“What was that? Lightning?” Johnny asked himself. He had been trying to get to sleep for school the next day; It was picture day, and he wanted to make sure he could take a shower.

He jumped up and looked out his bedroom window to see if he could see more of the lightning. The sky over the woods, which his bedroom looked out over, was clear of any clouds; all he could see were stars, a sliver of a moon, and a red glow in the trees.

“I wonder if the flash of light was an explosion,” Johnny thought to himself after seeing the red glow. When he and his friend Sam rode through the woods on their bikes, they would often find trash from high schoolers who had been out in the woods late, so a fire caused by one of them would not be unexpected.

Johnny went back to his bedroom door to see if he could tell if his parents had seen the light too. All he could hear were the previews for the show next week, followed by the teaser for the news. Over that, he could hear the soft snoring of his parents asleep in their chairs.

“Good, they’ll be there for a while,” Johnny knew they wouldn’t move until the late-night show woke them.

Anticipating a quick check of his bed as they passed by, he arranged his dirty clothes under the blankets to look like his sleeping form, then quietly opened the window. He was just climbing out when he remembered he had forgotten his flashlight. He went back for it and then climbed out his window.

***

Johnny walked to the shed behind his friend Sam’s house. Sam usually slept in there.

“Sam, are you awake?” Johnny asked as he quietly knocked on the door.

“Yeah, I’m awake,” Sam said, opening the door. “I was just trying to finish reading the book for English.” The shed was lit by a small battery-powered lantern on the floor. Behind Sam was an old army surplus sleeping bag in a clear spot surrounded by old rusty shovels and hoes, and other gardening equipment.

“I figured you would be in here, my dad said he saw your father’s car at the liquor store, again,” Johnny said.

“So why did you come over?” Sam asked, changing the subject.

“I wanted to know if you saw the flash of light?” Johnny asked.

“Nah, there’s no windows in here. It was probably just a bottle rocket from some high schoolers in the woods,” Sam said. “I need to finish reading this book before the battery is dead.” Sam pointed to the lantern that flickered and got a little dimmer.

“Haven’t you already read it?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah, but the test is tomorrow, and I need to make sure I know it,” Sam said.

“Come on let’s go look. It wasn’t a bottle rocket, and now it looks like something’s burning in the woods. Besides, you probably already have an A in the class,” Johnny said.

“Alright, let me get my bike,” Sam said.

***

“It’s right over there,” Johnny said pointing to a low mound of dirt. They had gotten off their bikes after a short ride on the dirt trail, into the woods.

“I know I’m trying to see if there are any things that could hurt us,” Sam said. He had been carefully looking around.

“Come on, leave your bike here, let’s go see what it is,” Johnny said.

“Ok, just a second,” Sam said, and then put the kickstand down, took off his helmet, and carefully placed it on the seat.

Johnny just dropped his bike where he was and then tried to sneak up on whatever was creating the red glow.

“What do you see?” Sam whispered; he was crouched down beside Johnny.

“I don’t see anything. It looks like whatever is causing the glow is on the other side of that dirt pile. Why are you crouched down?” Johnny asked.

“So whoever is over there doesn’t see us,” Sam whispered.

“There’s no one there, they would have heard us when we rode up,” Johnny said.

“You’re probably right,” Sam said in a normal voice and then stood up.

“Come on,” Johnny said and then started walking to the edge of the dirt pile.

“It looks like this was pushed up by whatever hit here,” Sam said as he crouched to inspect the dirt.

Johnny took a quick glance down and then started to climb the small pile while Sam looked very carefully for any hot spots or sharp pieces.

“Hurry up,” Johnny said back to Sam.

“All right, all right,” Sam said, starting the short climb.

“Wow,” was all Johnny could say.

“What?” Sam asked from a few feet behind him. “Oh … wow,” he said when he got up to the top of the dirt mound.

Below them in a small impact crater was a red glowing rock, about the size of a bus. Only half of it was visible; the rest was buried in the earth.

“Wow, that’s a big rock,” Johnny said. “And it’s hot, almost too hot to stay here.”

“Yeah, it is big. Didn’t we learn in science class that something this big would wipe out a city?” Sam asked.

“I remember something about big rocks wiping out the dinosaurs, but wasn’t that like as big as the moon?” Johnny asked.

“No, those were a few miles across. That thing looks about the size of a short bus; that should have hit at least hard enough for me to feel it at my house.” Sam said, staring at the rock.

“I think it’s cooling down,” Johnny said. They both had moved their hands to block some of the heat; now Johnny could move his away from his face, a little.

Multiple click sounds came from the rock, and it almost looked like it shifted a little.

“What do you think that was?” Johnny asked.

“I don’t know,” Sam said, still staring.

As they sat there looking, the clicking became louder, and then eight round spots on the glowing rock irised open. The holes that were revealed were about the diameter of a bowling ball but were completely black.

“I think it’s time to go,” Sam said, starting to back up.

“Nah, I want to see what comes out,” Johnny said.

“This is the part in the zombie-space-alien movie where the heroes should run,” Sam said.

“I will — in a second,” Johnny said, not taking his eyes away from the rock.

As he watched, a puff of smoke came out of each of the eight holes, followed by a shiny spike.

“Run,” Johnny said as he turned.

“I told you that,” Sam said from a few steps ahead of him.

Johnny stopped to grab his bike after he had made it to the bottom of the mound, then looked back. The spikes were attached to a long, jointed metal rod. It extended out until there were three visible segments, then the spike end embedded itself into the dirt. All the segmented rods settled for a moment, and then they started to move until the rock they were attached to rose out of the hole, looking like a giant daddy long-legs.

“I hate spiders,” Johnny said, and then hopped on his bike and started peddling like a madman.

“What?” Sam asked, stopping after hearing Johnny’s comment. “Oh, that’s not good.” Sam turned and jumped on his bike. He had just stood up on his pedals and was starting to push down when the one he was stomping on dropped all the way down, without any resistance. Looking down, he could see the rust had finally stopped pretending to be solid metal and had split, leaving the remnants of his chain dangling.

“Oh shoot, oh shoot,” Sam said and then jumped off his bike and yelled, “Johnny, my chain is broken.”

Johnny stopped and turned around. “Quick hop on,” he said as he scooted to the front of his banana seat.

Sam hopped onto the bike and then turned to watch the giant alien-spider-rock while Johnny peddled as fast as he could to get them out of there.

***

“Oh man, Oh man, that was close,” Sam said when he got off Johnny’s bike, back at his shed.

“Yeah,” Johnny said. “It didn’t follow us, at least.”

“Nah, it was too interested in my bike. I watched it, and when it came out of the crater, it saw the bike, and then it looked like it started tearing it apart,” Sam said, and then started to look upset. “Man, my dad is gonna kill me when he finds out I lost my bike.”

“Just tell him you loaned it to me because … uhmm … my tire was flat,” Johnny said, thinking fast for a way to help his friend.

“Yeah…” Sam thought for a second. “That, that will work, he won’t like it, but he probably won’t hi… I mean, he won’t be too mad.” He looked relieved. Then, after standing for a moment and not knowing what to say or do, he finally said, “I need to get back to reading the book for the test tomorrow.”

“Ok,” Johnny said, trying to keep from shaking from fright. He turned and headed back to his house to try to get some sleep. They both knew that they would be awake all night listening and watching for giant space spiders.

***

“Hey, Sam,” Johnny said when he sat down at his desk. “I stopped by your uhmm, house, to give you a ride on my bike, but you weren’t there.”

“Did we dream the … the … meteor last night?” Sam asked.

“I don’t think so. My bike still had some mud on the side from where I set it down,” Johnny said.

“My bike was standing up next to the shed this morning. It was just like I left it yesterday, after school, except there was a brand new chain on it.” Sam said.

“Alright, class, settle down, settle down. Your teacher is out today. I am your substitute teacher, my name is Mr Killjoy.” The sub said, turning to write his name on the chalkboard.

“Today we are going to explore the benefits of silence,” Killjoy said. “To do that, you will sit at your desk silently. You can do homework for another class, read, or just sleep. I don’t care, you will just be silent for the next forty-five minutes.”

“Yes!” Sam whispered and grabbed the book he had a test on in the next class.

Johnny put his head down and quickly started to softly snore.

“No questions,” Killjoy said to a girl who had raised her hand.

“But I need to know …” the girl protested.

“No questions, if you need to go to the bathroom, go, but I am not here to entertain you … you … children,” Killjoy said.

She sighed in frustration and then found something to do from her backpack.

***

“That sub was strange,” the girl from the classroom said.

Sam and Johnny were at a lunch table outside when the annoying girl from class came up to talk to them.

“Hi Sally,” Johnny said. “Yeah, he was strange.”

“Hini Similly …” Sam tried unsuccessfully to say, then swallowed his bite. “I mean, uhmm. Hi Sally.” Then he put his head back down, concentrating on his lunch.

“Hi Sam,” Sally said, then set her tray down and sat.

“Did any of your teachers know what happened to Mr Brown?” Johnny asked.

“No, they were surprised to hear that we had a sub today,” Sally said.

“Mine too!” Sam said in a rush.

Sally and Johnny looked at Sam, hearing his discomfort.

“Maybe he’ll be back tomorrow,” Johnny said.

“Yeah, maybe,” Sally said and then started eating her lunch.

“Dwid you saw the mretror? I mean, did you see the meteor?” Sam asked.

“No, was it bright?” Sally asked.

“Err … uhmm …” Sam struggled to say.

“It was really bright, and it landed in the woods behind our houses,” Johnny said when Sam couldn’t talk.

“And no one else saw it?” Sally asked, the disbelief was obvious in her voice.

“No, just us,” Sam said, looking up just long enough to answer.

“When we rode out to where it hit, legs came out of it, and then it started walking,” Johnny said.

“Hmm, I think you were watching War of the Worlds,” Sally said.

“No, we really saw it,” Sam said, defending Johnny,

“Well, I think I need to go to the … uhm … library,” Sally said standing up and taking her lunch.

The boys were quiet while she walked away.

“Do you think she’s right? Did we dream it?” Sam asked.

“No! We saw it! It was real!” Johnny said with finality.

***

“Do you want to go back to see it?” Johnny asked Sam. They had ridden back to Sam’s place after school, and now they were standing outside of the shed.

“No, I need to study, I snuck some fresh batteries out of my house this morning so I should be able to read all night,” Sam said, not looking up.

“You can come over for dinner at my house. I think my mom is making hot dogs tonight,” Johnny said.

“Ok, let me just put my backpack in there first …” Sam was interrupted by something falling in the shed.

“What was that?” Johnny asked.

“I don’t know,” Sam said without looking away from the shed door. He dropped his bike and then slowly walked over to the door where he listened.

“Do you hear anything?” Johnny whispered.

“A humming sound,” Sam said with his ear to the door. He then reached for the handle and slowly opened it.

As the door opened, a light in the ceiling turned on, revealing a bedroom. Where there had been old rusty garden tools around a space for a sleeping bag, there was now a bed, a nightstand, and even a desk. There were even some posters on the walls.

“When did you do all that?” Johnny asked with amazement.

“I ddddin’t,” Sam said, trying to finish a sentence.

“Welcome home, Samuel,” a voice said.

“Who’s that?” Sam demanded.

“Schrank, at your service,” Sam realized that what he thought was a plush toy guinea pig standing on its hind legs on the nightstand was actually talking. “Did we do a good job repairing your wheeled transportation?”

“My what?” Sam asked.

“What, oh,” Schrank said to a little headset that was attached to him. “My shipmate says that it’s called a … bicycle. Was the repair to your … bicycle … adequate?”

“The new chain?!? Yeah, that was great.” Sam said, finally understanding. “But what happened here?”

“After repairing your transportation and delivering it to you, we saw your room. According to the broadcasts you send out, this dwelling did not seem to be correct for a boy of your age, so we decided to make some adjustments, while our ship is being repaired.” Schrank said.

“Adjustments? This isn’t an adjustment, this is completely remade,” Sam said while Johnny just stared.

“Where did you get that poster?” Johnny asked when he finally said something.

“My father is going to … to ….” Sam said, starting to freak out.

“Your father will not see anything different. This is only this way if you open the door. It is your bedroom, no adults allowed,” Schrank said.

***

“Are you up yet?” Johnny asked as he knocked on the shed door.

“Yeah, I’m awake. I even have a bathroom in here, so I got to take a shower so I won’t smell,” Sam said excitedly after opening the door.

“Wow, that’s cool. Come on, we’re going to be late,” Johnny said.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there. I just need to grab my books,” Sam said, and then went back to his desk and packed up all his school books.

***

“Alright, class, settle down and find something to do, I will be your …” Mr Killjoy started to say, then sniffed. “Hmm, I think I need to ask you all some questions. Has anyone made some new friends from … uhm … out of town, in the last few days?”

There was no response; the class just sat staring at Killjoy.

“Anyone? Anyone?” Killjoy looked around, waiting a moment for a response. “Come on, I can tell someone in this room has a new friend from … out of town,” Killjoy said.

Still, there was no response.

“Alright, sit there and don’t move, I’ll have to do this the hard way,” Killjoy said and then started walking down the first aisle between the desks. There were five rows of desks with five desks in each row. As he walked along, he would stop and sniff at every desk.

At the end of the first row, he stopped and then said to them, “Alright, you guys put your heads down.”

Johnny, sitting in the third row, turned and looked at Sam sitting next to him, giving him a questioning look. Sam just shrugged.

Killjoy did the same sniffing until he got to Johnny, where he took a longer sniff and then said, “Go stand over next to my desk.”

Johnny went over to where Killjoy told him to go.

When he got to Sam, he told him to stand next to Johnny. He went on and then found one more boy that he told to stand next to the other two.

“Hey, Paul,” Sam said to the other boy.

“Hey, Sam, Johnny. Do you know what’s going on?” Paul asked.

“No, I don’t,” Sam said.

“Where’s our teacher?” Paul asked.

“I don’t know, he wasn’t here yesterday, and no one knew why,” Johnny said.

“All right, everyone else, leave,” Killjoy said after sniffing the rest of the class.

“What do you mean, leave?” Sally asked.

“Walk out the door, and go,” Killjoy said.

The class all just sat there.

“LEAVE, NOW!” Killjoy yelled.

The whole class jumped up, knocking over chairs, and started running towards the door.

“Not you three,” Killjoy said to the three boys.

The door slammed when the last kid went through the door.

“Alright, you three, tell me about your new friends,” Killjoy said to them.

“What? we don’t have any new friends,” Johnny said.

“Don’t lie to me, you three reek of them,” Killjoy said.

“What are you talking about?” Johnny asked.

Paul, seeing that something was definitely off with the substitute, started shuffling towards the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Killjoy asked, turning towards him.

Seeing the opening, Sam grabbed an eraser and threw it at his head. When it hit him, it left a cloud of chalk dust. Johnny took the opportunity to kick Killjoy in the shins and run for the door.

“Oww,” Killjoy said and started coughing because of the chalk. “Cough, Cough. They aren’t what they seem,” Killjoy was able to say around a coughing fit.

***

“What was that about?” Paul asked.

When the three had run out of the classroom, they had grabbed their bikes and ridden out to the edge of the woods, where there was a dirt trail with some very cool jumps, and where they knew there would be no adults.

“I don’t know,” Johnny said.

“Do you think it’s about the thing we saw in the woods?” Sam asked Johnny.

“What did you guys see in the woods?” Paul asked,

“Just a meteor,” Sam said.

“That’s interesting, I saw some little green men a couple of nights ago. My parents kept me home because they thought I was sick.

“Wait, you saw Martians?” Johnny asked. “We saw a talking cat.”

“No, we didn’t. It was a talking guinea pig,” Sam said.

“It was a cat, I know it was a cat,” Johnny insisted.

“What do you mean by a guinea pig and a cat?” Paul asked.

“A guinea pig made some changes to my … uhm … room and then told me about it,” Sam said.

“It was a cat,” Johnny said.

“Wait, the guinea pig, or was it a cat, fixed your room? What do you mean, did it clean your room or made your bed? I could imagine a cat making a bed, but not a guinea pig,” Paul said.

“Tell me about the martians,” Johnny said.

“They wanted to take me to their ship,” Paul said. “Did the guinea pigs play on a wheel or what?”

“It was one guinea pig, and it transformed my she … I mean my room to a real bedroom,” Sam said.

“That’s cool, but how are my martians connected to that freak of a sub, and why does he care about guinea pigs?” Paul asked.

“I don’t know, but I need to get back to school. I need to take a math test next period,” Sam said.

The other two boys just looked at him. Finally, Johnny said, “Ok, but let’s meet back here right after school.”

***

The rest of the day was uneventful for the boys, and the substitute teacher was nowhere to be seen. Their normal homeroom teacher was back and said that he had been feeling bad until this morning, and then felt better and decided to get back to class.

“I want to see your room,” Paul said. “I want to see what a guinea pig can do to a room.”

“It was a cat,” Johnny said.

“Uhm, ok,” Sam said hesitantly, not wanting to show anyone else how he lived.

“You have to understand that Sam’s family is … different,” Johnny said, trying to ease Sam’s discomfort.

“Yeah, my father says your dad is a drunk,” Paul said directly. “And my mom said it’s a miracle you’re not a bully or something worse with the way he beats you. But you’re the nicest guy in school. Even when the cool kids try to bully you, you just brush it off. Let’s go see your room.”

“Ok,” Sam said, feeling a little better with the off-handed compliments.

***

“Wow, this is so cool, you get to sleep in the shed. It’s like your own little house,” Paul said when they got to Sam’s house.

“Wait, it gets way better,” Johnny said.

Sam opened the door.

“Whoa,” Paul said when Sam had stepped back from the door. “That is … some room.”

“Yeah, it is. I slept better last night than I have since before … my mom died,” Sam said.

Paul was quiet from the shock of Sam’s statement and tried to cover it by looking at the room.

“Ok, so this was done by either a guinea pig or a cat,” Paul said after staring at the room for a moment.

Just then, the back door of Sam’s house opened. Out stepped a creature. As it stepped out, it saw the three boys, then turned and ran.

“There, that’s what I was telling you about, a guinea pig,” Sam said.

“No, that was a cat,” Johnny said.

“No, it was a little green man, but what was it doing in your house?” Paul asked.

“Yeah, what was it doing in my house?” Sam asked.

“Maybe … it redid your house. Let’s go see,” Johnny said.

***

“Dad, are you home?” Sam called out as he opened the door. There was no response.

“Wait here. I’m going to go see if he’s asleep on the couch,” Sam said to the other two.

Sam came back out after a few minutes.

“He’s not in there, and I don’t see anything different in the house,” Sam said.

“Can we look?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah, come on in. There might be a few Cokes in the fridge,” Sam said, and led them in.

The house was a mess. The back door opened into the kitchen, where there were unwashed dishes everywhere, most of them looking like they had been sitting there for years. A trash can was overflowing with paper plates and empty pizza boxes.

“Well, the guinea-pig-cat-martian thing didn’t clean up,” Paul said.

Sam continued through to the living room without a comment. In there, things were about the same. The living room had old take-out containers, empty beer cans, and other unidentifiable trash strewn all around. There was a couch with an old, stained blanket and some dirty clothes balled up at one end for a pillow. On one of the cushions and the arm, there were a few deep rips.

“Those are new,” Sam said, indicating the cuts.

“So what was the alien doing here?” Johnny asked, not seeing any indication of anything having been done.

“Where’s your dad? Is he still at work?” Paul asked.

“No, he should be here. I think he got laid off a few days ago,” Sam said.

“Was that why you had all the bruises last week?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah,” Sam said and then hid his face from the other two.

Paul and Johnny started looking around the room to give Sam a moment.

“Did you have a cat, or some other animal?” Paul asked when he found something on the floor behind the couch.

“No, when my mom was alive, they said I wasn’t responsible enough, and then after she died …” Sam trailed off in his telling.

“Well, something died over here,” Paul said.

“What? What do you mean?” Sam asked, then walked around to where Paul stood.

“What is that?” Johnny asked when he saw what was on the floor. “Aww, cool it’s still bloody.”

Paul pushed it with his foot. “I think it was a rat,” he said.

“Does your dad have a gun?” Johnny asked.

“No, mom didn’t want one in the house,” Sam said.

“Well, something put that hole in it,” Johnny said.

“And ate some of it,” Paul said.

The boys went through the rest of the house and didn’t find anything different, and best of all, no more dead animals.

“So what do you think?” Paul asked.

“I don’t know, but I think … “ Sam started.

“I think we should all have dinner at my house,” Johnny said.

***

“Hey, Johnny. Hey, Paul,” Sam said when he got off his bike at school.

“Hi Sam,” Paul said.

“Hey,” Johnny said. “Did you see your father?”

“No,” Sam said, not elaborating.

They locked up their bikes and then turned to head to class, but were stopped by the weird substitute standing behind them.

“Hello, boys,” the sub said. “No need to run, I just want to talk.” He said quickly, as it was obvious the boys were about to run.

“Ok,” they said almost in unison.

“What did the creatures look like?” The sub asked.

“A guinea pig,” Sam said.

“A cat,” Johnny said.

“Martians,” Paul said.

“That’s interesting. Martians?” Killjoy asked.

“Yeah, I think they’re cool,” Paul said.

“How come we all see something different?” Johnny asked.

“You see what you want to see,” Killjoy said.

“What do you see?” Sam asked.

“I see a pony,” Killjoy said.

The boys started to snicker.

“Yeah, I know, but I always wanted a pony,” Killjoy said. This made it worse, and the boys started to laugh out loud.

“Why are they here?” Paul asked after he finally stopped laughing.

“They …” Killjoy started to say.

“They said they were repairing their ship,” Sam interrupted

“That’s probably true because I had an interaction with them a few days ago, but that’s not what brought them here. They are here to collect adults,” Killjoy said.

“Huh, collect adults, what like trading cards?” Johnny asked.

“No, not like trading cards. I have my suspicions, but I would rather not say. The important thing is we need to stop them,” Killjoy said.

“But they made me a bedroom, they’re not bad,” Sam finally said.

“That was probably a trade. Is there any adult in your life that’s gone?” Killjoy asked.

“He’s not gone, he’s probably looking for a new job,” Sam said. “Or drinking.” The last he said in a whisper.

“He’s a drunk,” Paul volunteered.

“But he’s my father!” Sam yelled.

“Hmm, then most likely they took him,” Killjoy said.

“I’m sure he’s just out,” Sam insisted.

“How do we find out if they took him?” Johnny asked.

“Well, you guys can go to their landing site and look. When did he disappear?” Killjoy asked.

“Yesterday, we saw the Martian coming out of Sam’s house,” Paul said.

“Guinea pig,” Sam corrected.

“Cat,” Johnny said.

“Well then, they haven’t … uhh … processed him. You can go to the landing site and look. They will detect me if I get anywhere close, and they will be ready for me,” Killjoy said.

“Alright let’s go,” Sam said, starting towards his bike.

“Not right now!” Killjoy yelled to him. “You need to wait until this evening.”

“Why? We should go right now!” Sam said.

“No, they will be there and protected. They leave looking for more …uhmm… adults at night. If you wait until this evening, then you can rescue your dad and any other adults, and we can blow up their spaceship,” Killjoy said. “Where do you live?” Killjoy asked Sam.

“Over near the trailer park on Watertown Street,” Sam said.

“An address would help,” Killjoy said, getting frustrated.

“His yard is the one that’s never been mowed, and there’s an old car in the grass,” Johnny said, trying to help.

“Ok then, I will meet you three there at 7 pm tonight,” Killjoy said.

“I still don’t believe they’re bad; they gave me a really cool bedroom,” Sam said, trying to keep from believing something happened to his father.

***

“Hi, guys,” Paul said when he rode up to Sam’s house. “I brought some supplies.” He dropped his bike and then pulled off his backpack. “Here, take some.” He pulled out a handful of beef jerky sticks. “And some of these.” He then pulled out a bunch of Doritos.

“Cool,” Johnny said.

Sam reached for a stick, then opened it and started eating. After their meeting with Killjoy, the day had dragged on for all of them. At lunch, they had sat around talking about what they could do. In the end, they realized that they didn’t know what they could do.

“Do you guys think Killjoy is ok?” Sam asked in between bites.

“Not really, he is definitely off, and I think he’s lying to us, but I think we can bring him to the martians and then let them deal with him. They must have good weapons,” Paul said.

“That’s a good idea,” Johnny said.

“What’s a good idea?” Killjoy said as he walked up to the three boys, still sitting near their bikes.

“Oh … uhmm …. just that … we would go back to my house later,” Johnny said, trying to come up with a cover story.

“Mmm hmm, well, are you guys ready?” Killjoy asked.

“I guess,” Sam said. “What are we going to do?”

“Just reconnaissance. I’ll give you guys these,” Killjoy said as he handed them each some kind of gun that was the size of water pistols. “But they are only for extreme emergencies. You should run before trying to use them.”

“What are they?” Paul asked.

“Guns, isn’t that obvious?” Killjoy said.

“Yeah, I can see that, but what caliber?” Paul asked while Sam and Johnny looked at them.

“They’re not from around here, and they are not traditional projectile weapons; they are energy weapons,” Killjoy said.

“Cool, a laser gun,” Paul said, then pointed it at the side of the abandoned car and pulled the trigger. There was a small explosion and a bit of smoke where it had punctured a hole through the door.

“Wow, cool,” Johnny said and then fired his too.

“Stop! I didn’t give them to you guys to play with. Those are deadly weapons and not toys,” Killjoy yelled.

“Oops, sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,” Paul said with a laugh after he had hit the car again, leaving a third hole, making it look like a surprised face.

“So what does this button do?” Sam asked and then pulled the trigger. The laser pistol went from being a single shot to a continuous beam of energy that changed the ohh face to a smiley face with a crooked grin.

“STOP, STOP, STOP!” Killjoy yelled.

“Ok,” the three said almost at the same time.

“Now push that red button, that keeps it from firing; that’s the safety,” Killjoy said.

The boys all pushed theirs, resulting in a very quiet beep, and the red buttons turning green.

“If I push it again it’s active?” Sam asked while Paul did that. The green button turned back to red and then back to green when he pushed it again.

“Yes, it will activate it again. Until you are near the landing site, keep the safety on. I will go most of the way with you guys. If the unexpected happens and we encounter them, I will come running,” Killjoy said, then looked at each of the guns to make sure the safety was on. “Now that you won’t shoot off something important, you can slip those into your jacket pockets.”

Johnny and Paul did as instructed.

“Can I put it in my pants?” Sam asked. “All my pockets have holes in them.”

“Yeah, that should be fine, it won’t cause any damage for the short amount of time you’ll have it,” Killjoy said.

“What do you mean? The safety is on; what damage could it cause?” Sam asked.

“Oh, some of them leak a little,” Killjoy said.

“Leak!?!” Sam squeaked. “What does that mean?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, it’ll be fine, I shouldn’t have said anything. Just slip it into your waistband,” Killjoy said.

Sam did as he was told and put it in his pants, then shifted a little to get it comfortable. The pistols were small, so they fit in the pockets and waistbands of the boys.

“All right, are you guys ready?” Killjoy asked as he put his backpack on.

“Yep,” Paul answered for all of them.

“You’ll need to ride slowly until we get to the spot where I’ll have to wait,” Killjoy said, then he started walking towards the woods.

“Wait up,” Sam said as he jumped on his bike. The three boys raced to catch up with Killjoy. “How close can you get?” Paul asked.

“About five hundred feet,” Killjoy said.

“How will we know when we get there?” Paul asked as he tried to keep next to him on the narrow trail.

“I’ll tell you,” Killjoy said as he walked along, with his eyes scanning the forest. The other two boys finally gave up riding and started walking their bikes behind Killjoy and Paul.

“I think we’re getting close to where we saw the space spider. Do you need to stop?” Sam asked.

“Not yet,” Killjoy said.

“Are we there yet?” Johnny asked, imitating kids from a movie.

“Not yet,” Killjoy said.

“Are we there yet?” Johnny asked again.

“Not yet,” Killjoy said, now starting to get annoyed.

“Are we there yet?” Johnny asked.

“No, and stop asking!” Killjoy yelled, then he stopped and looked at something on his wrist. “Yeah, we’re there.” He corrected himself after realizing that he had gotten to the spot.

“Alright, boys, what I want you to do is ride up to the landing spot, look around, and then come right back here,” Killjoy said.

“Is that where we get to shoot something?” Johnny asked, with an excited look in his eyes.

“NO! I don’t want you to shoot anything. Just look. The creatures should be gone, so you won’t have to do anything except look, then come back here.” Killjoy said.

“Yes, sir,” Johnny said with a salute.

The three got on their bikes and then started riding towards the landing spot. Along the way, they were jumping any little piles of dirt that could be a ramp.

“It’s over there,” Johnny said after stopping in a cloud of dust and pointing to a clearing.

The other two dropped their bikes and then slowly walked up to one of the trees, and stood behind it. Johnny joined them at a tree on the other side of the trail.

“Do you see anyone?” Paul asked after he looked.

“No, do you?” Sam asked Johnny.

“Nope, let’s go,” Johnny said and then walked into the clearing. The other two boys followed him.

Where there had been a hole in the ground, now there was an old wooden shed about the size of Sam’s.

“That’s new,” Sam said, seeing the shed.

“What are those?” Paul asked.

“What are what?” Johnny asked, turning around.

“Those,” Paul said, pointing at a dozen coffin-looking boxes near the edge of the clearing.

“Hmm, I don’t know. They weren’t here before,” Johnny said, and then started walking over to them.

The first box he got to had a window in the top.

“There’s nothing in this one,” Johnny said.

Seeing Johnny going over to the boxes, Sam and Paul did the same.

“Nothing here,” Sam said at another box.

They continued to check until Paul said, “This one has the crazy cat lady from near my house.”

“And this one has one of my neighbors,” Johnny said.

“Oh no, my father’s in this one, how do I open …” Sam started to say until he was interrupted.

“You don’t,” a guinea pig said from the clearing’s edge.

“You have to let him out!” Sam yelled.

“We had a deal, I made you a room, and you gave me your father,” the guinea pig said.

“Let him out now,” Sam said, and then dug in his waist-belt for the little laser pistol. “Let him out, or I’ll … I’ll … I’ll zap you.” Sam aimed the pistol at the little creature.

“That would be a breach of contract, and I will have to remove the changes we made to the shed,” the creature said.

“I’m going to zap you, let him out,” Sam said, shaking the gun at him in emphasis.

“It doesn’t work,” Paul said. He was standing with his pistol drawn and squeezing the trigger over and over.

“The safety on mine won’t shut off,” Johnny said.

Sam looked over at him and saw Johnny and Paul both trying to turn off the safety on their guns. “Fine, what do I have to do to get my father back?” Sam asked, dropping his hands in surrender.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch, oww.” The guinea pig said and then started to bounce a little device between his hands, like he had just taken something hot out of the oven. After a moment, the creature changed from a guinea pig to a martian, then to a cat, and then to Killjoy. Then he was a mashup of the four different creatures. His body was Killjoy’s with green fur and a little guinea pig head. He kept bouncing the device until there was a small explosion, and then standing in front of them was a creature that looked like a garden gnome. “Lousy Grag tech, they are always exploding when you don’t want them to.” He was holding a laser pistol with a green light on the side.

“Do you think I would give you a gun that you could use on me. Wow, you guys are stupid,” Killjoy said. “Now time for you three to get in the boxes.”

“Who are you? Are you one of the aliens or are you Killjoy?” Paul asked.

“I’m Killjoy, and I’ve been hunting those aliens for a long time,” Killjoy said. “Now, if you don’t mind, get in an empty box.”

“Are you going to let these people out?” Sam asked.

“No, they are mine,” Killjoy said.

“Where are the other aliens?” Paul asked.

“They’re gone. Now enough questions, get in,” Killjoy said as he waved the gun to get them moving.

“What are you going to do with those people and us?” Johnny asked as he started towards where Killjoy told him to go.

Paul started to walk in the direction too, followed by Sam. Paul made a few steps and then fell and lay there on the ground, not moving.

“What did you do to him!” Sam yelled as he ran over to Paul.

Paul was lying with his face directed away from Killjoy. When Sam got to him, Paul winked and then whispered, “Help me up, but don’t let him know I’m awake.”

Sam struggled to pick him up, but then finally was able to get him up.

“When we get closer to him, drop me, and then we’ll rush him,” Paul whispered.

“Ok,” Sam said, and then started to slow down and prepared to drop Paul. He took a few more steps and then stumbled and dropped him. After he had made sure he hadn’t hurt him, he started running at Killjoy. Followed closely by Paul.

