The Pandora Effect

by Olivia Darnell

  “It’s Friday night and a full moon to boot,” Mike nodded thoughtfully. “I guess I’d better go get cleaned up a bit so’s I can go out and get dirty, huh?”

  Tyler looked at the floor and shook his head. He felt terrible. Not only were his ribs sore, but his feelings were hurt as well. It seemed like it was his fault all this was happening to Mr. Aliger, the man he was convinced had somehow saved his life. And now he was sitting here hardly able to move. Even Paula Anne had been singing praises about the guy. If he let something happen to him, he’d never be able to live it down and Paula Anne and Aunt Mary would probably never speak to him again. He had no idea how Paula Anne had run into the Aligers, but there was a box of tea sitting on his counter at home. Magnolia Springs was getting smaller and smaller. It was just too little for Billy Johnson when he was pissed off and drunk.

  Perry opened the door for Cheryl Martin and smiled broadly at her.

  “Hello, hello,” he said and took her hand in a warm handshake.

  “Good evening, Mr. Aliger,” she smiled and blushed as usual. Chris Parker was down on the porch on his hands and knees showing Joanne the little mouse’s home. Joanne stooped to look at it in fascination. So this must have been the ‘rat’ Billy Johnson had kicked. It was weird, but cute.

  Chris got up and shook Perry’s hand. He stared at him for a moment as if looking for something. Perry rubbed his chin and smiled at him. Joanne shook his hand and looked for signs of the glass jaw. Nothing! Exaggerations, just as she had thought.

  “You remember my sister, Joanne,” Chris said after a moment.

  “Of course,” Perry said as he stepped back to allow them inside. “Come on in.”

  "Glad to meetcha," Joanne said and then asked "what's his name... the mouse?"

  "Paris," Perry answered. "How did you know he had a name?"

  "Oh, just a hunch," Joanne laughed. "Paris... like France?"

  "No, Paris like Troy," Perry answered as he escorted them to the living room.

  The three of them sat on the sofa with Cheryl in the middle. Angelica came from the kitchen to greet them with tall glasses of tea on a tray. Each one was decorated with a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint. She handed out the glasses and sat down.

  “I’m glad you decided to come Joanne,” Angelica told her. “I have been wanting to thank you for lending us your brother last Friday. He was a lifesaver.”

  “Yeah, he’s real handy like that.” She smiled. “I’m glad to see you’ve done something with this old building. It looks really nice in here.”

  “Thank you,” Angelica nodded.

  “We’re looking forward to the grand opening of your store,” Cheryl told them. “I’ve heard you're going to have some interesting things for sale down there. Magnolia Springs needed a new place to shop. It gets old having to go all the way to Carrollton every time somebody has a birthday.”

  “I used to love this old place,” Joanne continued. “I used to ride by here on my bike and look up at these windows and imagine that a fairy princess lived up here and that she was waiting for her prince to come along and rescue her.”

  “Yeah, I was readin’ all the signs in the windows,” Chris joined in. “Ya'll gonna have a lot of fancy stuff to sell. That’s real purty writin’. Did you do that yourself?”

  “I had a little help.” Angelica smiled and looked at Perry.

  “We don’t get much call for gourmet cheese over at the Texaco,” Joanne laughed. “We’ve got a lot of loyal customers though and I bet we could give some referrals, but turn about is fair play.”

  “Of course,” Perry agreed. “If I have anyone looking for oil, I’ll send them your way.”

  “Loyalty is a very valuable commodity these days,” Angelica added and shot a glance at Perry.

  “That’s like our customers over at the bank,” Cheryl nodded. “We know most of them by their first names. That’s what I like about small towns. Everybody knows everybody else.”

  “That could be a real disadvantage at times.” Joanne looked at Perry. “Everybody knows, or thinks they know, everybody else’s business. We hear some pretty strange rumors, don’t we, Chris?”

  “Yeah, we do.” Chris leaned to look around Cheryl at Joanne. “But we don’t pay too much mind to what we hear, do we, Joanne?” He gave her name an inflection that indicated he wanted her to be quiet.

  “Well, sometimes we do,” Joanne agreed and smiled. “Why, just today we heard the most interesting tale, didn’t we, Chris?”

