The Magic Touch

by Jody Lynn Nye

  Ray did think about it again, more seriously. He tried to picture the brownie points, as Rose had told him. There were four, plus a scatter of tiny sparks. They rushed toward him, all willing to become good wishes. What should he do with them? They bobbed up and down eagerly in his imagination, all wanting to be first.

  “No!” Ray said. “I can’t. I’ve got to think about it some more.”

  Alexandra searched his face carefully. “You’re not doing it just for the brownie points, Ray. I see you aren’t. There’s a lot of hard work involved, a lot of thought and caring. You have to do it for the love of it.”

  “No, ma’am,” Ray said. “It makes me feel good to help kids. I thought I might like to be a pediatrician when I graduated, but there’s no way I can get into medical school. I guess I’ll try something else, but in the meantime, I can do this.”

  “He’s community-minded,” Rose said. “I admire that.”

  “It’s too bad it doesn’t pay,” Chris Popp said, leaning back heavily in his chair. “I’d be happy to give up my job. I hate it, but I’ve developed this addiction to eating, and darn it, try as I may, I can’t seem to give it up.” He patted his round stomach.

  “He’s not doing it just for the brownie points,” Rose said, just to make certain everyone understood.

  “I sure wouldn’t be if it was all like last Friday,” Ray said, remembering, and his cheeks got hot. Luckily it was too dim in the room for anyone to see clearly. At Rose’s prompting, he told the others about his misadventure with the orchid, and how Rose was forced to come in at the last minute because the wand was no good.

  “The gain was on too low,” Rose added, when he paused for breath. “It’s been all right all this week. I told him it’s okay.”

  “Maybe,” Ray said, feeling as if he was betraying a confidence, “but I don’t trust it now.”

  The others looked very concerned. Alexandra held out her hand and Ray gave her the training wand. She peered at it closely as if she was not only looking at it but listening to it.

  “It seems all right,” she said.

  Ray leaned forward earnestly. “Yeah, but this little stick doesn’t do the job,” he said, giving her his most serious and persuasive look, hoping that she might give in and promote him to a real wand. “If you want me to really learn, I need a good one.”

  “Hey, sonny, you know better than that!” The used car salesman distracted everyone by giving him a big wink and nudging his neighbor with his elbow. “It’s not the size of the wand, it’s how you use it.” He laughed uproariously, and the other men joined in. It seemed to be an old joke.

  Ray, who honestly hadn’t thought of the comparison between wands and other things yet, and wondered why not, sat up and grinned like a jack-o’-lantern. Rose looked prim.

  “I wouldn’t say a thing like that,” she insisted.

  “Oh, you were born an old fuddy-duddy,” Garner said, scowling. “The doctor smacked your rump, and said, ‘this one’s going to be a drag.’”

  “You should know. You were there for comparison,” Rose retorted.

  Ray looked around at all of them, realized he didn’t have a clue as to how old they were. Did you maybe live hundreds of years being a fairy godmother? Live longer, anyway? Even the oldsters seemed healthier and happier than usual folks.

  “Where’s your grandmother, Ray?” Mrs. Durja asked.

  “She’s at choir practice,” Ray said. “It’s always on Wednesday and Saturday nights.”

  Garner snapped his fingers. “I should have remembered. Are we ever going to change the day, Alexandra? Saturday is damned inconvenient for anybody with a social life.”

  “I can’t win,” the chairwoman said, throwing up her hands. “If we meet on a weekday, everyone with a day job gripes. If we meet on a weekend, everybody else gripes. Saturday still seems to be the best compromise, even if everyone who wants to go out of town misses a meeting now and again. If you want to change the time to a rotating schedule during the day so we can pick up those members who keep missing because of evening commitments, I’ll raise the issue. What’s everyone think?”

  She looked at each person in turn, seeking his or her opinion. She turned to Ray, and when he demurred, tilting his head so she would go on to the next godparent, she continued to wait, smiling. The other adults waited, too. They really did care what he thought, even though he was the youngest member of the group. They thought of him as a part of this community.

  “I’d like to be able to go out on Saturday nights once in a while. My girlfriend …” His sentence ground to a halt, but he saw that she understood anyhow.