Seeing the two running towards him, Killjoy tried to shoot them, with no success.“Fire you frakin’ Grag garbage,” Killjoy said. Finally, as a last resort, he threw the pistol.

“Ooph,” Killjoy said as Sam hit him, followed by Paul and then Johnny.

“Let go of me,” Killjoy yelled after the three boys had untangled themselves.

Johnny had picked him up and was holding him at arm’s length.

“Not until you tell us how to let those people out,” Sam said.

“They’re mine! I’m not going let them out,” Killjoy said.

Paul walked over to one of the boxes and started to look at it. There was only one button. “Is this how you open it?” He asked as he hit the button. The lid opened, and the woman contained within opened her eyes and said, “Good morning.”

“No! They’re mine!” Killjoy yelled in frustration.

The rest of the boxes worked the same way, and the men and women were able to get out safely.

“Dad, I was so worried I had lost you,” Sam said when he opened the box with his father. His father sat up a little bleary eyed and Sam reached out and hugged him not intending to let him go.

“I’m so sorry,” his father said, hugging him back so tightly Sam could barely breathe.

“I love you,” they both said to each other.

“Let me keep him,” Killjoy said. “He’s a drunk; no one will miss him.”

“Why don’t we just put you in here,” Johnny said and then dropped Killjoy in a box that had just been vacated.

“Eww, it smells like humans,” Killjoy said.

“Tough,” Johnny said, and then closed the lid.

“Before we go in, I wanted to warn you two. When I said he was malnourished, I wasn’t kidding. When we, Peter and I, saw him, I didn’t believe it was Arnie until he started to talk. He is so thin, he looks like a late-stage anorexic,” Raul said.

“Why don’t you two go in first,” Rachel said.

“Ok,” Raul said, seeing that she was taking his warning seriously and taking a moment to prepare herself.

***

“He’s in that one,” Raul said, pointing to a curtained area that obviously contained a bed. The ICU area had an arc of beds with the nurses’ station at the focal point. Some of the beds had a curtain around them like Arnie’s.

“Can I help you two?” A nurse said to them when she looked up and saw them. “Are you with them?” She asked when Rachel came in behind the other two.

“Yes, I am. We’re here to see Arnie,” Rachel responded.

“Then one of you will need to wait outside in the waiting room. Only two at a time are allowed,” the nurse said.

“I’ll go wait out there,” Rachel said almost immediately.

“Ok,” Raul said.

“I’ll just need you two to sign in, then you can see him. He was sleeping earlier, but he might be awake now. Don’t wake him if he’s asleep,” the nurse said as she handed Raul a clipboard.

***

Raul peeked through the curtain before he opened it so he wouldn’t wake him. Arnie was awake and was sitting up reading a book “I don’t need anything,” he said before he looked up to see who it was. “Guardian!”

Raul stepped in followed by JJ.

“And JJ,” Arnie said.

“Hi Arnie,” Raul said.

“Hey,” JJ said.

“So what brings you two around?” Arnie asked.

“We wanted to check in on you,” Raul said.

“I’m ok, besides not knowing what happened for better than a week and malnourished,” Arnie said.

JJ was in too much shock to say anything. Arnie wasn’t as bad as he feared but he wasn’t good. He was very thin and his hair was white.

“Do you remember Peter and I stopping by a few days ago?” Raul asked.

“Yeah, how is Peter?” Arnie asked.

“He’s good,” Raul said.

“I think I want to add him to the group when I get out of here. He seemed to know something about magic,” Arnie said.

“Yes he does,” JJ said.

“About that, do you remember Tom Cox?” Raul asked. “He had started going to the group a week or two ago.”

“Hmm, no,” Arnie said.

Just then, a nurse walked in through the curtain and said, “I need to take some vitals, if you two don’t mind waiting outside for about ten minutes.”

“No problem,” JJ said, seeing an excuse to leave.

“We’ll be back after he does his thing,” Raul said to Arnie, indicating the male nurse.

***

“That wasn’t a long visit,” Rachel said when JJ and Raul walked into the waiting room.

“The nurse came in to do his thing, so we left to get out of the way,” Raul said.

“Hows he look?” Rachel asked.

“He’s very thin, but he looks better than the last time we visited him,” Raul said.

“Did the nurse say how long?” Rachel asked.

“About fifteen minutes,” Raul said.

“I think I need some coffee,” Rachel said.

The three of them went down to the cafeteria, where they had a large coffee dispenser.

JJ and Rachel got a cup while Raul found a seat.

“Aren’t you getting any?” Rachel asked Raul.

“No, I tried that sludge when Peter and I were here; I regretted it for a day afterwards,” Raul responded.

Rachel and JJ joined Raul at his table.

JJ sat for a few moments just staring off at nothing. “Wow,” he finally said.

“Yeah, and he looks better than the last time I saw him,” Raul said.

“When was he admitted?” JJ asked.

“The day before we came to your door,” Raul said. “So three or has it been four days,” Raul ruminated.

“Three days is not a lot of time to heal,” JJ said.

“No, it’s not. He’s not as pale as the last time,” Raul said.

“Man he must have looked like a ghost,” JJ said.

Raul looked up at the clock on the wall and then said, “Well let’s head back up, they should be done by now.”

“I think I’ll stay here,” Rachel said.

“Ok,” Raul said.

***

“That was fast,” Rachel said when JJ and Raul walked back into the cafeteria just a few minutes after they left.

“He was asleep already,” Raul said.

“Well thats a bummer. Did the nurse say why he was still in ICU, or when he’ll be released?” Rachel asked.

“Neither of us thought to ask,” JJ responded.

“Well now what?” Rachel asked.

“I think we go talk to Peter about you learning magic if you want to,” Raul said. “He has just started to teach me and maybe he would be willing to have you apprentice with him also.”

“I’m not sure I want to do that. Arnie has given us a few spells but really everything I’ve been learning is from a drabarni who owns a herbal shop over near water street in Henderson. Her magic is a lot different from what Arnie was teaching,” Rachel said.

“Is that why you never try Arnie’s spells?” Raul asked.

“Yeah my friend Mara, says that his magic is not in tune with the natural world,” Rachel said.

“What is she a witch?” Raul asked.

“Shaman,” JJ said.

“What?” Raul said.

“What?” JJ said.

“You said shaman,” Rachel said.

“Oh sorry, I guess I did it again,” JJ said.

“Yeah just like you did the other night when you gave Raul the rest of the spell,” Rachel said. “You’re right though, a drabarni is a Romani medicine woman. She is about the usage of herbs and other things to heal people. She said the kind of magic that Arnie was learning rips the power out of the world and twists it to do your bidding. She said it is unnatural and corrupts the practitioner.”

“Wow she definitely has an opinion on the matter,” JJ said.

“I think that some magic can be corrupting,” Raul said looking at JJ. “But not all is. Peter is very careful to not practice the corrupting magic, black magic.”

“Maybe sometime I’ll go with you and talk to him, but not today,” Rachel said.

“Ok I understand. Will you be at the horseshoe at night?” Raul asked.

“No I was there last night just hoping I would run into you, I think the group has served its purpose.” Rachel said. She stopped talking for a moment and then said, “I think I’m going to spend more time with Mara.” Rachel looked out the lone window at the hot dry city that surrounds the hospital. “She asked for me to work in her shop.”

“Can I call you sometime?” Raul asked.

“Yes, but I would like it better if you stopped by the shop, maybe you can buy me a coffee,” Rachel said.

“I’ll do that,” Raul said.

JJ had discretely gotten up to refill his coffee, when he had realized it was going to be a personal conversation.

“Raul, Rachel, I think I need to go,” JJ said. While he had been standing at the coffee urn he started to feel anxious.

“Did you get a page?” Raul asked.

“No it’s a feeling,” JJ said.

“Ok, can I give you a ride?” Raul asked.

“No, I don’t know where I’m going,” JJ said.

“Well JJ, Raul, I will see you guys later. Stop by the shop if you need some herbs.” Rachel said then dropped her cup in the trash and headed out.

Raul got up and threw away his cup. “How are you going … how will you figure out where you need to go?”

“I don’t know,” JJ said.

“Ok,” Raul said and then looked at JJ not knowing what to say or do. “I’ll be at my house with Peter.” He left leaving JJ standing there staring at nothing.

“Ok,” JJ said. He was trying to remember what Kawika had said to do to find out where he needed to go.

“I don’t know where anything is in here.” JJ said turning around trying to figure which was north, or where the strip was. “I need to go outside so I can tell which way is which.”

He walked out the front door of the hospital where there was a cab sitting waiting.

“That’s convenient, if I needed a cab,” JJ said then walked out to Charleston boulevard and stood there feeling the heat of the early afternoon sun.

***

“Peter you need to learn this,” Simon said to a young boy siting in the middle of a circle of white stones in the desert sand. “I know it’s hot, but this is the closest conjunction of lay lines. I just need you to say the spell so you can see into the magical realm.”

“Simon I’m hot and,” Peter stopped and looked down trying to hide the tears. “I miss my mom.”

“I know, I miss her too,” JJ said and stood for a few minutes feeling the sun on his back and the magic flowing just below the surface. The magic was so strong here it caused the dust to dance in the air following the stray eddies of magic.

“Ok how about this? Well give it just five minutes and then we’ll head back to my house,” JJ said.

“Can I hold the blanket,” Peter asked.

“Yes you can,” JJ said walking the dozen feet to the car. He picked up the blanket and a small locket.

“Here hold onto your mom’s locket and the blanket,” Simon said.

“Thank you Simon,” Peter said.

Peter wiped his tears and then said the spell again.

***

It wasn’t a vision or a dream it was just a memory of that day with the sun warming his back. “Wow, Peter’s been my apprentice for a long time, ever since his mom died,” JJ said without really understanding what it was he said until the words were out. “His mom died? He must have been five or six in that memory.”

JJ stood just thinking about Peter, realizing that he probably thought of him as a father figure. Then his thoughts moved on to what it meant to Peter to almost kill him with the hijacked spell. Then he thought about how he had insisted on calling the spell an attack. “Peter must of felt like I was accusing him of attacking me, on purpose.”

A car honking its horn broke JJ out of his revery. He realized that he had been standing on the sidewalk lost in his thoughts for a long time.

“Well enough of that it’s time to figure out where I need to go,” JJ said.

“I can tell you where to go,” a woman said, pushing a little foldable shopping cart full of her groceries as she tried to get around JJ.

“Oh sorry,” He said as he almost hit her as he started to turn.

“You’re not the only one that is allowed to use the sidewalk,” she complained as she shoved the cart around him.

JJ stepped off to the side and waited for her to shuffle by before he started the process.

After trying the four compass directions and a few off the one that felt the strongest he finally figured out he needed to go downtown.

***

“Where to?” The driver asked when JJ got in the cab.

“Downtown,” JJ said.

“Downtown where? Downtown Henderson downtown Summerlin?” The driver said.

“Oh right, the Plaza casino,” JJ said.

The driver didn’t say anything just hit his flag button and started driving.

“Do you like driving a cab?” JJ asked when they were sitting at a light.

“Yes,” the driver said. He sat for a moment and then asked, “Do you mind if I smoke?”

“No that’s fine,” JJ said. He couldn’t tell the difference with a cigarette burning or not the cab smelled of smoke so bad already. “Thats nice they let you smoke in the cab.”

“Yeah, I used to work for another company that didn’t. They were always yelling at me for smoking, even when I wasn’t. I would hang my arm out the window so I wasn’t technically smoking in the car but they still yelled at me. I finally had to start working for a new company,” the driver said.

“That’s some cigarette,” JJ said when the smoke started coming into the back seat. He coughed and then rolled down his window to let a little of it escape.

“Yeah it’s a Turkish brand. Those American brands have been taken over by the CIA and they put mind control drugs in the filters. I won’t smoke those things, they’re not gonna control me with their chemicals,” the driver said. The light turned green and the driver laid on the horn. Then he slowly started moving. “They’re out to get me. Sometimes they’ll change my light to green without turning the other ones red.”

“Oh really, wow.” JJ said, humoring the driver.

“Here you go,” driver said a few minutes later when he stopped in front of the Plaza.

“Thanks,” JJ said getting out of the cab. He handed the driver the fare and a decent tip.

“Stay safe, they’re watching, and now that you know the truth they will be coming after you too,” the driver warned him.

“I’ll remember,” JJ said to the now rolled up window. The cab drove away leaving a cloud of exhaust, and conspiracy theories. “Hearing that driver, I would think they have a lonely life, listening to coast to coast all night,” JJ said to himself. It took a moment to clear the fog from the drivers conversation. It helped seeing the solidity of Fremont street. That street had been there for a long time and seen a lot of souls. The blinking lights and the honking horns broke the spell of the drivers words, and thoughts, JJ was finally able to feel his thought patterns go back to normal. A final shake of his head and he was back to what had become normal.

“Ok time to figure out where I need to go now that I’m downtown,” JJ said to himself, pushing through the final wisps of bad thoughts. He walked over to the signal and hit the button to cross. He walked down the street weaving around the tourists enjoying the oversized souvenir drinks. The heat wasn’t as bad as normal today so he didn’t feel the need to duck into a casino to cool down. There was a break in the flow of people for a moment and he looked up and realized he was walking in front of the horseshoe.

“I never got a chance to get to know the group,” JJ said feeling the loss of something he never had the chance to experience. “Maybe, we’ll have to start a new one.” JJ continued on and got to the next cross street then weaved around a small cluster of people blocking the signal button. He reached out and hit the button and got a sharp feeling in his gut. “Ouch,” he said and realized that he hadn’t been listing to his feelings. He stepped back from the street to stand next to the casino building and then went through the process of finding out where he needed to go. His gut was telling him he had missed a turn and he needed to go back up Fremont towards the Plaza. He turned around and started walking. When he got to the corner on the other side of the horseshoe he checked his gut again. He finally realized he was probably being directed towards the California.

***

When he stepped in the front door of the California the air-conditioning hit him hard, instantly cooling him down, followed shortly by the faint tropical scent laced with flowers and coconut. It was reminiscent of the first scent of Kauai when you step off the plane. “Now how do I know what Kauai smells like? I wonder if I’ve ever been there?”

He stood there for a moment enjoying the cool and the feelings that came over him of a tropical vacation he never knew or couldn’t remember. The clanking coins and the call of “Cocktails” finally broke into his trance.

“Well might as well go get some coffee,” JJ said and then headed for the coffeeshop.

He found a spot at a mostly empty counter and sat. There was a waitress talking over the pass-through to someone in the kitchen. When she saw him she came over to take his order.

“What’ll ya have?” She asked.

“Do you have any of that Hawaiian coffee? Last time I was here the waitress gave me a cup.” JJ asked.

“Yeah I think we still have a little left. I’ll brew a pot. Would you like anything else?” The waitress asked.

“Nah, just the coffee,” JJ said.

He pulled out a Review Journal some had left in the menu caddy, and started perusing it. On the front page, below the fold, was a story about the progress on the three newest strip casinos. The story talked about the excitement and the jobs that these three casinos will bring. It ended with how the strip was changing from small casinos to giant resorts.

“Hello, JJ,” Kawika said as he sat down next to him at the counter. He was wearing a gaudy Hawaiian shirt with pink cargo shorts.

“Thats quite a fashion statement,” JJ said.

“Here you go,” the waitress said setting down the coffee cup.

“Ohh coffee from home,” Kawika said pulling the cup to him.

“Can I bring another?” The waitress said.

“Yeah, and I’ll take care of what ever my friend wants,” JJ responded.

“Ohh,” Kawica said taking a quick look at the menu. “I’ll have a loco moco.”

“Did you want me here?” JJ asked when the waitress walked away.

“Yes, I knew you were the easier to find than Peter or Raul, I only had to say your real full name,” Kawika said.

“You could have just called my pager,” JJ said.

“Yeah, I guess that would have worked,” Kawika said, taking another drink of coffee.

“Would you like a refill?” The waitress asked dropping off another cup for JJ.

“Yes, please,” Kawika said.

“So why did you, …uhm, …call me?” JJ asked.

“Oh right, like I said you were the easiest to call,” Kawika said.

“Right we already discussed that. But why?” JJ asked.

“To give you this,” Kawika said as he reached into one of the big pockets in his shorts and pulled out a Kukui nut lei.

“Very nice necklace, is that a Hawaiian thing to give someone a necklace?” JJ asked.

“Oh, thats not what I meant to give you,” Kawika said and then dug into another pocket in his shorts and pulled out a souvenir shot glass with the word vegas written across it. “Nope thats not it.” He reached into another pocket and pulled out a souvenir deck of cards.

“Did a little shopping?” JJ asked.

“Yeah I figured since I was in town I would experience the whole thing. Ahh here it is.” He said pulling out a small tiki statue inlaid with multiple types of wood and sea shells.

“Nice do they have those in the gift shop? I’ll have to go buy one,” the waitress said seeing the statue as she dropped off the loco moco.

“No this one came from the islands,” Kawika said.

“Very nice,” she said then walked away.

“Are you planning on opening a tiki bar?” JJ asked.

“Very funny,” Kawika said ignoring the casual way JJ made light of Hawaiian culture. “This is for Peter, he is expecting it.”

JJ picked up the statue and studied it for what he thought was just a moment. “It is really very beautiful.” JJ said.

“Wow he was hungry,” the waitress said, picking up the empty plate in front of a now empty seat.

“Yeah he was,” JJ said, realizing that he must of been studying the statue for longer than he thought.

“You can pay at the cashier,” she said dropping off the check.

“Well I guess I need to go see Peter,” JJ said, taking a final drink of his coffee and then picking up his check.

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JJ had finally said why they were meeting. After getting attacked by someone wielding a spell powered by a crystal, he decided that maybe he couldn’t hide.

“I guess if you get hit over the head enough times, it finally sinks in. I’ve been trying to avoid Simon’s plan, I mean, my plan, with no success,” JJ stopped for a moment to collect himself. “Today I was attacked by the kid from Arnie’s shop with a spell,” JJ finished.

“Wait, I don’t understand,” Raul said. “You went to Arnie’s shop, and you were attacked?”

“No, I was at the Tropicana,” JJ said. He then went on to tell how he got a page from the Tropicana to be a cooler and how the kid could sense him draining his luck, and then how he attacked him with the spell.

“So this kid cast a shock spell at you?” Paul asked.

“Wait, you cast a shield spell? I thought you didn’t know magic?” Raul said.

“That’s what it was? I can’t even tell you what words I said,” JJ said.

“Let’s get back to the kid,” Paul said. “You say he tried to shock you?”

“Yeah, he cast some kind of spell that he said was supposed to leave me twitching on the floor,” JJ said.

“And he did this in the middle of a casino with lots of eye-witnesses?” Paul asked.

“Yeah, and the spell was really bright; maybe everyone who saw it thought it was just a flash from someone taking a picture. The security person who kicked me out didn’t mention it when he was talking to me,” JJ said.

“Most people will delude themselves to keep from facing reality. When they are hit over the head with magic, they come up wth another explanation. That makes sense that no one brought up anything, you’re probably right that they thought it was a camera flash,” Paul said.

“The other thing about my interaction with the kid was he said, ‘He promised me that it would work,’” JJ said.

“Maybe we need to go talk to Arnie. I wonder if he taught the kid some more … energetic magic,” Raul said.

“Didn’t you say when you two saw Arnie that he had lost a week or more of time?” JJ asked.

“Yeah, he did. This is very curious,” Raul said.

“That’s even more of a reason to go talk to Arnie; maybe you two can go to him tomorrow,” Paul said and then stopped to take a drink and think about what had been said.

“When you said Kaulu earlier, what did you mean?” Paul asked, trying to judge the new level of commitment from JJ.

“Well, when I was sitting in the interrogation room, I fell asleep and had a dream.” JJ stopped and took a drink of his beer. “It was when I first found out about Kaulu.”

Paul and Raul were silent, waiting for JJ to continue.

“Is that it?” Paul asked, after a moment.

“Yeah, I guess, it just seems everything is connected to Kaulu. Before I can move on and make a life, I have to deal with him or die trying,” JJ said, staring into his beer.

“Then we need to set some ground rules. I am in charge,” Paul said.

“Ok, you’re in charge, what else?” JJ asked.

“Nothing else, I’m in charge,” Paul said. “I know how you are. Before the accident …” Paul started to say.

JJ interrupted him by saying, “The attack.”

“Ok, the uh … attack. Before the attack, you couldn’t let go of anything, and if it wasn’t done exactly the way you wanted, then well … you would let me know. Sometimes for hours,” Peter said.

“You’re right, I wasn’t a nice guy,” JJ said, and then took a drink. “Yes, you are in charge.”

Peter just looked at him, not sure if he believed him or not. “Ok, I still need to do some work on the spell. I have to find a way to lock Kaulu into one of the heads.”

“What happens after that?” JJ asked.

“Kavika said he will give us something,” Peter said.

“Oh, Ok,” JJ said.

The three of them sat thinking about everything and enjoying the beer and a moment of calm before the expected storm.

Finally, Raul spoke up. “I want to go to the Horseshoe tonight and see the group. I haven’t seen them since we found Arnie. I want to tell them about him.”

“I’ll go with you,” JJ said.

“That sounds like a plan,” Peter said. “Simon …”

“JJ,” JJ said.

“Right, JJ, if you remember anything more about how to contain Kaulu, let me know,” Peter said.

***

“Has there been any hints of the possession?” JJ asked Raul as they headed out of the bar.

“No, he has been good. None of the weirdness you described,” Raul said.

They were walking through the casino in Excalibur when they got to the table games.

“Hey, let’s play a little,” JJ said as they got to the craps table. “Roger and I were playing craps last night, and I really enjoyed it.”

“Did you lose much?” Raul asked.

“Nah, we did good,” JJ said and then stopped, opened his wallet, and pulled out a few thousand in hundreds. “Here, let’s play. Do you still have your silver coin?”

“No. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t seem to work for me, like it does for you,” Raul said.

“Well, that’s because you are not channeling the wild magic correctly. How many times do I have to tell you, Peter …” JJ stopped himself. “I’m sorry, Raul, I’m not sure where that came from. I have those flashes of Simon, and I’m just gone.”

“Does that happen often?” Raul asked.

“Can I have that spot if you’re not going to play?” a woman asked, trying to make her way to the table.

They had stopped infront of the craps table and were standing there talking.

“Oh yeah, we’ll move for you,” Raul said.

“Oh, sorry,” JJ said, shaking his head to clear it.

They stepped away to allow the woman to play.

“We can still go play, the table over there is only five dollars minimum, so we don’t lose much,” Raul said.

“Ok, that’s good,” JJ said, putting back most of the hundreds. “Here,” he said, handing Raul five one-hundred-dollar bills.

“Oh, wow, how well did you do last night?” Raul asked.

“Pretty good, why don’t you bet and I’ll throw?” JJ asked.

“That sounds good,” Raul said. And then the two walked over to the low-limit craps table.

***

“New shooter coming out,” the stickman said.

JJ and Raul had bought in for five hundred each, and then JJ had instructed him in the basics that Roger had told him, “Only bet the pass line and come bet, oh, and put odds down when you get your numbers.”

JJ gripped his coin and then threw.

“Craps,” the stick man said.

“I thought a craps was a bad thing?” Raul said. “How come you got that?”

“I don’t know,” JJ said and then looked down at the coin. It was just a normal dollar coin from a slot machine for the Tropicana. “Oh shoot,” JJ dug through his pockets looking for the coin. Except for a few quarters and some pennies, there were no other coins. “Somehow, my silver coin is gone,” JJ said with just a little panic.

“Dice are out shooter,” the stickman said, trying to get JJ to throw again.

“Sorry, I’m throwing,” JJ said and picked up the dice to throw.

“Five, pair-and-a-tray,” the stickman said as he collected the dice. “The point is five.”

“Is that good?” Raul asked.

“It’s not bad,” JJ said. He picked up the dice again and threw.

“Eight, easy eight,” the stickman called out.

JJ continued to roll, racking up numbers. He made a few come points but never his point. He had all the numbers working when he finally got a seven out. Both he and Raul had around three hundred on the table and had to watch the dealer drag them off.

“New shooter coming out,” the stickman said.

“What do we do now?” Raul asked.

JJ stood there just staring at the now-empty table for a moment. “I guess we try and find another game,” JJ said, then picked up his chips from the rail and started to walk away without really thinking about where he was going.

Raul grabbed the few chips he still had and followed JJ.

“So where are we going?” Raul asked.

JJ walked for a few steps, aimlessly. “How do all these people do it? How do they keep putting money into the machine or on the table? They put it down, and then the dealer takes it away.” JJ stopped and just looked, trying to understand.

“But you’ve been gambling a lot, since your bad luck curse was broken,” Raul said.

“Yeah, I have been, but I’ve always had something full of wild magic to make sure I would win,” JJ said.

“So this is the first time you were just a normal gambler?” Raul asked.

“I guess so,” JJ said, standing there thinking about it.

“Then my question is again, what do we do now?” Raul asked.

JJ didn’t respond for a moment, then finally shook his head, “With no luck, I don’t know.”

“What did you do last night?” Raul asked.

“We played craps for a while and won a lot of money and then saw a show and had dinner,” JJ said, then his stomach decided to speak up, “grrr.”

“Sounds like your stomach has some thoughts on what to do,” Raul said

“Yeah, I just realized that I haven’t had anything to eat yet today,” JJ said.

“Then let’s go cash out and get something to eat,” Raul said.

***

“I’ve never eaten here. What’s good?” Raul asked.

“I’ve only had breakfast here a while ago,” JJ said. “It was good.”

“I guess I’ll have breakfast then,” Raul said.

JJ put down his menu and was obviously thinking again about the craps game. “Since I learned how to draw wild magic to myself, I haven’t lost,” he said.

“Don’t you mean stealing wild magic?” Raul asked.

“Uh,” JJ said and thought about it for a few seconds. “Yeah, I guess that’s what I’ve done, but all the wild magic I’ve taken was stolen by them.”

“I think you’re just trying to justify your actions. Does the spell you use stop when the wild magic is drained?” Raul asked. “Peter has been teaching me about the different magics, and he was saying that wild magic and life magic are very close. So close that most spells don’t differentiate.”

“The spell was one that popped into my head, from my memory before the attack. I wouldn’t think I would know a spell that could steal life energy,” JJ said.

“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asked after stepping up to the table.

“Coffee and the Chilaquiles,” Raul said.

“I’ll have the steak and eggs,” JJ said. “And a coffee.”

“All right,” the waiter said and then left.

“You and Peter both said you weren’t a nice guy. You treated him barely better than a slave. If you didn’t treat your apprentice very well, do you think you would have had any problem stealing life energy?” Raul asked.

JJ looked at Raul, trying to remember if he valued life so lowly. “I can only hope I wasn’t practicing that kind of magic,” he said.

“My grandmother always warned me about taking life with magic. She said it blackened your soul. She said that that was black magic,” Raul said.

“So black magic is the smoking of the magic world,” JJ said, trying to make light of the subject.

“It’s not something to make light of. My grandmother was very adamant about never practicing black magic. I think you have to be very careful with your luck-draining spell. You might want to talk to Peter about finding another spell, or just don’t steal wild magic,” Raul said.

JJ was silent while he was thinking about what kind of person he used to be.

“So what made you decide to have a night on the town with your neighbor?” Raul asked, trying to break the silence.

“I wanted some advice from him, and that was the price,” JJ said.

“From him? What advice could he give you? How to wear underwear everywhere?” Raul asked.

“He gave me a different perspective on spending a night in jail,” JJ said.

“Here’s your coffee,” the waiter said, setting down two coffee cups.

“Thank you,” they both said.

“Can I get some cream?” Raul asked.

“Comin’ right up,” the waiter said and then walked away.

“I saw your neighbor; he didn’t look like he spent any time in jail,” Raul said.

“He didn’t say how much time he spent, or if he spent any time in prison, but he had a very interesting life,” JJ said. “He even said he was working on writing his life story.”

“That’s cool,” Raul said.

The two of them sat with their own thoughts, looking at the other patrons until the food showed up.

***

“That was a pretty good band,” Raul said. They had gone to a lounge at the Riviera after dinner at Excalibur, since they had a few hours to kill before any of the group would be at the Horseshoe.

“Yeah, they play there a lot, they are always good,” JJ said. They started walking towards the exit in the rear to grab a cab when JJ noticed a few slot machines with the silver coins at the top. “Hey lets see if we can get a few of those,” JJ said as he pointed to the machines.

“Are you sure you want to throw away more money?” Raul asked.

“Yeah, I’m ok with it.” JJ stopped for a minute to think about why he was fine with it. “I know I’ll probably lose a hundred dollars to get a single seven-dollar silver coin; I’m ok with that. Those coins are special; they seem to hold more wild magic than a normal silver coin should be able to hold.”

There were just three machines, and they were all occupied. JJ looked and could see that all of the players’ buckets were full of dollar tokens. “Looks like they’ll be there for a while,” Raul said.

“Yeah, let’s see if there are some of these over at the Horseshoe,” JJ said.

***

“Where do you think they would have them if they’re here?” Raul asked after they had walked into the Horseshoe.

“They are kind of flashy with the coins spinning yeahon the top, so they’ll probably be near the front,” JJ said as he looked around. They had come in from the back, where taxis dropped off fares. He started walking towards the front after not seeing any of the machines.

“I’m going to go check in the coffee shop for the group,” Raul said. “What time is it?”

“About ten,” JJ said as he looked at his watch. Then he just stared at it, trying to figure out why he kept forgetting about it.

“I’ll look for you right after I check,” Raul said.

JJ kept staring at his watch.

“JJ, are you ok?” Raul asked as he touched his shoulder.

“What? Oh, hey,” JJ said, finally coming out of his fugue.

“Are you ok?” Raul asked.

“Yeah, I was just,” JJ stopped talking for a moment. “Go ahead, I think I know where the machines are,” JJ said and then looked off towards the front of the casino. He turned after a few steps and said, “You know what, go ahead and get a seat and order me a coffee.” Then he turned back and started walking again.

“Ok,” Raul said, looking at JJ with concern. He stood until JJ was lost in the forest of slot machines, then turned and went towards the coffee shop.

JJ wandered a bit, making his way towards the front. He finally saw the spinning coins at a carousel of machines positioned so that they would be seen as someone walked in the main entrance.

***

“How did you do? Did you get any of the coins?” Raul asked when JJ walked up to the table where he was sitting.

“Yeah, I got two coins,” JJ said and placed them on the table, then sat down.

“Cool. Your coffee will be here in a second. I told them not to bring it until you sat down. I figured you wouldn’t want a cold one,” Raul said.

“Thanks,” JJ sat and looked over to see the waitress coming over right then with the cup and a pot to refill Raul’s cup.

“So now what? You have your coin,” Raul asked.

“Now I just need to fill it, and then I can go back to winning,” JJ said.

“I think you need to find a new way to fill it? I think you are dangerously close to black magic with the way you fill it,” Raul said.

“I don’t have any other way to get wild magic,” JJ said.

“You should talk to Peter. I’m sure he knows how to do it that doesn’t involve black magic,” Raul said.

“I’ll ask him the next time I see him,” JJ said, to stop the preaching before it got started. “So when do you think the group will start showing up?” JJ asked as he looked at his watch. It was 12:30 am.

The two sat in silence, drinking their coffee and watching the people come and go. Finally, Raul spoke up, “Did you look at the coins?”

“What do you mean? They’re right there in clear plastic containers,” JJ said.

“No, I mean, did you look at them with magic vision?” Raul asked.

“Nah, I figured I would when I’m home?” JJ said

Raul said the words to see magic. Then sat for a moment and finally said, “JJ, what’s with your watch?” And then he said the counter spell to return his vision to normal.

“What do you mean?” JJ said. “It’s just a watch I got for playing some slot machines.” Then he looked down at his watch. “No, I didn’t get it for that, I got it … when …” JJ stopped and then just stared.

“Hey, it’s Guardian,” Rachel said when she walked into the coffee shop. “Oh, and big spender. Hi … uhm …”

“JJ,” Raul said.

“Right, JJ, nice to see you,” Rachel said.

“Huh, what?” JJ said, as he shook his head to clear it. “Oh, hi … uh.”

“Rachel,” Rachel said. “Can I join you guys?”

“Yes, please, we are here to see the group,” Raul said.

“Well, we’re here,” Rachel said.

“What do you mean?” Raul asked.