  “I suppose you have to filter out the truth,” Perry answered instead of Chris. “I’ve heard some interesting tales myself and I haven’t been in town too very long.”

  “I hope you don’t mind that we’ve invited some more guests to join us,” Angelica said quickly, trying to head off the conversation. “They should be here by now.” She glanced at the clock on the mantel.

  “I believe you all know him,” Perry looked at Joanne. “Bobby Greene?”

  “Oh sure, ever’body knows Bobby,” Chris told him. “But how on Earth did you manage to get Bobby Greene to come? He don’t never go nowhere.”

  “He promised to bring Reggie, too,” Angelica added.

  “That figures,” Chris nodded. “He won’t go nowhere without that boy.”

  “I just love red-headed boys,” Cheryl added. “Reggie has the reddest hair I’ve ever seen. He’s so cute.”

  “Yeah, he’s cute alright,” Chris agreed. “But he’s hell on wheels.”

  “Children can be troublesome when they are left to their own devices,” Cheryl defended the boy. “But they are well worth the effort, I think. What would the world be without children?”

  Perry glanced at Angelica with an I-told-you-so look, but she seemed absorbed in thought. He wondered what she was thinking about, but decided not to intrude on her thoughts at the moment.

  “Yeah.” Chris frowned. “Bobby really worries about that kid.”

  “And with good reason,” Joanne said and set her tea on the coffee table. “Reggie is always in trouble. I heard that he knocked down half of Chilly Willy’s video store yesterday. He was almost killed last week. One of these days, he won’t be so lucky... he needs a mother. That’s what. Someone with the time and energy to keep up with him.”

  “That’s most certainly true,” Angelica agreed. “Ah, I believe they are here,” she said as the door bell chimed.

  Perry went to answer the door while Angelica went to get another glass of tea and a glass of punch for Reggie.

  Bobby entered the living room uncertainly and looked around at everyone with Reggie tagging after him. The tee shirt and gym shorts kid looked truly miserable in the little western suit that matched his dad’s right down to the belt and buckle.

  “Hey, Chris!” Bobby looked surprised to see him there. “Cheryl, Joanne.”

  “Hey, Bobby,” three voices chimed in unison.

  Reggie carried a fistful of wild flowers in one hand and the koosh ball in the other. He immediately laid the flowers on the coffee table and went for the punch.

  “Reggie!” Bobby frowned down at him as Joanne moved over on the sofa to make room for him.

  Reggie picked up the flowers and took them to Angelica who had resumed her seat.

  “I picked these for you, Missus Algier,” Reggie grinned at her and then looked down at the floor.

  “Thank you, Reggie,” Angelica said as she took the flowers and smelled of them before glancing at Perry. Perry took his seat and smiled at Bobby.

  The big Siamese appeared magically from the hallway and Reggie went after him with the koosh ball.

  “Look, Dad!” Reggie said excitedly to Bobby. “It’s the cat I told you about. Aga-memo.” Bobby nodded to him.

  Angelica asked Cheryl about her mother’s health and spurred a lively debate about medical conditions between the three women about the virtues and drawbacks of dieting and which one was best for heart conditions. Bobby leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees to ask Chris a technical q
uestion about fuel injectors. He and Chris talked underneath the diet conversation while Perry sat in silence watching Reggie play with the cat. Reggie rolled the ball again and again scooting backwards until he bumped into Perry’s chair.

  He looked up at Perry and frowned, then said in a low voice. “It won’t work, Mister Algier.”

  “Maybe you just don’t believe it will,” Perry told him. “You have to make it work. You have to believe it. The ball won’t do anything by itself.”

  “I tried and tried.” The boy frowned at the ball and held it out in his palm. “Show me how.”

  Perry smiled at him and then pretended to be listening to Chris.

  Reggie pulled on his sleeve.

  “Please?” Reggie looked up at him with big, round eyes.

  “I can’t show you how to believe in magic,” Perry shook his head. “Do you believe in magic?”

  “Dad says it’s all smoke and meers,” Reggie told him.

  “Is your dad a magician?” Perry raised both eyebrows.

  “Nope. He’s a sheet metal worker over to Carrollton,” Reggie grinned as if that was the silliest question he had ever heard.

