A Tale of Two Tricksters

by Debbie Newcomb

  “If you must,” Jenn replied, mock sighing. She pulled into a parking space near the Velvet Tango Lounge and sat for a moment.

  “Are you all right?” Julie asked.

  “I guess so,” Jenn said. “He just gets under my skin, you know. And don’t you dare say we don’t need to come back. He might have been lying about you causing devastation, but he might not have been. We are not taking that chance.”

  “Okay,” Julie replied. “I thought I was the mind-reader, not you.”

  “I’m very good at predicting what people will do,” Jenn said.

  “Really?” Julie asked. “I’m sure you are.”

  Jenn shrugged. “How else could I trick people? Anyway, we’d better get in there before I drive away.”

  Julie laughed and they both got out of the car. This time, the bouncer didn’t check either of their IDs and Luke was waiting for them at the bar.

  “Ladies,” he said, nodding to them.

  “Hello,” Julie replied.

  Jenn said nothing.

  Luke smiled at her. “Shall we?” he asked. He got up and they went through the door into the cave. This lesson was very similar to the first, except that both Jenn and Julie were much better. As the lessons continued and they got better, they visited Luke less often, which was good for Jenn’s blood pressure. It got to the point where Julie could manage not to read anyone’s mind unless she got too flustered. Similarly, Jenn could keep Julie out of her mind unless she was too flustered. Although, with Luke around, it didn’t take much to make Jenn flustered. Once they mastered the basics, Luke began having Julie categorize the minds around her and sort out who was who. Jenn tried to sneak away while they were having these lessons, but Luke was vigilant and didn’t let her get far by herself.

  “There’s a lot of people who seem…normal,” Julie said after one lesson, “and there’s some who seem like me, with just a bit of something else.”

  “Probably magic,” Luke supplied.

  Julie nodded. “But I see what you mean about Jenn. She’s full of magic one minute and then almost normal the next.”

  “Glad to hear I’m almost normal,” Jenn replied.

  Julie gave her a look. “You know what I mean.” She turned back to Luke. “I’ve felt a few minds like yours as well…”

  “Best to tread lightly there,” Luke advised. “Not everyone is as nice as I am.”

  Jenn guffawed and Luke gave her a heart-stopping smile. Jenn rolled her eyes and looked away, trying to stop her stomach from doing flips again.

  Once their college classes started again, Jenn and Julie went to the Velvet Tango Lounge less often. Jenn managed to go with Julie a few times a week, but sometimes Charles, Emma, and Helen decided they wanted to go out and Jenn always went with them. Julie called their lessons with Luke their double life and said they both needed some time off from it anyway.

  One night when they managed to have a lesson, Jenn and Julie were doing very well. Jenn was able to ignore Luke almost completely and was much better at hiding her mind than usual. Julie was trying to read her mind with little success. Jenn could feel the effort in the air and knew that one of them would have to give sooner or later, but this time it would be Julie. Apparently, Julie did not agree because Jenn could feel the pressure on her mind increase. She fought back, trying to blank her mind and slide out of Julie’s grasp. She had almost slipped away when something snapped in her mind and Jenn saw a white light everywhere. She heard someone screaming and then the bright whiteness changed to darkness, but she was not unconscious.

  Jenn felt herself begin to fall, but someone caught her. It was a man and he was mumbling foreign sounding words quickly and desperately, gently stroking the hair off of her face. Jenn felt her awareness coming back. It felt nice to have someone stroking her hair like that, and Jenn smiled. She opened her eyes and saw Luke’s face over hers. His eyes were huge and his face had gone white.

  “What happened?” Jenn asked, struggling to sit up. Her throat was sore and Jenn realized she had been the one screaming. In a flash, Luke’s face was completely different. Now he looked like nothing special had happened.

  “Julie discovered how to attack someone with her magic,” Luke replied, helping Jenn sit up.

  “Oh my God,” Julie said, crouching next to Jenn. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Jenn said, looking at Julie, although she was still reeling. She turned to look at Luke. “I guess having you around is a good thing sometimes.” Jenn was very well aware that something terrible would have happened to her if he hadn’t stepped in. Still, she shrugged him off and sat there by herself for a moment. It began to hit her what could have happened to her. Jenn started shaking, but she was damned if she was going to cry in front of Luke.