“The day after you were here last, a new guy, Tom Cox, showed up. He said he knew magic and had a teacher. After a few days of his trying to convince them to go with him, they finally stopped showing up here,” Rachel said.

“JJ, isn’t that the name of the guy who attacked you at the trop?” Raul asked.

“His last name was Cox. I’m not sure what his first name was, but how many guys with the last name Cox that can wield magic are there?” JJ asked.

“A guy attacked you?” Rachel said with concern. “Did he hit you or what?”

“He attacked me with a spell,” JJ said.

“A shock spell, Peter called it,” Raul said. “Oh, I almost forgot, we found Arnie.”

“Where?” Rachel asked.

“We found him at the hospital a few days ago. He was severely dehydrated and malnourished,” Raul said.

“What? I just saw him a few weeks ago. What do you mean by malnourished?” Rachel asked.

“When Peter and I saw him, he was skin and bones,” Raul said.

“Who is Peter, and what hospital is he in?” Rachel asked.

“He’s at UMC, we’re going to see him tomorrow,” Raul said.

“I’ll go with you,” Rachel said. “Who’s Peter, and Tom cast a spell at you? Wow, what is going on?”

“For that, I think we need some beers,” Raul said.

Raul and JJ spent a few hours telling Rachel about Peter and the rest.

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“You mean Mr. Covino?” The woman behind the rope asked

“I guess, I didn’t get a last name only, Paul,” JJ responded.

“One moment, he’s at lunch,” the woman said. She stepped back to a table and made a call.

After a moment, she came back and said, “ok Mr Covino told me to tell you it’s the guy over at the bacarat table, in the high roller room. He also said you can’t go in there. Do you know what any of that means?”

“Yeah,” JJ said and started to walk away. Before he had gone two steps, he stopped and turned back. “Uh, where’s the high roller room?”

She let out a small laugh and then said, “It’s over next to the piano bar.” And then she pointed to where he needed to go.

He walked over to where he had been directed and stopped just outside. The room was off to the side of the entrance of the piano bar. It wasn’t obvious what it was; there wasn’t even a sign outside or blinking lights. The players that would be in there would not want an audience, so the casino was more than willing to accommodate them by not advertising the room.

The door was open, and JJ could see a few tables with dealers and one player.

JJ looked around to try to find a place where he could see the player and not be standing in the doorway. The sea of slot machines started on the other side of a walkway. The closest ones of that sea were positioned so that if JJ pulled the chair just a little away, he could still look like he was playing and have a decent view of the room, and more importantly, the player.

JJ looked at his watch and saw that it was showing a new moon, empty. “Perfect, I can fill this.” He said to himself. Still looking at the watch, he tried to remember why he hadn’t been relying on it for luck, instead he had been obsessing on a silver coin. He kept looking at his watch, thinking about it.

“Are you going to play the machine?” An older woman asked, seeing him sitting in a chair just staring at his watch.

“What?” JJ asked, looking up.

“Are you going to play the machine?” She asked again.

“Oh,” JJ looked up, finally noticing the machine he was sitting at. “Oh yeah, I’m going to.”

The machine he was at was a bank of four positioned at right angles to each other, making a small circular set of machines. What surprised JJ was that the machines were some Silver Catch machines. The silver coins displayed at the top had Tropicana-themed reliefs. “Well, might as well try and get some of these while I’m here,” He said to himself and then slipped in a hundred-dollar bill.

He pulled the handle a couple of times with a max bet, then snuck a peek at the player to make sure he could still see him.

He was still there, and his stacks of chips were still growing. “Time to start dealing with this,” JJ said, and then put his right hand on his watch and quietly said the spell to drain the wild magic.

The player played a few more hands, winning each of them. JJ continued to drain the magic until his watch started to get warm. “Better slow it down,” JJ said to himself, and then changed how tightly he was holding the watch.

JJ could see that he was affecting the player now. The player threw some cards at the dealer and yelled something.

He had another loss followed by another tantrum. He got up and knocked over his chair, and then caught sight of JJ.

“I can’t believe you guys would do that to me. A cooler. This is shit,” the player yelled and then started stomping towards JJ.

“You piece of shit, you steal my luck. I’m going to take it back in flesh,” he said.

Now JJ could see that the player was the young guy from Arnie’s shop, just dressed a lot better.

JJ quickly stopped the drain spell and then pulled the slot machine handle.

“You shit, cooling my winning streak, I’m going to make you pay,” the guy said as he stepped up to the machine. He stopped for a second and then swung at him with a fairly uncoordinated punch.

“Hey,” JJ yelled as he ducked. Luckily they guy didn’t know how to punch, letting JJ easily avoid it, while still in the chair. “There are other machines.”

“I don’t want your machine; I want you gone,” the guy said, then tried to kick him, but all he hit was the bottom of the chair. “Damn,” he said, then started to hop around, saying. “Ouch, Ouch.”

JJ just stared at him, slightly amused at the hopping antics.

“Don’t laugh at me,” the guy stopped hopping and reached into his pocket. “I’ll deal with you.” He pulled out a small purple crystal and then started saying some weird foreign words.

As the guy was finishing the spell, JJ found himself quickly saying some words that he didn’t recognize, and then made a circular motion with his hands. JJ finished what was obviously a spell just as the lucky player finished his spell. He pointed at JJ, and a bright light flew out of his finger and struck the air infront of JJ. The energy from the attack caused a green magical shield to become visible. The shield disappeared as quickly as it showed, leaving nothing but an afterimage in the vision of the people who had witnessed it.

“Dammit, you should have been left twitching on the floor by that. He promised me!” The guy said, then turned to leave when he was tackled by security.

JJ was as stunned as the guy with what just happened. “What was that? What did I just do?” JJ asked quietly to himself. He hit the cashout button and started to put the coins into a bucket.

“We will get those for you,” one of the security men said.

JJ looked up — and up — and up, to see a very big guy well over six and half feet tall in an all-black suit, and then said, “Thank you. I can get them.”

The security guard reached down and grabbed JJ’s arm, then said, “No, one of my associates will get them; you,” he emphasized with a not-so-gentle tug, “are coming with me.”

“Ouch,” JJ said as the giant made his point. “Why? He attacked me.”

The security guard didn’t say anything more, just insisted JJ do what he wanted by picking him up and then dragging him towards an employee-only door.

***

JJ was brought into an interrogation room and left alone. After a few minutes he checked the door and found it was locked.

The room looked like any interrogation room shown on any cop show. The table was stainless steel and bolted down. There were two chairs; the one facing the obvious one-way mirror was bolted down. The other chair was positioned with its back to the mirror.

“Can I get a beer?” JJ said to the mirror. “Do you have cocktail service in here?”

JJ paced for a while after getting no response from the mirror. When he had gotten his steps in for the day, he decided to see how comfortable the chairs were. He found that the bolted-down chair’s seat bottom was slanted forward so that a person seated there would keep sliding forward.

JJ sat down in the interviewer’s chair and then put his head down to take a nap.

***

“Paul, we need to take a trip,” Simon said after walking into the library, where Simon had given Paul an assignment to learn about some theory of magic.

“Cool, I could use a break from these books,” Paul said, putting the book down so fast it left a cloud of dust. “Where we going and when?”

“Vegas Baby,” Simon said. “But not before we work up a plan. We are going up against a god.”

“Wow, a god,” Paul said.

“Yes, that call was from an old friend of mine. He told me that there is a problem in vegas with one of the gods from the islands who followed them,” Simon said.

“Them? Who are them?” Paul asked.

“Hawaiians Paul, Hawaiians. After the California opened, they have been moving there in bigger and bigger numbers. They brought their culture, their food, their beliefs, and their gods. Like any culture that is brought to a new place, it has changed. The change in location has resulted in many changes. Vegas has a way of amplifying the worst in people and the worst in gods. The Hawaiian god Kaulu was one of those who followed the Hawaiian people to Vegas. In the islands, he was more of a mischievous trickster; now, he seems to be worse.”

“So what do we need to do?” Paul asked.

“We need to trap him,” Simon said.

***

JJ was awakened by the interrogation room door opening.

“Mr. Presley, can I get you some water?” an older gentleman asked as he came in. He was obviously a boss of some kind. Instead of sitting in the uncomfortable chair, he sat down on the edge of the table to the side of JJ.

“A beer,” JJ responded quickly, wiping away the pool of drool that had formed on the table while he slept.

“Oh, I can’t get you any alcohol in here,” the gentleman said.

“Then I’m fine. Why am I down here? Do you always detain someone who was attacked?” JJ asked.

“No, we do not, but we do detain persons who harass our good customers,” the man said. “The customer, Mr. Cox, was very adamant that he was only defending himself against your harassment. He said something about you being a cooler. I don’t believe in that — uh — mumbo jumbo, but what the customer wants, the customer gets, within reason, and the within reason this time is to ban you from the property. Mr. Presley, if you show up on the property again, you will be tresspassing and we will have you arrested. Now, Mr. Gaul will escort you out.” He waved his hand to some unknown person on the other side of the mirror.

The man got up and went to the door, just as the giant who had escorted him down originally came in.

“Mr. Presley, come with me,” Gaul said.

This time, Gaul didn’t drag JJ, just walked him out.

Gaul was silent until they got out of the main door, then finally asked, “You’re a cooler?”

“Uh, yeah, sort of,” JJ said.

“What do you mean sort of?” Gaul asked.

“Well, I am only a cooler because I was cursed by …” JJ started.

“By a gypse?” Gaul asked.

“No, it was a Hawaiian god,” JJ said.

“Really? You play in the big leagues,” Gaul said, stopping at the sidewalk that bordered the property. “Here you go, have a good day, just don’t come onto the property again.” Gual took a moment to shake JJ’s hand.

“Thank you, sir. Why did you ask about being a cooler?” JJ asked.

“My grandmother was called a witch, and I’ve always been interested in that kind of thing,” Gaul said.

“Then you should go to the coffee shop in the Horseshoe around 1 am, there is a group that meets there. They are all trying to learn about magic,” JJ said.

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind,” Gaul said, then turned and headed back in.

JJ stood fora moment and looked across Tropicanna at the progress of the new MGM Grand, then looked down at his watch to see it was 4:20 pm.

“Man, I wasted the whole day in there,” JJ said.

He stood there for a moment trying to figure out where he was going to go. He looked up and down Tropicana Avenue to see if there were any cabs. “Oh man, I forgot all about those giant heads.” He said when he caught sight of the giant easter island head replicas.

***

“Hello?” Raul’s voice came from the phone handset.

JJ had gone across the Boulevard and found a phone to use in Excalibur.

“Hey, Raul, it’s JJ,” he said.

“Did you figure out why you felt you needed to call me?” Raul asked.

“Yeah, my neighbor had a stroke,” JJ said.

“Oh man, I’m so sorry. Did you know him well?” Ral asked.

“We barely talked until last night when he gave me some great advice, and that’s why I wanted to talk to you,” JJ said. “Are you doing anything now?”

“Peter is trying to teach me some real magic, but I’m not learning very fast,” Raul said.

“Oh, good, Peter is there also, see if he will take a break and you guys can meet me down here at the king’s bar in Excalibur,” JJ said.

“One second,” Raul said and put the phone down.

After a moment, Raul came back, “Paul said we can take a break, we’ll be there in about an hour.”

***

“Hey, JJ,” Raul said when he and Peter walked up to the bar where JJ was sitting.

“Hey, guys,” JJ said. “What do you guys want?”

“You called us,” Paul said.

“I mean,” JJ said, looking at Paul. “What would you two like to drink?” JJ asked.

“Oh, just a beer for me,” Raul said.

“Soda, and a lime,” Peter said.

“I’ll get the drinks. Grab a booth over near the wall so we can talk,” JJ said.

***

“Here you guys go,” JJ said as he set down the drinks and took a seat.

Peter and Raul took a sip of their drinks, waiting for JJ to tell them why he wanted to meet them. Finally, JJ spoke up. “So, I want to talk about Arnie and that kid that was at his shop last time Raul and I were there,” JJ said, and then very quietly, “and Kaulu.”

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“What do you mean? How do I ki…I mean, complete an arrangement?” Roger asked.

“No, how do you go from being a hit …” JJ started to say.

“Florist,” Roger corrected him.

“Right, uh, florist,” JJ said. “How do you go from being a florist to watching TV all day?” JJ asked. “You went from being at the center of the action, hell, you were the action, to watching another episode of the People’s Court.”

“Well, this kind of keeps me from doing much or going far,” Roger said, pointing down to his oxygen tank. “And besides, I signed a contract with the government to not be a hit … I mean florist anymore.”

“I don’t get it, I’m bored already, and it’s only been a day,” JJ said.

“Well, I have my books and the TV and solitaire, lots of solitaire,” Roger said.

“You read books?!?” JJ asked, not believing his ears.

“Well, some but no, I mean, the books I’m working on. When I gave up being a … florist, I got a great offer from a well-known publisher to write my life story. They even sent over a kid to help me. After he uhh disappeared, they renegotiated the contract so that they would pay me for serialized chapters, and ever since then I’ve been working on it slowly.” Roger said.

“How far are you along?” JJ asked.

“I’m almost done with chapter one,” Roger said.

“That’s great, how long has that been?” JJ asked.

“Oh, about five years,” Roger said.

“Wow,” JJ said in shock before he could catch himself.

“I’ve been making notes, lots of notes. I have stacks of spiral binders with my notes all categorized by dates,” Roger said, defending his lack of progress.

“Then I guess you need to copy them into chapters,” JJ said.

“That’s what I told my publisher,” Roger said.

“So that’s what keeps you occupied?” JJ asked.

“Yep, I guess I’ve been reliving my life, remembering all the good times and the close calls and the body… I mean the arrangements,” Roger said.

“So how do the rest of the guys around the place keep the boredom at bay?” JJ asked.

“Cheap bottles of malt liquor,” Roger said. “You would be surprised how good the daytime shows can be with a solid buzz.”

The piano player finally came back and started to play his selection of classics. The two listened for a while, enjoying their drinks.

“Well, I can’t write my life story,” JJ said, continuing in his head, “Since I can’t remember it.”

“You are too young to become another smoking zombie. You need to go out and live your life,” Roger said.

“I have been trying, but I keep getting tossed in jail,” JJ said.

“Then you’re doing something right. If you don’t spend a night in jail every few weeks your doing something wrong,” Roger said.

“Then I guess I’m doing something right,” JJ said, shaking his head and trying to keep himself from falling back into a funk again.

“You have a good lawyer, don’t you?” Roger asked. “Not everyone can afford Mr Goodman, but there are other good lawyers around town. Find a good lawyer, and you won’t spend any time in prison. You’ll still spend some nights in jail, but that’s good sometimes.”

“I don’t think you are giving me good advice,” JJ said, thinking about who was talking to him.

“A night in jail is just a chance to detox,” Roger said with a mischievous look in his eyes. “I think it’s time to go play some craps.”

“Ok, I’ve been wanting to learn how to play. I just need to go use the restroom first,” JJ said.

“I need to leak the lizard too, right behind you,” Roger said.

JJ settled the bar tab and then made his way to the restroom. He was out long before Roger and was able to find a quiet corner just outside the bathroom.

Before he had left his apartment, he had grabbed his silver good luck coin. Now he said the quick spell to see the magic realm and took a quick look at it. It was nice and bright, full of wild magic.

“That’s a pretty bauble,” Roger said, seeing JJ holding the coin.

“It’s my good luck coin,” JJ said after mumbling the counter spell.

“Good, you’ll need it. Now break out a few of those hundreds I saw in your wallet,” Roger said.

***

“You only want to play the pass line and the come bet; those others are sucker bets,” Roger said, putting down a $25 chip on the pass line. JJ followed suit while he gripped his coin.

JJ had bought in with a thousand dollars for each of them after Roger had said, “Don’t be cheap,” to JJ’s intended buy-in of a hundred each.

They played for a while, not really winning and not really losing. They would win a few, and then the shooter would throw a seven. The dice finally made it around to JJ after Roger declined to throw.

“So what do I do?” JJ asked.

“Throw the dice and try not to get a craps,” Roger said.

“What does that mean?” JJ asked.

“Haven’t you been paying attention? Just don’t throw a two, three, or twelve on the come-out roll,” Roger said.

“What’s a come-out roll?” JJ asked.

“Just throw the dice,” Roger said, starting to get frustrated.

JJ threw for a record amount of time, turning their two thousand dollars into fifty thousand before a guy in a very expensive suit came over and asked if he could give them a couple of tickets for the show.

“Who’s playing?” Roger asked. “If you’re going to end our streak, it’ll need to be a good show.”

“Mr. Paul Anka is in our lounge tonight. It’s a very good show,” the man said.

“Mr. Anka is good, throw in a drink for us each and we’ll step away,” Roger said.

“Done. Who should I say is going to the show?” The man asked.

“You can tell your boss, Anthony DeLuca,” Roger said. “What is your name?”

Hearing the name, the man swallowed and then almost squeaked. “My name is Dan Castillo, and I am the shift manager. Mr. DeLuca, would you like a steak with your show? Our chef can prepare you a very nice filet.” Dan asked.

“That would be very nice, and one for my good friend JJ here. JJ, tell the nice gentleman your name,” Roger said.

“Uhh, JJ Presley,” JJ said, feeling very out of his league after seeing the response Dan had to Roger’s real name.

“Ok, JJ, and Mr. DeLuca, sir, by the time you get to the showroom,” Dan lifted his arm and waved to some unknown person. “The table will be ready, and your steaks will be there shortly after that. Veronica here will escort you to your table and make sure everything is to your liking.”

“Thank you, Dan,” Roger said, then turned to follow a very elegantly attired woman who stepped up next to him. She took his arm and then started walking him to the lounge.

“I thought your name was Robert Calun?”JJ asked.

“That’s one of them,” Roger said, turning back to his escort.

The show was great, and Roger said it was almost as good as when one of the Rat Pack had played. After an incredible night, they ended back at their apartments just before sunrise.

“Thank you, JJ, that was a great night. I haven’t had that much fun in years,” Roger said to JJ as he went into his apartment.

“Your welcome,” JJ said to the closed door.

***

JJ got a few hours sleep when he woke up sometime around ten a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong, and no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, he couldn’t sleep. He finally gave up, dressed, and then went to the bar to call Raul, thinking that maybe it was one of his premonitions.

“Hello,” a sleepy Raul answered.

“Hey,” JJ said.

“Oh, hi JJ. What did you need?” Raul asked.

“Uhm, I don’t know. I just felt I needed to call you … I think. Are you ok?” JJ asked.

“Yeah, I’m ok. I’ll call you after I get some sleep,” Raul said.

“Uh, ok,” JJ said as Raul hung up the phone.

“What’s going on? Why am I feeling like this?” JJ said to himself. He hadn’t had much experience with his premonitions since his memory loss, and he was still guessing about how to interpret them. It had felt like he needed to get to Raul, but after the call, it was feeling like he needed to get back to his apartment.”

JJ headed out the door of the bar. The sunlight, reflecting off the vehicles, blinded him for a moment as he stepped out. When his eyes finally adjusted, he saw that there was a fire truck and an ambulance in the parking lot for the apartment building. Ambulances were not uncommon there, given the average age of the residents. JJ decided to go back into the bar and wait there for the paramedics to be done. As he reached down to grab the handle, his feeling flared, causing him to stop and turn around to go back to his apartment.

“There aren’t any hoses out, so my apartment isn’t on fire,” JJ said to himself as he started towards his building. He found himself walking faster and faster towards his place. By the time he got to the gate for the building, he was running. When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw that the paramedics were outside his place.

“I’m here, I’m fine,” JJ said as he ran down to his door.

“Are you Roger?” One of the paramedics asked.

“No, I’m JJ, I live in this apartment,” JJ said, pointing to his door.

“We had a call for this one,” the paramedic said, pointing to Rogers place. “Do you have a key?”

“No, we barely talk,” JJ said.

“I’m here, I’ll open it don’t break it down … again,” the apartment manager said as he came huffing and puffing to the door.

“Roger? … Roger? … Are you in there?” The paramedic asked after the manager finally got the door open.

Driven by the feeling in his gut he followed the paramedics into the apartment. Roger was lying on his side on the floor with his oxygen tank lying just out of reach. The paramedics positioned themselves on either side of him and got to work.

“Roger, can you hear me?” One of the paramedics asked while the other started to take vitals.

JJ could see him lying there in his normal attire of a t-shirt and boxers. In one of his hands, he had an envelope.

“Roger, we are going to reposition you to better work on you,” the paramedic said as he tried to roll him onto his back and then tried to take the envelope out of his hand.

“Nnnn,” Roger said and gripped the envelope tighter.

“I need you to let go of that so that we can work on you. I think you had a stroke and we need to help you.” The paramedic said.

“Nnnn, Jjjjjj.” Roger tried to say.

Hearing what he wanted to believe was Roger calling for him, JJ walked over to get closer to him.

“HHHH, JJJJJjjj,” Roger said when he caught sight of JJ.

“I think he is trying to give you the envelope,” the paramedic said. “Take it so we can try and save him.”

JJ bent over, and Roger almost hit him with the envelope as he tried to hand it to him. It was obvious that he had suffered a stroke; his movements were jerky, and JJ had to finally take his hand so that Roger could hand it to him. He let go of the envelope, and then his arm dropped, and the paramedics were finally able to get started on saving him.

The feeling in JJ’s chest went away, and he was able to go back to his apartment.

He was just opening his door when his pager went off. He dropped the envelope onto the dining table and then turned around to go back to the bar and return the page.

***

“Table games,” a voice said when the JJ’s call was answered.

“I am returning a page,” JJ said.

“One second,” the phone handset was put down, and JJ could hear mumbling voices and some music.

JJ stood there listening to the music coming through the handset for a few moments when a drunk guy came up to him. “Hey, buddy, do you have a cigarette?” the guy asked.

“I don’t smoke,” JJ said. When he turned to respond, his nose was assaulted by the odor.

“Come on, man, just a cigarette,” the guy said, sharing not only his Guinness Book of Records-level body odor but also breath from a mouth that had not seen a toothbrush in a decade.

“I don’t have any cigarettes,” JJ said. The phone on the other end was still sitting on a table.

“I know you have one, let me have it,” the guy insisted.

“No, I don’t have one,” JJ said.

“Don’t lie to me, I know you have one, Simon,” the guy said.

“I don’t have …” JJ started, then realized the guy had called him by his original name. “What did you call me?”

“What, I didn’t call you anything, mister, if you don’t have a cigarette, just say so.” The guy said. The odor that had almost knocked JJ out was gone, and the mouth that only had a couple of teeth was now a full set of bright whites.

JJ just stared for a moment while the guy walked over to the cigarette vending machine and purchased a pack.

“What? Why are you staring at me?” The guy asked. He was dressed in a sports coat and dress pants.

“This is Paul. How can I help you?” A voice on the phone asked.

The drunk retrieved his pack of cigarettes and then walked back to the bar, shaking his head.

“Oh yeah, I received a page from this number,” JJ said.

It ended up being one of the pit areas at the Tropicana, and they were calling him for his cooler abilities. He told them he would be over there in about half an hour.

Dragon’s Lair

Josh looked at the top of the video game and saw the long line of quarters. Really, it was only two, but the two belonged to the top players. He knew he wouldn’t get to play before he had to head home. He had done the usual and only got the chicken nuggets for lunch so he could have a few quarters for the arcade.

“Hey, Josh,” Greg said as he stepped up next to him.

“Hey, Greg,” Josh said.

“You got a quarter on the machine?” Greg asked.

“Nah, Spider and Tony are already there,” Josh said pointing to the two currently playing the machine.

“That’s a bummer,” Greg said. “Let’s go play Goblins.”

Goblins was Greg’s favorite game. It wasn’t a very popular game in the arcade and was always free.

The point of goblins was to collect as much gold as you could before the dragon woke up and crunched you in all the 8-bit glory that the video game could muster.

“Alright, but only one. I want to save my quarters for tomorrow. Maybe Spider or Tony may not be on it,” Josh said.

“Ok,” Greg said with a frown in his voice..

Seeing Greg and Josh step up to the machine, a small sixth grader stood up from the bench he had been sitting on.

“Can I play with you guys?” The sixth grader asked.

“Yeah, I guess, but don’t wake the dragon or I’ll — I’ll …” Greg couldn’t think of something bad enough. “I’ll pound you.”

“Yes, you can play, Kenny,” Josh said.

“Ok. I won’t wake him! I’m getting really good,” Kenny said.

Greg just eyed him as he fed his quarter in.

Josh and Kenny added their quarters, and then Greg selected the three-player option.

They played, collecting coins, and Kenny actually found a gem to really boost their score. In the end, Greg was the one to wake the dragon.

“Aww man, we were doing so good, we almost made a high score,” Greg said.

“My brother always laughs at me for playing this, but I don’t care, I like this game,” Kenny said.

“Who’s your brother?” Josh asked.

“Stanley, Uhm, I mean Spider,” Kenny said. “He doesn’t like me calling him by his name.”

“Your brother is Spider?” Greg gulped. “I was joking about pounding you.”

“One more game?” Josh asked.

“Really? Yeah!” Kenny said.

“Yes,” Josh said

“Alright!” Greg said.

This time, they collected enough gold and gems before the dragon woke up to be able to put their team name on the high score list.

***

“Come on, Joshie. Get up, you’re going to be late,” Josh woke up to his mother yelling from the kitchen.

He opened his eyes and rubbed them, and then threw his blankets off. He realized he had fallen asleep wearing his clothes.

“Oh man, what is that?” Josh said as he wrinkled his nose. His clothes smelled like rotten eggs.

He jumped up and grabbed some clean clothes and then buried his slept-in ones under the pile on the floor.

***

“Here,” his mom said, handing him an already toasted Pop-Tart. “Your lunch is there on the counter. You will have to take the bus today. I have to get to work early.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Josh said.

“Joshie, before you go, I know it’s been hard since I started this new job. We will do something special this weekend,” she said.

“Ok,” Josh stopped and thought about it for a moment. “Maybe, the aquarium?” Josh asked

“Yeah — I think — we can do that.” She said, looking off. “Now get, or you’ll miss the bus.”

***

“You want to trade some Doritos for half your cookie?” Josh asked as he sat down at the table next to Greg.

“Sure,” Greg handed him one of the cookies and took a Dorito chip.

“How was the math test?” Greg asked. “Did Mr. Hand have any surprises?”

“Nah, it wasn’t too bad, he kept to the study sheet he sent home yesterday,” Josh said.

“Oh shoot, I have to go study,” Greg said as he stuffed the last of his lunch in his mouth. “Are you going to the arcade today?”

“Yeah, I still have a few quarters left,” Josh said.

“Ok, I’ll see you there,” Greg dashed off to the school library to study.

***

“Hey, Kenny,” Josh said when he walked up to the Goblins machine.

Kenny was just watching the demo screen. “Hey, Josh,” Kenny said without looking away from the video game.

“Why are you just watching the demo?” Josh asked Kenny.

“Hey, guys,” Greg said as he walked up to the pair of them. “Well, are we going to play or what?”

“Did your guys’ clothes smell funny last night?” Kenny asked, still just watching the digital dragon breath fire towards the screen.

“Yeah, mine smelled like rotten eggs,” Josh said.

“Mine did too,” Greg said.

“Hey, when did we get to the top of the high scores list?” Kenny asked.

“What? We were last on the list,” Greg said.

“Look,” Kenny said, pointing at the video game that was now showing the list with their team name on top.

“How did that happen?” Josh asked, staring at the screen.

“Is this the game you like to play?” Spider asked as he joined the three.

“Yeah, it’s my favorite Stan,” Kenny said.

“Don’t call me that, my name is Spider,” Spider said and then punched Kenny in the chest.

“Ouch,” Kenny said, rubbing where he had been hit. “Ok, Spider,” Kenny said,

“Ah, I see you have your fourth player. Maybe with his help, you might do better tonight,” a four-foot, slightly green bald man said from behind the foursome. He had tufts of white hair growing out of the tips of his ears and was wearing a vest with the name of the arcade over a breast pocket. “He’s a little scrawny, but I guess he will do. Follow me.”

“I’m not scrawny,” Spider said, flexing his less-than-impressive muscles.

“Well, we’ll see if your muscles are big enough. Hurry up, we have to get you four started,” the man said.

“Uhm, where are you taking us. Did we do something wrong?” Greg asked.

“To go get the gold, obviously,” the little man said.

“No,” Josh said.

“No!?! No!?! We have an agreement,” The little man said, and then pulled out a folded piece of paper from his vest. “Right here it says you three will gather gold, and there on the bottom are your signatures.” He unfolded the paper and then pointed to three signatures at the bottom in red.

“That’s not … “ Greg started to say, and then looked closely. “How!?!”

“You all signed it yesterday. Oh, right, I forgot,” the little man said, and he reached out and touched each of the three.

With the touch, they each got a faraway look in their eyes for a moment, and then said almost as one, “Oh.”

“Hey, don’t touch my little brother, I’ll pound you!” Spider said, puffing up his chest.

“Quiet, I’ll get your signature in a second,” the man said and then touched Spider.

Spider stood still with a blank stare on his face.

After his touch, the three had remembered signing and why their clothes had smelled so bad. The night before, after getting the top spot on the high scores list, the little man came out and congratulated them. He said that the top players got a chance to win real gold; they just had to sign the paper and then go on an obstacle course. As he said that he had shown them a couple of gold coins to entice them.

Greed overtook any common sense, and they immediately signed.

The second the last signature was on the paper, the little man snapped his fingers, and they found themselves standing next to a giant pile of rocks interspersed with gold coins and an occasional gem. At the top of the pile was a sleeping dragon just like the game.

“What!?! How did we get here?” Greg asked.

“I think we are in the game or somewhere the game is based on,” Kenny said.

“How do we get home?” Greg asked.

“We have to get as much treasure as we can until the dragon wakes up,” Josh said.

“That is ridiculous,” Greg said, looking at the pile of rocks and the gently snoring dragon.

“Kenny? Kenny? Where did you go?” Josh stage whispered.

“Over here,” Kenny said from behind a rather large boulder. He stood up, holding a green gem about the size of his head.

“What do we do with the treasure? In the game, we had a magic backpack.” Greg said.

“We all have backpacks,” Kenny said as he put the gem into his pack.

Greg looked at Josh, then felt his back, finding an empty backpack.

“Ok then, I guess we get collecting,” Greg said.

The three started grabbing coins and gems until Kenny grabbed the wrong gem and caused a minor avalanche, which woke the dragon.

The dragon opened an eye and saw the three puny humans. It shifted just a bit and then sent out a jet of flame from the side of its mouth. Just as it touched Kenny, the three found themselves standing back where they had started, in front of the small man.

***

“Now that that is taken care of and you three remember your contract, time to get a signature from the uhm — muscles.” The man said with a little chuckle. “Here, sign this.” He said and handed Spider an ornate pen.

Spider took the pen without really registering anything and signed the contract.

“Uh, what?” Spider said, trying to rub his eyes, almost poking them with the pen. “What is this?” He looked at the pen and then tossed it down like it was on fire. “What is going on?”

“Now that is all taken care of, time for you four to start gathering,” the man said and then snapped his fingers.

The four were at the bottom of the mountain of rubble and treasure.

“What is going on here?” Spider asked a little louder than was appropriate to keep a sleeping dragon, sleeping.

“Shh,” the three said and then pointed up at the dragon.

“Don’t tell me … “ Spider started to say, and then saw the dragon right when it shifted a little. “Ohh. What are we doing here?” Spider said again, quieter this time.

“We have to gather gold,” Josh said, bending down to pick up a gold coin near his foot.

“And gems,” Kenny said.

“Count me in! Gold and gems!” Spider said a little louder again.

“Shh,” Greg said.

“Oh, right, the dragon,” Spider said quietly.

The three started gathering loot until Spider stumbled and slid down a few feet of rubble, waking the dragon.

***

“Not bad for your second time,” the man said as he looked through the backpacks that were in a pile in front of him.

“Hey! That’s mine,” Spider said, reaching for a handful of coins that the man had pulled out of Spider’s backpack.

“No, that’s mine, it’s right there in the contract. You will get a roll of quarters for any full backpacks. There is no payment for partial backpacks.” The man said.

“We get nothing for almost being barbecued?” Spider demanded.

“Well, I’m a generous go — man,” the man said and then flipped them each a quarter. “I expect you four here earlier tomorrow. It’s a half day tomorrow at your schools.”

***

“Hey Joshie,” Josh’s mother said as he walked in the front door to the living room. “Dinner will be done in a little bit.”

