak and suggestible.”

  Time stopped. Time sped up. Time did the hokey-pokey and he was staring at his mother, surprised she was with him.

  His mom gave him a light slap. “What the hell were you thinking? You didn’t survive the coy wolves because of your charm or smarts, Jared. You just pissed away a fuck-ton of protection. You tossed it on Eliza like you were re-gifting a fucking fruit cake. That was some of my best work, you ass.”

  “Mags,” Richie said.

  “Fuck you all,” his mom said. “And the high fucking horses you rode in on.”

  “What was it?” Jared said.

  “A sorcerer,” his mom said. “Old as the fucking hills. He was probably powerful when he was alive. I’ll bet you dollars to dime bags he was one of those jackasses who thought he didn’t need to die like the rest of us chum. Borrowed, begged and stole enough power to cheat death. Now he’s just raw need in a skin-suit crawling around in the dark.”

  “That creeping abomination used to be a person?” Sarah said.

  “Big, swinging dick in his heyday.”

  “Mother.”

  “How did I squirt out such a prissy princess?”

  “He won’t come back, right?” Sarah said. “Now that we know he’s here?”

  “He’ll wait,” his mom said. “Jared is a juicy little fly wiggling in his web. Once we’re gone and Jared’s asleep, he’ll crawl back out of his hidey-hole because Jared’s now open for business. Right when shit’s about to hit the fan. Great fucking timing, Sonny Boy.”

  20

  THE BLOOP

  Neeka and Hank showed up just before lunch to help move Eliza and Olive. While Hank studied the giant, old-fashioned tube TV and mused aloud about ways they could get it outside, Neeka toured the apartment, circling back to the kitchen table, where they were eating leftover pizza.

  “What did you do?” she asked Jared.

  Jared shrugged. It had worked, for now, and Eliza was okay. No one else needed to know the gory details. Neeka went to stare out the living room window, craning her head to scan the sky and then the ground.

  “This is going to take all day,” Hank said. “How the hell did they get it in here?”

  Mave and Olive arrived with cleaning supplies. “Sorry,” Mave said. “Traffic is unbelievable.”

  “Thank you all,” Olive said. She held up her bandaged hand. “I feel like an idiot for not being able to help. I don’t even understand how I broke the mirror.”

  “Moving is stressful,” Mave said.

  Neeka came and sat on the chair beside Jared. She stared at him.

  “What did he do?” she said to Eliza.

  “He gave me everything.”

  Jared could feel Neeka’s temper rising. Eliza reached over to grab his hand, frowning at Neeka. Neeka smiled sweetly.

  Let’s go to Mave’s apartment, Neeka thought at him.

  Mom’s giving Sarah a magic lesson, Jared said. She wants us out of the mix.

  We’re going to chat about boundaries, Jared Benjamin Martin. We’re going to have a very long chat.

  That means yelling, Eliza thought at them, and Neeka stared at her in surprise. Eliza didn’t share her thoughts normally.

  What Jared did almost destroyed him, Neeka said. I’m upset. There are less traumatic ways to handle a poltergeist and a spirit.

  “Pizza?” Jared said, pushing one of the boxes toward her.

  * * *

  —

  Hank called Kota to help move the TV. His cousin arrived quickly, meaning he’d been nearby. Kota paused mid-step and stared at Jared.

  “Are you dying?” Kota said. “You look like dogshit.”

  “Hello to you too,” Jared said.

  Neeka gave Kota a dirty look.

  “Hey, look at this monster,” Hank said, waving at the TV.

  “Just throw it out the window,” Kota said.

  “That’s a horrible idea,” Mave said. “It’ll shatter and the apartment below us will get all the glass.”

  “So? Olive’s moving. What does she care what the neighbours think anymore?”

  “Just help move the damn TV,” Hank said.

  “Fine,” Kota said, taking off his jacket.

  Eliza let go of Jared’s hand and ran to find her stuffed Olaf doll. The grungy-looking toy was missing an eye. She sat Olaf on the chair between her and Jared, pretending to feed him root beer. Jared caught himself dozing. Eliza retrieved another doll and ran around the table with them, saying they were being chased by a hungry octopus, stopping every second circuit to lean into Jared for a moment.

  “Did you miss Jared?” Mave said.

  “Daddy was mad he was dead,” Eliza said, “so Jared gave me all his magic so I could send him away.”

  “Oh?”

  “Daddy protected me from getting eaten by the octopus, but he broke the mirror to hurt Mommy. He loves us, but we make him mad.”

  “Oh, Eliza-kins,” Mave said, stopping to hug her. And then, as Eliza ran off with her dolls, she said to Jared, “What an imagination that kid has.”

  * * *

  —

  Hank paused by the dumpster after throwing in a couple of bags of garbage. He held the lid for Jared, who tossed his too.

  “Neeka says you’re not really her half-brother,” Hank said.

  “Yeah? I thought you would have figured that out for yourself.”

  “She says her family used to be otters until some Trickster changed her great-great-g
randmother’s human skin and it wouldn’t come off.”

  “Huh,” Jared said. “You guys must be getting serious if she started telling you the truth.”

  Hank glowered, but Jared now could tell that was just his cousin’s thinking face. “You believe her?”

  “Phil was the only guy I considered my dad. But the Trickster that messed the otters up was my biological father, Wee’git.”

  “You think you’re the son of a Trickster.”

  “I’m also a Trickster, but I’m pretty weak.”

  “So you can…transform.”

  “Yes. Not right now, though, because I used up a lifetime of magic.”

  Hank looked up and then down the alley. “Mave says we’re free to believe anything we want as long as we don’t hurt anyone.”

  I got my dad killed, Jared wanted to say. I’m worried Mave will be collateral damage. But Hank wasn’t ready for any more information.

  “If Neeka didn’t care about you,” Jared said, “she’d keep lying.”

  Hank sighed. “It’s hard to know when you’re being serious or when you think you’re being funny.”

  * * *

  —

  By the end of the afternoon, the apartment was clear, the garbage all hauled to the dumpster and all the helpers gone. Eliza let go of Jared’s hand long enough to touch the pile of six boxes and two suitcases that she and her mom were taking with them tomorrow.

  Mave said, “Let’s all go get some ice cream at La Casa Gelato.”

  Olive paused before locking her empty apartment. She took a breath. “This feels so weird.”

  Eliza sat in the back of Mave’s bug with Jared and put her stuffed toys in between them. At the shop, she picked the same flavour of gelato he picked, maple walnut, a cone with one scoop. Jared was surprised he could taste it, intensely sweet with soggy chunks of nut. They stood outside with their cones to get out of the crowd while Olive and Mave were still taste-testing.

  “What do you think?” Jared said.

  “I like the cotton candy one better,” Eliza said.