The Last Wizard: Case Files

by Brown, Allen

  I stood there wondering how she does it. How does she live her life with no one but herself to carry all of her burdens. Not only was she not able to finish a conversation but she was always evading my questions and she was so closed off to the world. She always looked like she carried this huge burden on her shoulders, if only she knew I was right here to help take some of the weight off.

  Taking to the night streets to cool my mind, the crowd grew larger during the nights. It's mostly due to the weather, its a much more cool affair then during the day where they call the sun the Shaytan. Making my way to the riverfront, I stopped to take it all in. My dreams of becoming somebody have been squashed like an insect. The bay area is more of a tourist attraction than anything else, you can see people of all nationalities mingling through the crowd. Lined on the waters were small boats that would take you on a tour out and around Alexandria for a unique look. I've done it once, as part of a job for someone who got sick. It was really beautiful, the lights shimmered off the waters as the city glowed a dim orange in the night. Snaking my way through the wooden boardwalk, I continued my walk aimlessly through the night.

  "Lighten up grouch." Fatima said from behind me, I turned to see a young woman in a dress that I could hardly recognize. Her hair was done and pinned up, and her silk green dress hugged her body all the way to the floor. A slit in her dress rode all the way up to her thighs.

  "You look..." I stammered, before I could finish, she took my arm and dragged me to a stand with freshly squeezed mango drinks. I took a sip of the heavenly goodness and treasured the silky feeling sliding down my dry throat. "Thanks for this." I said to her, crushing my cup and tossing it into a nearby garbage can.

  She didn't respond, she just stared at me with her deep green eyes as she sipped her drink and whimpered a simple "Mhmm." She took my arm again as we walked the boardwalk looking at all the people hustling for the tourists’ money, it was quite funny some of the stories people were telling.

  Fatima shivered, as a cool draft came in from the bay. "Cold?" I said, putting my arm around her. She said nothing, just smiled as we continued our walk until she led me to the water mill by the bay. She grabbed my hand and led me into it.

  The old wooden door creaked open, as she slipped inside letting go of me. What the hell is she up to now? Did she find out about a score and didn't tell me? What a devil. I followed behind carefully, I stepped with caution trying to stay as quiet as possible. It was near impossible with the god fucking old wooden boards. "Fatima!" I whispered out, as I navigated poorly through the dark room. I bumped into about two objects I still don't know what they were to this day before I made it out a doorway into a room with a large window overlooking the boardwalk. Fatima stood looking out the window with a lit torch hanging from the windowsill.

  "You know, I've slept here a few times in my younger days, when I had no other place to stay. My father would lock the house door and tell me, 'go survive the night.'" I took a seat on a pile of hay behind her. I could feel that she cared about this place a lot. This is the first time she told me something about herself. "There were days I slept in a animal pen, on the streets, but one day I wandered barefoot for hours. And when I couldn't walk anymore, I just broke into this place and slept." She said pulling the pin put of her hair and placing it on the window. "It was the first time I had slept in days, and it was the best sleep I’ve had in years."

  I looked at her blank eyes staring into the night sky, "Yeah, I guess me and you both had nights like that." My youth days weren't anything to brag about. I've been an orphan for as long as I can remember. I don’t even know where I was born, or what nationality I am. "I've been on the move so much in my life, I don't even know what a home is. I would like that, a home."

  "Your home is where you make it, no?" She said, circling around the room. Lying back on the hay I whispered.

  "Nah, that's what folks that never experienced homeless-ness tell you." I started kicking off my boots to get cozier, this place was not bad at all, warmed by the fire, yet cooled by the bay wind. The buzzing from the crowd below made it seem like you had a full house of family around you.

  Fatima came and sat beside me, taking her eyes away from the bay and directing her piercing stare onto me.