“What are we having?” Josh yelled back to her. He stood a moment, shaking his head, trying to remember how he got home from the arcade.

“What were you doing? You smell awful,” his mom said, plugging her nose when he had made his way into the kitchen. “Go change your clothes, and put those in the washer.”

“Yes, Mom,” Josh said, heading out of the kitchen to obey his mother.

***

Dinner was one of Josh’s favorite, Mac and Cheese with hot dogs.

“Eat your vegetables,” she said, seeing that Josh was avoiding the broccoli. “You can cut it up and bury it in the cheese. I called it trees and cheese when I was your age.”

“Mmhm, ok,” Josh said around a mouthful of hot dog.

They ate in silence for a while when his mom finally said, “Was school ok today?”

“Yeah, I had a math test,” Josh said.

“How did that go?” She asked.

“Alright, I think I got a C,” Josh said.

“That’s good,” she said.

Josh was silent for a few more bites.

“Mom,” Josh said, trying to gather his thoughts.

“Yes, Joshie,” she said.

“Uhh, it’s a half day tomorrow, can I go to the arcade again?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s fine.” She said.

Josh finished the last few bites of ‘trees and cheese’ and then asked to be excused.

***

“Hey Josh,” Greg said as he sat down next to him on the bus.

“Hey,” Josh said.

“Are you going to the arcade today?” Greg asked.

“Yeah, my mom already said I could,” Josh said.

“Cool, maybe we can play the dragon game again,” Greg said.

“Yeah, that’s a cool game,” Josh said.

They were again quiet while the bus went about gobbling up the children on its route.

“Hey, Josh, Hey, Greg,” Spider said as he got on the bus. He sat at an empty seat behind them.

“Hey, Spider,” the two said.

Both boys turned so they could watch for the expected punch.

“Are you guys going to the arcade again?” Spider asked.

“Yeah,” Josh answered for them a little hesitantly, expecting some rude comment.

“Cool, maybe we can play that dragon game again,” Spider said and then got up and went to the back.

“That was weird,” Greg said.

Josh agreed.

***

“Hey, Kenny,” Josh said to him as he walked up to the Goblins game.

“Hey, Josh,” Kenny said. He was again staring at the demo screens, just watching a perfect game. “Did you ever notice in the demo the dragon talks to the characters?”

“No, I don’t think I’ve ever watched it,” Josh said.

Josh watched the demo for a bit until Greg arrived, followed a minute later by Spider.

“So are we going to play or what?” Spider asked when he stepped up to them. He was already pulling out a quarter.

“Right on time,” the small man said, almost appearing out of nowhere, next to the game.

“Right on time for what?” Greg asked.

“To gather gold, of course. Come along,” he said, and then waggled his gnarled finger for them to follow.

***

“Don’t touch anything,” Kenny whispered as soon as they found themselves at the bottom of the horde.

“Why not?” Greg said.

“Yeah, why not? I want to get gold,” Spider said, dismissing Kenny and stepping up to the closest mound of gold coins.

“Because I want to talk to the dragon,” Kenny said.

“You want to get roasted,” Spider said and then bent down to grab the coins.

“No, don’t touch them,” Kenny yelled.

“Shut up, Kenny, I’m the oldest, you’re not the boss of me,” Spider said.

“Hear him out before you start grabbing,” Josh said.

“Oh, ok, but make it quick,” Spider said, standing back up and slipping a coin into his pocket.

“I think we can talk to the dragon,” Kenny said.

“You already said that. That’s just ridiculous.” Spider said, looking around to figure out which of the gems he could hide in his pocket.

“Well, the demo screen of the game shows the dragon talking to the characters,” Kenny said.

“Why do we want to talk to that thing?” Greg asked.

“I’m not sure, but,” Kenny started and then was overcome with a coughing fit.

“Are you ok?” Josh asked. Kenny coughed for a bit while the boys watched, not knowing what to do.

“Yeah, I’m better now,” Kenny said when the fit was finished. “I just have to sit for a bit.”

“He’s just faking it; he wanted to get out of school today,” Spider said.

“No, I’m not,” Kenny said and then started coughing again. “I think the trips here are causing me to get sick.”

“You’re just a wimp, look at me, I’m as strong as ever,” Spider said and then puffed up his chest and flexed his arms. He held the pose for a moment and then started coughing. “That’s just because of the awful smell,” Spider said, trying to cover his sudden weakness.

“You know what, I didn’t feel very good this morning, either,” Greg said after thinking about it for a moment.

“Yeah, me too. I sounded like an old man. So you think we should talk to the dragon?” Josh asked.

“That’s stupid. Let’s grab everything we can and stuff it in our pockets and not tell that little man.” Spider said, returning to stuffing coins into his pockets until they were bulging.

Remembering the punch Spider gave Kenny, Josh, and Greg started to collect treasure, putting some in their pockets and some in their backpacks.

Kenny just sat and watched the dragon, trying to figure out how to talk to it.

***

“Empty your pockets,” the little man said when the four popped into the back room from the dragon’s lair.

“What, why? I’m not going to give you my quarters.” Spider said. While the other three shuffled their feet, letting Spider battle the little man.

“Empty your pockets, or I will empty them for you,” the little man said.

“I would like to see you …” Before Spider could finish the statement, the little man snapped his fingers, and Spider found himself floating upside down, being shaken by an invisible giant hand.

Seeing the alternative, the other three quickly started pulling out all the loot they had tried to sneak out.

When they had finished, they were standing in the middle of their own pile of treasure.

“I am a kind gob … I mean, man, so I will give you four the weekend off and expect to see you here Monday right after school,” the man said after Spider was dumped onto the floor.

***

“Are you awake?” Josh’s mom yelled through the bedroom door.

“Uhh yeah, I’m not feeling good today,” Josh said, opening his eyes and feeling sick to his stomach and sore throat.

“Ok, I thought you wanted to go to the aquarium today?” she said, opening the door.

“Oh yeah, it’s Saturday,” Josh said and then started coughing.

Seeing that Josh wasn’t just trying to get out of going to school, she got him some cough medicine and put some VapoRub on his chest.

“Well, I don’t think you are up to anything today. Rest and I will bring you something to eat in a bit,” she said.

“Thank you, Mom,” Josh said and then buried himself deep under his blankets.

The rest of Saturday, Josh spent in bed alternating between sleeping and reading.

Sunday, Josh woke up feeling better and went out to find his mother getting ready for work.

“I have to go to work today, but I made you a lunch, in case you feel well enough to crawl out of your cave,” she said as she was heading out the door.

“Thank you, Mom,” Josh said.

She stopped and went back to him and kissed him on the forehead. “I love you, Joshie. If you need anything, Margaret next door can help you.” She said and then went out the door.

“Aww man, the crazy cat lady,” Josh said to the now closed door.

***

“Josh, are you awake. Your mom asked me to stop by and check on you,” Margaret said from the back door.

“Hi, Mrs Cannon,” Josh said, and then opened the door for her. He had been eating a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table.

“Hmm, I think I smell dragons on you. You haven’t been talking to dragons, have you?” she said with a bit of a laugh.

“Dragons don’t talk to people; they just eat them. Besides, they’re not real,” Josh said.

“No dragons are very real, and they don’t eat people. That’s just goblin’s lies,” Margaret said as she went to the sink and started making a pot of coffee.

“Uhm, I think you’ve been reading too many fantasy books,” Josh said.

“That’s rather rude of you, but no, I rarely read fantasy books; they never get anything about magic right,” Margaret said.

Margaret finished making her coffee and then sat down and told Josh more than he ever wanted to know about magic and magical creatures.

“I think I need to take a nap,” Josh said, faking a yawn to get out of hearing more about the intricacies of casting spells under a blue moon.

“Oh my, I’ve been talking all morning about magic. Well, I think I will let you recuperate,” Margaret said, and then got up and started washing her dishes. “Don’t let me keep you. I’ll just finish my dishes and then show myself out.”

“Thank you, Mrs Cannon,” Josh said and then went back to his room.

***

“Hey, Josh,” Greg said when he walked up to the Goblins machine. It was Monday after school. “Is Kenny here yet?”

“Not yet, but Spider said he was coming in a few minutes,” Josh said.

The two of them just stood watching the demo screen.

“Hey, guys,” Spider said as he walked up.

“Hey, spider,” they both said.

“Where’s Kenny?” Josh asked.

“He’ll be here soon. He had to go to the doctor, he had a bad cough on Friday, but it seemed to be getting better. I think he was just faking it for attention,” Spider said.

The three turned and watched the demo screen for a bit, when they saw the portion where the dragon started talking to the characters.

“Look at that, they didn’t take any gold, and the dragon started talking to them, that is so fake, dragons just eat people,” Greg said.

“The crazy lady next door said that dragons don’t eat people, it’s just lies that goblins tell,” Josh said.

“Well, it doesn’t matter since dragons and goblins are both make-believe,” Kenny said, walking up to the game.

“Hey, Kenny,” Josh and Greg said.

“Did the doctor tell Mom you were faking?” Spider asked.

“The doctor said my asthma is getting worse for some reason,” Kenny said.

“Well, about time you all made it. Let’s get to it,” the little man said, and then snapped his fingers.

***

“Wow, he didn’t even wait to get us out of sight before he sent us here,” Kenny said.

“Wait before you touch anything,” Josh said. “I think Kenny was right last time. You know, this is very weird. I remember everything about all the trips to the dragon’s lair, but when I’m not here, I don’t remember anything about our time here.”

“I know, all that gold, and I didn’t remember any of it,” Spider said.

“Yeah, I can’t believe it either,” Greg said.

“Kenny. What do we do?” Josh asked.

“Nothing,” Kenny said. “In the video game, the dragon starts talking to the characters after a bit.”

“How long?” Josh asked.

“I don’t know, the video game simply says ‘time passed, ’” Kenny said.

“I guess we wait,” Josh said.

All four of them stood for a bit.

Spider was the first to get tired of waiting. “This is ridiculous, you can’t talk to a monster.”

“I think Kenny is right,” Josh said. “The lady next door said she smelled dragon on me. She then went on to tell me how dragons aren’t bad.” Josh said, and then continued telling them about what she had said about dragons.

“Blah, Blah, Blah, can’t you guys just be quiet. I’m trying to sleep,” the voice of the dragon rumbled through the massive chamber, causing minor avalanches of treasure.

The boys all froze and just stared up at the dragon.

One eye was wide open, looking at them.

“What do we do now?” Spider whispered.

“Well, you either talk to me or I can send you back to where you came from,” the dragon said.

“Oh, mighty and fierce worm …” Spider started.

“I am not a worm. That is a very derogatory term.” The dragon said. “I’m trying to be nice to a bunch of goblins invading my lair; the least you could do is not call me names,” the Dragon said.

“Gulp,” Spider swallowed in fear.

“We aren’t goblins,” Kenny said. “We’re just boys.”

“Are you sure? You’re not sneaky goblins in disguise?” the Dragon asked

“No, we’re not,” Kenny said.

“Well, you stink of goblin magic,” the Dragon said after taking a big sniff.

“Uhm, sir.” Kenny started. “How do we address you?”

“Mike will do,” the dragon said.

“Uhm, Mic? Is that some kind of dragon title?” Josh asked.

“No, that’s my name. What are your names?” The dragon asked.

“I’m Kenny,” Kenny said.

“I’m Josh,” Josh said.

“I’m Greg,” Greg said.

“I’m Spider, uhm, I mean Stanley,” Spider said.

“Very nice to meet you all,” The dragon said. “So what are you boys doing here?”

“We are being forced by an evil man …” Josh started.

“Goblin,” the dragon said.

“What? What did you say?” Josh asked.

“OH, SORRY, I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE HARD OF HEARING. I SAID THAT YOU ARE BEING FORCED BY A GOBLIN TO DO SOMETHING,” The dragon yelled.

The boys covered their ears and ducked down, expecting to be attacked any second.

“STOP!” Josh and Greg yelled.

“Don’t Hurt us!” Spider cowered where he had been standing.

Kenny just covered his head and waited for the noise and avalanche to finish.

“We can hear you just fine!” Josh yelled.

“Oh, sorry. By the smell of the magic, you must be enslaved by a goblin,” the dragon said.

“What is a goblin?” Kenny asked.

“They are greedy bald green little creatures that are always trying to steal any treasure they can,” the dragon said.

“The man in the arcade isn’t green,” Josh said.

“Hmm, he’s probably disguising himself,” the dragon said. The dragon took another big sniff. “Are you sure you’re not goblins?”

“I am a boy, but I don’t know for sure about my brother. I think he’s a gremlin,” Spider said.

“Which one is your brother. I can take a small bite and let you know if he’s a gremlin,” the dragon said.

“I’m not a gremlin,” Kenny squeaked.

“Haha, I’m just kidding. I’m a vegetarian,” the dragon said. He let out a huge yawn. “Can we continue this conversation in a few years?”

“Uhm, just a few more questions,” Kenny said.

“Oh, alright,” the dragon said, settling in.

“You said the man is a goblin. How do we stop him from making us steal your gold?” Kenny asked.

“Tell him to stop, and he will,” the dragon curled around like a cat turning its head upside down. “Unless you signed a contract,” he said, jerking his head upright. “You didn’t sign a contract, did you?”

“Yes, we did,” Kenny said, sounding defeated.

“Not on purpose,” Spider said. “He made me.”

“But you did, well then I guess you’re stuck stealing gold until you die,” the dragon said.

Hearing that there was no hope, Kenny started to cry and then started to cough.

Spider saw his brother and went over and held him, trying to comfort him.

“There must be something,” Josh said.

“Well, if you can get the goblin to break the contract, you will be free. Let me think about it for a decade,” the dragon said.

“We don’t have any time. This is killing my brother. Every time we come here, he is getting sicker!” Spider yelled.

“Ok, ok,” the dragon said. “I’m sure that the contract is very vague and does not require him to do anything. You don’t happen to have your copies with you?”

“NO! We do not!” Spider yelled.

“Calm down, calm down,” the dragon said.

“Can’t you just breathe fire and roast him, or just chomp him?” Greg asked.

“No, we are not in your world, and I can’t just flit over there. Maybe you guys can hit him with your swords,” the dragon said.

“We don’t have swords,” Josh said.

“Well, that’s not good,” the dragon said. “Hmm, let me think, how to stop him, how to stop him.”

The dragon hummed to himself for a few moments. “What happens, exactly, when you talk to him after you leave here?”

“We appear before him, and he takes our backpacks and then tells us to be back tomorrow,” Josh said.

“Hmm, and you don’t have any way of not going to him?” The dragon asked.

“No, we don’t remember him, but we have to go back to the arcade,” Josh said.

“Oh, that’s sneaky.” The dragon said. “Ok then, if you can’t stop from going to him, maybe you can stop him from meeting you, if you could drive him out of his lair with, hmm. I’ve got it spread orc poop around his lair that will drive him out. Ok, problem solved, go away now,” The dragon said and then started breathing in a huge breath to shoot fire at them.

“WAIT!” Josh yelled.

“What? The problem is solved,” the dragon said, stopping his breath.

“We don’t have orcs in our world to get orc poop from, and besides, when we leave him, we won’t remember this or you or orc poop,” Josh said, starting to get a little hysterical.

“Ok, let me,” the dragon mumbled a little bit while he looked for something. “Hmm, oh, that will do,” the dragon said, picking up something small on the tip of one of his claws. “Here, take this,” he flicked the claw, sending a shiny object straight at Josh. It flew and bounced off his forehead.

“Ouch,” Josh whined.

“Put that on and then talk to a witch or that Robin Hood guy or maybe even the sheriff’s tax collector,” the dragon said.

Josh looked around and found the shiny thing that had hit him. It was a simple gold ring, big enough to be a bracelet for him. “I have to wear this?” Josh asked after he picked it up.

“Yes, just slip it on your first digit and it will block the goblin magic so you won’t forget,” the dragon said.

Josh put it on and pushed it up to his forearm.

“Well, I guess that will work. Just don’t take it off,” the dragon said. “Now go away,” then he breathed the fire.

***

“Well, what do you useless slaves have for me today?” the goblin asked.

With the ring on his arm, Josh could see what the goblin looked like. It was short and green with tufts of white hair poking out of its huge, pointy ears. When it talked, Josh could see its pointy brown teeth.

Josh swallowed, trying to keep himself from throwing up.

“I stumbled almost as soon as we got there, and the dragon breathed its fire. We didn’t get anything.” Josh said.

“Well, let’s see. Give me your bags,” the goblin said. The other three boys immediately gave him their packs.

Josh saw how quickly they obeyed and realized that if he didn’t act the same as them, the goblin would know he was immune to his magic. He followed suit and handed his backpack to him.

He must not have done it quite the same way as the other three, because the goblin looked at him a little funny.

He stuck his head and almost half his body in each backpack, looking for anything.

“That is very disappointing, boys. I hope this won’t happen tomorrow, or I might need to find some new, more capable servants to bring me my treasure,” The goblin said. Once he had looked at each of the packs, he eyed the boys, trying to decide if they were lying or not. He finally came to a conclusion and said, “Ok, I will see you four here tomorrow, right after school.” He snapped his fingers, and the other three’s demeanor changed; they almost looked like zombies. Josh was quick to emulate them and then followed them out the door with a strange shuffling motion.

***

“Hi, Mom,” Josh said when he walked into his house. His mother was in the kitchen making dinner.

“I have to work tonight.” She said in response. “I’m going to have dinner with you and then head out. Margret will be by later and will stay until I get home from work.”

“Ok,” Josh said as he went back to his room to drop off his school backpack.

“When is Mrs Cannon going to be here?” Josh asked when he came out of his room.

“She said she would be over here at eight to watch her programs,” his mother said. “I’m trusting you to be alone for a few hours. Can you do that?”

“Yeah, Mom,” Josh said.

Josh sat down at the kitchen table and just sat there contemplating what would smell like orc poop.

“Mom?” Josh asked.

“Yes, Joshie,” his mom said.

“What do you think Orc poop smells like?” Josh asked.

“What is an orc. Is that a teenage ninja frog thing?” His mom asked.

“It’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. No, it’s not one of them.” Josh said.

“Frogs, turtles, what’s the difference?” His mom asked.

“Turtles have shells, and they are cool. Frogs are just squishy. Orcs are big, ugly, magical creatures.” Josh said.

Josh and his mother continued to discuss the intricacies of the smell of a non-existent creature’s poop while she prepared dinner.

“Here you go,” his mom said, setting down a plate with green beans, fish sticks, and French fries.

“Ohh fish sticks,” he dug in a trying to see how many fish pieces he could put in his mouth at once.

***

“You need to stop hanging around dragons,” Margret said, walking in the back door a few minutes before eight.

“Are you a witch?” Josh asked, looking up from his homework. He was sitting at the kitchen table with books spread out in front of him.

“Uhmm, wow, no small talk, just right out with the questions,” Margaret said. “Yes, I’m a witch.”

“The dragon said I needed to talk to a witch,” Josh said.

“A dragon said?” Margaret asked.

“Yes, a dragon,” Josh said.

He went on to tell Margaret what had been happening.

“Ok, so let me get this straight, you and your friends are slaves of a goblin, who works at the arcade?” Margaret asked.

“Yeah, and my friend Kenny is getting sicker and sicker every time we are sent to the dragon,” Josh said. He stopped for a moment, trying to hold back tears.

Margaret just waited.

When Josh finally had his bubbling hysteria under control, he told her how the dragon said that he needed to get the goblin out of the arcade with orc poop.

They spent a while discussing what would smell like the orc poop. Margaret finally decided that horse poop would smell the closest.

“You can get some near your school at the FFA barn,” Margaret said.

They spent the rest of the night watching her shows until she finally said that he had school in the morning and sent him off to bed.

***

“Hey, Josh,” Greg said when he walked up to the lunch table.

“Hey,” Josh said after he finished chewing. “The crazy cat lady said that she thought horses would smell like orc poop.”

“Uh, ok,” Greg said, looking at Josh with a weird look.

“Oh, right,” Josh said to himself. “I was talking to her about the uhm, the Hobbit,” Josh said, trying to cover up his mistake.

“I couldn’t read those books; they are way too long. I like comic books like Captain America,” Greg said.

They continued to talk about comics and the best superhero.

“See you at the arcade,” Greg said as he got up to head to his next class.

“Yeah, I’ll be there, I just might be a few minutes late, I have to do one thing on the way,” Josh said.

***

“Hey, Josh,” Greg said.

“Eww, what is that smell?” Spider asked.

They were both watching the game, waiting for Kenny and Josh to show up.

“I stepped into some horse poop when I tried to take a shortcut,” Josh said as he hid his manure-covered backpack behind his back.

“Did you have to go around the whole arcade?” Greg asked, seeing the trail that Josh had left.

“Heh,” Kenny said, stepping up with his nose plugged.

“Time to get to work. Wow, teenagers are filthy,” the goblin said, looking around at the manure that Josh had spread around. “As much as I love the smell of horses, I think I will have to have the janitor clean that up. Alright, get to work.”

***

Kenny started collecting gold as soon as they arrived in the lair. He obviously had no hope left.

“Come on, Kenny, let’s talk to the dragon,” Josh said.

“There’s no point,” Kenny said without standing up from his work.

Greg and Spider, seeing that Kenny had resigned himself to being a slave until he died, started grabbing treasure also.

“Fine, I’ll talk to him,” Josh said. “Dragon! Hey Mike, wake up!” Josh yelled. The dragon didn’t move. Josh yelled “Wake up,” again and picked up a rock, and threw it. The only response was the dragon spitting fire.

***

“Let me see what you useless haulers got me today?” The goblin said as he started to go through the packs. “Hmm, very disappointing. Well, looks like it’s time to find replacements. Be back tomorrow, same time — for the last time.”

“You’re going to let us go?” Greg asked with a little bit of hope.

“No,” the goblin said and then snapped his fingers.

Josh again found himself trying to imitate the zombie walk of his friends.

***

“Good afternoon, Josh,” Margaret said from the kitchen table. “Your mom had to go to work, so I ordered a pizza. If it doesn’t involve eye of newt, I don’t know how to cook it.”

“Hi, Mrs Cannon,” Josh said as he walked into the kitchen.

“Wow, that is a powerful stink. Go change your clothes, and by then the pizza should be here.

***

“I guessed you like pepperoni,” Margaret said as Josh sat down at the table, not smelling like dragon and horse manure.

“Yeah, it’s ok,” Josh said, poking at his pizza.

“The horse poo didn’t work?” Margaret asked.

“No, and now I think the goblin is going to send us away forever,” Josh said in a rush. “What am I going to do? I don’t want my friends to die.”

“Calm down, think about what the dragon told you,” Margaret said.

“He said to spread orc poop around and that would drive the goblin away from his lair, then he said something about an old Disney movie,” Josh said.

“An old Disney movie, what does that mean?” Margaret asked.

“Yeah, one of those old ones, something about a sheriff and a fox. My mom made me watch it ages ago,” Josh said.

“A Disney movie? Would drive a goblin away?” Margaret asked.

“Yeah, he said robber or … oh yeah Robin Hood, or a sheriff, or a tax collector,” Josh said. “Robin Hood isn’t real, and we don’t have tax collectors anymore.” Josh started to tear up in frustration again.

“A tax collector, that’s actually a great idea,” Margaret said. She got up and grabbed a phone book. “Eye, eye,” she mumbled to herself as she flipped through the pages. “Ah, here it is,” She stabbed the page with her finger. “The Internal Revenue Service.”

“What is the infernal review service?” Josh asked.

“IRS, Tax collectors,” Margaret said. She jumped up and grabbed the phone, and brought it back to the table. She hit the speaker button and then dialed.

“Internal Revenue Service, how may I help you?” The voice on the phone said.

“Yeah, I want to report a business engaged in income hiding,” Margaret said.

“Ok, do you have any details I can give to an agent?” the voice asked.

“Yes, the proprietor is receiving gold and jewels and not reporting it …” Margret started to say when Josh interrupted her.

“The goblin is making us steal treasure,” Josh blurted out.

“One moment,” the voice said, and then was replaced by pleasant music.

“Magical creatures division, goblin department, this is Agent Stan,” a new voice said.

“My friends and I are being forced to steal treasure by a goblin,” Josh said all in one breath.

“Can I get an address of the goblin’s cave?” the voice said.

They spent twenty minutes on the phone giving the agent all the pertinent information.

“Ok, we will dispatch a team and should have the creature removed in 24 hours,” Stan said and then hung up.

“Problem taken care of,” Margaret said. “Now you just need to keep your friends away until the goblin is gone.”

Josh looked at her and then started thinking about how he could keep them away.

***

“Hey, Josh,” Greg said, setting down his tray.

“Hephh,” Josh said around a mouthful of French fries. Josh had spent the night trying to figure out what he could do to keep his friends from the arcade. He finally figured that short of tying them up, maybe he could use the bracelet. He was afraid to take it off in case he couldn’t remember anything that had happened.

“Greg, can you put this back on my arm right after I take it off?” Josh said, reaching and pulling the bracelet down from his forearm under his sleeve down onto his wrist.

“Uh, yeah,” Greg said, looking at him like maybe he was a little off.

Josh slowly slid the bracelet until it was just around his fingertips. He took a breath and then pulled it off, dropping it on the table.

“When do I need to put it back on?” Greg asked.

“I … “ Josh started to say, and then realized that he hadn’t forgotten anything. “Wow, I guess.”

Greg had already grabbed the bracelet and was about to put it on Josh when he got a strange look for a moment.

“Uhmm, uh, wow,” Greg said as the goblin’s spell was blocked.

“Ok, now drop it and see if it’s permanent,” Josh said, indicating the bracelet.

“Plink,” the bracelet made a soft ringing sound as it hit, “Where did you get that?” Greg asked.

“Do remember the Dragon and the gold?” Josh asked.

“Dragon, is that a new nickname for the third-year eighth grader?” Greg asked.

“Naw,” Josh said, and then reached over and grabbed the bracelet and quickly touched it to Greg.

His face went blank for a moment. “Wow, that is amazing, that bracelet …” Greg said as he looked at it.

“Don’t take it off,” Josh started to say when the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. “We need to stop Spider and Kenny from going to the arcade.”

“Hey, guys,” Spider said as he walked by him to drop his tray off at the tray belt.

“Hey, Spider,” they both said.

“I’m going to skip out of last period and go see my brother at home before we go to the arcade,” Spider said.

Thinking quick, Josh asked, “Can we go with you?”

“Yeah, meet me at the goal posts,” Spider said.

***

“So what do we do?” Greg asked while he and Josh were waiting for Spider,

“I don’t know, but I think Kenny will know. Let’s go to Spider’s house, and then I can slip that on Kenny’s wrist.” Josh said.

Greg gulped, thinking about not remembering again. “Ok,” he said.

***

“Hey, Kenny,” Spider said as he let the three into his house.

“Hi,” Kenny yelled back from his bedroom.

“I brought visitors,” Spider said as he slowly opened the door to Kenny’s room.

“Hey, Kenny,” Josh and Greg said as they followed Spider in.

“Hi, guys,” Kenny said. “I’ll get dressed, and we can go to the arcade.” He threw back his blankets, climbed out of bed slowly, and started to dig for clothes from the floor.

Greg looked over at Josh and then started to take off the bracelet. Josh grabbed it as it dropped from Greg’s hand. Josh walked over to Kenny and grabbed his arm, and put it on.

“Hey, leave him alone,” Spider said, thinking Josh was hurting him.

Kenny stopped a moment and then stood up with a new look on his face. “He’s not hurting me,” Kenny said.

“We need to keep everyone from the arcade for an hour or two, and you and I are the only ones who remember what’s going on,” Josh said as quickly and quietly as he could.

“Uhm, what do we do then?” Kenny asked.

“I was hoping you would know,” Josh said.

“Ok, give me a second,” Kenny stopped looking and then sat down in the middle of the clutter.

“Kenny!” Spider yelled and ran over to him.

“I’m alright, Stan,” Kenny said. “I just got a little weak.” Kenny sat for a moment, partially expecting a punch.

“Come on, get dressed, let’s get to the arcade,” Spider encouraged.

“I will. I just need a moment,” Kenny said, trying to move slowly.

Josh whispered some of what had been going on to Kenny while Spider and Greg were consumed with their desire to go to the arcade.

Spider stood for a moment and then started to pace. Greg started to shuffle and move from leg to leg, getting antsy.

After only a few minutes, Spider finally started to grab random clothes off the floor and toss them to Kenny, “Come on, get dressed, we need to go.”

“Ok,” Kenny said, catching the clothes. “I can’t stall anymore,” Kenny whispered to Josh next to him.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” Josh announced.

“Down the hallway,” Kenny said.

Josh stalled in the bathroom until Greg started to bang on the door. “Come on, Josh, we need to go to the arcade,” he yelled.

“Alright,” Josh said and then opened the door.

Kenny tried to walk as slow as he could until his brother threatened to pick him up and carry him. He sped up just enough.

“We didn’t delay much,” Kenny whispered, pointing to the old jeweler’s clock outside the arcade. They had reached the arcade within five minutes of when they were usually there.

Spider and Greg were pulling the other two through the door when the goblin appeared before them.

“Time for you four to go,” He snapped his finger, and they found themselves in the dragon’s lair.

Just before they disappeared, Josh heard someone yell, “Stop federal agents.”

“What happened?” Josh asked.

“Who cares we are here, might as well fill our bags,” Spider said.

“Don’t!” Kenny yelled. “Let’s talk to the dragon again.”

“Why not?” Spider said.

“Because the cops are at the arcade,” Josh said.

Josh confirmed what Kenny had said. Greg had his memory back and nodded along.

Josh told them about the horse manure and finally how Margaret had called the IRS.

“That’s quite a story,” Mike the dragon said.

The four boys jumped at the unexpected sound and then turned to him.

The dragon took a big sniff. “Sounds like you boys are free.”

“No more treasure collecting?!” Greg said with relief.

“We won’t get to talk to you again?” Kenny said with disappointment.

“Nope, you won’t have to come here again,” Mike said.

“No more treasure,” Spider said, looking around with greed.

“Well, I guess I’ll let you guys take what you can put in your pockets,” Mike said.

Hearing that, Spider almost dove into the closest pile of gold coins. Josh also started to grab, remembering how much his mother had to work to support them. Greg just shrugged his shoulders and started to pick up gold.

“Not to worry, we will see each other again,” Mike said to Kenny.

On his way home from the California, JJ decided that he needed to get himself a TV and invest in a set of pajamas or at least pajama bottoms and a few t-shirts so he could be another resident standing on the walkway smoking a cigarette during commercials. A life that did not include the risk of jail or prison appealed to him. He had the cab driver drop him off at the Boulevard Mall, where he could get everything he needed to join the ranks of retirees keeping big tobacco in business. He had already settled on a half dozen pajama pants and a package of Fruit-o-Loom t-shirts. When he realized he could use a pair of jeans or two, since most of his had more holes than was normally acceptable in polite company. Once he paid for them, he went into a bathroom and put on a pair to replace his clown pants. Now he was in electronics, trying to decide on a TV that would be big enough to keep him in the butt impression on his couch, he planned on making.

“No, I don’t think I can get it up the stairs or in the door of my apartment,” JJ responded. “I think this 19-inch will be just perfect.”

“Let me check my inventory list one second,” the salesman said, giving in rather quickly and not trying to upsell him to a higher commission television. He stepped away to his podium and looked through a stack of papers on a clipboard, and then came back with a smile on his face.

“Good news, I have that very one in stock, in fact, we have five of them,” he said. “Let me just,“ the salesman bent over to write down a series of numbers that were on the corner of the price placard. ”ring you up,” he finished as he stood up and walked over to the register. “Can I interest you in an extended warranty?” He asked as he walked JJ back to a register.

“Does it cover damage by gunfire?” JJ asked, remembering the police activity just a few days before.

“Uh, no,” the salesman said, looking a little pale.

“Then no, I don’t think I need the warranty,” JJ said.

“You know the manufacturer’s warranty only covers manufacturing-related issues. If you had some kind of electrical problem that would not cover it, then you would be out the cost of a new one, and you know electrical surges can happen anytime. You could get this home today and have to be back tomorrow because someone hit a transformer. It really is good insurance, and so cheap it’s really throwing money away if you don’t get it,” the salesman pressed.

“No, I’m good, I’ll just take the TV,” JJ said.

“You’re making a big financial mistake. This,“ the salesmen continued, pulling out a glossy trifold brochure with the words ‘Congratulations on purchasing an extended warranty,’ “warranty is backed by Sears itself. If anything happens to it—”

“You mean besides gunfire,” JJ interrupted him.