  “Of course,” Alexandra said, gently, and went on to the next person. “All right, that’s settled. I’ll bring it up next time as new business.”

  He gave Rose a look of joy, which she met with confusion, since it was all out of proportion to having his Saturday evenings freed up. He liked being accepted like that. There was a real interest, a real involvement with him and what he said. They chuckled over his retelling of his escapades, and sympathized when he was upset at having failed. This was a kind of family, where they squabbled and resolved differences, but didn’t let it interfere with their mission.

  “I’ll check with the others who have training wands,” Alexandra promised. “No one else has complained, Rose, but from what he said about that client, you might be letting Ray take more advanced cases than the others. I’ll check. I’m so sorry, Ray. I should have checked each wand personally.” She got up to order another round of drinks for the table.

  Ray glanced over sheepishly at Rose.

  “You’re not holding me back, you’re pushing me?” Ray asked. Rose made a modest little face, and raised her hands to the level of her shoulders.

  “Is that worse?” Rose asked.

  “No! That’s good,” Ray said, feeling a warm glow in the middle of his chest, almost as nice as the wand’s goodness. “I guess that means you think I can take it.”

  “Absolutely,” Rose said.

  “Then I want to do more,” Ray said, stretching out his arms. “I’ll take any assignment. Let me try everything.”

  “Hold on, hold on!” boomed the big salesman at the end of the table. “Don’t put the punkin carriage before the mice, kid.”

  “I won’t,” Ray said. “Rose won’t let me.” It was daring, to make the others laugh at one of their own, but they did laugh, and no one seemed to mind. He was allowed to banter, like one of the old-timers. He felt happy.

  Rose looked at her watch. “Well, it’s too late for our rounds tonight. I think I’d better get on home.”

  Ray rose at once when she did, but more reluctantly. “Me, too,” he said.

  Everyone wished them a good night and promptly went back to their discussions. Within moments, Mrs. Durja and Mr. Garner were at it again over the same old argument, speaking in staccato phrases and waving their arms heatedly. Chris Popp and Mr. Lincoln moved in at once to try and separate them.

  Ray returned Edwin’s parting salute. The fairy godmothers were long gone from their tiny barstools. More people, some of them with fancy berets and some without, had joined the throng of Guardian Angels, who had pushed more tables and chairs into a rough circle just in front of the bar. Ray and Rose had to squeeze behind them to get out.

  As they left the bar, Ray felt that secure feeling of the wards slip out from around him, and shivered, even though the night was still very warm. Rose’s shadowy figure turned to him.

  “Always remember, if you’re ever afraid or in trouble, get to the bar. It’s the best safe haven we have. You’ll be protected there.”

  “I’ll remember,” he said. He turned his head to peer in the windows. Already, the cozy lounge felt like a second home. He had family there.

  O O O

  Traffic was light on the side street. By this hour of the night, anyone who was going out was out, and anyone who was staying home had found a parking place. They saw only a few pedestrians, walking in ones and t
wos, their shoes loud on the empty pavements. They didn’t know that there were magic people only a few paces away, and a magic bar just behind the innocuous-looking window to their left. Ray found it hard to keep his voice down in his enthusiasm.

  “So can we go out again tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Sorry, honey. Normally, Sunday is all right, but my daughter’s coming for dinner,” Rose said, her brows wrinkling upward apologetically. “She’s bringing the grandkids. I don’t know when they’ll leave.” When he looked dejected, she took his arm. “You can come, too, if you like. You’d be very welcome.”

  “No, thanks,” he said, pulling away. “I’ve got family stuff of my own, I guess. How about Monday?” Rose shook her head. “Tuesday?”

  “I’ll be knackered on Tuesday evening. I do my volunteer day at the local grade school every Tuesday.” She tapped him on the chest. “That’s where I met your grandmother, you know.”

  “Grandma doesn’t do volunteer days there,” Ray said, with a quizzical look.

  “Oh, no,” Rose’s eyes twinkled in the streetlamp light. “We met when we used to go to parent-teacher meetings, back when we both had children there.”