  Chapter Three

  Chimes from the morning church bells echoed throughout the city waking me from a mostly blissful sleep. But I can't complain, over top my stomach laid a fallen angel whom I believe was sent from the heavens to wander this wretched earth aimlessly. Groaning at my movement she fell over onto the soft haystack and continued her dream undisturbed. The squalls of pigeons fighting over remnants of the night's food brought on the morning. Taking a quick look out the window, trash scattered the deserted boardwalk as the dull morning gave it an eerie feel. Not to mention the thunderous clouds hanging over our heads, taunting us for what may or may not come. I borrowed one last look at Fatima's glowing smile to carry me forward onto another day.

  As I shut the door behind me, I stared off into the distance realizing another day continues where I must seek my fortune; it is just another day where I leave my dorm without weight in my pockets. Starting my walk along the once crowded boardwalk, merchants had already started their day. After counting their spoils from the night, they start by cleaning off their carts and their portion of the walkway. Work had already begun to churn for the night to come, like a well greased machine continuing it’s never ending trek to the lifelong dream of riches.

  I will not be left behind.

  Dashing down the narrow alley between two homes, the path was wet, I just hope its not piss but nevertheless I shall remain on the drier portions of this road.

  Egypt is an amazing place, it is mostly everything one could want. It is a place of history, of beauty, and an interesting culture; with vast riches waiting to be made. Traveling through the streets, you can always see when the huge cargo ships pull into port with their sails towering over the sky's limits. The palm trees waved at me as i made my way to the square, this is the place where everything happens and passes through. If you want work, or you want a connection for anything, this is where you need to be. All you have to do is bring your coin, nothing is free. The natives of the land are very peaceful too, foreigners are allowed to open themselves to commerce, as long as you don't poach someone else's business directly, go right ahead. But we both know that business is never sweet.

  Alas, the crown jewel of the peasant world, the square sat right on the doorsteps of the Church, and unfortunately for them they can do nothing about it. The ground was paid of pure white stone which laced the surrounding buildings, it was quite astonishing. The architecture of this place was always diverse; no two places looked alike. Two towers from the Church rose from the ground and into the sky high above the rest, perhaps to reach God, I don't know. The dome rested in the middle of the two smooth as butter and as clean as one would expect.

  Looking at it during the night, the blue lights that light up the towers were one everyone could always take a moment to appreciate. But nothing could make the square more colorful than its people, the bustling noises of merchants and customers jeering at each other. You then have the street performers competing with each other for attention and sadly, most of it goes to the wonderfully decorated Ottoman guards posted at each entrance. Order must be kept, and so it was, no one challenged the guards.

  Staying atop the bridge that led into the square, I bided my time, looking for an opportunity that I can seize today. "Hey you." I heard with a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see who it was, hopefully not someone I owe money to, almost no one approaches me unless I owe them money... or a favor.

  It was the girl I saw at the excavation site, the one with the enormous guard that almost took my head, "Hey... You." I said forgetting I didn't even know her name, that's always an awkward moment no matter how you spin it.

  "It's Sonia, you are?" She said circling me. Trailing her movement, she was definitely an interesting person. Her brown tan and ey
es tells me she hailed from the east, yet the way she carried herself and spoke in an almost perfect English dialect was very western.

  "Jinn... It's Jinn," I said looking at her curiously, “You're the girl from yesterday, no? At the dig site."

  She said nothing, she continued to trace every movement I made. Finally turning to me as my gaze got lower, "yes, and everyone did see you too. It was quite a spectacular fall." She said with a smile she was trying so hard to hold back, but couldn't.

  "Well, I did it because I like the attention." I said in the most serious tone I could conjure.

  "Oh I see, but it was pretty grand, I'll give you that." She said, "Like I said, I am Sonia, I hail from England with my father." She said holding her skirt out to the side and giving me the royal bow. I could swear that a few people stopped in the street to take a look.

  "Well, uh, it’s really nice to meet you Sonia, welcome to the East I suppose." I said giving her a clumsier bow that definitely attracted some attention, and not the good kind. It was more the 'I am worried about your survival' kind of stare.

