Part 15

Old Jenny sits hunched over behind her spool-table, eyes closed again, silently shuffling the cards to the beat of the drums emanating from unseen speakers.  Finally the song stops, and so does she.  She sets the cards down on the table.  “What is it you seek from me?”

“Um, you summoned me, didn’t you?”  Mary asks.

Jenny snorts, “I did?  Then by all means, you’re free to go.”  The old woman chuckles, wipes a bead of sweat from her brow.  She stands up, her hunched back almost parallel to the floor.  She grabs a cherry stained cane that until that moment, had leaned against the table.

Mary glances at me and I shake my head.  “Wait!  I’m sorry, I just… wasn’t sure what to expect,” she says.

“Well then, what is it you want from Old Jenny?”  She raps her knuckles against the deck of Tarot cards before she takes her seat.

“Go ahead,” I say, my voice nothing more than a whisper.

She takes a deep breath, preparing herself for the answers.  “Why me?”  She asks.

This draws another laugh from Jenny.  “Oh, honey, look at yourself, even beneath the dirt and grime, you’re a looker.”

Mary scratches her cheek, looks at her fingernails, shudders.  “Ok, why should I…”  She pauses, looks my direction again, “Why should I trust any of you?”

Jenny opens her mouth to answer and then closes it.  It is the crone’s turn to look at me, and I can feel myself being read, from cover to cover, as they say.  I shift uncomfortably.  Finally, as if she’s put my life story down on the table in front of her, she looks back to Mary, “He wants nothing of Cyrus in charge.  Freak Beans-“  She raises her voice, “You might as well come in here Benny, I hear you shifting restlessly out there.”  She winks at Mary as Benny comes in, doffing his top hat and placing it under his right arm.

“Sorry ma’am, this kinda effects all of us, I didn’t think she’d mind.”  He says.

Jenny looks at Mary who nods, “He’s fine.”

“As I was saying,” the old woman continues, “Benny here wants to see Cyrus fail because he doesn’t like Cyrus, and Viktor… Let’s just say that if Viktor can’t be in charge, then no one should.”

“Viktor?”  Mary asks.

“The Russian,” Freak Beans says and I nod.

“And you?”  Mary asks Old Jenny.

Jenny smiles, her cracked lips pulling tightly across her remaining yellow teeth.  “Me?  I’m just an old woman.  I want nothing more than to sit here and listen to my music and enjoy what time I have left on this planet.  I don’t care who is in charge as long as they don’t hassle me!  Though I fear Cyrus would do just that.  So how are you going to stop him?”

“Wait, what?  I thought I was asking the questions.”

“Well then,”  She taps the deck of cards on the table before her.  “Cut the deck and ask.”

Mary reaches for the Tarot cards, her hand pausing a mere inch from the deck, fiercely aware that the old crone’s eyes are on her.  She takes a deep breath and cuts the deck, almost in half, re-stacks and squares them.  “What should I do?”

Jenny draws the top three cards and lays them out in a row, face down.  It is then that I notice that the backs are different, the cards are from different decks.  She flips the first one over, revealing a couple dressed in what I can only describe as wealthy Mongolian.  Four cups lay scattered about them, a fifth cup in the man’s hand, turned over, the few remaining drops of whatever liquid the cup once held frozen in time partway to the floor.  I note a cat hunched over one of the cups as Jenny begins.  “The Five of Cups.  This card represents your recent past, maybe as close as when you walked through my door.  I hate to say it dear, but you need to accept it.  Denying it will not change the fact that you are… one of us.”

Mary raises her eyebrows, the skepticism evident on her face.

“The Five of Cups typically reveals itself when the asker is having trouble accepting change, such as you ending up homeless.”

The next card reads eight of swords across the top and a pale tan border rings a man who is fending off three medusas to his left and a giant wearing a crown, no, it is the sun god, to his right.  Eight narrow swords stand, point down in the ground around him, forming almost a cage.  “You know what must be done, don’t you?”  Jenny asks.

Mary’s eyes widen.  “No, I couldn’t.”

“You’re the only thing stopping you.  Charlie there will help you out, and I’m sure Benny will go along just to say he was part of this.  He used to be a writer you know, this is one grand adventure I doubt he wants to miss.”  Jenny winks at Freak Beans as she reaches for the last card.

“Wait,” Mary cries out, and then looks down into her lap, ashamed of her sudden outburst.  “That card represents the future, right?  What if I don’t want to know?”

Jenny pulls her hand away from the face down card.  “Dear, the future happens whether you want it to or not.  I’ll tell you what.  I won’t be needing that card for a while.  How about you take it with you and you can look at it when you’re good and ready.”  She pulls an ancient piece of newspaper, yellow as her teeth, from where it is stuck to the wall, tearing one of the corners in the process and folds it into an envelope.  Without lifting the card, she slides it into the newspaper and hands the package to Mary.  “There you go.  Just make sure I get it back!  Now if there is nothing else, it’s time for my nap.”  Closing her eyes, she is snoring almost instantly and the three of us, Mary, Freak Beans, and myself rise to leave.  I am holding open the door for my companions when Jenny calls out, her eyes still asleep.  “And Charlie, I would like another speaker if it’s not too much trouble.”