“Uh, yeah,” the salesman said, putting the brochure back. “Why don’t I ring you up for the TV?” He busied himself writing down pertinent information on a three-sheet sales slip. Finally, he asked, “Will that be cash or Sears charge?”

“Cash,” JJ said. Being Vegas, the salesman wasn’t all that surprised when JJ pulled out a stack of hundreds to pay. He finished the transaction and then directed him to the warehouse door, where he could get his TV.

***

The TV was just small enough to fit in the trunk of the taxi cab once he took it out of the box and removed the vast amount of styrofoam. Back at his apartment building, he was able to get it up the stairs and into his door, onto the waiting table set up just perfectly for it. Now, JJ could start drinking from the source of all knowledge, Judge Wapner.

It didn’t take long sitting on the couch before JJ was trying to figure out something more to fill his day. “I guess you have to work up to the level of couch potatoes my neighbors are.”

Not at the level of slothy-ness that his neighbors were he decided he should take a nap right there on the couch without even bothering to shut off the TV. That didn’t last long with the sounds of annoying commercials interrupting his sleep. He woke up to a loud voice yelling, “We’ll sell you the whole seat, but you’ll only use the edge.” He gave up trying to take a nap and remembered that every piece of clothing he owned was well past the bio-hazard level of dirty, and he should wash them or burn them.
Once he was able to beat the clothes unconscious and stuff them into a bag, he went to the manager’s office to get change and a box of the overpriced boxes of single-use detergent, then finally directions to the building’s laundry facilities.

It only took JJ four hours to do one load of laundry, and in the process, learning that it was not something he should attempt again, and the manager would inforce that with a sign with his picture saying he was not allowed in the laundry room, ever, under any circumsatnaces. In the future, he was going to either throw away his clothes when they were able to stand on their own or find a service.

He got his now mostly clean clothes, except for the few items that burned up in the chemical fire or landed in the unidentifiable liquid on the sidewalk, up to his apartment, where he dumped them on the floor in the corner of his bedroom.

“Now, back to working on my butt indentation,” JJ said to himself as he settled down onto the couch and turned the TV back on.

JJ started to flip channels, looking for something to watch where the cast weren’t yelling at each other. He finally settled on Wheel of Fortune.

He spent the night watching the Wheel and finally realized he was not prepared to be a hermit when his stomach started informing him it was time to fill it.

“Tomorrow, I go shopping. I have to fill my refrigerator full of TV dinners. But today I will test the 30-minute or less pizza promise,” JJ said as he extracted himself from his couch and went down to the second closest payphone, in the bar. He would have gone to the ones at the Quickie Mart next door, but they were always occupied by the local entrepreneurs.

They delivered the pizza in about an hour after he had called in, and when he asked the driver about the promise.

“Were not that company, we don’t promise to deliver in thirty minutes,” the driver said in response. “Hey, if you don’t want it, I’ll keep it.”

“No, I’ll take it,” JJ said, paying the driver.

When he got it in he saw that it was cold and had taken quite a trip to get there. There was more cheese stuck to the lid than there was on the pizza. The pizza was undercooked and had obviously been stuffed back in the box after it had fallen out. There was a receipt from a liquor store stuck to the lump of dough.

“Great, they take over an hour to deliver this mess.” JJ resisted the urge to fling the box, realizing at the last moment that he would just have to clean up it up. Instead, he went to the dumpster for the building and tossed in the box, and then decided to get an overcooked hot dog at the quickie mart covered in a red material labeled chili. Along with the … uh … hot dog, he grabbed a few beers to chase the demons of regret away.

He downed his hot dog and beers back at his apartment and fell asleep to some late-night B-movie about something coming out of a toxic swamp. Or maybe it was a bikini clad model, it was hard to tell after the beers.

***

JJ was woken by the banging of a hammer on Roger’s door. After trying to ignore it and the occasional saw for a few minutes, he finally gave up and got dressed and headed out.

He was surprised to see Roger standing at the railing smoking a cigarette.

“Howdy, neighbor. Did you turn off the oxygen?” JJ asked.

“Piss off,” Roger said as he took a quick glance at the knob on the oxygen tank and then turned it off.

JJ stepped up to the railing next to Roger. “I thought you were arrested?” JJ asked, trying to make conversation.

“Can’t you take a hint? Piss off.” Roger said, then dropped his cigarette and slowly shuffled into his now repaired front door, dragging his air cylinder behind him.

JJ spent the rest of the morning perusing the frozen offerings in the nearest grocery store, trying to decide what would be palatable. In the end, the only thing that looked edible and that he could prepare, were some frozen burritos.

“I won’t survive on frozen burritos,” JJ said as he grabbed a few and then went over to the produce section and grabbed some fruit.

He made his way up to the cashiers, where he negotiated the process of purchasing the food.

“So how does everyone do this, and not just go out to eat every day?” JJ asked himself while he was sitting outside on a bench, waiting for a cab.

“You learn to cook,” an older woman sitting on the bench next to him said.

“What? How?” JJ asked, turning to the woman.

“Buy a few cookbooks and start watching cooking shows,” the lady said. “Good luck,” she said as she got up to take the cab that drove up.

“I get the feeling I am not equipped for modern life,” JJ said.

A cab showed up a few minutes later.

***

Roger was again out at the railing smoking.

“Hey Neighbor,” JJ said, walking up to him.

“Hhh,” Roger said as the only response.

“Can I ask you a question?” JJ asked.

“Piss off,” Roger said.

JJ ignored the imperative. “I was at the grocery store today and couldn’t figure out what to buy. I finally settled on frozen burritos.” JJ said.

“I feel sorry for your toilet,” Roger said.

JJ looked at him for a moment in silence, hoping that Roger wasn’t right about what he planned to eat for the foreseeable future. “What do you eat?” JJ asked, hoping to find the secret to surviving.

“Cereal, lots of cereal,” Roger said.

“I guess I need to go shopping again,” JJ said and then grabbed his bags and headed into his place.

After putting away his groceries, he sat down on his couch to peruse the offerings on the television. He barely got through the five channels when he realized he was hungry.

Once he found the directions on back of the burrito he went about turning on the oven and putting the burrito in.

After he put the burrito into the oven, he checked the lone clock on the wall so he knew when to take it out.

He went back to the TV and found some mindless program to watch while he waited for dinner.

He was watching the second show or maybe it was the fifth show when he noticed smoke coming out of the oven. JJ jumped up and ran to the oven and tried to grab the burrito.

“Ow ow ow,” he said, dropping it to stop the pain. After cooing off his hands with some water from the sink faucet, he shut off the oven.

He grabbed a plate and a fork and was able to roll the now black and smoking burrito off the oven rack onto a plate.

“Great, now it’s burnt,” JJ said. He grabbed a knife, intending to try to cut off the burnt tortilla. It took a few minutes of careful surgery, when he finally had the black tortilla off the interior. What was left was holding its shape as a brown log, when he finally got the courage to see if it tasted better than it looked he found that it was still completely frozen.

“Ahhhhh.” JJ yelled in frustration and was again about to deal with his anger and frustration with a plate smashing throw when he thought better of it. He had seen how much the apartment management would charge to replace a plate.

He was just finishing cleaning up the last of the crumbs from his first cooking experiment when there was a knock on his door.

“I’m not interested in buying anything,” JJ said as he opened the door, thinking it was probably some kid trying to sell candy.

“That’s good because we aren’t selling anything,” Peter said.

Raul and Peter were standing on the walkway outside his door.

“Interesting neighbors,” Raul said, indicating the collection of men standing at the railing smoking, in their T-shirts and boxers.

“Yeah, they are uhm …” JJ said, not able to come up with the proper phrase to express his disgust with their fashion. “There is no dress code here. Come on in.” JJ stepped back and let them in.

“Trying to cook?” Peter asked, waving away the smoke that wafted out the open door.

“Trying,” JJ said.

“Why don’t we go to a resturant I know, a good one just around the corner?” Raul asked.

“Didn’t I say I didn’t want to see you guys again?” JJ said.

“Yeah, but you need to eat, and Raul says the food is good. My treat.” Peter said, trying to entice JJ.

“Oh, alright,” JJ said, giving in to his hunger and stepping out.

“What did you try and cook?” Raul asked. “It smells really bad like burnt dung.”

“A frozen burrito,” JJ said.

“You probably did yourself a favor by burning it,” Raul said.

***

“So what’s good here?” JJ asked before he even had a chance to look at the menu,

“Well, since you were trying to cook something claiming to be a burrito, order the chimichanga,” Raul said. He obviously knew the menu well enough that he didn’t need to look at it. His menu was still sitting on the table unopened.

The waitress was over quickly to at least say hi to Raul. After a few flirtatious comments by her that Raul completely missed, she finally realized there was someone else at the table and took their orders.

“How do I learn to cook?” JJ asked when the waitress walked away with the promise to bring their beers back quickly.

“That’s an odd question,” Raul said.

“You’ve never been a good cook,” Peter said. “I can’t tell you how many meals I had to make as your apprentice. After the first burnt bowl of cereal you made, which was quite an accomplishment, I did all the cooking.”

“So how do I learn?” JJ asked.

“Get a cookbook for kids,” Peter said.

The conversation was halted with the arrival of the beers.

The table was silent while everyone took a long drink. The whole time JJ was waiting for them to tell him why they came to his door.

Finally JJ couldn’t wait any longer and decided to ask. “Now that you’ve had some liquid courage maybe you can tell me why you guys showed up at my door.”

Peter spoke up while Raul almost choked on his beer. “We found Arnie,” Peter said.

“I don’t care,” JJ said. “Is he ok?”

“I figured you would say that,” Peter said not registering the concern in JJ’s voice with the question of his health.

“He will be. He’s in the ICU. He’s conscious but sleeping a lot,” Raul said.

“Oh,” JJ said and then took another drink of his beer.

“Why is he in the hospital?” JJ asked after swallowing.

“The doctors don’t know, he is severely dehydrated and malnourished,” Raul said.

“How did he get that way, he was fine just a week or two ago,” JJ said.

“I don’t know but Peter,” Raul looked at Peter as he talked trying to get him to tell his thoughts. “Has some ideas.”

“He doesn’t care why should we tell him,” Peter said crossing his arms in anger, just to uncross them a second later to take a drink of his beer.

“He’s just upset that he spent another night in jail. He cares,” Raul said to Peter.

JJ sat for a moment in silence trying to decide if he was upset with them or Arnie or just the circumstances. After another long drink of his beer he realized that it wasn’t them he was upset with nor even Arnie or Kevika or Kapo. He was upset with having to spend a night in jail but it wasn’t any of their faults. “You’re right Raul, I am just upset that I spent a night in jail and sat in piss and I can’t do my own laundry and I can’t cook and and …” JJ put his head in his arms almost knocking over his beer in the process.

Raul and Peter sat and drank their beers letting JJ get his emotions under control.

“Here you go,” the waitress said stepping up to the table with a tray full of dishes. “I remember you like the churros so I brought you a few.” She said to Raul.

“Thank you,” Raul said, not realizing that maybe she was interested in him.

JJ lifted his head and moved his arms out of the way so the waitress could set down his plate. He didn’t need to after she set down Rauls plate and positioned his flatware and even opened his napkin to put it on his lap she finally dropped the rest of the plates at the empty spot on the table and left.

“So how long have you two been going out?” Peter asked Raul.

“Huh, what do you mean?” Raul asked.

“She obviously likes you,” Peter said.

“Nah, she’s just a good waitress,” Raul said.

“Uh-huh,” Peter said, and then grabbed his dish, which was almost what he had ordered.

JJ grabbed his plate and dug in so he wouldn’t have to talk about his breakdown, again.

After a few bites of food, when the calories started to hit his bloodstream, he finally had his emotions under control and was ready to talk.

“Mmm this is good what do call it?” JJ asked.

“Its a chim… oh wait she gave you a tamale without anything else just a tamale.” Raul said and then turned to get the waitreses attention.

“No don’t this is good,” JJ said, stopping Raul before he made a fuss.

They sat again eating for a bit.

“Peter, what do you think happened to him.” JJ asked.

“I think someone or something was draining his life force to power dark spells,” Peter said around bites. “That is the only thing that could explain a rapid decline into malnourishment like his.”

“Do you two know who?” JJ asked, feeling better now that there was something besides himself to think about.

“We have a suspicion that it is the guy we met at his shop when we tried to visit,” Raul said.

“Is he still doing it?” JJ asked.

“I couldn’t see any connection while we were visiting him, and he didn’t have any memory of anything recent,” Peter said.

“He thought it was the day after the last time you visited him at the shop,” Raul said. “He was saying he needed to leave so he could get back to the shop and pick up some material for the meeting of the group.”

JJ took another bite of his meal and thought about what the two had said. He thought about everything they said and more about his frustration and anger about his circumstances.

“How did I deal with life? I can’t seem to do anything.” JJ asked Peter.

“Buck up,” Peter said.

“What? What does that mean?” JJ asked.

“When things were hard for me, you would always just tell me to buck up. I learned from you to power through the problems,” Peter said.

“But I’m not even capable of doing basic things,” JJ said, feeling a little of the frustration peeking through his resolve.

“No one can do everything. You either have to learn it or pay someone to do it. I can’t work on cars, so when I have one, I pay a mechanic to fix it,” Peter said.

“So I have to pay someone to do my laundry?” JJ asked.

“Yep, there’s a service. You pay someone to drive you, what’s the difference? You have to recognize that you can’t do everything, no one can,” Peter said.

“Yeah, I guess so,” JJ said. He was silent for a bit, contemplating his food and how to “buck up,” as Peter said.

After a bit, Peter finally spoke up. “Telling you about Arnie wasn’t the only reason we came to see you.”

“Uh, huh,” JJ said now that the other shoe was about to hit the floor.

“Well, uhm, we need your help,” Peter said.

“With what? Cooking?” JJ asked.

“We need your magic stamina,” Raul said.

“You know I don’t know any magic,” JJ said.

“We know you don’t remember much,” Peter said, ignoring a snort from JJ. “But you still have unmatched magic stamina. That’s what we need.”

“Hmm,” JJ said and then took the last bite of his tamale.

“We would give you everything you would need,” Peter said.

“Ok,” JJ said then took the last drink of his beer wiped his mouth and stood up. “I’m not saying no, but let me think about it. Magic does seem to be the only thing I can do. I think I’ll walk back. It feels like its only in the eighties and I think I need to think.”

***

Raul and Peter didn’t really protest his discision to walk, they didn’t want to endanger their chance of getting his help. The whole way back JJ kept thinking about his situation.

“Hey Roger,” JJ said after walking up the stairs to find his ever present neighbor at the railing smolking again. This time JJ didn’t ask just bent down and shut off the oxygen.

“Can I buy you a drink?” JJ asked him.

“Huh what do you think I am?” Roger said shuffling away from JJ.

“I want to talk to you. I saw what the goverment say you were and I want to ask you some advice.” JJ said.

“You don’t seem to be … uhm … florist material,” Roiger said.

“I’ll make it two or three drinks and its not about your past profession I want to talk about,” JJ said.

“Ok,” Roger said stubbing out his cigarette. “But I want to go to the bar in the Desert Inn and I’m going to make you pay.”

“Not a problem,” JJ said remembering he still had most of the walking around money that he had gotten from the Riviera.

“That is the last time. I am done with Peter. I am done with magic, and I am done with all that Hawaiian god stuff. I am done with all of it.” JJ said to himself, quietly, after he found an empty spot on a bench in the jail between some inmates sleeping off a night of partying. He put his head in his hands and thought about screaming in frustration.

Before he decided to let himself express his frustration, he figured out why the spot was unoccupied. He could feel something wet seeping into his pants. “Great, last time someone threw up on my shirt, now I’m sitting in … something. Shit, shit, shit,” JJ decided a low-brow term for excriment would adequately express his frustration and anger and general displeasure with his current situation. The previously sleeping inmates did not share his enthusiasm for that specific word. “Shut up and let me sleep,” an itinerant resident mumbled.

“Keep it down in there,” a voice from the free side of the bars yelled.

***

“Mr Presley, looking at your record, I can see you were here just a few days ago. Couldn’t stay out of trouble, could you?” The judge asked, then finally looked up to see JJ. “Wow, those are quite a pair of pants.”

“Yes, your honor, I mean no, your honor, I mean that I was minding my own business when two guys attacked me, and the pants,” JJ hung his head, looking at the ridiculous clothing option. “They are courtesy of a jailor who took pity on me when mine became soiled by another inmate's lack of bladder control,” JJ said. The pants in question were hot pink with very bright lime green polka dots. Whoever wore them before was a very large person. On JJ, they were closer to clown pants or a shoplifter's dream. There was so much room in them that he could have gone to the closest Kmart and cleaned out the CD section.

“Those are pretty awful pants. Whoever gave you those did you no favor.” He took his reading glasses off and rubbed his eyes. “Wow, they are so bad they’re hurting my eyes,” the judge said and then looked back down at the case files, putting his glasses back on. “Please take a seat so I don’t have to look at that crime against fashion.” He was silent for a moment while he read the files and let JJ sit. “It says here you were trespassing in the pool around the volcano at the Mirage.”

“No, sir,” JJ said. “I was on the sidewalk trying to tell a crazy guy to get out of the pool.”

“Sorry, I’m late, Judge. There was an incident near here, and Metro shut down all the streets,” the public defender said as he smashed open the courtroom door and entered, bumping into every bench like a plinko ball making its way down the board. He finally made it to the gallery door and almost fell over before it swung out of his way.

The judge looked up at the interruption. “I find it disappointing that you have such low regard for my time. You should have called the court and made us aware of the delay. There must have been a payphone at the bar you were in.” The judge looked down, then added, “At least fix your collar.”

The public defender looked down at his tie and then adjusted it along with the collar that was standing up on one side. “Yes, sir,” he finally said after checking the rest of his slept-in attire, “Can I take a moment to look over the case, sir?”

“Take your time, we’ll wait,” the judge said with obvious sarcasm.

“Thank you,” the public defender said as he looked down at the case paperwork. After a moment, he looked up and said, “My client pleads guilty and will accept a …”

“No, I don’t,” JJ yelled, interrupting his attorney. “I was on a sidewalk! A public sidewalk!”

“Is that true?” The judge asked the ADA at the other table.

“Uhmm,” the ADA stalled while he looked through his case paperwork. “Uhm, no, he was in the fountain … wait … no, the unknown bather was not apprehended. It says here that Mr Presley was next to the … Uh, yes, your honor, Mr Presley was on the sidewalk.”

“Did this trespassing start in the casino?” The judge asked.

“Uhm …” Again, the ADA stalled while he looked through the case. “No, sir, there is no indication of that. It says here that security first interacted with him when they observed him trying to get a homeless person to get out of the body of water around the volcano.”

“Did the defendant assault the security personnel?” The judge asked. “Any time you want to offer anything, speak up.” The judge said to the public defender.

“Uhhh, yes, sir, I mean, yes, your honor. I ask for a complete dismissal,” the public defender said.

“ADA Johnson, please answer my question.” The judge demanded.

“Yes, your honor, Mr Presley fought their attempt to detain him,” the ADA said.

“Mr Presley defended himself when he was attacked by some men on the public sidewalk. I am dismissing the charges with prejudice and would expect an apology from the casino,” the judge said.

“Uhm, your honor, can I speak?” JJ asked.

“Yes, Mr Presley,” the judge said.

“I’m supposed to be at Sunset Park this morning for community service. Could you do anything?” JJ asked.

“Ah, yes, I see that here.” The judge said, looking down at the previous case. “Howard, can you put together a stay of execution?”

“Yes, your honor,” the judge's assistant said.

“It was just supposed to be community service for trespassing!” JJ exclaimed in alarm.

“Just a little judicial humor,” the judge said. “Howard, make the commencement date one week from today.” The judge looked down at his desk and made some notes, then closed the folder. “Next case.”

“Thank you, sir,” JJ said to the judge, then looked over at the distillery-smelling public defender. “Now what?”

“The bailiff will get your things, and you are free to go,” the public defender said, then looked back at the next case with the defendant already being brought into the courtroom.

JJ retrieved his belongings and then found his way out.

At the sidewalk, there was a cab driver with his light on.

“Where to?” The driver asked when JJ got in.

“Sierra …” JJ started to give his home address. “You know what, how about the California? I think I need some breakfast.” He had a sudden urge to go get breakfast there.

“All right,” the driver said and then rocketed around the corner and down a few blocks to the back door of the Califonia.

JJ got out, paid his fare, and headed in. His feet seemed to be on autopilot. He felt like a passenger as he went in, watching all the lights and sounds of a morning casino.

“How many?” The voice of the coffee shop hostess broke into his daze.

“Oh, uh, one,” JJ said in response.

The hostess grabbed a menu and then walked JJ over to a mostly empty counter. JJ sat and busied himself with rearranging the silverware that was already positioned perfectly for a person seated

He had just begun to look at the menu when two guys sat down on either side of him.

JJ looked to his right and left and saw that the unwelcome company was Peter and Raul.

“Go away,” JJ said, looking at Peter. “Every time I’m near you, something bad happens.” He put down the menu as the waitress walked over.

“What can I get you, honey?” the older waitress asked.

“Coffee and a loco moco,” JJ said, ignoring his two companions.

“Coming right up.” She wrote down the order and then looked at Peter and Raul on either side of him. “Let me know when you guys are ready.” She said to them and then walked away to put the order on the wheel. “One loco dripping.” She called out.

“How did you find him?” JJ asked Raul. “And how did you know to go with him?” JJ asked, turning to Peter.

“It was pretty easy, he was the only guy climbing out of the pool of the volcano while you and the guards were wrestling, then I yelled out his name and he came over,” Raul said.

“I figured he was a good guy or that guardian spirit wouldn’t be around him,” Peter said.

Raul looked at him, then said, “What do you mean by guardian spirit?” Raul asked.

“Oh, uhmm, nothing,” Peter suddenly said, looking up above Raul. “I was just, uhm, just — having a hallucination. But it ended up being the right hallucination.”

Raul looked at Peter, not believing his obvious lie.

“So how did you guys know I would be here?” JJ asked, seeing that the two were not going to move.

“Oh, an old thing you taught me,” Peter started. “I said your full true name.”

“Ok, you said my name, is that supposed to mean anything?” JJ asked.

“Here’s your coffee.” The waitress said, dropping off the coffee for JJ. “Did you two decide?” She asked, noticing that Peter and Raul didn’t have menus.

“Just coffee for me,” Raul said.

“Me too,” Peter said.

“Put it on my tab, and bring them both a loco moco,” JJ said quickly, realizing that most likely neither of them had any money.

“What's a loco moco?” Raul asked.

“Hawaiian comfort food,” JJ said matter-of-factly. “So what do you mean by you said my name?” JJ asked Peter.

“Well, a while ago, you told me that anytime you said your full name, things really started to happen. You told me the first time you said your name, your full name, you ended up at a party on a private jet that ended up here in Vegas. You said it was the wildest weekend you ever had.” Peter said.

“So is that why I spent the night in Jail?” JJ asked, interrupting Peter.

“No, I’m getting there. Man, you have no patience these days. Anyway, after you told me about you saying your own name, you told me what happens when someone else says your name. When someone says your full name, you are drawn to them. The longer it takes you to get to them, the more urgent the need to get to them.” Peter finished.

“Have you said my name any other time recently, like before you were attacked behind Big Top Casino? Or before you got into the Mirage volcano pool?” JJ asked.

“No, why do you ask?” Peter asked.

“It doesn’t matter. Do me a favor and don’t say my name. I really don’t want anything to do with magic ever again.” JJ stopped and took a drink from his coffee. He sat for a few minutes in silence while Peter and Raul looked at him, waiting for him to say he was just kidding. When the silence had gotten over being uncomfortable and was just settling in for a long nap, he finally said, “I have a week until my community service, and I think I am going to go buy a TV and do what everyone else in my building does, sit and watch some mindless shows. Maybe I’ll take up smoking …” JJ was interrupted by the waitress setting down three orders of loco moco.

“Here you all go, enjoy.” She said, and then set down the bill for JJ. “You can pay at the register when you’re ready.”

The three of them were silent as they enjoyed their meal, with Peter and Raul making small sounds of enjoyment at the delights of eating a loco moco.

“Oooh, loco moco’s that's sounds good.” JJ heard Kavika’s voice from behind him.

“Here, take my spot. This is Raul and Peter,” JJ said, indicating the guys on either side of the stool he had just got up from. “I am one with the whole thing,” JJ said with half of his meal sitting on his plate.

Kavika didn’t hesitate and sat down to the half-eaten loco moco. Before he could dig in, JJ asked the waitress to add another loco moco to his bill for Kavika.

“Mmm, a nice loco moco to start the day,” Kavika said, completely missing the mood of the three.

“Have a good life, you three,” JJ said and walked away. He could hear the ensuing explanation from Peter and Raul until he was out of earshot.

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“What do you mean you lost him?” Raul asked.

“They discharged him at around noon,” JJ said, and then sat down heavily in his chair.

“What are you going to do? Do you need to do anything? He’s an adult, he can take care of himself.” Raul asked.

“Yes, he is an adult, and he should be able to take care of himself,” JJ said.

“Then what’s the problem? Drink your beer,” Raul said.

“The problem is he is possessed by the Hawaiian god Kaulu, so he seems schizophrenic. To anyone seeing him, he looks like one of the horde of self-medicating zombies wandering the strip, drawn by the easy pickings of the tourists,” JJ said, feeling the helplessness of the situation washing over him. “I don’t know where to start to look.” His head dropped into his hands, almost stabbing himself with a pencil that was in his left hand.

“Careful,” Raul said. “What are you drawing anyway?”

“What I’m not drawing anything,” JJ said without lifting his head.

“You’re right, you’re doodling. But that is an intricate design you’re doodling. Every time you are near a pencil or pen, you start doodling,” Raul said.

“What!?! What are you talking about? I’m not drawing or doodling, I don’t even have a pencil in my …” JJ stopped his rant when he looked down and saw the Keno pencil in his left hand. On the paper was an intricate drawing, all contained within a circle. “What the hell did you do? Did you cast some …” JJ started, then fell into a vision.

“No! No! No!!! You have to divide the circle into eight parts,” Simon scolded a young Peter. “Here, let me show you.” Simon picked up the chalk and started to draw. “You need to practice. This should be automatic for you by now. When I say a basic spirit protection spell, you should have it drawn out before I finish saying spirit,” Simon, put down the chalk. “There. Now I want you to fill …” The vision suddenly ended, and JJ found himself looking at Raul with his anger draining away.

“What happened? You just blanked out.” Raul asked.

JJ shook himself and unclenched his fists. “Wow I think I was an asshole to Peter,”

“That’s understandable, it's hard not to be rude to a schizophrenic,” Raul said, excusing JJ’s behavior.

“It would be excusable if I were talking about recently, but just now, when I looked at the doodle, I had a vision of myself yelling at a really young Peter for not drawing this correctly,” JJ said as he pointed to his doodle.

“Arnie always said as long as the drawing is close, it will be ok,” Raul said.

“No, Peter! It has to be exact! Any deviation is a crack that a spirit or demon can slip through,” Simon responded.

“Ok, I’ll remember that,” Raul said, looking a little cowled. “But I’m Raul, not Peter.”

“Sorry, I don’t know where that came from,” JJ said, shaking his head.

“You said that you had a vision. Has that been happening a lot?” Raul asked.

“Are you finished? I’m ready to go,” JJ said, scooting out of the booth, ignoring Raul's question.

“No, we haven’t even gotten our food yet? Why are you in a hurry all of a sudden?” Raul asked.

“Sorry, we can eat, I’m just starting to get antsy all of a sudden,” JJ said, scooting back to his coke.

“Nice atmosphere,” Raul said, trying to fill the silence.

“Yeah, I guess so,” JJ said, not really hearing what Raul said.

JJ started to tap his hand on the table.

“Where is that waitress? I’m ready to go,” JJ said, slapping his hands on the table and looking around.

“She’ll be here soon, I’m sure,” Raul said.

“Ok,” JJ said, then started shifting in his seat. He alternately drummed his fingers on the table or tapped his foot.

After just a minute or two, the waitress showed up with the two burgers and fries.

“About time …” JJ started to say.

“Thank you, ma'am, that was very fast,” Raul said, interrupting JJ.

“You’re welcome. Would you like anything else?” The waitress asked, looking at Raul.

“Just the check. We have to leave soon,” Raul said while JJ sat and stewed.

“Would you like me to box it up to go?” She asked.

“Ye…” JJ started to say.

“No, we will eat it here,” Raul said a little louder than was necessary to stop JJ's response.

“Okay, I’ll be right back with the check. Enjoy your meal,” she said, and then went off to retrieve it.

“She would have put it in a box so we could go,” JJ said, frustratedly.

“And where would we have eaten it?” Raul asked.

“In the car?” JJ said, realizing that maybe Raul didn’t like people eating in his car.

“That would have been fine for you, but with me driving, I couldn’t eat,” Raul said and then dug into his burger.

Realizing he wouldn’t win the argument, JJ started to eat, too.

Before either of them had gotten halfway through their burgers, the waitress brought back the check. JJ immediately pulled out his wallet, dropped money on top, saying “keep the change,” around a mouthful, and then went back to his food.

***

“Where do you want to start looking?” Raul asked when they got into his car. They had finished their meal quickly and then almost jogged through the casino, trying to avoid knocking over any customers as they sped along. Now they were back in Raul’s car, preparing to leave.

“I don’t have a clue. This is a big city, and I don’t know where to start,” JJ said, his frustration clear in his voice.

“I think you do. You already told me he is regularly on the strip, and besides, aren’t you feeling that premonition thing again?” Raul asked.

“But …” JJ started to yell at Raul again when he stopped and realized that he was right; he did have that feeling again in his chest. “That's why I’ve been so antsy and needing to go. Ok, let me think for a second, the menuhune told me how to interpret the feeling.” JJ closed his eyes and started to mumble to himself about directions and places. “South, hmm, cold. — East, Hmm, warmer, North, uhm, that might be it. West, nope, cold.” JJ snapped his eyes open and said, “North on the strip.”

“Do you know how far?” Raul asked.

“No, I just know north,” JJ said.

“Ok, we can go a couple of blocks, but I need to get gas,” Raul said.

“Then head out to the strip and drop me off, the feeling is almost as bad as last time when I found Peter a victim of an assault,” JJ said.

“Ok, I’ll come looking for you after I fill the tank,” Raul said.

Raul started to drive out of the self-parking garage and had to stop before he got very far. There was a long line of cars trying to exit. There was a woman at the front arguing with a short, round man who had backed his car into hers. Instead of moving the vehicles to let other people by, they had both decided it was better to have an argument.

“Man, people think it's all about them, and no one else matters,” Raul said, seeing the two potential pugilists.

“I’m going to try and run, this looks like it won't be resolved very quickly,” JJ said as he started to undo his seat belt.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look promising. I will try and find you afterwards or page you,” Raul said.

JJ ran back to the casino entrance to exit out the other side onto the strip. He thought maybe he would grab a taxi and have it drive him north. Outside the casino, the line for taxis looked about twenty people deep without a cab in sight. Seeing that wasn’t an option, he started to run along the sidewalk that went around the volcano to connect to the strip sidewalk to the north. Lots of other people had the same idea after seeing the taxi stand line. He was dodging and weaving to get by the slow-moving tourists taking in the sights with not much success.

“Arrggg, this is killing me,” JJ said when he had to stop short to keep from mowing down an elderly couple using canes and not making much progress.

“Don’t be in such a hurry, young man, you’ll rush by your life,” the gentleman said in response to JJ’s outburst.

“Look around, see the sights … and the crazy people,” the woman said.

JJ stopped and looked in the direction the woman was staring. The volcano was dormant, as it always was, during daylight hours. Water was flowing down the cone formation, following the many crevices, making ever-dividing rivulets. Below the mini man-made mountain was a small lagoon that added to the show. In the corner of the lagoon closest to the volcano cone was a naked person bathing.

“I wonder how long before security comes and deals with him,” JJ said, and then turned to see if his path was clear. The couple was no longer in sight. Now in front of him was a large group of Japanese tourists, all trying to take pictures of themselves with the mirage in the background.

JJ growled in frustration again and walked over to the edge of the sidewalk to see if he could hop the low fence that kept the pedestrians and vehicles separated. His attention was drawn back to the au naturel bather, who he could now hear was singing a strange song in some unknown language.