  “Then maybe,” Perry smiled knowingly at him “your dad doesn’t know the secrets of magic. Do you believe in fairies?”

  “Nope!” Reggie shook his head adamantly.

  “Shhh!” Perry frowned at him and leaned forward to stare at him. “Don’t say that. Don’t you know that every time you say you don’t believe in fairies, a little fairy falls down dead?” Perry paraphrased Peter Pan.

  “Oh, yeah!” Reggie nodded. He obviously knew his Peter Pan. “Then where do fairies come from?”

  “When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about and that was the beginning of fairies,” Perry quoted another line from Peter Pan.

  “Then fairies are made out of laughs?” Reggie looked at him suspiciously.

  “Yep,” Perry told him. He leaned back in the chair and pretended to ignore Reggie again as he listened to the confusing clamor of voices. Momentarily, Reggie pulled on his sleeve again.

  “I believe in Angels,” Reggie whispered to him solemnly when he looked down. “Ain’t they like fairies?”

  “Not really,” Perry matched his tone and expression. “But fairies and Angels are like secrets. Most grownups don’t think much about them, you know. Only a few grownups still know about them.”

  “Oh, you mean like you and Missus Algier?” Reggie’s eye grew even rounder.

  “Uh huh. ’Specially Missus Algier,” Perry’s eyes crinkled and he knew that ‘Missus Algier’ would be listening. “If you promise to keep the secret a secret, I’ll show you how to make the ball dance, but you’ve got to believe it and you’ve got to keep it a secret or it won’t work.”

  Reggie made an ‘X’ over his heart and whispered “I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

  “Don’t say that,” Perry shook his head.

  “Why not?” Reggie glanced back at his dad. “Dyin’ ain’t so bad. I done it once all ready, you know? It didn’t hurt or nothin’. Livin’ hurts more.”

  Perry was stunned by the boys words. He looked at Angelica and she shot a frown at him.

  “OK then,” Perry told him and stood up. Everyone looked at him. “I’m going to teach Reggie a magic trick and when he learns how to do it, he’ll come back and show you. Don’t ask him how he does it because he’s a sworn magician and can’t reveal his secrets.”

  Reggie got up and looked at all of them with an air of great dignity for one so small before following Perry into the kitchen. Bobby reached out to grab at him playfully and the boy frowned back at him.

  Perry set him up in one of the high stools at the bar in the kitchen and then bent to look into his eyes. Reggie stared back at him fiercely.

  “Angels have eyes like yours,” he said. “I seen some when I was dead.”

  “Really?” Perry was taken aback by the comment but chose to ignore it. “Now hold out your hand like I showed you before.”

  Reggie held out the ball in the palm of his hand.

  “Do you know what static electricity is?” Perry asked him.

  “Yeah, it’s like little pieces of ’lectricity. We learnt about it in school.”

  “That’s right.” Perry smiled. “And when you walk across the carpet sometimes, you gather it up in your body and then when you touch something...”

  “Pop!” Reggie smiled. “Yeah, I know. Hurts too.”

  “Yep,” Perry nodded. “Well, that kind of electricity is in the air all the time except you don’t know it’s there. You have to learn how to control it. Make it do what you want it to do.” Perry reached one finger to touch the ball and a blue spark jumped into the strands and went flickering around and down to the center. “See? You have to put a bunch of it in there.”

  Reggie nodded.

  “Now your brain works on electricity. You want to put those sparks in there and keep them there until you get them all gathered up in the center. You have to concentrate real hard. Are you ready for this?”

  “Yep,” Reggie nodded and rubbed his nose on his sleeve before focusing on the ball.

  “All right.” Perry stepped back. “Now imagine that you can see the electrical sparks floating in the air around you. Once you can see them, make them go into the ball.”

  The tendrils of the ball began to move slightly and then stood straight out from center like a spiked sea urchin. On the tip of each strand was a tiny blue spark of light.

  “Now make them move,” Perry told him.

  The strands began to swirl slowly. Reggie’s eyes grew wide and a grin spread across his face.

