Craving (52 page)

Arthur made a noise. I shot an askance glare at him.

“A bit superstitious, isn’t it?”

“Why, is it fighting a curse?” the girl asked.

I couldn’t help my grin, “No, but it’s very precious. My friend just doesn’t think I should be granting objects a metaphysical importance they don’t deserve.”

She frowned even deeper. “So, why don’t you take it?”

I poked her third eye amiably. “Because I have the real thing.” I jabbed a thumb over my shoulder. “He’s more handsome, isn’t he?”

She blinked at me in bewilderment and then up at Arthur, who stood beside me, courteously shading her from the sun like a tree.

“I guess so,” she shrugged.

With a wave, I excused my footman and as he loaded the box into the Goodwill van, I squatted down and took one of the girls’ hands in each of mine.

“Whatever happens, no matter how mad you get at each other, please always remember one thing.”

“What?” the older girl asked.

“You may sometimes not like each other, but you’re made of the same stuff. No matter how bossy she gets,” I said to the little one, “look up to her, because she learns from that. And no matter how silly she is,” I said to the elder, “smile back, because she will remind you how wise you should be.”

The two girls shared a look and shrugged.

I stood up. “Deal?” I held out my hand.

The woman looked at her girls and then to the house. She hesitated, mulled over the pros and cons in her mind.

“Deal.” She took my hand. “And thank you so much. I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything. Just turn it back into the home it used to be.”

I waved my good-bye and wandered over to the pickup. Arthur was leaning against it, his arms crossed.

“Well, Sid, where are we—?”

“San Francisco,” Jinx shouted from inside. “The Sangha have a temple there.”

I turned and stared at him.

“No, I’m not back to normal,” he glowered. “I was just being rude.”

“Normal?” I smirked in Arthur’s direction as I walked to the driver’s side. “Weren’t you the one who said it was annoying?”

“Two hundred years and now I have to pay attention to people. Ugh.”

I clucked my tongue. “Look at it this way; you can listen to your electronica music without constant interruption now.”

He squirmed in his seat. “It turns out I really don’t like it that much.”

“Two hundred years and you finally have to learn to like
real
music,” I grinned.

He was sulking. “Lay off. Electronica is very complex.”

I shook my head. “Did you
go
? We’re not taking bathroom breaks once we start.”

“Kiss my ass,” he grumbled, tapping some keys on his ever-present laptop. “I shut off my kidneys hours ago.”

With a false sigh of harassment, I slid behind the wheel and shut the door. The technocrat had set up camp in the minicab, complete with a cooler of Redbull, a fleece blanket depicting the Transformers, and a suction-cupped Batman bobble-head, a scant remnant of his vast collection. The computer was plugged into the cigarette lighter and in return was powering several other apparatuses.

Beside him sat an enthusiastically focused Ananda, wearing jeans and watching an iPad as if entranced. We had tried to send him back to the Guardians, but in his typical way, he had politely refused and said he would rather learn more stories to tell. Really, I was sure he just wanted to be back at Arthur’s side, to have one last chance of proving himself a friend, not a follower. I hoped for his sake that his mind could withstand the trauma.

With a long finger, he turned and poked Jinx in the shoulder lightly.

“This Yoda person seems very wise,” he said too loudly. “Why then does he insist that Skywalker avoid the dark side? With Jedi knowledge, they should be able to remain objective. For them, there would be no such thing as a Darth Vader.”

The boy snorted. “We’re not talking about chi, we’re talking about space bacteria.”

Ananda’s exotic features seemed to sharpen in intense thought. “Can bacteria live in space?”

Jinx rolled his eyes. “You have much to learn my young Padawan.” He leaned between the front seats. “I got our GPS position, Art. Do you know which road you wanna take?”

“Roads?” Arthur said, shutting his door. “Where we’re going, we don’t need
roads
.”

I pulled away from the curb and glanced up in the rearview mirror, amused. The boy’s mouth was hanging open in abject shock. I could tell he was angry he hadn’t seen it coming so that he could snicker in superiority.

“Art . . . did you just quote
Back to
the
—?”

“
Future
,” he chorused. “Yes, and you owe me a coke.”

With a giggle, I shook my head and reset the trip odometer. “That’ll teach you to go on a road trip with three living Buddhas.”

Deflated and flabbergasted, Jinx sank back and shot a glare in Ananda’s direction.

“Are we there yet?”

The End