“Holy shit! That’s Peter!” JJ exclaimed when he finally recognized him. He turned back to see if he could go out to the boulevard and get around to the lagoon from that side. The sidewalk was now clear, where a second ago, it had been an endless stream of tourists, all making it their mission in life to keep him from moving.

JJ started running and made it to the strip just as he heard a loud shout from the casino entrance: “Get out of there. The cops are on the way.” The source of the bellow was one of two security guards who were running towards the volcano.

Peter continued to sing his nonsense song, punctuated with loud exclamations of “ha”.

“Peter, get out of there,” JJ said from the strip sidewalk.

“Simon, I’m almost done. I only have one more verse,” Peter said, and went back to his singing.

Seeing that JJ was somehow involved, the two security trolls redirected their course to grab JJ instead of having to jump into the water.

JJ sort of recognized that what Peter was singing wasn’t an insanity-induced nonsense song but was a spell. “Hurry up,” JJ said. “I’ll try and keep them occupied.”

“You there! Stay where you are,” one of the two security guards yelled to JJ. He was a bit overweight and almost foaming at the mouth in his effort to run and make JJ and Peter obey his orders.

The other security guard seemed to be very professional. He was running without any sign of effort. He understood that the only thing that would take care of the situation was a gun or handcuffs. He opted for the cuffs and already had them out, ready to detain JJ.

“Get out of there!” The blustering wannabe cop ordered as they got closer.

JJ turned to face the guards, hoping to give Peter the minute more he needed.

“Don’t move,” the professional guard said as he grabbed JJ’s arm and spun him around. He kicked JJ in the kneepit, buckling his legs to better control him. “Gary, go get him,” the guard said after JJ had collapsed to his knees

“What?!? I’m not getting in that water. The tourists throw up in it and worse,” Gary whined. “Why me?”

“Well, he’s not going to get out on his own, and you are the newest member of the team,” the ex-military guard ordered.

“Shit I have to do all the crappy jobs. I’ll remember this, Carl, when I’m in charge,” Gary the guard said while he started taking off his shoes and rolling up his pants.

Seeing that maybe the guard would interrupt Peter before he was finished, he kicked out, knocking Gary to the ground.

“Ouch,” Gary exclaimed as he hit the sidewalk. “You piece of shit.”

“You’re going to be charged with assault, not just trespassing, if you keep that up,” Carl said as he slapped JJ across the back of his head.

“Calm down, Gary,” Carl said, seeing that he was reaching for his taser. “It’s already under control, go get the other guy.” He then finished cuffing JJ.

“Ah, that was a wonderful bath,” Peter said, stepping up to the railing and grabbing his clothes that he had deposited on the fake rocks before he started.

“Get over here!” Gary ordered.

“No thanks, I’m quite happy over here,” Peter said. “I think I’ll go somewhere else.” Peter walked around to the far side of the volcano.

“Dammit! I’m going to go get him,” Gary said. “Ouch, Ouch, Ouch.” He said as he tried to run barefoot on the hot concrete.

“Put your shoes on,” Carl advised.

Gary stopped and looked at him, and then said, “I will just have to take them off again in a few feet to get in the water.” He continued burning his feet on the pavement until he was out of sight.

“That guy is an idiot. Come on, I’ll bring you inside, and we can wait for the cops,” Carl said, guiding JJ back to the casino.

After the two of them made it through the casino and all the people staring, JJ was put in a small room that looked like it could have been an interrogation room on any TV show. He was handcuffed to a ring on the table so that he had to sit with his arms stretched out.

“I’ll be right back with some water,” Carl said after getting JJ seated.

JJ didn’t respond; he just sat, thinking about his life.

He had been sitting for only a few minutes when the door to the room was slammed open. Gary came in completely drenched; he had obviously slipped and gotten a good dunking. He stood in the doorway looking at JJ, and his face showed growing anger. He finally made up his mind, strutted up to him, slapped him hard across the face, and said, “Your friend disappeared in the crowds of tourists while I was trying to apprehend him.”

He closed the door firmly and walked around the chair to stand behind him. “I’m sure the cops won't complain if there are some new bruises on you or you have a couple of broken bones,” he said as he put his hands on JJ’s shoulders and pushed down, hard. The way Gary was pushing was causing the cuffs to begin to pull on his arms. If Gary increased the pressure, JJ would be in danger of having his arms pulled out of their sockets. “I could cause all kinds of harm, and no one will care,” Gary said as he increased the downward pressure.

Finally, after a few seconds, Gary lifted his hands, relieving the stress on the cuffs. With his hands now back to the limited freedom the short cuffs chain provided, JJ was able to bend his hands around enough to rub the area where his wrists were starting to chaff. He didn’t say anything, just concentrated on trying to soothe his throbbing wrists.

“Maybe if they found you having committed suicide in the room, they would give me an award,” Gary said, putting his arms around JJ’s neck to choke him.

“Come on! You don’t want to do that,” JJ said as the pressure on his neck slowly started to increase.

“What, some homeless guy? Is anyone really going to care?” Gary said as he increased the pressure.

“Aren’t there cameras in here? They’ll see …” JJ started to say when the pressure was increased so much he couldn’t speak.

“Here’s some water …” Carl started to say as he walked into the room. “What the hell are you doing?!? Get off him. Now!” Carl yelled at Gary and rushed over to him to drag him off JJ.

Gary let go of JJ and stood up. “I was only trying to find out where the other homeless guy went.” He said.

“Get out! Go to the office!” Gary ordered.

“You’re not my boss, you can’t tell me …” Carl started to say when he was interrupted by a voice from a speaker in the ceiling.

“Officer Carl, please make your way to my office. Now!” Voice sounding like James Caan said.

“Uhmm,” Carl swallowed. “Yes, sir,” he said and then left the room.

“Are you ok?” Gary asked, seeing JJ coughing. “Here, let me unlock your cuffs.”

“Yeah,” JJ said with a squeaky mouse voice. Now that his hands were free, he could massage his neck and try to soothe the pain. “Can I get some water?”

“Oh yeah, right,” Gary said, realizing he was still holding the bottle of water. “Here you go.”

JJ took the water and took a swig. “Thank you.” He said.

Gary sat on the edge of the table while JJ tried to recover.

“So who was the guy in the water?” Gary asked.

“I only know his name is Peter,” JJ said.

“Is he someone important to you?” Gary asked.

JJ stopped for a second to think about how to truthfully answer the question. Just before he was ready to answer, he was interrupted by the door opening.

“What do we have?” A police officer asked as he walked into the room.

“A simple trespassing charge,” Gary said as he stood up.

“You’ll send over the complaint?” The officer asked.

“Yep, I’ll have it over in an hour,” Gary said.

“Great, we’ll take it from here,” the officer said as he bent to unlock JJ’s cuffs.

“Off to the pokey for you,” the officer told JJ.

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“We just do what we did last time, you stand a bit away, and I’ll open the door. I’m guessing that touching the handle is what triggers the redirect spell,” JJ said.

“Sounds good, I don’t want to find a new unexplained firearm in my pocket again,” Raul said.

“Ok, let’s do this,” JJ said. He got out of the car and then positioned himself at the door.

“Thanks again,” an older woman said, opening the door to walk out. Here you go,” she said to JJ while she held the door for him.

Seeing the opening, Raul ran up. “Thank you, ma'am,” he said as he stepped around her while she still held the door.

“No problem, I always enjoy playing doorman,” the woman said.

“How can I help you?” a pale, skinny kid in a t-shirt asked as they walked in.

“We’re here to see Arnie,” Raul said.

“He’s not here right now,” the kid said, not volunteering more information.

“Will he be back soon?” Raul asked.

“No,” the kid said, picking up a duster and walking over to the display of large crystals.

“When will he be in again?” Raul asked.

“I don’t know,” he said as he continued dusting the crystals.

“This is getting ridiculous,” JJ said in frustration. “Where is Arnie?”

“Are you two going to buy something, or should I call the cops and have you guys arrested for trespassing?” the kid asked, turning to address them.

“No need for the cops; we’re leaving. If you see Arnie, can you tell him JJ and Raul stopped by?” JJ said.

“Close the door on the way out, I don’t want to cool all of Vegas,” the kid said.

***

“Well, that was less than productive,” Raul said. When they left Arnie’s place, they had decided to go to Oak Island Casino and Brewery to be able to sit and have a beer or two while they talked.

“Yeah, it was. How do we deal with it … wait, did you notice the kid said HE did not want to cool all of Vegas, not, Arnie doesn’t want to cool all of Vegas.” JJ said.

“No, I hadn’t noticed that,” Raul said. He took a drink of his beer while he thought about what that meant. “I think we need to talk to the rest of the group.” A flash of color on the TV above the bar attracted his attention. “Look at that,” Raul said as he pointed to a TV that was above the bar. It was a commercial featuring what looked like a voodoo priest selling something. Just before it ended, the words came on screen, “Change your luck, visit Baron Marcel.” Below that was an address just a block off Fremont Street.

“That’s interesting. Earlier today, the player I was paged for threw away what looked like a voodoo Juju,” JJ said. He took a drink of his beer while he thought about the commercial. “Is the group meeting tonight? If not, I won’t be able to make it for a couple of weeks.”

“I will call them and tell them to show up tonight,” Raul said.

“Thank you. Can you tell them to meet at the California?” JJ asked.

“Will do,” Raul said as he stood up.

“You have their numbers here?” JJ asked.

“Right here in my address book,” Raul said, pulling out a pocket-sized address book. “Oh, let me have your pager number.”

“Good idea. Do you have a pager?” JJ asked.

“No, just a regular phone,” Raul said and started trying to find a pen.

“Ok, I’m ready,” he said after finding a Keno pencil on the table.

The two exchanged phone numbers, and then Raul went off to call the other members of the group.

“All set. They weren’t all home, but the ones that were will relay the message,” Raul said after he returned from the back where the payphones were.

“That's good, I’m getting the feeling I need to get over there soon,” JJ said, suddenly looking antsy.

JJ stood up and started to pace behind a couple of chairs.

“Uhm, why are you pacing?” Raul asked.

“I don’t know, I just have this need to move,” JJ said.

“Do you want to go for a walk through the casino?” Raul asked.

“No, I …” JJ started to say, and then realized it was a similar feeling to the one he had the day before. “You know what I need to figure out why I’m feeling the need to move. Yesterday I had this same feeling and it ended up I needed to get to Peter,” JJ said.

“But he’s in the hospital. If you need to go see him, we can just go back to UMC,” Raul said.

“Yeah, that’s probably all it is. Maybe they are going to release him tonight,” JJ said.

“Was yesterday the first time you had a premonition?” Raul asked.

“Uh, yeah?” JJ hedged.

“Are you asking me?” Raul asked, taking one last sip of his beer before they headed out.

“No … I … uhh … I guess I don’t know. I haven’t had one for the month I’ve been here, but since I don’t remember anything about myself before then, I don’t know if I’ve had …” JJ collapsed back into his chair, overcome with the realization that he didn’t know who he was, but maybe it was just fatigue that overcame him.

“I thought we were leaving?” Raul asked.

“Sorry, I still need to leave, but … I just got tired,” JJ said, not revealing the existential crisis he was experiencing.

“I can drop you off at home, and I’ll talk to the group and decide what we can do about Arnie,” Raul said.

“Yeah … that sounds good. I think I need to get some sleep,” JJ said.

“Alright,” Raul said. “Whenever you’re ready, we can go,” Raul said.

“Ok, just give me a moment,” JJ said and sat silently for a moment. “So, how come you guys don’t come here for your get-togethers? I’ve got to tell you I’m glad you told me about this place. The beer is cheap, and it has a nice atmosphere, not overwhelmed with tourists all trying to get drunk as fast as they can.”

“Fremont Street is easier for most of them to get to. The whole group is spread out around the valley.” Raul said. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes,” JJ said, getting up. “Let’s go.”

The drive back to JJ’s apartment was quick and easy since they were on the right side of the strip and only had to go a few blocks on surface streets.

“Here you go,” Raul said after he stopped in the parking lot for JJ’s apartment.

“Thank you,” JJ said. “Give me a page after you guys meet up. I want to know what they think.”

“Will do,” Raul said.

JJ went up to his apartment, passing by the smashed-up door of his neighbor’s apartment. The crime scene tape across the empty doorway was already starting to come off, and a couple of strips were starting to flap around in the Vegas wind.

Entering his apartment, he left a trail of clothes and pocket contents from the front door to his bed, where he was quickly snoring.

***

“JJ,” he heard from outside his apartment, followed by a loud knocking, and then again “JJ.”

“Are you sure this is his apartment?” JJ heard Raul ask.

“Well, that’s what the rental agreement says,” an unknown voice said.

“Can you let me in? I’m concerned something happened to him,” Raul said.

“Well, I don’t know …” the unknown voice said.

“I’m getting up,” JJ yelled from his bed, trying to shake off the fog of sleep.

“Well, there you go, he’s fine,” the voice said, followed by heavy footsteps walking away.

“JJ, are you ok?” Raul asked through the door.

“Yeah, I’m just putting on pants,” JJ responded.

“Hey, keep it down, I’m trying to watch my shows,” JJ heard through the wall from the apartment next to him.

“Sorry, I’ll keep it down,” Raul said.

It was a few minutes as JJ followed the trail of his clothes to the front door while he put them back on.

“Raul, I thought you were going to page me?” JJ said as he opened the door.

“I tried, I probably tried so many times, people will think I’m a stalker. Then this afternoon I decided to come over here and knock on your door. The manager and I have been knocking for ten minutes, I think he wanted a twenty before he would open the door,” Raul said in a rush of relief after seeing JJ unscathed, just rumpled.

“I guess I just slept through the pager going off,” JJ said. “Come on in, just ignore the stains on the couch, they were there when I rented the place.” JJ closed the door behind Raul as he walked in.

Raul stopped in front of the couch for a moment while he looked for a less-than-disgusting spot to sit.

“Can I get you something to drink?” JJ asked as he opened the refrigerator, revealing two lone beers.

“Do they still make that?” Raul asked, seeing the contents of the refrigerator from the almost clean edge of the couch.

“I don’t know, they were there when I moved in,” JJ said. “It will only take me a few minutes to get ready, and then we can go find breakfast.”

“Breakfast? It’s getting close to blue-hair dinner time,” Raul said.

“What? What is blue-hair dinner time?” JJ asked from the bedroom.

“Oh, blue-hair is a nickname for older women who have that slightly blue colored grey hair. I just mean it’s getting close to five o’clock,” Raul said.

“Five P.M. really?” JJ asked from the bedroom.

“Yeah, you haven’t been out or even eaten anything since I left you yesterday?” Raul asked.

“No, I’ve been asleep,” JJ said as he walked out of the bedroom. “Now, where is that pager?”

“I think I saw it next to your shoes,” Raul said.

“Thank you,” JJ said and then went over to pick it up. “Oh man, the battery is dead. I think I can get another one at the Quickie Mart.”

“GRRR,” JJ’s stomach expressed its desire to be filled.

“Sounds like we need some food … soon,” Raul said.

“Yeah, that would be good,” JJ said. “But first, the quickie mart.”

***

“Have you been here before. This is a really nice place,” Raul said as he sat down in a booth in a coffee shop in the Mirage.

“Yeah, a while ago … wait, it was only a week ago when I was here last,” JJ said after realizing that it had only been a week since he was here.

“What's good here?” Raul asked.

“I’ve only had breakfast here,” JJ said, looking over the menu.

The two of them looked over their menus until the waitress came over.

“What can I get you two?” the waitress asked.

“I’ll have the burger and fries and a Coke,” JJ said.

“I’ll have the same,” Raul said.

“Alright, it will be right up,” she said.

“Now it's time to change this battery,” JJ said as he pulled out the dead pager and the battery they had gotten from the Quickie Mart.

It took a moment for JJ to figure out how to open the battery compartment. While he was busy fiddling with it, Raul was looking around at the interior of the dining establishment. The place was bright and had a tropical feel.

“Got it,” JJ said, putting down the now-working pager. “I wonder how many pages …”

“Beep beep beep,” the pager went off.

JJ looked down to see that the number was the general line for UMC. “Oh! It's the hospital number,” JJ said. He looked around the restaurant. “Did you see any phones near here?”

“Yeah, over near the bathroom,” Raul said.

***

“You paged me?” JJ asked when the phone at the nurses' station at UMC was answered.

“And who are you?” The nurse on the other side of the line said.

“JJ Presley,” JJ said.

“Oh, the drug dealer. Bought time you called back. You won’t be a dealer long if this is how you do business,” the nurse said.

“I had to change the battery. So, not to be rude to such a nice person, but why did you page me? Is Peter ok?” JJ asked.

“Oh, right. We discharged him around noon,” the nurse said. “We tried paging you, but after waiting a couple of hours, we had to release him.”

“His medication was correct, and you guys let him go?” JJ asked.

“We let him go,” the nurse said. “I’ll be right there,” she said to someone in the room. “Have a good night,” she said to JJ and then hung up.

“Great, now I need to find Peter again,” JJ said to himself.

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“Do you have a last name?” the receptionist at the information desk at UMC asked.

“No, he was an indigent brought in yesterday,” JJ said.

“That helps,” she said, grabbing a clipboard. She ran her finger down a list of names until she found what she was looking for. “Here he is, Peter Richards, room 327. You can stop by the billing office to arrange payment before you go up there.”

“What? Payment?” JJ exclaimed.

“Well, you are family, right?” The receptionist asked.

“Uhm, not really. Well, I don’t think I am,” JJ said.

“You are not Simon? It lists Simon as his brother,” she said.

“Yes, I am Simon …” JJ started to say when the receptionist interrupted him.

“Then, Simon, go to billing and arrange payment,” she dismissed him, pointing down the hall, and then picked up a newspaper.

JJ gave up and started walking in the direction she indicated.

“Simon?” Raul asked following him.

“Yeah, that's part of the story I haven't been able to tell you yet,” JJ said.

“It sounds like we will need a pitcher of beer for this story,” Raul said.

* * *

The stop at the billing department took a while. It was a popular place for some reason. In the end, JJ promised he would take care of the bill, knowing he could pay it from the money he had at the Riviera.

“Well, that took longer than I expected,” JJ said to Raul, who had been sitting on a bench in the hallway.

“Did you get it taken care of?” Raul asked.

“Yes, I will have to get some of the money that Kapo gave me to pay it off,” JJ said.

“Who is Kapo?” Raul asked.

“She’s the Hawaiian goddess I started to tell you about,” JJ said.

“Oh, more of the story, never mind, it can wait until I have a beer in my hand,” Raul said. “So this apprentice of yours, what’s he like?”

“Crazy,” JJ said distractedly.

“That’s a bit harsh,” Raul said.

“Sorry, the first time I encountered him, I mean the first time I saw him in Vegas, he was a crazy homeless guy,” JJ said.

“So what can we expect in the room?” Raul asked.

“I really don’t know. He might be drugged out to keep him calm and in the room,” JJ said, staring off as the elevator started up.

“If he's crazy and he might not even be conscious, why do you want to go see him?” Raul asked.

“You know what I don’t know,” JJ said, blinking to clear his head, and then looked at Raul. “I just know that I need to see him.”

“Ok. I’m guessing that has more to do with your story,” Raul said.

“Hmm, maybe,” JJ mused.

They were both silent for the rest of the ride.

Once the elevator arrived on the third floor, the pair exited and found that the rooms were clearly marked. They were able to find Peter's room quickly.

JJ stopped at the door and took a deep breath.

“Ok, let's see how he’s doing,” JJ said.

JJ opened the door quietly and peeked into the room.

Peter was sitting in bed watching a TV show.

“Peter,” JJ said as he walked in.

“Oh … hey … I know you,” Peter said in a slow, drugged-out speech pattern.

“Sounds like you are doing good?” JJ said.

“Oh … yeah … I’m doing realllly good. The pretty nurses come in and give me a magic pill. Hahaha, magic,” Peter interrupted himself with a laughing fit. “Oh hey I know you, are you sick too?” he asked when the laughing was under control.

“No, I’m here to visit you,” JJ said.

“Oh,” Peter said, and then caught sight of Raul as he walked in. “Hey, who's the giant?”

“I’m Raul, but everyone calls me guardian,” Raul said.

“Oh, I don’t need a guardian. The nurses are protecting me from the voices. They give me a magic pill that makes me happy and makes the voices go away,” Peter said, then got a big smile on his face. He went silent as his attention was drawn to the TV for a moment.

“Well, I guess that answers the question, they drugged him out,” JJ said.

Raul and JJ stood for a moment just watching.

“Oh, hey! I know you,” Peter said when he caught sight of JJ again.

“Yes, Peter, I was just here to …” JJ started to say when a noise from the TV drew Peter's attention.

“He’s obviously okay, let's go talk to the nurse and find out when I can take him away,” JJ said to Raul.

“I think I will wait on the benches at the elevator,” Raul said.

“Ok,” JJ said, turning to head to the nursing desk.

* * *

“We are still trying to get his medication correct,” the nurse responded to JJ’s query of when Peter would be released.

“OK, I need to be contacted when he’s ready to go,” JJ said.

“Certainly, you are his next of kin?” The nurse asked.

“Uhh, yeah,” JJ said.

“Ok, what's your number?” The nurse asked.

JJ gave her his pager number and explained it was a pager.

“You don’t look like a drug dealer,” she said under her breath, but loud enough that JJ heard it.

“No, I’m not. I have to be available all the time,” JJ said a little snippily.

“What are you, a doctor?” She asked.

“No, I’m a cooler,” JJ said.

The nurse stared at JJ for a moment, trying to decide if he was lying. “If you don’t want to tell me, just say so; you don’t need to lie to me,” she said and then turned back to the nurse's station.

“So you’ll page me when Peter is going to be discharged?” JJ asked.

“Yes,” she said over her shoulder.

JJ walked back to Raul, where he was seated on a bench trying to read a local Spanish community newspaper.

“Well, how about …” JJ started to say when he was interrupted by his pager going off. “Hmm, I don’t recognize the number,” JJ said after looking down at his pager.

“I’ll be right back,” JJ said to Raul, who had looked up from his newspaper when he heard the pager go off.

“Alright, I’ll be here,” Raul responded to JJ’s back.

“Can I use your phone?” JJ asked the nurse when he had walked back to the station.

“There are payphones next to the front entrance where you can make your deals,” she said without looking up from her paperwork.

“Uh, thank you,” JJ said at the rebuke. He turned around and headed back to Raul.

“Ok, I’m done, but I need to find out who paged me,” JJ said.

“You didn’t use their phone?” Raul asked, pointing back to the station.

“No, she said there are payphones downstairs,” JJ said, and then walked over to the elevator and hit the down button.

“Right behind you,” Raul said as he started working on tearing out an advertisement from the paper.

***

“Barbary Coast,” the voice on the phone said.

“I received a page from this number,” JJ said.

“You the cooler?” The voice asked.

“Yes, I am,” JJ said.

“Can you get down here soon?” The voice asked.

“Yes, I can. It will be about ten minutes. I’m at UMC now,” JJ said.

“Great ask for John, at the main pit desk,” the voice said and then hung up.

JJ put the receiver back and then turned to Raul, who was standing far enough away to give JJ some privacy.

“Can I ask for one more favor, Raul? I need to get down to the Barbary Coast, they need a cooler,” JJ said.

“I’ll give you a ride if … I can stay with you and see what you do,” Raul said.

“Hmm …” JJ started and then thought about what would happen if he had an audience. “I think … I think that will be okay,” JJ finally decided.

“Well, if it's going to be a problem, I won’t stay, just drop you off,” Raul said.

“No, it won’t be a problem. I was just thinking about how inconspicuous we would be. But I don’t think it will be a problem. We can sit at adjoining machines, and whoever I need to cool will probably never see us,” JJ said.

“Okay, that sounds good. How much do you think I need to play at the machines?” Raul asked, pulling out his wallet. Opening it, JJ saw that it was empty. “I was a little late on rent, that win on the poker machine helped a lot, and now I’m only a little underwater.”

“Not to worry, I have you covered,” JJ said as he reached for his wallet. “You won’t need much because you will be winning. Just remember not to play anything more than the minimum bet.” JJ handed Raul two twenty-dollar bills.

“Thank you for the loan, I’ll pay you back,” Raul said.

“No problem, but first we need to get there,” JJ said, and then headed to the car.

***

When they walked into the Barbary Coast, JJ looked around to see what machines would allow a player to watch the pit games.

“Let's go over to those,” JJ said to Raul, pointing to a group of slot machines near the strip entrance. The two of them walked over to a bank of machines that had a few silver coins slowly spinning in a display area at the top. Above the coins were the words “Silver Catch”. JJ studied the payout table for a moment.

“Change of plans, play the amount of coins required to get some of those coins,” JJ said, and then turned to the pit.

JJ stopped before he got more than a couple of steps away and, with his hand on his watch, said, “Good luck.”

“Aren’t you supposed to say break a leg?” Raul asked.

“No, and don’t tell me good luck. Every time someone says that a little wild magic, luck, is transferred,” JJ said.

“Ok, well goo… Oh man, it’s hard not to say it,” Raul said.

“Alright, win some of those silver coins,” JJ said, and then turned to find out who he needed to cool.

“I need to speak to John,” JJ said as he approached the velvet rope strung between tables to prevent players and the public from going behind the tables to the dealer area.

“One second, I’ll get him,” a well-dressed woman standing behind the rope said.

JJ stood for a moment, waiting, then a big man in an understated tuxedo walked up.

“What can I do for you?” The man asked him.

“You called for a cooler?” JJ asked.

“Yes, we did, but the player’s run of luck is already broken. Sorry to have bothered you,” John said.

“Ok, no problem, keep my number,” JJ said.

“Will do,” John said and then turned back to his duties.

JJ shrugged and then went back to Raul, where he was still playing the slot machine.

“Show me the silver coins,” JJ said to Raul.

“I haven’t won those, and I’m almost out of money,” Raul said.

“Hmm, I wonder why?” JJ asked and then looked at his watch. His watch showed just a tiny sliver of a moon. “It looks like my watch is almost empty. I guess I need to recharge it.” JJ grabbed his wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. “Here, put this in.”

“Are you sure? A hundred dollars?” Raul asked.

“Yeah, we should be able to win one with that,” JJ said.

“If you want a silver dollar, I’m sure there are precious metal dealers downtown where you can get a half dozen of them for a hundred,” Raul said.

“I think there’s something special about those things,” JJ said.

“Alright, I’ll play it,” Raul said and then put the bill into the machine.

“Oh, good luck,” JJ said as Raul reached up to pull the handle.

Raul pulled the handle. The machine clicked, and the reels started to spin. “Click,” the first reel stopped on a blank. “Click,” the second reel stopped on a bar symbol, “Click,” the final reel stopped on the silver strike symbol. With the final reel stopped, the machine sat waiting for the handle to be pulled again or the spin button to be hit.

“Well, that was anti-climactic. I figured you would change my luck and I would win every spin,” Raul said.

“Not until I can recharge my watch,” JJ said, looking around. “I think I’m going to walk around, keep spinning until you win a coin or two.”

“Will do,” Raul said, without taking his eyes from the spinning reels

JJ walked over to the table games to watch the people play. He stopped behind a blackjack game where there were a few players with big stacks in front of them.

“Dealer has blackjack,” the dealer said.

“Again? How is that possible?” a player demanded, throwing their cards at the dealer.

“Sir, please leave the cards on the table,” the dealer said, dodging the thrown cards.

The rest of the players silently put new bets on the table.

The dealer tossed out a new set of hands from the shoe. Her up card was a 6 of diamonds, and the players' up cards were a mix of low cards.

All of the players just stood in anticipation of the dealer busting.

“Dealer has twenty-one,” the dealer said after she flipped over a jack and then dealt herself a five.

“Unbelievable,” the loud, angry player said. “Well, that’s it.” He picked up his chips and then walked away. “The priest said this was a lucky charm, he lied,” JJ heard him say as he walked up to a trash can and tossed something in. The rest of the table followed his example and got up and left.

With the now-empty table, JJ selected a middle position and sat down.

“That was an interesting one,” the dealer said.

“What do you mean by that?” JJ asked as he pulled a hundred-dollar bill out of his wallet and put it on the table.

“Changing one hundred,” The dealer said over her shoulder. “The angry player was on a huge lucky streak; he was winning every hand and the table along with him. He sat down with a few crumpled dollar bills. By the time his streak was broken, about fifteen minutes ago, he had close to ten thousand. I’ve only ever seen something like that once before, about a month ago, when I was dealing over at Big Top.” The dealer started shuffling the decks while JJ watched. I took her a few minutes, and she finally dealt a hand. JJ just automatically waved his hand for a stand. “Are you sure? You’re showing a four and I’m showing a king.” She asked.

“Oh,” JJ hadn’t looked down at his cards. “Yeah, I’ll stay.”

“Your loss,” she said. Then she flipped over her hole card, revealing a six to make sixteen. She dealt herself another card, making twenty-two. “Dealer busts.”

“Did you see anyone hanging around when the streak broke?” JJ asked.

“No, do you want to continue playing? You will need to place a bet,” the dealer said.

“Oh, sorry, no, I think I need to get back to my friend,” JJ said and then got up after he collected his chips.

Standing up, he looked around to see if he could see the cooler that killed the streak. Among the collection of obvious tourists, he caught sight of a pale young man who looked like the kid who went into Arnie’s place.

JJ walked over to the trash can where the angry player had thrown away something. Looking down, he saw a dried chicken’s foot wrapped with some feathers. He had expected to see a crystal from Arnies. “That does not look like something Arnie has on sale,” shrugging, he walked back to Raul, where he was still sitting at the slot machine, pulling the handle.

“No luck?” JJ asked.

“I’ve only got the special symbols once, but I got three of these plastic things with a shiny piece inside,” Raul said as he handed JJ three silver coins in clear-plastic capsules.

“Well, that’s weird, why do they have this shell …” JJ started to say when a small jackpot started to fall out of the machine that Raul was playing. The coins fell, striking the metal tray and the other coins. “Oh, that’s why,” JJ said and then tried to figure out if he could remove the plastic case.

“You can open them,” JJ said after finding a little indent where he could slip his fingernail in and pry the two halves apart. “Here, open this one.” Raul accepted the offered coin and then worked on opening the case.

“You shouldn’t open them; that decreases their value,” a player at an adjoining machine said.

JJ ignored the player and looked at the coin now that it was out of the plastic. He flipped it over a few times, examining the design on both sides.

“Collect your winnings. Let's go have a cup of coffee and talk for a minute,” JJ said to Raul, turning to look for the coffee shop.

He grabbed one of the big cups at the side of the machine to carry his meager winnings and then got up to follow JJ.

“What did you want to talk about?” Raul asked when he sat down next to JJ at a booth in the casino’s diner.

“I just wanted a little privacy to look at the coins,” JJ said, and then spoke the spell to see magic. The coin he was examining shone very brightly. It had come out of the machine full of wild magic.

“Wow, it is bright,” JJ said. “Here, look.”

“Are you sure I won’t go crazy?” Raul asked.

“No, it's safe,” JJ said, looking up at Raul. He looked a little dim and did not have much wild magic, except for a bright spot in his hand that was the coin. Looking further up, JJ caught sight of some kind of very bright white creature. When JJ saw it, it seemed to raise a hand and then motion with one finger in front of its mouth to keep silent. “Uhmm, Raul,” JJ started to say, and the creature shook its head and again put its finger in front of its mouth to tell JJ not to say anything. “You know what, don’t look. Why don’t we wait until we are in a safe place again?”

“Ok,” Raul said with a look of concern on his face.

JJ kept his magic vision going so he could see what the creature was doing.

“Order a coffee for me, I need to go use the restroom,” JJ said and then stood up. When he got out of the coffee shop and out of sight of Raul, he looked to see if he could see the creature. It had followed him out and stood where it could still see Raul and JJ.

“Who or what are you?” JJ asked.

‘I am Raul’s protector,’ JJ heard it respond in his head.

“What are you, a guardian angel?” JJ asked.

‘Something like that. His grandmother asked me to keep an eye out for him while she was on her deathbed. She was a powerful hechicera. He comes from a long line of herchiceros,’ JJ heard again in his head.

JJ stood for a moment, trying to decide if the creature was telling the truth or if he needed to try to get Raul to safety. As he contemplated, a memory popped into his head of a spell to drive away evil creatures. He said the spell. At the conclusion of the spell's invocation, the sound of a hurricane-strength wind suddenly started. The creature just stood there while the spirit wind blew for a few seconds. The wind didn’t affect people or things directly but a few people near him suddenly looked happier and one bent over women stood up straight.

