Going Nowhere

Chapter 8 - An electric blue Speedo

I was sitting in a deck chair, sipping pink lemonade and munching idly from a big bowl of popcorn as I watched my grandmother scry. Don't get me wrong; it was something I'd seen tons of times before, and it wasn't as if it was a huge source of entertainment, but it was Sunday, and I had nothing better to do.

Grandma Hazel sat calmly in her circle, watching a plastic bowl filled with water and mumbling witchy words of encouragement. Every now and then she winced, or twitched, and then she grinned.

"What's with the grin?" Joel murmured next to me.

"How would I know?" I asked.

"Maybe because you're a witch too?"

"Only half," I mumbled and shoved more popcorn into my mouth. "And they wouldn't let me scry."

"Remind me again why you let that stop you," Elsa said sleepily.

The sun was out, and she sighed a little as she leaned back and closed her eyes again. Unicorns were not good in direct sunlight, even in their human shape. Elsa had explained that it was somehow related to the fact that they glittered.

"Scry the wrong way, and you'll release all kinds of shit."

"Huh," Joel said and nabbed some of my popcorn.

"Hey," I snapped. "Eat your own. It's like you don't want your share of the cash I got from Benny," I added, but put the bowl down and pulled out the pile of money.

They both straightened and stared as I started splitting it up into three piles. Then I handed them one third each and grinned.

"I see a night on the town coming our way," I shared.

"I see a return to your place coming your way," Joel said and put the cash back on my lap.

"Don't need it," I protested. "I have half of what I need already. Last night was weird but highly profitable."

"Great tips?"

"Beyond," I said and turned back to look at grandma who had started swaying a little from side to side.

That was an understatement, actually. I'd thought Rafael would leave, and had looked forward to watching his back as he walked out the door, and not only because his buttocks were each like a priceless work of art. The way he kept his eyes locked on me had been unnerving, and it had taken most of my energy to keep smiling blandly.

Instead, he planted his fantastic ass on a stool and started chatting with the other customers, most of whom he seemed to know surprisingly well. Now and then, someone would ask for a drink, and when they did, they handed me enormous tips which I apparently deserved for being entertaining.

"I'll stop by Tiaso's tomorrow," Elsa said. "The place seems like fun, and I want to meet sex-on-legs."

Joel scoffed, and I turned toward him.

"If you didn't like girls so much, you'd get it." I thought about that for a while and added, "He might make you gay, actually."

Joel grinned at me and shared that he'd come see for himself.

"I got it!" Grandma Hazel shouted.

I got up and reached for my phone, knowing that Mom was waiting for news, watching her own phone, tapping her fingers on the table next to it and arching her carefully groomed, albeit stubby brows.

"Where is it?"

"Where is what?" Grandma asked. "Oh, yes. The amulet. It's shrouded in secrets and whoever has it didn't want me to see."