A Tale of Two Tricksters

by Debbie Newcomb

  “So, what’s good here?” Jenn asked.

  “There’s no beating the view,” Luke replied, looking at her.

  Jenn managed to smile instead of rolling her eyes. “I meant to drink.”

  “Let me see,” Luke said, turning a few pages of the menu and allowing their fingers to brush each other again. Jenn felt something again, but much less than the first time. It was hard to ignore it this time. “I prefer the gin fizz, but most of the women I’ve met here like the diamond fizz better.”

  “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” Jenn replied with a smile. Then she turned to the bartender. “Excuse me,” she said. “Can I have a gin fizz, please?”

  “Of course,” the bartender said, nodding. “Anything for you, Luke?”

  “No thanks,” Luke replied.

  “How often does he come here?” Jenn wondered.

  “Adventurous, I see,” Luke said to Jenn.

  Jenn smiled. “I do try.”

  “Especially for someone underage. You could get in a lot of trouble for this.”

  Jenn froze. “I’m 22,” she told him.

  “I’m sure that’s what your ID says. I’m sure it’s even a good fake, but it is a fake.”

  “It’s not. Can you leave me alone?” Jenn had never had someone reveal her this easily and it had her in fight or flight mode. And she was a terrible fighter.

  “I thought you were enjoying the flirting,” Luke replied with a smirk.

  “Whatever. You’re old enough to be my dad.”

  “Maybe so,” Luke said, speculatively.

  “So, are you leaving, or am I?” At this point, Jenn had no problem sticking Luke with the bill for her drink. That’s what she was hoping to do anyway.

  “That depends. Are you going to tell me what kind of magic you have?”

  “What?” Jenn asked. “Are you still trying to flirt? Because this is the worst I’ve ever seen.”

  “I’m not, well, not any more than usual. But I would like you to answer my question. I take it personally when someone walks into my bar and they hide their magic from me.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jenn replied, wondering if Luke owned this place. “How can I hide magic? It doesn’t exist, and I don’t have any.”

  Luke looked at her for a moment, and Jenn tried to calculate how long it would take her to run to the door. There was pepper spray in her purse, but she didn’t want to use it.

  After a moment, Jenn announced. “I’m just going to leave, if that’s okay.”

  “It might not be. You’ve got vast stores of magic and things could go badly for you if you’re not trained.”

  “Are you threatening me?” Jenn asked, grabbing her purse and debating again about the pepper spray.

  “On the contrary, I’m trying to help you. Have you ever made anything happen? Anything that didn’t make sense?”

  “No,” Jenn replied quickly. “There’s no such thing as magic, and if there were, I think I would have noticed it.” In her experience, people just got what they wished for, but in the worst way. That was just how the world worked. This guy was really starting to freak her out.

  Luke gave her a measuring look. “Very well. If you don’t have magic, then you don’t. Pardon me.” He stood up and walked away.

  Once he had gotten far enough, Jenn turned around and headed for the door, not waiting for her drink. The bouncer stepped in front of her and held out a business card.

  “What’s this for?” Jenn asked, afraid he was going to stop her.

  “It’s from Luke,” the bouncer said.

  Even the bouncer knew this guy. “I really don’t need to know how to get in touch with him,” Jenn said. “Excuse me.”

  “Just take it,” the bouncer said, moving in front of her.

  Jenn sized him up. There was a reason he was a bouncer. She didn’t stand a chance against him. Sighing, Jenn took the card from him and stuffed it in her purse. She was so busy leaving that she didn’t notice the bouncer’s face fading away to be replaced with Luke’s, smirking at her back.

  **

  “Jenn, honey, are you awake?” Leah called up the stairs.

  Jenn rolled over in bed and looked at the time. Right. They were going to Uncle Daryl’s farm today. “I’m awake,” Jenn yelled down. Slowly, she pulled herself out of bed. She had gone home right after that whole thing with Luke, but she hadn’t been able to settle down enough to sleep for a long time. Something about him made her want to see him again, but then she remembered their conversation and never wanted to lay eyes on him. Why did this grown man seem to believe in magic? “If he was trying to prank me, he could have picked something more believable,” Jenn thought, pulling on some clothes.