  “My mama and Uncle Bradley and Aunt Selena?” Ray asked, astonished. “That was a long time ago!”

  “Yes, indeed,” Rose said, wryly. “Back at the dawn of time. My sons and daughters used to play with your mother and aunt and uncle. ‘Creative’ is the term the teachers used then, to describe the kind of hijinks all of them got up to. Since then, everybody’s moved away except your mother.” Rose sighed, reminiscing. “Your uncle was a sweet little boy. You look a lot like him. Mrs. Green was very proud when he was put on the honor roll for a whole year, back when he was in seventh grade.”

  “About when it happened to me the first time,” Ray said thoughtfully. “How come you know my grandmother more than forty years and you still don’t call her by her first name? Plenty of her friends do.”

  Rose shrugged. “She never asked me to. In my generation, you didn’t push for the instant intimacy you see all the time now. I guess it’s a hard habit to get over. But a little formality didn’t hurt anyone.”

  “Grandma can be pretty formal,” Ray admitted. Rose smiled at him.

  “You two are very special to each other,” she said. “When she started taking care of you when you were just a little baby, she was happy. Your parents were sorry to burden her with their child, but she didn’t mind at all. She enjoyed raising another one, especially one as interesting as you. I think you have a special bond with her.”

  “Yeah, I guess we do.” His parents had been very young when they got married, and it was only a short time before Ray was born. Finances prevented either one from being able to stay at home with their new child. It had seemed a natural thing for his widowed grandmother to come and live with them, and take care of baby Raymond. She had virtually primary care of him until he had started school. Their relationship was different than Ray’s with his parents. She understood him when no one else did, not all that surprising for the woman who had witnessed his first steps, heard his first word, and read him, at two a night, more than 3,650 bedtime stories.

  After Ray, the surprise, his parents had delayed having further children. By the time the other kids came along, the parents had more time to spend with them. Ray was a little jealous of the interest they took in their two younger offspring, even as he acknowledged how unfair it was to blame his parents for their youth and poverty when he was born. For their part, Bobby and Chanel were a little jealous of his closeness to Grandma Eustatia. She took his part sometimes when his parents didn’t see things his way. Not that Grandma ever showed favor to one grandchild over another, but he and she had a familiarity between them that was impossible to duplicate. Her influence became diluted as the family’s fortunes improved to the point where her daughter could be at home more, and her son-in-law was able to take time away from his schedule.

  “Was she fairy-godmothering when I was little?” he asked.

  “Oh, most certainly. She’s been in the union for more than forty years,” Rose said.

  Ray was struck by a thought that made his eyes widen. “Did she ever take me on visits? I don’t remember any, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t.”

  “That’s true,” Rose said. “Why don’t you ask her?”

  Ray nodded sharply. “I guess I will. Um, should I walk you home? It’s not too far.”

  “Thank you, young man,” Rose said, tucking her hand through his arm. “That would be very nice. Whew!” she said, fanning herself with her little clutch purse. “Isn’t it humid tonight?”

  “Sure is,” Ray said, trotting alongside her. “So, Wednesday?”

  “Wednesday is fine,” Rose said. “Wednesday for certain.”

  “Why do we have to wait so long to go out again?” he asked, knowing he was whining.

  Rose tilted her head to look up at him sidelong. “Sonny, when you graduate from the mentoring program and get promoted to full membership you can go out every night of the week from then on. In the meantime you have to put up with the physical restrictions of having a partner of a certain age.”

  “But I want to be out and doing things,” Ray insisted. “For other people, I mean. Good things.”

  Rose made a sound like “tchah!” “You don’t need magic for that. Clean your room. Wash the dishes. Mow the lawn. Mow the neighbor’s lawn. Feed the hungry.” Ray dug his hands into his pockets and stalked along beside her, sulking. “Look! I’m giving you the intensive course right now. I can’t really do any more than I am. I’ve got responsibilities. What about you? How about your job?”

  “What, clipping hedges and planting marigolds? I can do it in my sleep,” Ray said, frustrated.

  “But you shouldn’t,” she said. “You could hurt yourself.”

  “I don’t need another mama, Rose. I want to get out there.”