  “Let me get you a blanket,” Luke said quickly.

  Jenn watched him leave and realized she was already starting to cry. “Damn it,” she said.

  Julie held her hand and looked into Jenn’s face. “Did it hurt?” Julie asked carefully.

  Jenn shook her head but wasn’t able to smile like she wanted to.

  Julie nodded slowly. “Do you remember when you convinced the low brass that you were an undercover cop?”

  Jenn barked out a laugh around her shivers. She knew what Julie was doing, but she went along with it. “And that they had to give me all of their weed?”

  “Did they?” Julie asked.

  “Of course, they did,” Jenn replied, smiling. “You’re not looking at an amateur here.” She wiped the tears off of her cheeks and took a few deep breaths, slowing her heart down. “Tommy was the worst, though. He kept bringing me pot for, like, a week afterwards.”

  “What?” Julie asked laughing.

  “Oh yeah,” Jenn said. “He had so much that he didn’t want to carry it all at once, so he’d bring me a bag here and there.” Jenn laughed.

  “And I’m sure you did something responsible with all of that weed,” Julie mock lectured.

  Jenn laughed and sat up a bit straighter. “Of course, I turned it in to the administration. Well, most of it.”

  “Didn’t you just put it in the principal’s desk?” Julie asked.

  “Hey, I didn’t call the cops on him or anything. I just left a note saying that he should restock the vending machines once in awhile.”

  Julie laughed and shook her head. “You are a trouble-maker,” she said.

  Jenn beamed at her. “That’s why I’m so popular,” she said sarcastically.

  Julie shrugged. “I like you well enough.”

  “As do I,” Luke said, walking back over with the green blanket from his bed. He draped it around Jenn.

  “You’ve got to stop putting this blanket on me when something traumatic happens to me here,” Jenn told him. “I’m going to start associating this blanket with trauma.”

  Luke looked at her for a moment, assessing, and then laughed. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?” he asked. “I’d like you to be comfortable in my sheets.”

  Jenn felt herself blushing. “You really need to get laid,” she told him.

  “I agree,” he said, looking at Jenn and smiling. Jenn wasn’t sure how to react. Her stomach seemed to have dropped and she felt tingly, but in a different way.

  “So,” Julie said loudly. They both looked at her. “What did you mean attack?”

  “Ah,” Luke said. He sat down on the ground next to Jenn, facing Julie. “Sometimes, that’s part of a mind-reader’s gift, is mental attack and defense. I wasn’t sure if you would have it or not.”

  “Is that a good thing?” Julie asked.

  “It means you’re strong,” Luke told her. “There might be other applications of your power lurking in your mind.”

  “You make it sound so comforting,” Jenn cut in.

  “Lurking just means we need to draw her powers out,” Luke clarified.

  “I think I’d like to focus on the ones I know about for now,” Julie chimed in. “If we go pulling all of m
y power out, I don’t think it could handle it.”

  “Wise decision,” Luke agreed. “For now, when we work on controlling your mental attack, you can use me as your target.”

  “Because your mind is so much stronger than mine?” Jenn asked.

  “More or less,” Luke replied, shrugging.

  Jenn just sighed and shook her head. She was pretty sure this was true and she wasn’t up to arguing with him about it. After awhile, Jenn stopped shaking and she set the blanket aside. Then she and Julie left.

  “Take care,” Luke said to Jenn at the end of the hallway. “If you start to feel strange, call me.”

  “Strange?” Jenn asked.

  “You’ll know what I mean. If something doesn’t seem right, call me and I’ll come help you.”

  “Yeah, like I want you coming to my dorm.”

  “Promise me,” Luke said, earnest.

  “OK. God,” Jenn replied. “I’ll call you if I start to feel weird.”

  Luke smiled. “Thank you. You still have my card, right?”

  “Tattooed over my heart,” Jenn shot back. “Good bye.”

  Jenn and Julie walked to Jenn’s car in silence. They got in and put on their seatbelts.

