Chapter Three

THE SORCERER’S EMPORIUM OF ENCHANTED OBJECTS.
CHAPTER 3
“What I’m about to show you will probably freak you out,” Louie was saying rapidly.
Sean was leaning guardedly against one of the plants in the uncompleted building. He didn’t want to put all his weight on the wood in case it toppled over. The walls of the building were white washed which made it impossible for Sean to get close to any. He stared lazily at the ecstatic Louie before him. Louie had been acting like this all day. Saying he’d discovered something that would make Sean’s mind flip. Well, he was taking a hell lot of a time to reveal this thing and if he created anymore suspense, he’d be the one getting flipped by Sean.
Sean glanced at his watch for the umpteenth time and complained.
“Are you going to say what’s on your mind already?” He said
“Are you ready to be blown away?” Louie asked. His eyes wide and gleaming.
“Yeah, whatever,” Sean shrugged. “Did you have to bring us here?" He looked around uncertainly. These incomplete buildings were famous gang hideouts and his childhood experience had certainly scarred him enough. He did not need any more reminders.
“Dude,” gleamy-eyed Louie said. “Nobody needs to ever know about this. We might end up dead.” Louie sounded dramatic.
Sean flinched. "That serious?" Sean was not holding his breath. Louie was known to blow things out of proportion.
“Okay, wait for it,” Louie said slowly pulling something out of his pocket. “Ta da!” he yelled holding it up before Sean. Sean looked indifferent.
“A pen?”
“Not just any Bic pen,” Louie said excitedly.
“Will it dance for me?" Sean teased.
“Better than that. Ask it any question," Louie said taking out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.
“Anything like?” Sean asked.
“Just any question” Louie explained.
“Okay,” Sean shrugged. “Is my friend Louie drunk?" He asked the pen.
“Seriously Sean!” Louie exclaimed. “Okay, listen to this," Louie braced himself before asking the pen. “Are there any other pens out there like yourself?”
Then before their eyes, the pen eased it way out of Louie’s hand and scribbled something on the crumpled piece of paper that Louie was holding with trembling hands.
“Holy mother!” Sean screamed skipping a reasonable distance away.
“Come and see what it says,” Louie called excitedly.
“Are you crazy?” Sean said moving closer. “Put that thing away.”
“The answer is 'Not yet' meaning soon there might be more of these out there,” Louie said.
“Louie, seriously put that pen away. People spook these things to sit for exams. This is probably one of those charmed pens. Where did you get this?" Sean asked. He was poking the pen with a piece of wood he’d found on the floor.
“At Books N things shop just around the metropolitan library” Louie explained. “These were actually in a basket at the counter, you buy something and they ask you to pick something on your way out…”
“And you picked this talking pen?” Sean shrieked.
“Well, at the time I didn’t know it was capable of this,” Louie replied holding up the pen to inspect it in the dim light.
“Look Sean,” Louie continued holding the pen up. “This could be the answer to all our problems.”
“Really?” Sean said glancing at his watch distractedly. “Do you think that shop might still be open now?”
“You mean Books N Things?” Louie asked.
“Yeah, where you got this”
“They might be closing now. But if we hurry we might catch them. What’s up dude?” Louie asked confused.
“Something just came up,” Sean said leading the way out of the building.
* * * * * *
Viya was sitting in front of almost full ashtray glancing around expectantly but there were still no signs of Donatien anywhere around the bar or the motel.
Where the hell was he? His beautiful new wife had just scammed him out of his life savings. For god sakes the least he could do was to get back at her. He should have been here by now, displaying anger and revenge. Viya thought that was only the right way to react to an act of betrayal.
Unless Donatien himself was also in on the scram and had known what he was doing all along when he’d asked Madame for Viya particularly.
Viya nodded quietly in shocking realization as her trembling fingers circled the glass of Coke heavily stung with whiskey and brought it to her lips.
It appeared more people knew about the comb than she suspected. There was going to be a slight change in plan, Viya thought. But her thoughts were interrupted.
“Can I buy you a refill?” Someone asked as Viya was setting her empty glass on the table.