  “Concentrate,” Perry warned him as the ball sagged and Reggie resumed his solemn look. The ball stabilized and then began to spin very slowly. It rose above his hand until it was suspended some two inches over his palm. Reggie looked up at Perry and the ball fell inert into his hand. He squeezed the ball and almost fell off the stool in his excitement. “Whoa, Betsy!” Perry caught him and pushed him back on the chair. “You stay here and practice. Don’t fall off the stool and when you’re ready, you can show the others.”

  “Wow,” Reggie said softly and held out his arm to begin the process again.

  Perry went back to the living room and everyone looked up expectantly.

  “He’s practicing,” he told them and they went back to their conversations. Perry sat down again with a very satisfied look on his face.

  Bobby looked doubtful, but continued his conversation with Chris. They had advanced to catalytic converters. Perry picked up his tea and listened to both groups at once. It was a pleasant experience. He mixed their words and phrases in his head and made several amusing combinations that had nothing to do with anything. Joanne was doing an amazing job at keeping up with Cheryl and Angelica while throwing in comments to Bobby and Chris. “It could be the rings.” “But they wouldn’t cause fat to accumulate in your bloodstream.” “Have you noticed any smoke from your tailpipe?” “I always thought that was where all the gas came from.” “A richer fuel mixture should cure that.” “But I hate that bloated feeling in the morning.” “You could try purging your system.” “I’ve tried baking soda, but I hate the taste.” “Have you tried that new stuff?” “I would recommend an additive first.” “That’s not a good idea anyway. A good antacid should do the trick.” “Something like STP?” “Yeah, at least thirty minutes before you eat.” “That could cause some problems in the long run.” “I’d rather wait until after I eat.” “I could pull your head gasket.” “If you do that, it might not work.” “Maybe you’re right.” “I could try it.” “Ain’t that expensive?” “You can buy it over the counter.” “About four hundred dollars.” “Really? That’s great!”

  “Everybody’s talkin’ about it.” This last statement caused everyone else to pause. Perry snapped out of his amusement to realize that Bobby was looking at him.

 
“What are they talking about?” Perry asked him.

  “About what happened last night,” he told him.

  Perry stared at him.

  “Billy Johnson,” Chris prompted him.

  “Mr. Johnson was inebriated,” Angelica told them.

  “It was a very unfortunate incident,” Perry added and shrugged.

  “Well, Billy Johnson’s a hard man,” Bobby shook his head. “He’s been Top Dog for a long time.”

  “Top Dog?” Perry leaned forward slightly.

  “Top Dog, Sweetheart.” Angelica smiled at him. “You know. The food chain?” She said sweetly.

  “Oh,” Perry nodded. Her tone caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand up.

  Chris looked at Angelica momentarily and then turned his attention back to Perry.

  “Yeah,” he said. “He’s been known to be downright dirty at times. He’ll be out for payback. You know that, don’t you?”

  “He’s OK most of the time,” Bobby continued. “He’d give you the shirt off his back, but when he’s drunk or thinks he’s been wronged. Well...”

  “Why would he give me his shirt?” Perry asked him.

  Bobby laughed and glanced at Joanne. “It won’t be easy to play him off as a joke, Mr. Aliger.”

  “Let’s forget about Billy Johnson,” Cheryl looked uncomfortable. “We were having such a good time.”

  “No.” Bobby shifted in his seat. “I feel like I owe it to Mr. Aliger to warn him. I want you to know what I’ve been hearin’ since I got in from Carrollton today. They say that Billy is lookin’ to get even. He ain’t never been beat. He won’t let it go.”

  “But I didn’t beat him,” Perry objected. “He beat himself.”

  “Don’t matter,” Chris shook his head. “He don’t see it that way.”

  “He’s been talkin’ about it all over town,” Bobby said shaking his head. “You and Mike and Tyler, too. He’s making all kinds of threats.”

  “Chris, you tell him.” Joanne looked at her brother sternly.

  “Well, I don’t think Billy would actually hurt Mike or Tyler,” Chris said. “From what I hear, he’s mad at them because one of 'em told about what happened. I think it was Mike. He can’t keep his mouth shut. He might try to rough ’em up a bit, but that’s all. They’re used to him In fact, I don’t know why they put up with him at all. But he’ll be layin’ for you, Mr. Aliger. He’ll catch you off somewhere and he’ll get you. I’ve seen him do it before.”