‘If you are done playing, I’m going back to my charge,’ the creature said to JJ. It then turned around and retook its position behind Raul.

JJ turned off his vision and then went to the restroom since he had said he was going to.

***

“I got cream for my coffee, and there’s enough for you if you want it,” Raul said when JJ returned to the booth.

“Thanks; I drink it black,” JJ said when he sat down. “The silver coin is already charged, so I figure we can go to another slot machine and win some money.”

“Do you think it will work? I was losing more than I was winning earlier,” Raul said.

“Yes, these coins are pretty charged up, you should be able to win a few months of rent in just a few pulls. Then we can go see Arnie,” JJ said.

“Oh wow, I almost forgot about needing to see him,” Raul said.

The two finished their coffee and then went out to the casino floor where they found a bank of slot machines with diamonds that had a paytable showing a good sized jackpot of close to ten thousand dollars.

“That will be good, not so big that we will draw attention, but big enough you can catch up on your bills, I’m guessing,” JJ said.

“Yes, that would take care of all my bills and give me money to live on for a month or two,” Raul said.

They sat down, and Raul started playing with the winnings from his bucket.

“Oh, keep the coin in your hand while you’re playing,” JJ said, while he pulled his coin out of his pocket. He put a twenty into the machine and then started playing.

“Ok,” Raul said, grabbed his coin, and started pulling the handle.

They only had to play a few spins when Raul’s machine gave him the jackpot. JJ’s machine’s reels stopped on a jackpot while the slot attendant was preparing to hand pay Raul's jackpot.

“Well, let's go see Arnie,” Raul said when they had both received their payout.

Tobacco. How many times do I have to pull out a wad of tobacco? I know whoever is the depositor thinks it will improve the flavor, but really, just stop. It clogs the spigot, and it makes it impossible to properly pour a tankard or, worse, a flagon.

Pickles, seriously, who wants a pickled-flavored ale? Enough said.

Corncobs, Ok, maybe you were stealing ale, and you had to replace the bung that you tossed in your excitement to abscond with some liquid courage, and you grabbed the next best thing. It works, but just keep track of the bung.

Fake eyes, really, are you just trying to be funny? Well, it's not funny. Maybe the first time when I looked in the bunghole and saw something staring back at me, it was funny, but now it's just old.

Gold doubloons, actually, keep putting them into the barrels. I appreciate the extra gold.

Jewels, you can definitely keep putting these into the barrels.

Yes, this was clickbait, but I wanted to post this in honor of opening of Planks & Plunder next month.

“Just drop us off in front of the liquor store,” JJ told the driver.

“You got it,” the driver said as he pulled into an empty parking spot where JJ had indicated.

JJ and Raul got out and stepped up on the sidewalk in front of the liquor store. Arnie’s shop was a couple of storefronts in between.

“So, how close can I get before it will affect me?” Raul asked.

“I think if you stand on the edge of the sidewalk in front of the real estate office next to Arnies, you should be safe,” JJ said.

“Ok,” Raul said, walking over to where JJ had indicated. “Alright, I’m ready.”

“It will take me a moment to get prepared,” JJ said, closing his eyes and starting to repeat to himself, “I want to see Ahmonket, I want to buy a lucky gem.”

“Ok, take your time,” Raul said, interrupting JJ's reciting.

JJ stopped his recital, opened one eye to look at Raul, and then went back to his mantra.

JJ said the mantra a few more times and then, with his eyes still closed, reached out to grab the door handle. He pulled, but the door would not open. “Oh great, it’s closed,” JJ said after opening his eyes and seeing the closed sign. JJ stepped back to make sure the spell would not affect him if he thought about Arnie.

“I guess Arnie closed early,” JJ said once he had taken a step back from the door.

“Well, at least we know you can get in the door,” Raul said, walking over to where JJ was standing.

“Do you know where he lives? Maybe we can go visit him there,” JJ said.

“No, he was always cagy about where he lived and what he did when he wasn’t working,” Raul said.

“Hmm, I don’t see hours on the door. I’ve always shown up late morning or early afternoon,” JJ said.

“I don’t think he will open again today. Let's go visit your friend, and then we can decide what time we should try this again,” Raul said.

“Uhh, yeah,” JJ was standing, looking at the door, trying to figure out if the open hours were there.

“Are you ok?” Raul asked as JJ continued to stand there, not moving.

“No, I think I need to get some sleep,” JJ said, finally snapping out of it.

“Do you want a ride to your place?” Raul asked.

“Yeah, that would be great,” JJ said.

The two of them walked back to Bally's and to the self-parking section where Raul said he had parked.

“Here it is,” Raul said, pointing out a black and white Honda CR-X.

“How do you fit in there?” JJ asked when he saw the small car.

“It’s surprisingly big, inside. Besides, it was given to me. I’m not going to complain about a free car,” Raul said.

“Where to?” Raul asked after they got in.

“Sierra Vista Drive. If you head to Maryland Parkway and head north, it will get us there,” JJ said.

“Alright, we’ll be there shortly,” Raul said.

* * *

“Wake up, sleeping beauty,” Raul said to JJ after what seemed like just a few seconds.

“Uhh, wow, I guess I was sleepier than I thought,” JJ said. “Where are we?”

“Sierra Vista Drive and Maryland Parkway, just as you said,” Raul said.

“Oh, okay. Just head up Sierra Vista towards the strip. I’m living in the furnished apartments on the right, just past the Quickie Mart, a block up,” JJ said.

“How come you didn’t recognize where we were?” Raul asked.

“I was dreaming about the desert, and I was a little foggy,” JJ said.

“The desert, huh? That's interesting. What do you dream of being a cactus?” Raul asked.

“No, I dream about driving in the desert with the guy in the hospital,” JJ said while he stared out the window.

“Well, dreams about driving. Are zombies chasing you, or are you running from giant ants?” Raul asked.

“No, we're just driving. This is my place,” JJ said.

“Wow, really. The city is full of incredible apartment complexes with all kinds of amenities, and you're living in … in … I don’t know what to call it, but this is not the place I would expect. Why don’t you just go win a big slot machine jackpot?” Raul asked.

“I guess life has been too complicated for me to find a new place,” JJ said and then sat for a moment in silence.

“Do you need help getting to your apartment?” Raul asked when the silence stretched on.

“Oh, uhm, no, I can make it,” JJ said and then opened the door.

“What time and where?” Raul asked.

“I will probably be up by ten tomorrow morning, but I have to go to UMC,” JJ said.

“Alright, ten it is and I’ll give you a ride to the hospital,” Raul said.

“Ok,” JJ agreed and then stopped for a moment. “Thank you, that would be great.”

* * *

Bang Bang Bang “Police. Open up, we have a warrant.” JJ was woken by someone banging on his door.

“Coming,” JJ yelled back, and then he started to grab his jeans so he wouldn’t answer the door in his underwear.

“We're coming in!’ JJ heard, followed by a door being kicked in.

JJ stumbled out with only one leg in his pants and realized that it wasn’t his door that had been encouraged to open with a boot.

“We have a warrant for the arrest of Robert Calun, AKA Roger Wilcox. Officer, read him his rights and cuff him and put him on the couch while we do our search.” JJ heard from Roger’s apartment.

“I wonder what the grump did that they are smashing down doors,” JJ said to himself, then pulled his jeans off the one leg he had them on. He caught a glimpse of the clock above the TV as he was performing the jeans gymnastics. “Wow, five twenty am. I always heard that the cops prefer to do dangerous takedowns early in the morning, but how dangerous could Roger be?” JJ stood for a moment, trying to decide if he was awake for the day or not. “Well, I guess I’ll get my day started.”

He showered and completed the rest of his morning rituals, then started looking for a clean pair of underwear. “Hmm, I guess it's time to brave the laundry room again,” JJ said after finding only one pair of underwear that would not be considered a biohazard.

He grabbed all the clothes he could find, stuffed them into a few plastic grocery bags, set them by the door, and headed out to find breakfast.

“Good morning,” JJ said to a cop who was standing in front of Roger’s now missing door.

“Hmmph,” the officer said after looking at JJ to determine if he was a threat.

“Have a good day,” JJ said as he walked by him. The officer just watched him go by with his hand resting on his gun.

“Wow, what did Roger do to warrant all that?” JJ said to himself when he got out of earshot of the officer. “Well, I think it's breakfast time or at least coffee time.”

He walked over to Maryland Park and then headed north to an all-night dinner he remembered seeing on one of his cab rides.

The sky was quickly lighting as he made the walk to the dinner. By the time he made it the tip of the sun was just poking up over the buildings to the east.

“Take a seat anywhere,” a waitress at a counter said to JJ.

He looked around, seeing that the place was about half full. Some of the patrons were just starting their day, and some were getting dinner. JJ opted for the counter, where there were a few empty seats, so that he could sit with an empty seat on both sides of him. JJ grabbed the menu from the condiment caddy and started to look for some way to start his day.

“What will it be?” The waitress asked when she made it over to JJ.

“Coffee and the basic breakfast, with an English muf..,” JJ said.

“My usual, Rachel,” a customer said, interrupting JJ as he sat down at the empty seat next to him.

“Got it. Basic breakfast with an English muffin,” the waitress said to JJ. “I’ve got yours too, Mike.”

The customer opened a newspaper and started to read.

“Nice, not a talker,” JJ thought to himself. He sat for a few moments watching the kitchen staff do their thing.

“Cream,” the waitress asked as she dropped off the coffee for JJ and the customer next to him.

“No, black is fine,” JJ said.

“Suit yourself, but I’ll leave it here just in case,” the waitress said.

“You’ll want it,” Mike said.

JJ took a sip and then reached for the cream and sugar. “Wow, you're right,” JJ said to him.

“You want the front section? I’m finished with it,” Mike offered to JJ.

“Thanks, I’ll take it,” JJ said, taking the section of the paper while Mike started on the crossword.

“It’s not the New York Times crossword, but it's still good,” Mike said.

JJ opened the front page of the paper and casually looked through the headlines. When he reached the third page, a headline caught his attention.

“Hawaiian community on edge,” the headline of the article declared. The rest of the article talked about a series of attacks on Hawaiian natives and then referenced another story about the Hawaiian community center covered in graffiti. The article about the graffiti was in the section that included the crossword puzzle.

“Here you go,” The waitress interrupted his reading with his breakfast and Mike’s.

JJ positioned the plate and then tried to fold the paper so he could eat and read at the same time. After trying multiple times to fold it so he could read and still eat, he finally gave up and concentrated on the food.

“More coffee?” The waitress asked JJ right about the time he was putting the last forkful in his mouth.

“Mmmm,” JJ started to respond with a full mouth and then swallowed quickly. “No, thank you,” JJ said once his mouth was empty. “That one cup was strong enough to last me all day long.”

“Are you finished?” the waitress asked Mike.

“Yes, thank you, it was as good as ever,” he said.

“More coffee than?” The waitress asked.

“No, thank you, that was the same as ever,” Mike said with a smile on his face.

“Well, if you are finished with that section, I think it's time for me to head out,” Mike said to JJ.

“Oh, yes, thank you,” JJ said and handed him back his paper.

JJ finished his breakfast and then headed back to his apartment. He still had close to two hours before he was going to meet Raul, but he figured his couch was as good as anywhere to wait.

The weather was nice for an August morning in Vegas. The sun had not had enough time to turn the sidewalks into a concrete oven.

“What’s ya need?” A new entrepreneur asked from one of the payphones at the quickie mart.

“I’m good,” JJ said and then continued.

Walking through the parking lot to cut the corner, JJ saw a couple of big late-model Cadillacs with four big, scary-looking guys just sitting there watching the activity. Only one of the two payphones was occupied, so the two cars were for the one salesman.

“Wow, he’s taking his safety seriously. With that many guys on the payroll, it must really eat into his profits,” JJ thought as he continued on his way.

Walking into the parking lot for his apartment complex, JJ could see Raul’s car. He was sitting behind the wheel, his head resting on the window. He looked asleep, but there was no evidence that he had been there very long. JJ walked up to the passenger side and knocked on the window.

“Good morning, Guardian,” JJ said.

“Uh, oh hey, JJ,” Raul said as he lifted his head from the window. “It doesn’t feel like ten,” he said, then rubbed his eyes.

“How long have you been here?” JJ asked.

“I don’t know. What time is it?” Raul asked.

“It’s about half past eight,” JJ said.

“Oh, then only about an hour. I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I would come over here and wait,” Raul said.

“Did you have breakfast already?” JJ asked.

“Yeah, I ate before I left home,” Raul said.

“Ok, well, are you still up for taking me to the hospital?” JJ asked.

“That’s why I’m here,” Raul said.

“Ok then, do you know where UMC is?” JJ asked as he got in.

“Yep,” Raul said.

JJ settled in and watched the city go by as Raul started the drive. They didn’t get far before the silence got to him, and he had to ask, “So why are you willing to do this? You are obviously tired.”

“I didn’t have anything to do today, and any friend of Arnie is a friend of mine,” Raul said.

“Ok,” JJ said, not entirely believing him.

They were both silent as Raul negotiated the shift change traffic until he was sitting at a red light onto Charleston, and then said, “So you said that you don’t know magic, but you are learning.”

“Yeah, since I lost my ability to be a cooler, I had to do something. Arnie helped me learn a spell to drain luck from someone or something,” JJ said.

“Arnie told us that every spell takes energy. Where does the energy for that spell come from? When I did that lightning spell, you gave me the last word, for it was like I had run a marathon, I was drained,” Raul said.

“You know what I don’t know? When I do the spell, it doesn’t seem to take any energy,” JJ said.

“That makes sense. You are taking something from someone else, so it's being powered by the energy you are taking,” Raul said.

“Hmm, that's interesting,” JJ said and then returned to looking out the window.

The rest of the drive was quicker now that they were on a bigger street and the shift change traffic was lightening.

“Here you go. I’ll wait here so you don’t have to call a cab to go back to your apartment,” Raul said.

“Come on up with me,” JJ said as he got out of the car.

“Ok,” Raul said a little hesitantly.

“It will be okay. I barely know my apprentice — I mean the guy,” JJ said.

“Your apprentice, what do you mean by that?” Raul asked.

“Nothing, ah, uhm, nothing, it was just a slip of the tongue,” JJ said, a little flustered.

“Calling him your apprentice doesn’t seem like a slip of the tongue. Who is this guy?” Raul asked as he stopped walking.

JJ stopped and thought for a second, trying to decide how much he wanted to let his new friend into his life.

“Ok,” JJ said, finally deciding to share with Raul. “There is a cafeteria in the hospital where we can get a coffee and talk. Who this person is is not a short discussion.”

“Lead away, I always like a good story,” Raul said.

JJ looked at him, trying to decide if Raul was telling him he expected him to lie to him or if he was serious and enjoyed a story, whether it was true or not. Finally deciding it didn’t matter, JJ turned and led them to the cafeteria just inside the front door.

“How do you like your coffee? It's on me,” JJ said as they stepped into the dining area.

“A little cream and a little sugar,” Raul answered. “I’ll find a table.”

***

“Here you go,” JJ said to Raul as he set down the coffees.

JJ sat and took a long drink of his coffee, trying to decide where and how to start. “Alright,” JJ said, gathering his courage. “I already told you about how I was a cooler because of a spell and how I thought I was a twenty when I first got into town …” JJ started when Raul interrupted.

“Yeah, so does any of that relate to how this guy upstairs is your apprentice?” Raul asked.

“Yes, I’m getting there. Sorry, some of this has been hard for me to accept, and I don’t know where to start,” JJ said.

“Well, I already know how the story ends, that you have an apprentice, so start at the beginning,” Raul said, trying to prompt him to start telling the story.

“Ok, here goes. I arrived in town about a month ago, towards the end of July. When I got into town, I had to park in the Big Top back parking lot, where my car caught fire … “ JJ started.

“Wait, your car caught fire? Cars don’t just catch fire normally,” Raul said.

“That was when I was cooler,” JJ said, then went on to tell him about how he got paid to be a cooler and how he figured out the luck was coming from a Buddha statue in the Imperial Palace.

“Hold on, the Buddha was full of luck? How?” Raul asked.

“That I don’t know yet, but I drained that luck and spent a few days in the hospital because of it,” JJ said.

“You had told me that you had been the victim of a redirect spell at the Palace. Was that related to it?” Raul asked.

“Yes, because every time I tried to go in when I was thinking about finding the source of the luck, I ended up somewhere else hours later. Arnie was the one who told me how to get around it. Oh, we need to still go there,” JJ said, remembering they still had not made it into the store to check on him.

“Yeah, we can go there right after this if you are up to it,” Raul said.

“That sounds good, I’m not concerned about the spell now that we have gotten by it once,” JJ said.

“Good, now tell me how this guy is your apprentice, I think you are stalling by telling me everything else,” Raul chided.

“Alright, alright. Okay, well, it started shortly after I got into town. I started having dreams about two men in the desert … “ JJ started when Raul interrupted him.

“Is this going somewhere?” Raul asked.

“Yes, yes, it’s important for the story,” JJ said and then continued telling Raul about the dreams of the desert.

“Ok, so you were having dreams about being the subject of a spell, but a dream is not reality,” Raul said.

“No, you are right, a dream is not reality. When I started to have them, I just thought it was weird, but not really relevant at that point. I still thought I was from Salt Lake City and in my early twenties,” JJ said.

“Yeah, you keep saying that you remember, what do you mean by that?” Raul asked.

“Well, when I met with the Hawaiian goddess Ka … ”

“Wait, now there is a goddess in your story,” Raul said, and then reached for his coffee cup and found it empty. “I think we need something stronger than coffee for you to finish this story.”

“I think you’re right. Let’s go see my …uhhmm … apprentice, and then afterwards we can continue this,” JJ said. “Thank you, by the way, this is really helping me.”

“I’m glad I can help. This is getting to be an interesting story, Hawaiian Goddess, you really have a good imagination,” Raul said as he stood up to follow JJ to the room.

JJ looked at him and then went to the desk to find out what room Peter was in.

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“Have you seen him since then?” JJ asked.

“No, he must have taken the threat from security seriously. Good luck,” the valet said as he stepped away to take care of a car that drove up.

“Man, those valets must be part cactus to not be bothered by the heat,” JJ said as he stepped into the casino and out of the August Vegas heat.

JJ could see Raul sitting at the lobby bar, looking a little out of place. Most of the other patrons had their heads down and their fingers on the buttons to quickly choose the cards to discard or keep. Raul was sitting enjoying a beer more than playing video poker. It looked like he had put a quarter in and then didn’t realize what he had to do after that. He kept looking down and touching different parts of the screen. JJ saw him look up to ask the bartender something when he saw JJ and waved.

“Hey, Raul,” JJ said as he sat down on the empty bar stool next to him. “I’ll have a beer and change,” JJ said to the bartender, handing him a twenty.

“Do you know how to play this?” Raul asked.

JJ reached up and put his hand with his watch on Raul’s shoulder and said, “Just hit the deal button.”

“Ok,” Raul said and did as he was told. The machine did its thing, dealing five new cards face down. After a moment, the machine revealed the face of the cards, exposing a royal flush. The machine started spitting out quarters while Raul simply looked, with his mouth hanging open.

“Uh, I won,” he said as the quarters continued the waterfall into the metal bucket.

“Nice, you should have bet the max, and then you would have won over five thousand,” the bartender said. “The slot attendant will be by shortly to pay out the rest,

“Thank you. The rest?” Raul asked.

“Yes, the machine will only pay out a hundred in quarters. The rest will be in cash,” the bartender said. “Would you like another beer?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Raul said. JJ just watched as Raul continued to look lost, not knowing what to do.

“Have you ever won a jackpot?” JJ asked.

“I’ve never even played a slot machine. Is it that easy to win? I will have to quit my cashier job and just start playing slot machines.” Raul said.

“No, it is not that easy. You won because I gave you some luck, some wild magic,” JJ said.

“But I thought you said you didn’t know anything about magic?” Raul asked.

“I’m learning. I came into town about a month ago and found out I was a cooler,” JJ said. He then went on to tell Raul about being a cooler and how he lost his ability.

“So you had a brand on your back that was what caused you to be a cooler?” Raul asked.

“Yeah, it was a spell that someone put on my back,” JJ said.

“Who put it on you?” Raul asked.

“I don’t know, but I have my suspicions,” JJ said.

“You don’t remember when it could have happened?” Raul asked.

“That’s the funny thing. When I first got into town, I knew who I was and what I was doing. Now, what I thought I knew and remembered about myself and my life before I arrived in Vegas has faded like a dream in the morning light. I remember something about leaving my home to go to LA and seek my fortune, but in that memory, I am twenty,” JJ said, and Raul simply kept his mouth shut and took a sip of beer, “I know what you are thinking. I look like I’m in my mid-thirties.”

“Yeah, that's about right,” Raul said, not wanting to insult JJ.

“Sir,” a slot attendant interrupted the conversation.

“Oh, are you the person with the rest of the money?” Raul asked after turning around to see who addressed him.

“Yes sir, I just need an ID,” she said to Raul’s question.

“Here you go,” Raul said, handing her his driver's license.

“Oh, a local,” she said when she looked at the license. “I always like to see a local get a payout.” She reached around Raul with a key and then turned it in the machine. It went back to the waiting-for-a-coin screen. “Here you go, four hundred dollars.”

“Thank you,” Raul said, putting the money into his wallet.

JJ saw that Raul didn’t know the etiquette of tipping the person who pays out a jackpot to you. So he grabbed his wallet, pulled out a fifty, and gave it to the attendant.

“Here you go, he’s never been into a casino,” JJ said, trying to cover for the slight.

“Thank you. Good luck to the two of you,” the slot attendant said before she turned to go about her duties.

“I didn’t know you’re supposed to tip the slot attendants,” Raul said.

“Only when they pay you a jackpot,” JJ said.

“Thank you, here,” Raul said, handing JJ one of the hundred dollar bills he had just received. “Do you have change?”

“No, but we need to get on with why we are here,” JJ said and then flagged down the bartender.

“Can you make change?” JJ asked when the bartender came over to the two of them.

“No problem. Would you like to pay for his beer now?” The bartender asked.

“He didn’t get quarters?” JJ asked.

“No, so he just needs to pay for the first one; the second one was for the win,” the bartender said.

“Yeah, that will be fine,” JJ said.

When the bartender came back with change, JJ handed Raul a fifty and pocketed the rest.

“Well, thank you for the beer and the luck?” Raul said. “You will have to tell me how you did that.”

“I barely know how I did that myself, but I will try,” JJ said. “Let’s go say hi to Arnie.”

“Sounds good,” Raul said and then started out with a stride that JJ would have to run to keep up.

“Slow it down; my legs are not that long,” JJ said.

“Oh, sorry, I’m just excited to see Arnie again. It’s been a while since I had a lesson with him,” Raul said.

“Hmm, that’s a good idea. Maybe I can get a lesson, too,” JJ said, and now he was not having any problems keeping up with Raul.

“For some reason, I was avoiding lessons from him at first,” JJ said.

“Have you not had any lesson from him? Maybe he will teach you to see magic,” Raul said as he held the door for JJ.

“I have had one lesson from him already, and he taught me the spell for magic sight,” then, without thinking, JJ said the spell.

“No!!! What are you doing,” Raul exclaimed.

JJ saw everyone in the lobby area stop what they were doing to look at what had happened. There were a few people sitting at slot machines just inside the door that didn’t seem to notice the sudden outburst. JJ looked closer at them and realized that their eyes were just holes, and they seemed to be a little translucent. JJ shook his head and said the spell to turn off the sight before he saw more people or things than he wanted to.

“Wow, that was … was … interesting,” JJ said.

“Are you alright?” Raul asked with concern in his voice.

“Yeah, I just caught a glimpse of some people who died in the fire here,” JJ said.

“Arnie said if you looked with magic vision, you would go crazy almost immediately,” Raul said.

“Yeah, he gave me the same warning. I don’t know why I said it.” JJ said.

“That was good you didn’t go crazy before you could turn it off. Did you see anything else?” Raul asked.

“Not really. When I realized what I did …” JJ trailed off in thought. “You know, I don’t think I saw anything else, but I could almost feel that if I looked around, I could see someone … no, something else …” JJ again stopped talking, thinking about what he had felt.

“Arnie did say that there were horrible creatures that occupy the magical realm; I’m sure you’re just lucky you didn’t see one; you would be going to a mental ward at UMC for sure,” Raul said.

“Oh shoot, UMC, I need to go there right after we talk to Arnie,” JJ said.

“UMC, why do you need to go there?” Raul asked.

“I need to go visit a … uhm. I guess he’s a friend,” JJ said.

“What do you mean by, uhm, a friend?” Raul asked,

“That’s another long story. I’ll tell you about it next time we have some beers in front of us,” JJ said.

“Would you like a ride over to UMC?” Raul asked.

“Uhh,” JJ thought about it for a second, not sure if he wanted to let Raul get involved, “Yeah, that would be great.”

“Good, we’ll go there right after we leave Arnie’s,” Raul said.

They had stepped up the curb of the sidewalk in front of the storefronts, which included the Crystal Palace. “Ooof,” JJ said and stopped when a sudden sharp pang of danger hit him.

Raul looked back at him and said, “What?”

“I don’t know. I just got a sudden bad feeling. No, that’s not right. It was almost like I went through a spider web, but more than that,” JJ said.

“A spider web? Arnie was just starting to teach me about protective wards and had me walk through one he had created; it was like walking through a web. Maybe Arnie has added some new protections around his place,” Raul said.

“Yeah, that was probably all it was,” JJ said. He shook his head to clear it and then stepped up to the shop door.

Raul opened the door to the Big Top Casino and then said, “After you.”

JJ stopped and looked at Raul and the door. “This is the Big Top, not Arnie’s shop,” JJ said.

“Yeah, we were going to go get a beer …. wait, we were going into Arnie's place to see how he was doing; how did we end up at Big Top, and why do I think we were going to get a beer?” Raul asked.

“Welcome to my world,” JJ said. “I think we were victims of a redirect spell.”

“A what?” Raul asked.

“A redirect spell is a simple spell that puts a hypnotic suggestion in your head to get you to do something if your intentions are not what the caster wants you to do,” JJ said.

“For someone that doesn’t know magic, you seem to know a lot about it,” Raul said.

“I don’t know much. I just encountered the redirect spell recently at the imperial palace. Since we’re here, let's go get a beer, but let's go over to lots of slots and have a dog with the beer,” JJ said.

“Mmm yeah, I’m hungry. What time is it?” Raul asked.

“Excuse me, ma'am,” JJ said to an older woman walking from Lots of Slots to Big Top.

“What can I do for you, young man?” She asked.

“What time is it? My watch seems to be off,” JJ said.

“Oh,” she said, looking at her watch. “It is five forty pm.”

“Thank you,” JJ said.

“Uh, we met at Bally’s at three; where did the two hours go?” Raul asked with some concern in his voice.

“That's the thing about redirect spells: you go off doing something in a fugue state, and when you regain your senses, you are somewhere else with no idea what you did,” JJ said.

“Do you think we did anything wrong while we were out of it?” Raul asked as he reached into his jacket pocket.

“I don’t think we … “JJ started to say and then stopped when Raul pulled the but of a gun out of his jacket.

JJ’s eyes got big, and then he urgently said, “Put that away! Where did you get that? Did you expect trouble at Arnie's?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen this before,” Raul said. “I am getting a little scared that maybe we did something bad.”

“Come on, let's get something to eat and talk about it,” JJ said, turning and going into lots of slots.

* * *

“So what do you think?” Raul asked. They had ordered the beer and foot-long hot dog and had a seat at one of the white fiberglass tables.

“I don’t think we did anything that would be too bad. Everyone always says you can’t do something you wouldn’t do normally while under hypnosis.” JJ said.

“But how did I get this?” Raul said again, reaching into his pocket. “Hmm,” Raul pulled out a slip of paper that was in his pocket next to the gun. “It's a receipt,” Raul said and then proceeded to read the text. “Pawn and Guns. One 38 SN three hundred and fifty dollars. That makes me feel better. I must have bought the gun,” Raul said.

“But why did you need a gun? What did that redirect spell try to get us to do, and who was it directed to?” JJ asked.

“What do you mean by directed to?” Raul asked.

“Well, when I encountered a redirect spell last time, it redirected me when my intention was to find out what was causing so much good luck. Every time I tried to go into the Imperial Palace to do that, it sent me off to random places, so that spell was to block anyone investigating the lucky Buddha,” JJ said.

“So, how did you get by it?” Raul asked.

“I kept repeating to myself that I was going in to gamble, and I was going to win big,” JJ said.

“Really? And that worked?” Raul asked.

“Yes, so now we need to figure out what caused the spell to send us off,” JJ said, taking a bite out of his hot dog before it got cold.

“Eat up while it's still warm,” JJ said, seeing Raul thinking and completely ignoring his gourmet hotdog.

“Oh yeah,” Raul said, looking down, interrupting his thoughts of the spell.

“This is not bad,” Raul said after taking his first bite.

“I don’t think we have a problem with the cops; security here would have had them here already if the cops were looking for us,” JJ said.

“That's a relief,” Raul said and then went back to his hot dog and beer.

JJ sat in silence as well, thinking about what caused Raul and him to be redirected.

“I keep going over in my head about what could have caused us to be sent off,” Raul said. “Do you think Arnie set the spell or someone else?”

“I don’t know to both; I can’t imagine Arnie would have created a spell to block us from his shop. Everyone in the group is getting along with him, aren't they?” JJ asked.

“Yeah, everyone wants to learn from him so he could hit them with a stick, and they would say, ‘Thank you, sir, may I have another.’” Raul said.

“So, who created the spell? Have you heard of any other magicians — I mean practitioners in town?” JJ asked.

“No, everyone involved in real magic in town that I know about is in the group,” Raul said.

JJ took a long drink of his beer to think about the spell.

“Well, I’m at a loss as to who created the spell. I guess we still need to try and talk to Arnie,” JJ said.

“How close can we get before the spell affects us?” Raul asked.

“The spell at the palace didn’t activate until my hand was inches from the door handle. Why, what are you thinking?” JJ asked.

“I’m thinking that maybe we try again but one of us stands far enough away to not trigger the spell, while the other one tries to go in,” Raul said.

“That is a great idea. Then, when I am going to try and rob a bank, you can stop me,” JJ said.

“So you think you need to try and go in?” Raul asked.

“Yes, I couldn’t exactly stop you if you were commanded to do something,” JJ said.

“Oh good, I’m not sure I want to go through the experience of being under a spell again, I don’t know what we did and don’t want to risk doing something illegal again,” Raul said in relief.

“Yes, it is a disconcerting experience, but recently, my reality has been a little wonky, so one more time losing control won’t make me happy, but it won’t kill me, and we need to talk to Arnie. I think it's getting to be urgent now that someone put a spell around his shop. Besides, you are called guardian, so you can be the guardian,” JJ said.

JJ started to take another drink of his beer and then thought better of it. “I should probably have a clear head when we try to go in.”

“You said you were thinking about winning big and then the palace let you in, what do you think you need to think about to go into Arnie’s?” Raul asked.

“Well, I’m guessing that the spell is not redirecting his customers, or he might notice, or he might just think it's a slow week. But if we assume that it's not directed against customers, then it's directed against anyone who knows Arnie as Arnie, not Ahmonket, so I have to think about getting luck from the Egyptian priest Ahmonket. If I keep that in mind, I should be able to go through,” JJ said.

“All right, we have a plan. Shall we go,” Raul said.

“Ok,” JJ said, a little taken aback by the sudden action by him. JJ stood up and followed Raul. “Let's get a cab. We can get one at the back of Big Top.”

“Good idea,” Raul said after the Vegas heat hit him. “Suddenly, walking to Ballys does not seem like a great idea.”

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“Alright, already. I get it. You need a cooler right now. I still don’t know what I will do. I know the spell to drain luck, but I don’t have anywhere to put it,” JJ said to himself. He looked down at his watch, realizing that he had skipped breakfast in his rush to get to Peter. The watch said it was 11:20 already.

“Hmm, maybe I can get breakfast in Silver City. They advertise breakfast all over the place,” JJ said.

The light finally changed, and JJ was able to cross the street without getting hit by a truck for the second time that morning.

“JJ, how’s it going? Wow, what happened to you?” Javie asked when he got a better look at him.

“Oh, I just had a sudden desire to get close and intimate with some asphalt in a parking lot with the assistance of Officer Friendly,” JJ said.

“Well, that explains the dirt all over your face and your torn shirt, but that wasn’t what I was talking about. You didn’t have that tattoo when I saw you a few days ago,” Javie said.