She looked up and saw a handsome chiseled face smiling down at her. Viya stared uncertainly at him. He was incredibly good-looking in a mature way plus he was holding a pack of her favorite brand of filtered smokes which she needed badly right now.
Viya took one last drag on her cigarette and dropped it in the ash tray before her. Then she looked up and smiled sweetly.
“Yeah sure,” she said.
The guy took the seat opposite hers and proffered the pack of cigs in Viya’s direction.
“I’m Roman,” he said signaling the waiter over to their table. Viya pulled out one lovely cig and replied, “Viya. You're welcome.”
He lit her smoke and refilled her glass with whiskey and flashed hera killer smile.
Damn, maybe Roman was all the distraction she needed right now, Viya thought as she inhaled and nodded back at him.
* * * * * *
“Look we’re about to close for today. If there’s anything else you want you better say it fast,” the cranky and now irritated shop owner complained.
Sean sighed. It was obvious this guy was not going to be helping them with any extra information on where this pen came from. Sean needed to think fast.
“How about those?” Sean said pointing towards the gift basket where Louie was frantically testing out every pen he found in it on his piece of paper.
“ Those are not for sale,” the irrate man replied. He had had a bad day at the shop and the last thing he needed was a bunch of disoriented youths poking around for freebies.
“I wonder who was kind enough to donate those,” Sean said. “A cool collection,” he added.
“People are free to donate stuff here all the time but we are not allowed to say who they are. Most of them want to remain anonymous.”
Sean thought about this for a while then said, “What if I have something to donate?”
At this, the old man’s face brightened.
“of course, you’re welcome to do that," he said. "You might choose to remain anonymous but there are some papers you’ll have to fill. We keep records,” the old man finished.
“I thought as much,” Sean said more to himself.
“ Let me get that record book for you. You’ll make our twenty-first kind giver,” the man smiled at Sean displaying a bad set of dust –coloured teeth.
“My pleasure entirely, Sean said.
As he signed off his name, it didn’t take him more than a few seconds to spot the name of the donor of the gift basket just a few names above his. He quickly memorized the address. The donor’s handwriting was crooked and scrawny. It was a lady’s. Probably in her sixties.
Sean reached the column that said ‘donation description’ and scribbled down an amount of cash that made the old man smile all the way to his ears.
Then Sean counted a wad of bills from his pocket, thanked the old man and walked out of the store.
“Anytime,” the now contented shop owner called after them.
They had just made his day.
* * * * * *
Roman had taken one look at her and known she was the one. Her latest victim had described her long straight dark hair and her frail thin features. Roman thought she was pretty but in a harsh kind of way. Maybe if she cut back on the drinking and smoking and got a new job, she would blossom. She needed to cut back on the drinking but that was for another day, Roman thought. Right now, he needed her to drink as much as possible.
There was no way he was going to take any chances with her. He had heard stories of her and he had to admit she was good.
For starters, she had lied about her name. The note on the victim came from a Nadine. Now she was using Viya. He wasn’t surprised. People like her were fund of using aliases. He didn’t know who the hell Viya was but he knew Nadine had something he wanted and he was going to get it.
* * * * * * *
Viya was beginning to question her mind about this Roman guy. At first he’d seemed like a nice distraction. But not so much now. For starters, he was spiking her drink as if he deliberately wanted her to get drunk. people like him did not end up in places like this. he did not have to pay a girl or spike her drink to get laid. His good looks did not need a motel to help him find company any day. No, he was definitely after something bigger. Too much had happened lately for her not to be suspicious of him.
Nadine may have gotten the comb but obviously there were still people out there who thought Viya still owned it. Obviously more people knew about this powerful object than she'd suspected. She didn’t know how much Roman knew or what he wanted but she was pretty sure they were both out here tonight after the same object.
And she, Viya, was more than ready to play along.
“I have to use the ladies room,” Viya said excusing herself from the table..
* * * * * *
Tinsel was sitting on one of those high three-legged stools at the bar. In his over sized T-shirt and baggy jeans over his tall lean frame, he looked terribly young and out of place at the bar. He was resting his elbows on the bar as he chatted idly with the busy bar man.