  Trying to keep her composure she held in her laugh, horribly. "So what do you do here Jinn?" She said spinning around clapping her shoes together and peering over the marketplace rising up onto her toes for a better view.

  I approached her side and leaned on the railings, "Well I'm sort of a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy. I like to dabble in various art forms." I said as she seemed too busy trying to see over a guard that wandered into her line of sight. Grabbing her hand, "here, come with me." Guiding her down the alley I came from, making a quick left turn, we climbed a flight of stairs and down a narrow corridor. The sound of her shoes clicked against the stone floor, she stayed surprisingly quiet for someone who could have been kidnapped by a stranger. But being patient, we came up onto the overpass, standing on a bridge overlooking the fair.

  Letting go of my hand, she grabbed onto the railing, leaned forward and watched below like a child waiting for the right moment to leap into the pool. From up here, you could see everything, every detail from the performers, vendors and the sea of heads bobbing up and down below like a river below. This is my scouting spot, the single best place to find some poor soul to pickpocket, but I'll skip the semantics. "Oh my god, this is amazing." She said.

  "Taking the Lord's name in vain," I said with a sly smile, "not much of a Church girl are ya?"

  She gave me a blank stare and a grin as if that was all I was owed, turning from me, she said: "Thank you for the view Jinn. It is truly remarkable." A strange feeling of conclusion loomed in me, I can't have this end now, its just about to get started. You are my key.

  "Wait what?"

  "Something wrong?" She said with a puzzled look, wrapping her hands behind her back, waiting for my word.

  "Come on, let's go check out this place together." I said walking past her.

  "Sure!" She said with a wide smile, a response she was most definitely expecting as I reflected on it.

  First, we stopped by a performer that played a stringed instrument, it was shaped like an over sized sharply curved banana. Strings ran from end to end all the way through as it spun a melody that was gentle to the ears. The man stood with the large instrument and ran his hands along the string plucking away as the crowds dropped coins in a purse laid out in front of him. Sonia and myself stood hypnotized by his work, I could barely follow his hand movements as he increased his pace for a faster finish. Sonia clapped like a little girl experiencing music for the first time, the smile on her face was contagious to say the least.

  Following through, we browsed the various workshops displaying the unique ways of building origami paper structures like the sphinx. One couple sat in the workshop together and made pottery out of fresh clay on a spinning table. Before we knew it, dusk started to break as we nibbled on some freshly baked Baklava through the seemingly never ending crowd. The Egyptian sky flowed like an ocean of purple water with the clouds serving as a splash of white, an orange hue of the sun hid behind the taller pyramid, exemplifying its enigma. As the night came, the more I realized my feet were sore, I could see Sonia limp in her shoes too, but she didn't tire. "Hold on, lets take a break here." I said. We sat on a bench atop a hill overlooking the desert, the vast wasteland of dirt and sand glowing a bright orange from the sunset.

  Sonia stared into the sky, her eyes traced the faint stars that began to shine in the sky. It looked like she was lost in thought, the inner working of her brain may have been in overdrive as great philosophical questions entered her through the exotic mystery of these lands. "Are monkey butts hairy? I've never seen one before." She turned to me with a straight face.

  "Uhh..." I managed to mutter as I was baffled by her wild imagination. Had this girl been so locked up all her life, that this may be in fact the first time she is experiencing the outside world. A world that was brought onto me as long as I could remember, I didn't have the luxury of a home, walls, rooms and a roof over my head. But, the more I think about it, the more I see it could also resemble a cage, designed to hide ourselves from the danger by sacrificing the beauty of the world. "I don't believe so, but I'm no expert." I said.

  "So much for jack-of-all-trades." She said with a coy look slumping back into her seat.

  "I'll be sure to check that detail out and get back to you on that okay?" I said jokingly. She fidgeted constantly on the bench, yet managed to stay seated. I could hardly believe I was with an adult at times but it was something about her, maybe it was her free spirit, or her innocent attitude to life that drew me in further. "So your dad is a white Englishman? Are you..."