  “I know, I know. But it’s not all fun and games, you know. We haven’t had any of the real heartbreakers, yet.”

  “I can handle it,” Ray said confidently.

  They turned the corner onto the main street. Ahead of them, the silhouette of a tall, slender girl with her hair in a topknot bun was walking their way with an easy, athletic gait. As they passed under the next streetlamp, she quickened her pace and strode toward them. Ray felt his heart quicken. The leggy shape was his girlfriend, Antoinette. Her long, narrow face lit up.

  “Ray? I thought that was you. Where’ve you been, boyfriend?” she asked, leaning back and putting a provocative hand on her hip. “You haven’t been around much the last couple of weeks.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ray said abjectly, realizing he hadn’t been as available as he might have been, so involved was he in learning the ins and outs of wish-granting. “Grandma Eustatia got me involved in some charity work,” Ray said hastily, glancing over Antoinette’s shoulder at Rose and hoping she’d take his cue.

  “Well, I guess I’ll forgive you,” Antoinette said, smiling so her almond-shaped eyes crinkled. She moved closer. Ray wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hello. “What kind of charity work?” she asked, as soon as her lips were free.

  “Helping kids,” Ray said shortly. A full explanation would take hours, and he wasn’t certain he could explain it well, yet, but the short form seemed to satisfy her for the moment. “Uh, sometimes we give them clothes. Whatever they need.”

  “Really?” Antoinette beamed, swinging loose so she could see Rose, too. Ray clamped his arm around her waist instead. “That’s so nice. I’m doing some special volunteering, too, but not only with kids. My uncle got me into it, you see. Helping people who need help.” She appealed to both of them. “‘Looking out for the little guy,’ he calls it. Good thing I take karate. Some of those little guys aren’t so little, or so glad to see me.” Ray remembered his manners after a surreptitious jab in the ribs from Rose.

  “I’m sorry, Toni: this is Mrs. Feinstein. She’s a friend of my grandmother,” Ra
y said, gesturing from one to the other. “This is Miss Antoinette Smithfield. Her uncle is the Reverend Barnes, the pastor at my grandma’s church.”

  “I’m very pleased to meet you,” Rose said, taking Antoinette’s outstretched hand. The girl shook hands with brisk cordiality. “Call me Rose, won’t you? My goodness, no wonder Ray went on and on about you. You’re even more beautiful than he described.”

  Antoinette dimpled prettily. “Thanks,” she said shyly. “Where are you going now?” she asked Ray.

  “He was just walking me home,” Rose said, before Ray could answer. “The streets can be so unsafe at night.”

  “Tell me about it,” Antoinette said, with a long-suffering sigh. “That’s why I take karate classes.”

  “She got her black belt sooner than anyone in her age group,” Ray said proudly.

  “Congratulations!” Rose grabbed their hands, put them together, and patted them. “Well, you two haven’t seen each other, so I’ll just go on by myself. I’ll be fine.”

  “Uh, no, I should go with you,” Ray said, torn between his responsibility as her escort and the attraction of his girlfriend.

  “No,” Antoinette said, smoothly taking the trouble out of his hands. “We’ll both walk you home. I’d feel better about it. Okay, Ray? There’s no reason that just because I ran into you, you should change your plans.”

  “All right,” Ray said dreamily. That was just like her, so considerate. And so beautiful. She had grace. The way she held herself, the way she walked, she looked like a queen next to short, chunky Rose. He’d been against the karate lessons when she first started, thinking that it would make her more macho than he was, but it had only given her confidence. Where she used to be awkward, she was now proud of those long, pretty legs. It was his ego that got in the way. She had had the wisdom to know that, and the patience to wait out the tantrum. Antoinette caught him looking at her, and gave him her special smile. His heart pounded wildly in his chest. She was wonderful.

  O O O

  At her door, Rose turned to face the young couple. They had trailed behind her, hand in hand, for the last five blocks. She remembered what first love had been like. The delicious memory stayed with one for a lifetime, even if the person didn’t. In Rose’s case, she felt she’d been lucky: he had. With a bittersweet pang in her heart, she smiled down at Ray and Antoinette from her doorstep.