  Jenn wandered down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her dad was reading the paper and blindly reaching for his toast on the other side. Jenn had added so many things to his food over the years that it was a wonder he still did things like this. Jenn wasn’t awake enough to try anything this morning, though. Besides, that kind of prank had lost its charm for her. She pulled down a bowl and some cereal, splashed in some milk, and started eating.

  “I didn’t have time to bake anything,” Leah fussed, putting a store-bought bunt cake into their picnic basket.

  “You know, you don’t have to bring them food,” Jenn said around a mouthful of cereal.

  “Of course we do. They’ve got seven people in their house, and farms don’t make what they used to.” Leah put some more fruit in the basket.

  Jenn didn’t reply. She knew her mom liked to worry about things. Jenn sometimes wondered what would happen if they’d had another child. Would Leah still worry the same amount about Jenn, or would it be less? Either way, there was no one else. Jenn was the miracle baby. Jenn finished shoveling breakfast in her mouth and ran to the bathroom to check her makeup before they left.

  In the car, her parents listened to an audiobook that had something to do with the cutthroat world of business. Not literally cutthroat, or Jenn might have wanted to listen, even if they were halfway through. Instead, Jenn put in her headphones and listened to some of her music. It was a good day for guitar solos. While they drove, Jenn stared out the window, watching the cornfields go by so quickly, it was almost like they were flying. Idly, Jenn wondered what it would be like to fly. Then, she could feel it. The euphoria of being free of the ground, racing over sand dunes, the wind whipping in her face, all of it making her feel alive.

  Jenn snapped back to herself. That had felt so real, but she’d never been to a desert, let alone flew over one. It had to have been a dream, but Jenn knew she hadn’t been sleeping. It almost felt like a memory, but that didn’t make any sense. Jenn turned up her music and tried to put it out of her mind. She shut her eyes to block out the corn whizzing past.

  When that didn’t work, she thought about her cousins. She hadn’t seen them since Christmas. Hank was the oldest and he was in his second year of grad school, also at University of Eden Parkway. He was studying soil. Jenn supposed he was the sort who would have a garden, even in the heart of New York City. Next was Donna, who would be starting her senior year of undergrad in the fall. She had gone away for school and she didn’t come home often since the plane tickets were fairly expensive. Privately, Jenn wondered how she could be graduating on time since she spent so much time gaming. Donna was a hardcore gamer, and the sort who liked to unlock everything. There had been several times that Jenn had steered her wrong and watched Donna’s frustration slowly build until she had to call it quits.

  Reina was next. She was going to be a senior in high school. Because she was a year and a half younger than Jenn, Jenn’s parents had thought they would be great friends. Jenn didn’t understand their logic. Reina was boy crazy and had been for years. Reina couldn’t understand why it didn’t drive Jenn crazy that she didn’t have a boyfriend, and Jenn wasn’t going to confess that sometimes it did. Reina was also very good at math and sometimes worried that was the reason she didn�
�t have a boyfriend. Jenn wondered why Reina would want to date a guy who would care about that.

  George was after her, heading into seventh grade in the fall. If you couldn’t find him, all you had to do was look up. The boy was born to climb and it was hard to get him to come down sometimes. It made sense to Jenn. Their house was crammed with people, so being outside as much as possible was a good solution.

  The youngest was Perdita. She was still in grade school and looked up to Jenn, trying to copy everything she did, especially if Perdita wasn’t supposed to be doing it. Jenn had learned she had to be careful tricking Perdita. She was still young enough to cry at every little thing and it was no challenge to trick someone who believed everything you said. Besides, Leah was always disappointed in Jenn when Jenn got Perdita in trouble and that made Jenn uncomfortable.

  With such diverse kids and a farm to run, Uncle Daryl and Aunt Starla surely had their work cut out for them. However, they tackled each day with an energy Jenn could only wonder at. On any day, you could find either of them driving the tractor or fixing it up, while the other one tried to keep the kids out of trouble. Hank helped with the farming as well, Jenn knew, but she wasn’t sure how much help the rest of the kids were. None of them worked very much when Jenn and her parents came to visit.