  “I’m sorry,” Julie said.

  Jenn looked at her. “You didn’t know that could happen. Hell, I think even Luke was surprised.” Jenn tried to forget how worried he’d looked when she first opened her eyes.

  Of course, Julie was reading Jenn’s mind and she gasped when Jenn tried to forget about this. “He really looked that worried?” Julie asked.

  “Yes,” Jenn replied grumpily. Since Julie was in her mind anyway, Jenn replayed the whole bit with Luke desperately mumbling and gently brushing her hair away from her face.

  “That’s so sweet,” Julie said. “What is with him?”

  “I have no idea, but I think it would take several therapists to get to the bottom of it,” Jenn said, starting her car.

  “Do you still think he’s just trying to use you?” Julie asked.

  “Yep,” Jenn replied, pulling onto the street. She knew that Julie knew that moment with Luke would stay with her for awhile, but that didn’t mean Jenn had to like it. They didn’t talk the rest of the way to Julie’s house.

  “See you later,” Julie said, getting out of the car.

  “Bye,” Jenn replied with a smile. She waited until Julie made it into her house and then she drove away, deep in thought.

  Their lessons continued after that, but only rarely did Julie practice attacking Luke’s mind. Jenn wondered if he was worried, or if he was just trying to keep Jenn from wandering off. Still, he seemed to be more focused on Julie finding others with “the gift” as he called it than anything else.

  Some nights she spent learning about magic, but Jenn still went out with her friends on other nights. One particular night, they were walking down the main street, Jenn was cursing herself for not breaking in her heels earlier. “Hey, we’ve never been there,” Helen said, pointing at the Velvet Tango Lounge.

  “I dunno,” Jenn said. “I hear their drinks are lousy, and I don’t think it’s a dancing bar.”

  “Great,” Helen said, “My feet hurt.”

  “Mine too,” Emma said.

  “I can’t believe I wore these shoes,” Charles joked.

  Jenn remembered that he was wearing sandals. She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “I can’t help it if there’s a double standard about men wearing heels,” Charles said with a grin.

  “There’s other bars,” Jenn began, but Helen was already starting down the stairs. With a sigh, Jenn put herself at the back of the group so none of them would notice that the bouncer didn’t check her ID, and she managed to put them at a table in a dimly lit part of the room. Hopefully, Luke wasn’t here tonight.

  A waiter came over and handed them all menus. After he walked away, Helen joked, “Is this a menu or a book?”

  “I think it’s cool,” Emma said. “I’ve never seen drinks like these.”

  “As long as they have scotch,” Charles said, setting his menu down.

  The waiter came back soon enough. Charles was confused when he was offered a few different kinds of scotch. Jenn was pretty sure he picked one at random. Helen asked for a Bloody Mary, sticking with what she knew. Emma got a blackberry fizz, and Jenn ordered the Ninth Ward to see what that drink was like.

  They had a bit of time before the waiter brought their drinks back and Jenn was starting to relax. It was silly to think Luke would be here every night. They started talking about their summers and Helen talked about her vacation in France.

  “So, there I was swimming in the waves off the coast of France,” Helen began. “One of them pulled me under and I came up coughing a bit. Then this gorgeous French guy picked me up and carried me back to the beach. When I say he was strong, I mean he was ripped!”

  “But you weren’t in danger,” Jenn interjected.

  “I know that, but he was hot, so who cares?” Helen asked.

  “What’s his name?” Emma asked.

  “Raphael,” Helen said.

  Jenn only heard girls say a name like that shortly before they gushed about how great he was. Funny, but those relationships usually didn’t last long.

  “We had a wonderful time,” Helen said. Jenn knew what that meant.

  “You know, that’s a common way for men to pick up rich girls,” Jenn said.

  “What?” Helen asked.

  “Oh yeah. I’m sure you wore a designer swimsuit and he could tell.”

  “You know I did, but I didn’t buy anything for him. It was just a fling and we both knew it.” Helen shrugged. “I know you’re trying to mess with me, but I don’t care. He was hot, it was fun, and I’ll probably never see him again.”

  “Too bad. He sounds so dreamy,” Charles said.