JJ looked down at his shirt. The sleeve was torn enough to show the tattoo on his upper arm. Looking closer, he saw the tear in the body of the shirt with more of the tattoo peeking through. “Uhm, well, I’m not really sure when that happened; I sort of lost a few days,” JJ said.

“That must have been some party; you’ll have to tell me about it sometime,” Javie said. “The lucky player is over there on the blackjack table, the one with the red Hawaiian shirt. Oh yeah, before you do your magic, I wanted to invite you to a backyard barbecue I am having on Tuesday next week.”

“Uh, uhm,” JJ said.

“No pressure, I just thought you wanted to get to know some locals. Most of the day staff from here, and Lots of Slots will be there,” JJ said.

“Yes, I would like to go, but I have community service starting next week, and I don’t know what time I will be done,” JJ said.

“Oh, I understand,” Javie said, looking at JJ with a funny look on his face. “That must have really been some party; well, I’ll put you down as a maybe. Here, let me get you the address.” Javie walked over to a bank of payphones mounted on the wall with a counter below them. Spread around the counter were pads of paper and pens. Javie quickly wrote his address down and then handed it to JJ.”Well, I’ll see you after you cool, that guy. Oh, you might want to take a moment and clean up first.”

“Thanks, I will, and I’ll try to be there,” JJ said, turning to head to the bathroom. JJ turned back to Javie and asked, “Are there any silver souvenirs in the gift shop?”

Javie stopped and then turned and thought for a moment, “Hmm, I don’t/ think so; I guess there should be since it's in the name. Why do you need something silver? Do you need a gift for someone?”

“No, I need it to help my cooling ability,” JJ said.

“What’s wrong with your watch? Isn’t that silver?” Javie asked.

“Ohh,” JJ said as he looked down at his watch. “How would I know if it’s silver?” JJ asked, thinking that maybe Javie knew something about watches.

“Well, if that's an older Rolex, then I’m sure it's silver,” Javie said.

JJ looked again at the watch. “How would I know if it's old?” JJ asked.

“I don’t know,” Javie said. “I have one child and one on the way; I don’t have extra funds to buy such a thing.”

“Hmm,” JJ said, then took the watch off to see if there were any clues about it on the back.

There was an engraving on it. JJ tilted the watch to catch the light better. It said, “This should help.” Below that line a signature “ Aku Aku.”

“I think you’re right, Javie. I think this might be silver,” JJ said. “I’ll be back out in a moment.” JJ put the watch back on and went into the bathroom to see the damage.

JJ looked in the mirror. A big smear of dirt was on the side of his face from when it had stopped his fall. His shirt had a tear on the side under his arm where his new art was peeking through.

“Maybe there is a souvenir shirt in the gift shop,” JJ said after taking stock of the situation.

“Javie, do I have time to get a new shirt in the gift shop?” JJ asked.

“Sure, I’ll send the cocktail waitress over with a big New Orleans-style drink,” Javie said.

JJ looked in the gift shop and settled on a blue polo shirt with a white emblem in the shape of a cowboy boot over the right breast that said, “I get my kicks at Silver City Casino.”. He paid for it and then put it on over the T-shirt.

“That looks good on you,” the cashier said.

“Thank you,” JJ responded and then walked out to do his job.

The table games consisted of twenty tables in two ovals of ten tables each. In the center of the oval, closest to the front door, was a desk and chair for the pit management where Javie was stationed. The Hawaiian shirt-clad player was sitting in the second oval of tables facing the front door.

“Heading over there now, Javie,” JJ said.

“Roger,” Javie said.

JJ headed over to the table. The table the player was at was full, and he was sitting in the first seat. The last seat at the next table was empty.

“I think I’ll play a little blackjack,” JJ said.

“Do you guys mind if I take this seat?” JJ asked the other players at the table. JJ had learned a little about the etiquette of blackjack tables, which is why he asked before he sat down at an anchor seat.

“No, go ahead,” the woman said, seated next to the empty chair.

JJ looked down into his wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill.

“Changing one hundred,” the dealer yelled over her shoulder after JJ had put it down on the table.

“Everybody getting lucky?” JJ asked the table and then blushed when he realized what he said. “I mean, are you guys winning?”

“Yeah, this has been a good table for a bit,” the woman next to him said. She had a decent stack of chips in front of her.

“Good luck,” the dealer said when she put a couple of stacks of five-dollar chips in front of him.

JJ put a chip in the bet circle and then looked over at the lucky player. He was sitting at a 25-dollar table with a pretty good stack of chips in front of him.

“Okay, it's time to get to work,” JJ thought to himself, and then he said the luck-draining spell under his breath while he put his right hand on his watch.

As the luck ran into the watch, it started to warm up. “Wow, if it's warming the watch, what is it doing to the player?” JJ said, then removed his hand from his watch to stop the flow.

“Ouch,” the lucky player said. “My good luck token got hot,” the player said to answer an unheard question.

“Sir, can you take an action,” the dealer said, interrupting JJ's thoughts.

“Oh, sorry,” JJ said, quickly looking at the dealer's hand. The dealer was showing a three.

“Just stand. She will probably bust,” the woman next to JJ said.

“It's a pure silver slot token from Circus Circus I got a few years ago,” the lucky player said to another unheard query.

“I’ll silver … I mean, stand,” JJ said.

“Please make a motion for the camera,” the dealer said to JJ.

“Oh, right. I forgot about that,” JJ said, waving his hand from side to side over his cards.

JJ snuck a peek at the lucky player. He was gingerly touching the silver coin.

“That was weird; it's not hot now,” the lucky player said.

“Would you like to place another bet?” the dealer asked JJ, seeing that he was not paying attention.

“Oh yeah, sorry,” JJ said, taking back one of the two five-dollar chips in the bet circle to leave a bet of just one.

“Well, now it’s fine; maybe I just imagined it,” the lucky player said.

“That is interesting; his luck is in the coin,” JJ said.

JJ looked down at the two cards the dealer had dealt.

“Nice, an eleven,” the woman next to JJ said.

“What should I do?” JJ asked her.

“The dealer is showing a four, so you should double down,” she said.

“Please, only one player per hand,” the dealer said, hearing the advice being given for a second time.

“How do I double down?” JJ asked the dealer.

“Just place the same bet next to the one you have there,” the dealer said.

“Ok, thank you,” JJ said, then doubled his bet.

“Yeah! It's still working,” the lucky player said as the dealer at that table declared that he busted and everyone won.

JJ put just a finger on his watch and then repeated the spell under his breath. This time, the watch didn’t warm up, but as he watched it, the face of the watch changed. It had been just a basic dark blue. As he watched the face of the watch, a sliver of the moon appeared and then started to get bigger very slowly.

“Sir, would you like to take an action?” The dealer asked, with frustration clearly audible in her voice.

“Sorry, I’ll just stand,” JJ said. He waved his hand over the cards. “Oh man,” JJ realized he had used the hand that had been on the watch and that he would have to start it again.

The dealer showed 18 to JJs 14.

“You should have hit,” the woman next to him said.

“Sorry, I haven’t played blackjack very much. I probably need to get a book and learn the best way to play,” JJ said.

“And pay attention,” one of the other players at the table said.

“You're right, I’ve been distracted,” JJ said. “I probably need some food. I think I will go get a burger. Thank you for letting me play with you guys,” JJ said, then got up and took his chips. He grabbed the stacks and dropped them in his pocket, except for two. He started to manipulate the two he kept out, listening to the click.

JJ headed back to the grill, which served a variety of fast food items. The most popular item on their menu was an oversized hamburger. You could add fries for just 99 cents.

The seating was two long community tables reminiscent of a school cafeteria.

JJ ordered, and when he was handed an orange tray containing a burger, fries, and a root beer. He sat down at one of the tables facing the casino. He had just taken a bite of the burger when Javie walked over.

“He’s not winning every hand, but he’s still winning quite a few hands,” Javie said.

“Yeah, sorry, I shouldn’t have sat down to play. I couldn’t concentrate on both the game and cooling the guy. I’ll be back at it right after I finish my food. He’s not acting like he’s going to leave, is he?” JJ asked.

“No, he doesn’t know when to quit; he’s going to stay there until he breaks us or breaks himself,” Javie said.

“Ok, I’ll be done soon,” JJ said, taking another bite.

“Sounds good,” Javie said, turning and heading back to his station.

JJ finished his lunch and then walked over to the tables again. There were no seats available at tables near the player. JJ looked around and saw a chair at one of the slot machines that allowed him to watch the table. JJ sat down at the machine. He saw it was a dollar machine. The machine took metal dollar tokens that JJ did not have. He pushed the change button to light up the change light. It didn’t take long for a slot attendant to respond.

“Would you like some change?” The attendant said as she reached over and pushed the service light to turn it off.

“Yeah, just for a twenty,” JJ said, handing a twenty-dollar bill he had pulled out of his wallet before the attendant came over.

“Here you go,” she said, giving JJ a small stack of metallic coins.

“Thank you,” JJ said and then put a coin in the machine.

He pulled the handle, remembering the advice he had received from a regular player. The three reels spun for a moment and then stopped with a click. The jackpot bells rang, and the lights flashed, and then the machine started vomiting coins into the metal tray below.

“Well, I guess I still can’t play the machines,” JJ said. He looked up and saw Javie looking at him, shaking his head in incredulity with a slight grin on his face.

“Sorry,” JJ mouthed.

Luckily for JJ, he only put in one coin, so the jackpot was only fifty dollars.

“Time to get back to work,” JJ said and then leaned over so he could see the target. He was quieter now, not yelling much, but his wins outnumbered his losses.

JJ put two fingers on his watch, figuring that there wasn’t enough luck left to heat the guy’s lucky coin. JJ said the spell and then let the wild magic flow into the watch. This time, he could feel a slight tingle as the magic moved over him to the watch. As the watch was fed by the spell, it got just a little warmer. After a few moments, the tingle went away, and JJ heard less talking from the guy. JJ removed his fingers from the watch to break the spell.

“Now I just wait,” JJ said.

“Cocktails, Cocktails,” a waitress called out.

“Can I get a cola,” JJ said to the waitress, giving her one of the five-dollar chips he had been fiddling with.

“Thank you, sir,” she said and then headed off to get his order, ignoring the other players.

Shortly after JJ got his cola, Javie walked over to him to settle in.

“He was smarter than most, so he took most of his winnings and left. He only gave back a couple of hundred,” Javie said. “But I don’t feel bad for you. I saw that jackpot you got.”

“It was only fifty dollars. I only put in one token,” JJ said a little defensively.

“Not to worry; I’m not responsible for the machines,” Javie said, then handed JJ a ten-dollar payslip.

“Oh, well, if you don’t care about the machines, I’ll play a max bet spin,” JJ said with a smile.

“Well, I do care if you clean out the casino. I really need a quarter bonus for the new kid on the way, and if you start cleaning out the machines, I won’t get a bonus. Then I’ll make you bring the steaks for the barbeque. You're coming, right?” Javie asked.

“Yes, I will be there; I will try and get there,” JJ said.

“So what happened this time? It took you a lot longer to cool him. Normally, you walk up to them, and they start losing immediately,” Javie asked.

“I’m just trying to control how fast I cool them so they think it's just their luck changing and that it's not a cooler,” JJ said.

“Well, I appreciate that. If it gets out that we are using a cooler, it will drive away customers,” Javie said. Well, I need to get back to the tables. See you Tuesday.”

“What time on Tuesday,” JJ asked.

“Six thirty,” Javie responded without breaking stride.

“Thanks,” JJ said.

JJ got up and headed to the cashier to get his payment.

* * *

JJ stepped into line for the cashier and looked at his watch. The second hand was spinning somewhat faster than usual, and the minute hand was moving at about the speed that the second hand typically moved. “I guess wild magic and watches don’t mix,” JJ said.

“What,” The woman in front of him asked. She had on a big red cowboy hat that said “The winning never stops at Silver City” on the band.

“Oh, sorry, I was just muttering to myself,” JJ said.

The lady looked JJ up and down, then held her purse a little closer and turned back around to see how soon she would be able to get to a cashier.

It was only a matter of seconds before a cashier flagged JJ down that she was available. Luckily, the window JJ stepped up to was a few steps down from the lady with the red hat.

“Here you go, Mr. Presely, Ten dollars,” the cashier said.

“Thank you. What time is it,” JJ asked.

“Ten after one,” the cashier said and then dismissed him with, “Next.”

JJ took the hint and headed out.

Stepping out of the door, JJ was hit by the Vegas heat. “Wow, I thought I was getting used to it. I guess not,” JJ said. He looked down at himself to see how bad his clothing was after the officer showed him the benefits of remaining silent. “Well, that's not good. I’m surprised Javie didn’t just kick me out,” His jeans were stained and torn. The only bright spot was the new shirt from the gift shop. “Well I have just enough time to get back to my apartment to get a shower and change of clothes.”

JJ grabbed a cab at the Rivera and quickly returned to his apartment to clean up. The railings were free of smokers, so JJ figured it must have been time for Matlock.

JJ got in and out with a fresh pair of jeans and a quick shower to remove the last bit of asphalt from his face. On his way out, he noticed that there were still no smokers on the walkways. “That must be a good episode of Matlock,” he said to himself.

“Piss off Matlock is a good show,” JJ heard from a window that he was passing.

“Thank you for the information, Roger,” JJ responded.

JJ headed down to the Quickie Mart for the closest pay phones. Today, there was one available.

“Wow, it's an unoccupied payphone,” JJ commented as he stepped up to the phone. “Where’s the guy that is usually here?”

“You don’t need him. I can get you anything you want. Do you want to feel good or maybe have a good time?” the entrepreneur on the next phone said.

“I’m good. I just need to call for a cab,” JJ said as he picked up the handset.

There was a sticker for a cab company on the phone, so he opted to call them, not knowing any other cab companies' phone numbers.

“That will be ten minutes,” the dispatcher said to JJ after he told him where he was.

“I’ll be standing out front,” JJ said and then hung up.

JJ stepped away from the phone and stood on the edge of the sidewalk that separated the parking area from the building. After a moment, an employee stepped out and lit a cigarette.

“Did you see the fight this morning,” the employee asked the entrepreneur between calls for orders.

“Na man, I just heard about it from Ali. I heard it was a short guy that took apart the boys,” the entrepreneur said.

“When I saw him, he looked about seven feet tall and full of hair. He looked like a giant Hawaiian. When he stepped up to James, he was saying something about your poisoning my people. Then he grabbed James and threw him about ten feet into the middle of the driveway. The boys got out of the car with the guns but never got to do anything. He was as fast as lightning and smashed them back into the car. The driver got out, put them and James into the car, and sped away. The guy picked up the guns and then dropped a twisted lump of metal. Then he seemed to disappear.”

“I’m not worried; my boys got my back,” the entrepreneur said, indicating an idling black Cadilac with four big guys in it.

“I would be careful. James’ guys were just as big, and he went through them like they were Ken dolls, and he was GI Joe,” the employee said, stubbing out his cigarette.

“Huh, I’m no Ken doll; I’m Cobra,” the entrepreneur said, puffing up his chest. He stood that way until the ringing phone startled him. He obviously had heard the same story. His mask dropped, and the fear was obvious on his face until he realized it was just the phone and then answered it.

There were a few more calls on the phone before the cab driver drove up.

“Where to,” the driver asked when JJ sat down in the back.

“Bally’s,” JJ said.

“I really don’t know,” JJ said.

The two of them were standing at the taxi stand for the Horseshoe. They had walked the others to their cars so that Raul could live up to his title, and then he insisted on walking JJ to the taxi stand.

“But you must know something about magic to know to add that word. You may have convinced the rest that you didn’t know why you said that, but you can’t convince me. You definitely know magic,” Raul said.

“So what time tomorrow and where do you want to meet?” JJ said changing the subject.

The group had decided that Raul and JJ should check on Arnie since neither of them had to work the next day.

“Hmm,” Raul said more about the avoidance by JJ than about the question. “Some where near Arnie’s place, 2 pm?”

“Two o'clock sounds good. How about the lobby bar in Bally's? Wait, what time is it now?” JJ asked, looking around for a clock, forgetting about the watch on his wrist.

“I don’t know. Does that bling on your wrist not work?” Raul asked.

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” JJ said, looking at his watch. “It's a quarter after 6. Let’s make it 3 p.m. so I can get close to a solid eight hours.”

“3 p.m. at the Ballys lobby bar, I will see you there. I’m glad you said six, I am really wiped out after that modified spell you helped with,” Raul said as a cab drove up.

“See you then,” JJ said, getting into the cab again, ignoring Raul's comment.

The drive to JJ's apartment was uneventful with not much happening at 6:15 in the morning.

Walking up to his door, JJ got a view of the full selection of old man pajamas that K-Mart sold. It was just before seven and it seemed that all the apartment complex residents were out on the walkway for the first cigarette of the day while the TVs in the abandoned apartments were blaring the morning wake-up news programs.

“Good morning Roger, nice boxers,” JJ said to his neighbor. He was standing at the railing with his oxygen bottle at his side and a cigarette dangling from his lip.

“Hmm,” Roger said.

“Did you turn off your oxygen?” JJ asked.

“Piss off,” Roger said and then reached down and turned off the bottle.

JJ just shook his head and headed in to try to get some sleep.

* * *

“BEEP BEEP BEEP,” the alarm clock announced its displeasure at being a slave to humanity’s whims.

JJ slapped the off button and looked at the clock. It said 9 am.

“Dammit,” JJ said seeing that he had never changed the alarm.

He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

“BEEP BEEP BEEP” again the alarm clock woke him up this time beeping with a new urgency.

JJ slapped the button again. This time the clock said 10 am.

“How is that possible? I know I turned it off. Well, I guess I can take a hint,” JJ said as he rolled out of bed.

The water for his shower never got warmer than tepid so JJ was in and out of the shower in record time.

Once he got out of the shower, he started to feel anxious and needed to get ready as quickly as possible.

JJ grabbed a t-shirt and jeans and then dug around for some socks that weren’t standing up on their own.

“Come on, there must be some clean socks,” JJ said as his anxiety inexplicably increased. JJ kept looking but the drawer that contained his socks and underwear only contained one pair of underwear.

“Well, I guess no socks today; I guess I’m just lucky I’m not going commando,” JJ said as he headed to the door.

Opening the door, he found his way out, blocked by a refrigerator.

“Dammit, I don’t have time for this,” JJ said, with his anxiety still growing. “I need to go.” JJ banged on the refrigerator.

“Hello, is this going to move anytime soon,” JJ yelled.

“Oh, it’s nosy. The movers will be back soon to move that,” Roger said.

“That's not good; I’ve got to go,” JJ said. He looked at the refrigerator, trying to see if he could move it without damaging it. JJ pushed on it and was able to move it about an inch when it hit the railing behind it. With it moved away from the door a bit, JJ could get his fingers around one side of the refrigerator. JJ braced himself against the doorframe and then tried to pull it a bit to give himself enough room to get out.

“Aghh,” a sudden wave of urgency mixed with grief hit him, almost knocking him down.

JJ took a breath and then went back to trying to move the obstacle. He was able to move it an inch, and now he could get his whole hand out.

“Sorry about that, we’re moving it now,” JJ heard and then saw a bear-paw of a hand reach in, grabbing the refer. The giant pushed, and now, all of a sudden, JJ’s doorway was clear.

“Thank you,” JJ said as he shoved past the giant that was moonlighting as a furniture mover.

“No problem,” the mover said in a low, rumbling voice that sounded more like rocks tumbling down a hill than a human voice.

JJ quickly ran down the stairs and then headed towards the closest bus stop.

“Where you running to Simon?” JJ heard as he ran by the quickie mart. JJ stopped, leaving a little bit of rubber on the sidewalk, then looked to see who was calling the name Simon.

Turning, JJ saw it was Kawika standing at the payphone that the young entrepreneur normally occupied.

“I’m JJ,” he said to Kawika.

“Yeah, yeah I know that's what you think. I talked to Aku Aku, and she said she finally got to talk to you,” Kawika said.

“Uhm, I need to get going, I need to be somewhere … soon,” JJ said, feeling his anxiousness making itself known.

“What? Do you have to go break a winning streak?” Kawika asked.

“No, I have to go … I actually don’t know what I need to do. Since I woke up this morning, I have had this feeling that I had to be somewhere.” JJ said, bouncing from foot to foot.

“What, do you need to find a bathroom? It looks like you are doing the pee pee dance,” Kawika said.

JJ just looked at him, ignoring his immaturity.

“Did you miss an appointment?” Kawika asked, seeing that JJ was not in a joking mood.

“No, it's not like that; it’s a feeling somewhere between my heart and my stomach. It’s almost like the feeling you get when you answer the phone and hear that a loved one is in the emergency room,” JJ said, trying to understand what he was feeling and why.

“Hmm, that sounds like there is some kind of psychic connection. I wouldn’t ignore it. You know what? I found you so that I could help you get Peter to Aku Aku; maybe I can help you figure out what that feeling is.” Kawika said.

“I get the feeling you’ve heard of this before. Can we go? I really need to move,” JJ said.

“Yes, we can go,” Kawika said, pushing himself off the wall. “Alright, where do we go? Think about a direction and see if the feeling changes.”

“Should I close my eyes?” JJ asked.

“That might help,” Kawika said.

“Ok,” JJ said and then closed his eyes. “North, no difference. South, hmm, no difference. East, west. Hmm, none of them seem to make a difference. Do you think I need to know which way they are? I don’t actually know which way is which.”

A deep rumbling sound came from Kawika; JJ started to get nervous and then realized he was laughing. “Yeah, that would be helpful,” Kawika said after he had his laughter under control. “Ok, then we’ll do this another way. Two things are causing your anxiety. The first is you are concerned about an incident at a location,” Kawika said.

“Why do you say that?” JJ said, interrupting him. “How long is this going to take? I really need to go,” JJ asked.

“You will go as soon as you figure out the direction. If you run off in the wrong direction, that will just slow you down. Ok, close your eyes and imagine running from here towards the strip, which is west, by the way,” Kawika said.

“Ok,” JJ said as he turned towards the west, looking up Sierra Vista Drive. He closed his eyes and tried to see if anything changed.

“Wow, that is incredible. It's like I’m going to explode if I don’t start running right now,” JJ said.

“Ok, then turn around so you are facing the opposite direction and try it again,” Kawika said.

“Ok,” JJ said, turning around so that he could face the opposite direction, away from the strip.

“Wow, yes, there is a difference. Now the feeling is bad but not immediate,” JJ said.

“Okay, then the issue is towards the strip,” Kawika said. Now, let's narrow it down. Turn so that you are facing south, away from the Quickie Mart.”

JJ turned and tried it. “It feels the same as the last direction,” JJ said.

“Alright, turn around and do it one last time,” Kawika said.

“It feels the same as towards the strip. I need to go now, ” JJ said, shaking his hands and shuffling his feet.

“Ok,” Kawika said, and then reached down and put his hand on JJ's shoulder. Suddenly, Kawika was close to seven feet tall and covered in muscles. “We have a direction. Let's get going.”

JJ just stood there looking at him.

“I thought you needed to move,” Kawika said.

“Uhh,” JJ shook himself. “Yeah, we need to go,” JJ said. “Are you going to carry me?”

“Oh, sorry about that,” Kawika said, and then he was back to his normal size. I got excited.”

“Well, I’m glad I have you at my back,” JJ said.

“Hey, can we get a ride?” JJ said to a cab driver who was just coming out of the Quickie Mart with a giant cup of soda.

“Yep, is the other person in the store?” The driver asked.

JJ turned to talk to Kawika, but no one was there. “Uh, no. I guess he changed his mind,” JJ said, turning back to the driver.

“So where are we going?” The driver asked.

“Tell him the strip and Spring Mountain Road,” JJ heard Kawika’s voice.

“Uhm, Desert Inn and the strip,” JJ said.

“Ok, hop in,” the driver said and got into the cab.

* * *

“Here you go,” the driver said, stopping the cab at the corner.

“Thanks for the ride,” JJ said, handing the driver the fee and a good tip.

“Thank you!” the driver exclaimed, seeing the size of the tip. “Good luck.”

“It's amazing to me that Vegas residents would give away your power so easily,” Kawika said to JJ. He was now standing on the curb next to JJ when he finished extracting himself from the car.

“Do you mean saying good luck?” JJ said.

“Thank you,” Kawika said with the gift of wild magic. “You guys give away wild magic so easily.”

“Well, I didn’t know saying good lu …” JJ stopped himself. “I mean saying that meant anything until recently.” JJ started shuffling his feet again in response to the urgent need to move. ”Let's get going,” JJ said.

“Alright, let’s find out where we are going. Do the same thing again, as we did at the quickie mart.” Kawika said.

“Ok, just a minute,” JJ said and then closed his eyes to figure out which direction they should go. “I can’t tell for sure if it's up the strip towards downtown or down the strip, towards the airport.”

“Alright, let’s go down the strip a block and see if it changes,” Kawika said.

“Alright, that sounds good,” JJ said and then was about to step out onto the street when Kawika stopped him with an iron grip on his shoulder,

“Hold on there, hot rod. Let's not become another statistic,” Kawika said, holding JJ by his collar, as a car roared by. JJ let him pull him back to the curb, and then they went to the crosswalk and waited for the light.

JJ started to think about his different times waiting at this light and how he met Peter for the first time just a block north of here.

“I thought you wanted to go,” Kawika said, interrupting JJ’s thoughts.

“What! Oh yeah, I was just lost in my thoughts,” JJ said.

“Hmm, what were you thinking about,” Kawika asked as he stepped off the curb next to JJ.

“About the first time I met that crazy guy, Peter,” JJ said.

“Oh yeah, your apprentice,” Kawika said.

“You’ll have to tell me how you know so much about the guy you claim I was,” JJ said.

“Yes, another time,” Kawika said.

They walked about half a block when JJ said, “It doesn’t seem like we are going the right direction.”

“There must have been something that drew you this way,” Kawika said.

“Yeah, I think I was thinking about Arnie. How does this feeling thing work?” JJ asked after he stopped to catch his breath and clear his head.

“Well, I think you are having a premonition about a person. You said that you started thinking about your apprentice,” Kawika said.

“You mean that crazy guy? Yes, I was thinking about him, but I met him after I left Arnie’s place,” JJ said.

“But who did you think about first?” Kawika asked.

“The crazy guy, Peter,” JJ said. “Ahh,” JJ yelled in obvious distress. “It's worse. We need to go now!” JJ turned around and started to run. After saying Peter’s name, his anxiety became sharp and clear. He knew now that whatever was happening was happening in the opposite direction that they had been walking.

JJ stopped running for a moment. “Wow, that was weird. I suddenly had a clear vision of my car catching fire,” JJ said, and then turned around to see what Kawika could tell him. But the only people around him were tourists trying to shove by him.

“Ok I guess I’m on my own,” JJ said to himself.

“You’re never alone,” a random stranger said to him as he walked by.

“Uhm, ok,” JJ said in response, and then started walking as quickly as he could without knocking anyone down.

He was now headed for the back parking lot at the Big Top Casino. Kawika had made a big deal about his random thoughts about the crazy guy, and now that he had a vision of his car, whatever was happening must be at the Big Top.

Seeing how long it was going to take to get to the Big Top, he stopped and looked to see if he could get a cab. A few were passing with the available light on, but none of them stopped.

“They won’t stop on the strip,” a guy trying to hand out the stripper cards said.

“What, why not?” JJ asked.

“The cab drivers have been told not to stop on the strip because there have been too many robberies. You’ll have to go to one of the hotel cab stands,” the guy said.

Hearing that, JJ headed across the street to the Desert Inn where he could get a cab at the front instead of having to go around to the back like he would have to do at most of the other casinos.

There was no line at the taxi stand, and JJ was able to walk right up and get a cab.

“Where to?” The driver asked as JJ got in.

“Uhm Big Top,” JJ said.

“Ok,” the driver responded and then looked at JJ again. “Hmm,” the driver verbalized his expectations for a miniscule tip.

“Actually, can you make it the back parking lot of Big Top,” JJ said as the driver put the transmission in drive.

“Yep, that will make it easier. I can take some back streets,” the driver enthusiastically said, referring to the change in destination. Taking the back streets would mean he could get back in line at a taxi stand and get a better-paying fare.

JJ sat back and tried to not think about his need to get to the parking lot. He was shaking his legs to try and keep his need to move under control.

The drive down Industrial Road was normal, not fast, but faster than the strip.

“So do you ever drive the strip with your fares?” JJ said trying to distract himself.

“I usually take the strip, most fares want to see the lights and sights. They all want to see the volcano,” the driver said.

“They seem to be adding something new every month,” JJ said.

“Yep, there’s always something new all the time. Every person I pick up wants to drive the strip even when they had just been here,” the driver said.

JJ went back to watching the collection of strip joints and liquor stores go by. Watching the people, it looked like a person could go from the strip joint to the liquor store and then have a date from one of the women on the corner.

“Woah, this is not looking good. I might have to drop you off here,” the driver said after seeing a fire truck blocking the road along with at least one ambulance and a collection of police cars. They were stopped at Koval and Industrial.

“Ok,” JJ said, not really hearing what the driver said. “I’ll get out here,” JJ said, already opening the door and shoving more than enough money through the pass-through.

“Thanks,” the driver said and was off to take his next fare.

JJ started walking but quickly started running to see what was happening. A wall ran along the Big Top side of Koval so JJ couldn’t see anything happening in the parking lot. Once JJ crossed Koval and was clear of the wall, he stopped so that he didn’t run into the line of fire. JJ could see a few cops talking to a few people, probably taking statements. At the edge of the parking lot were a couple of paramedics loading a person onto a gurney. Looking JJ could see that it was Peter who was getting tended to. JJ started running towards the paramedics before he knew what he was doing.

“Stop,” JJ heard authoritative voices yelling. He ignored them and kept running until he felt a truck in a police uniform hit him and smash him to the ground.

“Don’t move, stay down,” an officer with a weapon drawn was yelling above him.

“I need to see him,” JJ was yelling.

The Mac truck that had flattened JJ cuffed him and then pulled him up so that he was sitting on a curb with his hands cuffed behind him.

“I need to see him,” JJ said.

The two officers who had taken down JJ were standing a few feet away, talking, completely ignoring JJ’s pleas.

“Come on, I need to see if he’s okay,” JJ tried again. Seeing that he was getting nowhere, he tried to get up. He scooted his feet back so that he had the curb against his heels and then tried standing up. He got his backside a few inches up when he lost his balance and fell forward, with his face stopping his forward motion when it came in contact with the asphalt.

“Ouch,” JJ said to express his displeasure with gravity.

“Well, I see you won’t be joining the Mystere show,” the big cop said as he picked JJ back up and put him again on the curb. The other officer just shook his head and then headed off to join a group of four officers who looked like they were wrapping up the festivities.

“So were you, one of the two who attacked the bum?” The cop asked.

“No, he’s my, uhm, well, I know him, I wouldn’t hurt him,” JJ protested. “Please, I need to see him. I need to make sure he’s okay.”

The cop looked at him again and then bent down and stood JJ up by pulling him up with the cuffs. He reached into his shirt pocket and took out a small set of keys.

“Okay, I’ll let you go, you obviously are just stupid and not involved with the assault. You need to remember to obey when an officer commands you,” he said, removing the cuffs. “Once you talk to him, you need to leave, or I will arrest you for trespassing.”

“Yes sir,” JJ said rubbing his wrists to soothe the pain that had been caused by the officer pulling him up.

JJ ran over to the ambulance where the paramedics were loading Peter into the back.

“Wait, I need to see if he’s ok,” JJ said to them.

“He won’t talk to you, he won’t talk to anyone,” one of the paramedics said.

“What!! He was killed?!?” JJ exclaimed.

“No he’s just unconscious,” the paramedic said with a bit of mischief on his face.

“Ohh,” JJ said with relief. “Where are you taking him?”

“UMC, he's obviously indigent so they will patch him up there. You should be able to talk to him tomorrow,” the paramedic said.

“Can I go with you?” JJ asked, remembering how in some cop shows, family members of the victim will ride along in the ambulance..

“No, we are not a cab company,” the paramedic said as he finished getting Peter ready to be loaded in.

“Well why can’t I see him today?” JJ asked.

“The emergency room is very busy today and they won’t have a room for him until tonight or tomorrow,” the paramedic said, then closed the door after his partner climbed in the back.

JJ just stood there watching the ambulance drive away. “Well, I guess I have a few hours …” he started to say when his pager interrupted him.