I stared at him. What the hell did he think I was? He took out some money and handed it to me. “Well?”
I went the two booths down like he directed me, but saw only an older woman knitting in a rocking chair, humming to herself. I saw no food anywhere near there, so I kept on going.
He said two booths down, I thought, so I went back toward his booth, then two booths the other way. Some guy with old computers stood there trying to hawk something that looked like it came out of a waterlogged basement. I went back to his booth, counted two booths down again and said to the lady knitting, “I’m looking for Delia.”
She kept knitting but said, “That’d be me, one, two…” Then she put the knitting aside and looked at me.
“I need a hot dog with mustard in the bun, with fries.” I felt stupid for asking her. All she had around her was yarn. I didn’t even see a cooler.
She got up with a groan and a mutter of something like “Get it himself.” She went to the rear of her booth, and pulled down a piece of board. She yelled into the space, “Tony! Tony!”
“Yeah, ma!” I could smell food now, mostly fried. My mouth watered. There was a take out place on the other side? I was going to go visit there.
“Hot dog with mustard and fries.”
“Okay, ma.”
She kept the wood down and looked at me. “Well, come in. I’m not going to bite you.”
I stepped into the booth, full of all kinds of knitted objects. A few dolls with knitted dresses, some scarves and mittens and hats. Baby clothes with threads of gold going through them. Also there were round things made of thread. I picked one up and could not, for the life of me, figure out what the use of it was.
She must have seen my look of confusion. “That’s a doily. Haven’t you ever seen one?”
“What do you do with it?”
“You put it on tables, or under things, as a decoration. Here.” She took a glass candle and set it on top of the doily, right in the center.
I studied it. “I don’t get it.”
“Ma!”
She went back to the window, and some big hulking guy filled the frame of the wood so much that all I saw was a t-shirt and big hairy arms holding out a paper bag. “Thanks, honey,” said the Delia, taking the bag and kissing her son.
I started to leave when she said, “Hey. That’s three dollars.”
“He didn’t charge you, I thought – “
She put her hand out for the money and gave me an angry look. I took out the money the man had given me – three dollars exactly. I handed it to her.
“And you tell that old coot, Quinn, that he can get his ass out of that booth and get it himself next time.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a small grin. So now I knew his name. I headed back to the booth.
The man was sitting on a stool behind the low shelf. He looked up at me as I entered. “So?”
I handed him the sack. “Where’s my change?”
“She charged me three dollars.”
He glowered at me.
“And she said…” I repeated word-for-word, in the exact same tone, what Delia had said. I had learned how to do this from summoning class, because often a spell had to do with the tone and inflection of the voice. I couldn’t copy a woman’s voice, or the deep baritone of Quinn’s, though.
He grunted and opened his paper bag, took out the hot dog from the top. He shoved the fries at me. “Eat something. You look starving.”
I dug into the fries, which were the best french fries I’d ever had. After being starved for something like this because of the Rosicrucians, it was like a thirsty man given water.
“So where you from, kid?”
“Connecticut.”
“Why Salem?”
I shrugged and ate.
I was almost done when a woman, in a long flowing dress with huge black and white flowers came in. Her hair was unbound, also flowing behind her, and she wore a whole assortment of pentacles and amulets, bracelets and bangles. Her earrings were beads and rings, peeking out from the bleached blond hair. She smelled like flowers and wore way too much makeup.
“You must be that young man Max mentioned.”
I got up, wiping my greasy hands on my pants. My mother, if nothing else, taught me manners. “Yes, ma’am. I’m Mike.” I held out my hand to shake hers.
“Oh, we hug here,” she said, and yanked me into a crushing hug. The flowery smell overwhelmed me – too much. I hadn’t expected it and crushed my french fries between us, so when she let me go, the bag fell to the floor and the rest of the fries spilled out.
I bent to pick them up, but she didn’t even notice. She went to Quinn and kissed him on the cheek. “How’s business, dear?”
“Shitty.”
She turned to me. “Has this old man been mean to you?”
“No, ma’am,” I said.
“Of course I have,” snarled Quinn.
Words: 885
Total today: 1880