  Helen laughed. “I don’t think you’re his type.”

  Charles made a lot of jokes about being gay. Jenn hadn’t figured out yet if Charles was joking, or if he was serious and he just didn’t want to say so. Maybe that was why the love triangle she tried to set up between the three of them fell through. Well, that and none of them believed her bullshit.

  The waiter came back with their drinks and they were all quiet for a moment to enjoy them.

  “This is fantastic,” Helen said.

  “Mmhm,” Emma said, setting her blackberry fizz back down.

  “They mixed it just right,” Charles said.

  “Charles, that’s just scotch and ice,” Helen pointed out.

  “I know,” Charles said, “but they did it was such artistry.”

  “We’ll have to come back here,” Emma said.

  Damn it. If they came back here again, it was only a matter of time until they ran into Luke and Jenn did not want to mix those parts of her life. She felt a tap on her shoulder. “Speak of the devil,” Jenn thought.

  “I hope I’m not intruding,” Luke said, “but it’s good to see you relaxing with your friends, Jenn.”

  At least he hadn’t called her “my dear”. “Thanks,” Jenn replied coldly.

  “Do you know Jenn?” Helen asked, always on the hunt.

  “Oh yes,” Luke said. “We met this summer.”

  “I’m Helen,” Helen said, “and this is Emma and Charles.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” Luke said, smiling at all of them. Jenn felt validated when both Emma and Helen turned red after that smile. Charles just smiled back, so it was hard to tell what he thought.

  “Don’t you have something to do?” Jenn asked Luke pointedly.

  “Oh, you know me,” he replied. His smile for her was just a little different than his smile for her friends.

  “Grudgingly,” Jenn said. “Good bye.”

  “So lovely to meet all of you,” Luke said. “Please enjoy the drinks, I’ll get the bill for all of you.”

  “You really don’t have to do that,” Jenn stated.

  “I insist,” Luke replied. “Have a good even
ing.” He sailed away before Jenn could say anything else.

  “I hate that guy,” she mumbled.

  “Why?” Helen asked. “He’s a catch! Nothing wrong with an older man, especially if he has money.”

  Jenn rolled her eyes and sighed. She didn’t want to begin to list all of the problems she had with Luke. “He’s an asshole and he’s just pretending to be nice so all of you like him.”

  “I like any man who buys me a drink,” Charles said.

  “That’s all it takes, huh?” Jenn asked.

  Charles shrugged. “Depends on the man, I guess.”

  “He did seem nice,” Emma said.

  “Whatever,” Jenn replied.

  “Jenn, you seem awfully uncomfortable here. Have you two ever…?” Helen trailed off to let Jenn fill in the blank for herself.

  “No,” Jenn snapped. “I don’t waste my time on men like him.”

  “It seems like you don’t waste your time on anyone,” Helen replied. “You really should sometime.”

  “Do we have to talk about this right now?” Jenn asked.

  “I’m just trying to help you out,” Helen said. “He’s probably great in bed.”

  Jenn closed her eyes and counted to ten. She’d heard that was supposed to help.

  “So,” Emma said quickly, “Helen, have you found anyone interesting in your classes so far?”

  “God bless the peacekeepers,” Jenn thought as Helen began prattling on about the latest group of guys she was considering sleeping with. At least she was easy to sidetrack. After they left the bar, Jenn drifted to the back of the group and Charles drifted back to her.

  “Hey, are you okay?” he asked.

  “I’m fine.” Jenn realized this would be more believable if she hadn’t snapped at Charles.

  “Has Luke ever…has he done something to you? You don’t have to tell me what it was, but… It seems like he hurt you.”

  Jenn was taken aback. She had never thought Charles would be trying to ask her if she’d been sexually assaulted. “No,” she said. “No, nothing like that. I mean, he followed me once, but I maced him in the eyes so…”

  “Damn,” Charles replied. “Are you worried about him? Can I help?”

  For a moment, Jenn tried to imagine Charles giving Luke a serious talking to. There were many ways that could go, but most of them ended with Charles’ dignity in tatters. “No, it’s fine. He’s just an asshole and he likes to upset me.”