  "Nope, my mom is a priestess from India, and my dad is the captain of the crusaders of England."

  "That's a curious match."

  "Is it?"

  "Maybe a little."

  "Hmm."

  For a brief moment we enjoyed the silence, it was as if the world froze and each person held their breaths barring the stale wind. The sun slowly dipped beyond the horizon continuing its journey to the other side as the lights lined throughout the city began to flicker on. And just like that, the night was just about to be born. "Do the pyramids have names?" She asked, staring at the large shadows highlighted in the night sky.

  I leaned in onto her as I guided her with my hand, "Yes, we have Khufu on the left, Khafre in the center, and Menkaure is the one on the far right. All named after their Pharaohs." I pointed out to her.

  "Amazing." She said pushing her body towards mine. I could feel the warmness of her touch against me as she hung onto my arm.

  "Yeah, it's a fancy grave alright." I said my voice getting a bit high, jumping onto her feet before I had the chance to do anything else.

  "Well, thanks for the lovely evening Jinn. I best be back, before my dad invades the city looking for me." Part of her voice meant that as a joke, but I could feel a hint of literal meaning in there.

  "Oh, sure." I said still sitting down, this isn't like me. I'm usually three steps ahead, but I feel like I'm sprinting backwards. Everything I do seemed to be walking away, when all I want to do is go forward. "Hey Sonia." I managed to squeeze out before she drifted too far. "Will I see you again?"

  She looked over her shoulder at me, "well that depends Jinn. Do you want to?" She had me hooked like a fish, and she knew it. But I didn't care, I just wanted to be around her. I gave her a quick nod, my heart pulsated in a rhythm that was foreign to me.

  "Then yes. Meet me over there, lets say over-morrow in the afternoon?" She said pointing at a tall lit up church showcased brightly in the night sky like a beacon.

  "I'll see you then." I said, as the cool wind brushed her dress into the wind.

  She walked along the deserted street endlessly to her destination, braving the cool draft that drifted inland from the bay. Standing silent and unwavering under the clear night sky, I looked upon her with curiosity and wonder. Wondering if she'll take a moment, a moment to notice. Her hair reflected a ghostly grey, her eyes, a mystic brown. Her so
ft skin glowed on the nights touch. Stopping in her path, she stood, feeling it behind her. Like an itch she couldn't shake, she turned and faced what stared at her. Above, was a bright smile wrapping her in a blanket of warmth. Returning the smile, she continued her trek forward, bathing in the warmth under the moonlight.

  Chapter Four

  The hot sun crept onto my face through a crack in the rotting roof; it pierced my eye lids and blinded my dream. Raising from the sack of hay I slept on like an old pharaoh from his tomb, only to see he wasn't in the land of vast riches he was promised. My mind was in a state of flux, the day should just be starting, but it feels like days had passed, my present wasn't recognizable. A barrage of questions filled my thoughts flooding what sense I had out, I dropped onto the floor failing in my attempt to walk. Straws of hay imprinted on my face deep enough for a river to flow freely.

  I had definitely overslept.

  A piece of parchment hung on a post pegged with a dagger, curious, it read:

  "Jinn! I got us a job digging some trenches, meet me south by the plantation at noon!" - Fatima

  Yup, I'm late.

  Limping over to the barrel of water sitting by the doorway, I dunked my head in, the cold wrapped my skull in a coat of ice that felt refreshing. Pulling out, the water whipped to different ends of the room as my growl scared the birds sitting atop the roof. The world looked real again, I had a sense of being, I knew exactly where I was. Tossing my shirt over my shoulders, I hit the ground running towards the exit, and into the bright day leaving the darkness behind me. The blatant light was so blinding my eyes retreated behind my head, though, I continued to wobble down the shaking staircase like the mess I was. Jumping the railing, I headed south to the plantation where Fatima will probably put my soul to rest.