A B Word at The B Word

After about two hundred rounds of "thank yous" and "you come back soons", I managed to extricate myself from the Colonel and continued up the street. Full of pizza and drunk on the Colonel's overpowering and eccentric company, I was in high spirits. I really almost forgot about my brand and all it entailed.

Being autumn in New England, the sky was already pretty dark by 4 PM. I drifted towards The B Word, dreading the inevitable night of explanation and speculation I'd be sharing with Buck. He was my friend and I loved working with him, but I felt too good to be obsessing over the Text for a second night in a row. 

Lee had told me to keep my head down. I really wanted to.

All right, so I'd blown up some newspapers. Sometimes things catch fire. There wasn't anything especially suspicious or attention-grabbing about a small, easily contained fire in a badly maintained restaurant. It happens. So far, I felt I'd stayed below the radar, and I knew beyond a doubt that the longer Buck and I discussed the Text, the more likely I was to slip and do something stupid. I couldn't control my curiosity, so I hoped to remove the temptation.

I needn't have worried. The door to The B Word released the familiar herbal torrent when I pulled it open, and Buck was already well into both a cheeseburger and a bong, listening to Pink Floyd on the store's speaker system. He lit up at the sight of me. "Hey man!"

"Hey Buck. Everything okay here, last night?"

"Yeah, it was cool, man. After you left, I just kind of zoned out. I burnt another batch of bacon, if you can believe it. You know what George Forman grills don't have? A timer, man."

I laughed. Maybe nothing had really changed. It was good to think that I could still maintain the same relationships I'd unknowingly cherished. The Colonel, Buck, hell, even that old bat miss Dean. They acted just like they'd always acted. We spoke like we always had.

It was weird to think that these lunatics represented stability in my life. Beck, that paragon of sane responsibility, had left me, throwing my life into chaos and confusion in the process, but this stoned and smiling man at the bookstore was my rock. Life could go on. The life I was comfortable in.

No sooner had this thought crossed my mind, than my brand tickled in my pocket, and the door to the store opened with the sound of a tinkling bell.

Buck performed one of the quickest maneuvers I'd ever seen, stashing the bong behind a pile of donated books, returning to his relaxed position before the door was fully open. He needn't have bothered.

None other than Lee, the bitchy female Conclave member, strode into our store, wearing white capri pants and a colorful tank. Her dark hair was pulled up into a perky style, and she smiled at Buck flirtatiously.

"Um, so... are you guys hiring?"

"Hiring?" Buck and I said together, him excited, me startled.

"Yeah, like, do you need a cashier or anything? My parents are making me, like, get a job, and this place seems pretty laid back." She looked and sounded exactly like the stupid waste of space she was pretending to be. "Can I fill out an application?"

She drifted towards Buck, making the most of her somewhat narrow hips, and looked him in the eye. He looked spellbound... and I realized something was about to happen.

"Buck-" I started, but it was too late.

Lee calmly raised a hand, where a scrawl of the Text glyphs was written on her palm in ballpoint pen, and read out the words in a languid, reverberating tone. Buck's eyes immediately glazed over, just for an instant, and he smiled. 

"You know what," he said, cheerful, "We really could use some help around here. Welcome aboard!"

Lee squealed and clapped her hands. "Oh my god, that is so great! I'm really excited to work with you guys!" 

It was sickening.

Watching this unholy contract take place, I finally had to speak up. "So Buck... what shift is she going to work?" Hopefully he heard the subtle tone that pointed out exactly how little work we actually had to do.

Lee shot me a venomous glare, then put on the voice again. "Well, I'm not really, like, a morning person. Maybe late afternoons? With you guys?"

"That sounds great," Buck said, looking at me like I was crazy. "You can start tomorrow!"

"Oh, yay!"

"Goddammit," I muttered. 

"What's your name?" Buck asked, leaning forward, hanging on her every pointless word.

"Oh my god, I totally didn't introduce myself. I'm such a retard sometimes. I'm Lee." She held out a slender hand and shook with Buck. 

I'd had enough. "Hey Lee," I sort of snarled, "Can I talk to you... outside... for a minute?"

She looked at me and nodded. "Okay cutie... see you tomorrow!" she squeaked to Buck, and walked out ahead of me. We left Buck with a big smile on his face, either stoned or still hypnotized. Or whatever she'd done to him.

The instant the door closed, I lit into her. "What the F**K are you doing?"

"I'm not any happier about this than you are, idiot."

"Then why are you here?"

She scowled. "Conclave assignment. My C.O. doesn't know if we want you to join, for obvious reasons. But someone needs to keep an eye on you, for even more obvious reasons. And they picked me."

"Lucky me."

"F**k your luck! Wanna talk about luck? I got pulled off a child prostitution investigation to babysit you stoners! I could be doing something useful with my life, and now I'm gonna be trying to hold my breath while I rearrange books."

She actually looked really upset. For one foolish moment, I felt bad. "I..."

"You what? You're sorry?"

"I guess so." I think I was.

"Well then do us both a favor and get less useless. I would love nothing more than to see you shock us all and become something, if only because it'd get me out of being your keeeper." She looked down at herself and sighed. "I had to drop three hundred bucks on s**t clothes for this, and the b***h who runs the Conclave treasury takes her time on reimbursements. Ugh."

"There's a treasury?"

"I said this was a full-time commitment. Obviously it's a paid position." She looked me up and down. "Maybe you could get something decent to wear, yourself. Or move into a decent apartment."

I was surprised. And a little annoyed that she was criticizing my apartment.

"I'm taking off," she muttered. "I'll be back tomorrow. We'll knock Buck out and work on your Reading." She said the word with a capital R. It took me a second to figure out what she was talking about.

"Hey, whoa, no. We can't be spelling Buck all the time. That can't be good for you."

"There are no ill effects."

"Even so... it's kinda fucked up. Not really fair to him." I was adamant. I wouldn't like to be hypnotized every afternoon.

"So what do you suggest?" 

"Well," I mused, "He knows about the Text. He saw me teleport home... twice. I say we just leave him be."

"Are you joking?" She looked defeated. "So we've got not one, but two morons who know. This is fantastic."

I just smiled.

"Fine!" she snapped. "F**k it. He can watch, for all I care. He'd just better keep his mouth shut."

I watched her walk down the street until she came to an alley, and ducked in. A flash of light lit the sidewalk, and she was gone.

Goddammit.

*

Reviews

[UponATyme]

Only one thing to say: How do you hear a capital R? They did it in Wicked, but made it clear there was a special accent attached. How does yours work?

[Vanessa]

Hmm..this should be interesting haha. Btw, I like the title.