“What are you doing?” Tinsel asked the bar man who was emptying a bottle of whiskey and refilling it with another mixture.
“Lady over there tipped me to do it," the barman said pointing towards a table. He set the bottle on a tray and went to serve the lady and her man.
Tinsel watched them but the lights in the bar were too dim for him to make anyone out.
“Why would she pay you to switch their drinks?” Tinsel asked the barman when he returned. He was bored stiff and the bar man didn't mind his company.
“Apparently, she doesn’t want to get wasted,” the man replied. “What I put inside that whiskey bottle has no effect whatsoever. Almost zero percent alcohol.”
“Her man is trying to get her drunk?” Tinsel was surprised. “Who still does that?" Tinel threw his hands in the air. the bar man shrugged and started cleaning some glasses.
"But he’s drinking it too," Tinsel continued. "Am sure he’s aware of what she’s done?”
The bar man looked up from under his shelf. “Who? That one? He hasn’t tasted a thing. He’s feeding it all to the poor girl. If it was water I put in that bottle, he still wouldn’t know. He still got enough whiskey in his glass anyways,” the barman continued cleaning the glasses with such expertise as he whistled.
“Some guys are really smart and crafty,” Tinsel remarked.
“Yes," the barman answered without looking up. "But she beat him to it, that girl.”
* * * * * * *
Mrs. Lucinda Mbong was exactly how Sean had imagined she would be. She lived in a tiny but neat and well-kept compound away from all the hustle and bustle in the metropolis areas. It was night and she had been skeptical about receiving guests at such an hour. Especially two young men.
She had been dismissive until the point where Sean had held up the pen and asked, “Care to tell me more about where is coming from?"
At that Mrs. Lucinda had frozen in her step. There was no denying that she knew something about this pen. The mere sight of it had off set her.
Louie was about to say something else but Sean stopped him. Mrs. Lucinda collapsed on one of her sofas resignedly, took in a deep breath and began narrating.
* * * * * *
Viya was still pretending to be passed out when Roman quietly tip-toed over to her side of the bed, picked up her bag and started rummaging around in it. She could barely walk but had been very easy to carry across the road because of her light weight into one of the motel rooms. She stirred on the bed and Roman froze in his step. When he assumed she was finally out again, he emptied the contents of her bag on the floor and began sifting through them. Roman didn't realize when Viya grabbed the stick broom that was lying just under the bed and struck him across the shoulder with it.
"Looking for something, mister?" Viya asked standing over Roman who was curved on the floor in pain. Roman was in complete shock and Viya was about to hit him a second time when her phone rang. She contemplated between taking the call and finishing off with Roman. The caller Id said it was Sean. She had to take it.
"One move and I'll shove this stick through your pretty balls," Viya said before flipping the phone open.
"Sean?" She said into the phone eying Roman suspiciously.
" Viya, you have to come now," Sean sounded frantic.
" What is it?" Viya asked.
"You know that magical comb you showed me one time?" Sean whispered.
"Yes?"
"Well, we found something just like it and we know where they might be coming from."
"Who's we?"
"Louie found it," Sean said.
"Sean, this is no joke?"
"Are you kidding me?" Sean shrieked. "Meet me at The old warehouse just under the bridge."
"Okay," Viya answered glancing at Roman. "I have to take care of something first."
"Hurry Viya," Sean said and the lines went off.
Viya turned off the phone and walked toward Roman who was now standing up.
"Found what you were looking for?" She asked.
"I know what happened here last night," Roman said.
"Really? Trust me you have no idea what happened," Viya said and turned to pick up her bag.
"I need that comb from you Nadine," Roman spat.
Viya froze at this. she did a powerful flip of her long dark hair and said, "Nadine?" Then she laughed out loud. A long laugh. Then her mood changed suddenly again and she looked pissed. Really pissed.
"You and I need to have a long talk," she said. "Come with me," she said approaching Roman. "But first I owe you this," she said slapping Roman hard across the face. "That was for spiking my drink."
Roman stared at her speechless; rubbing his jaw as he followed her out of the room.