  Eventually, Jenn felt the car slowing for the turn off of the highway onto the local road. She was just glad the road they took after that had been paved in the last few years, so it was much less bumpy than when it was gravel. Jenn was so unsettled that she didn’t try to make her dad think there was a deer or a dog about to run onto the road. She was a little old for tricks like that, anyway.

  After not too much longer, they pulled into the driveway of Uncle Daryl’s house. Almost immediately, Perdita ran out of the house and over to their car. Jenn got out to meet her.

  “Hi!” Perdita yelled, wrapping her arms around Jenn.

  “Hey, Perdita,” Jenn said, ruffling Perdita’s hair a bit, although there was a purple clip in Perdita’s hair that Jenn had to watch out for. It bothered Reina when Perdita looked disheveled. Reina had given up on Donna finding true love, but she seemed to want to give Perdita those habits early. Whatever the reason, messing up Perdita’s hair was a subtle way to annoy someone.

  “Cheater!” George called. “You were watching for them at the door.”

  Perdita let go of Jenn to yell at her brother. “It’s not my fault I got to them first,” Perdita replied. “You could have if you weren’t climbing a tree.” She stuck her tongue out.

  “I was trying to see them coming,” George yelled back.

  “Now, now,” Leah said. “George, can you carry this basket inside for me?”

  “Sure, Aunt Leah,” George said, taking the picnic basket from her. “Did you bring us cake?”

  Leah laughed. “We’ll just have to see.”

  “I could look in it now, and then I’d know,” George offered, walking to the house.

  “Let’s head in,” Mark said next to Jenn. Jenn could tell he also had a hard time being closed in the house with this many people. Jenn could see why. The few times they’d made the flight to China to visit Mark’s parents, their house had been quiet, small, and uncluttered. It was just about the opposite of Daryl and Starla’s house.

  Jenn nodded and shepherded Perdita in front of her as they headed in. When they got inside, Jenn was not surprised to see Donna playing a game on the TV. It was one Jenn didn’t recognize, but it seemed to involve looting pyramids.

  “Yes!” Donna said, as the screen showed that she had just gotten an Anubis head.

  “Donna, say hello to our guests,” Starla said, walking over to give Jenn a hug.

  Donna turned toward Jenn and her parents. “Hey,” Donna said. “Jenn, do you want to help me on this? The webpages always seem to load faster when you look for stuff.”

  Donna often played a game through once on her own and then a second time using a walkthrough on the internet to figure out where all of the treasures were. The reason the websites loaded more quickly for Jenn was because she made stuff up. Her crowning achievement had been convincing Donna that there was a treasure inside of a trap. Donna had gotten so frustrated, she had to turn her game off and go pace in the yard. It had been kind of nice to have the quiet after she left.

  “Has anyone seen my purple hair clip?” Reina asked, walking into the living room.

  “Reina, you’re not going on your date until after they leave,” Starla pointed out.

  “I know, but I really want to use that one,” Reina replied.

  Starla shrugged and headed into the kitchen with Leah. Soon enough, Jenn heard the two moms laughing. She wondered what they talked about when it was just them. Maybe they had seen the hair clip in Perdita’s hair too.

  “You’re going on a date?” Jenn asked, interested in spite of herself.

  Reina nodded and blushed a little bit. “We’re going to see a movie,” she said.

  “You should talk to him during the movie. Guys like to know you’re interested,” Jenn said.

  “Really?” Reina asked. “I don’t want to miss anything in the movie, though.”

  “You can always see it again with your friends,” Jenn pointed out.

  Reina thought about it, while Jenn debated about asking if this guy cared about her grades in math class. Then, Darryl walked into the living room and saw Jenn. As always, he gave her a bear hug and picked her up.

  “You probably shouldn’t be doing that anymore,” Jenn said, trying not to let on how much he was crushing her. She noticed Reina walking away, still in search of her hair clip.

  “It’s no problem. You’re light,” Darryl replied.

  “You don’t have to remind me that I haven’t grown since seventh grade,” Jenn replied. It was true, but she also knew it would make Darryl feel bad and let her go.

  Darryl put her down quickly and stepped back a pace. “College is really agreeing with you,” he said. “I hope it’s just as good for Reina.”

  “How many are on her list?” Jenn asked.

  “About five,” Darryl replied, “but University of Eden Parkway isn’t on her list.”

  Jenn shrugged. “It’s probably too close.”

  “Maybe for her,” Darryl said.

  Jenn couldn’t understand why Darryl didn’t want to get his kids out of the house, but there was a lot about him she didn’t really understand.

  Perdita came running over to Jenn. “You haven’t seen our obstacle course yet!” she cried. Jenn noticed Perdita was no longer wearing the purple hair clip.

  “You should check it out,” Darryl said, “and take Reina and Donna with you. The more people, the more fun. Hank’s still out looking at his test field, or I’d suggest you take him too.”

  Jenn knew he just wanted them to have another experience together, but she didn’t mind this one. In high school, Jenn had taken up rock climbing, so an obstacle course sounded like fun.

  Jenn, Perdita, Reina, and Donna trooped outside, with five harnesses for the course, and met George. It didn’t take any convincing for him to come with them. As they walked to it, Perdita explained a little about it. “A tree fell down in a big storm we had in the spring. Dad said it was rotten on the inside, so it’s just a good thing no one was under it when it fell. Instead of trying to move it, he smoothed it down and Mom built the rest of the course around it. It’s really fun!”

  Jenn was wondering how difficult this course was, when they came up to it. Jenn’s cousins began stepping into their harnesses. Jenn looked over the course while stepping into hers, grateful she hadn’t worn a dress. The tree that had fallen had been very tall. Jenn didn’t blame Darryl for not wanting to move it. It would have taken a lot of time away from the fields if they’d tried. Luckily, it was in a windbreak of trees, and hadn’t fallen outside of that, so it didn’t take up any space in their field.

  At the near end of the tree, was an upright web of cable. On the far end of the tree, was an angled wall of ti
res, leading up to a platform. From there, a line of monkey bars led even higher, and it ended in a zipline that brought you back to the beginning of the course. Jenn was pretty impressed by how sturdy everything looked, but if Starla had built it, she shouldn’t be surprised by that.

  While Jenn had been looking over the course, her cousins had started climbing up the cable web. Jenn followed behind them and was a little embarrassed at how slowly she was climbing. “Maybe I should go back to rock climbing and get those muscles back,” Jenn thought, as she climbed down the other side of the web.

  Her cousins all waited for her at the log. Once she got there, they formed a line down the log. What they had to do was have the person from the end of the line make their way up to the front of the line while everyone else was still standing on it, without falling off the log. Jenn was at the end of the line, so she was the first one to have to go down the line. There was a chancy moment when she was walking past Donna, but Jenn made it without falling off. Reina was the next one and, when she got to Jenn, Jenn wobbled until Reina fell off the log onto her butt. Reina laughed, stood up, and dusted herself off. Then she got back on the log to try again.

  “I guess she’s changing before her date,” Jenn mused, letting Reina past her without difficulty this time.

  Eventually, they all made it to the end of the log and onto the wall of tires. Again, Jenn was the last one and George was already starting on the monkey bars by the time Jenn made it to the platform. Jenn waited for the rest of her cousins to go ahead of her before she tried the monkey bars. Jenn grabbed onto the first one and let herself swing forward. That was a mistake. Her shoulders weren’t used to taking her weight and it hurt. Jenn decided to finish this part as quickly as she could. Then they were at the top with the zip line. George clipped his harness onto one of the ropes at the top of the course, pushed off, and rocketed down the line, yelling all the way.

  Reina went next, followed by Donna. Then it was just Jenn and Perdita. “I’m not sure I want to do this,” Perdita said, grabbing Jenn’s hand.

  “Why not?” Jenn asked.