“My condo.”
“I still want ice cream.”
“You still want ice cream?”
“Yes.”
Those calm waters must be a really nice place to dock your psyche, I thought to myself as I whipped a U-turn.
I parked in the crowded lot and we got in line, me still pondering the situation and waiting for Fate to voice an opinion about something other than ice cream.
“Order me a hot fudge sundae, extra whip and cherries,” Paddy said. “Tell them double fudge, too.”
“I hate when you do that,” I said, as I turned to see him standing beside me when no one had been there a second before. I looked around, wondering why no one else noticed him just appear.
“And sprinkles. I want a lot of sprinkles. The rainbow kind. Open table! I’ll go grab it before someone gets it.”
His cane barely touched the ground as he ran toward the four top, nearly knocking a couple of kids who were eyeing up the same space out of the way.
Crazy, rude misfits, the whole lot of them, even the ones at the top. Of course things were falling apart. How could they do anything but if we were the ones in charge?
Fate handed me a bowl of cookie dough ice cream I hadn’t ordered as we made it over to the table that Paddy was actively protecting, waiving his cane around like a senior samurai. He plopped down a bowl in front of Paddy as we both took a seat.
“Are you two aware that the chaos breaking out around here isn’t a limited occurrence?” Paddy asked right before a shovel-sized spoonful hit his mouth.
“Obviously.” Fate took a spoonful of his ice cream then made a face. He turned and dipped his spoon in mine. He raised his eyebrows and nodded his approval.
“Do you have anything to add that we don’t know?” Fate went to reach over and eat more of mine. I slid the cup towards him, not caring if he took the whole thing.
“Not exactly, but I think we should be cautious about trying to completely do away with Malokin.”
Fate shoved his spoon in my ice cream and left it there. Finally, there was something that dimmed his appetite.
“What do you mean, we can’t kill him?” he asked. “If this is happening because of him we have to. If we don’t, what then? You know he’s at the heart of this somehow. We can’t let this keep building and have everyone going crazy.”
While Fate had been speaking, two ten-year-old boys had started going at it. That wouldn’t have been anything surprising except both fathers, who I’d thought were heading over to break it up, were now punching each other as well.
“Why can’t we get rid of him?” I asked, glad that the brawl was a good fifteen feet away but keeping my purse in hand in case we needed to dart out of the way.
“Everything is connected. Every leaf, bug, speck of dust, it’s all part of the same whole. I’ve been searching around through the most basic make-up of the Universe, looking for where Malokin originated and, well, when he formed, something pretty severe must have happened. He seems to be integrated into the fabric of things more than he should be. If you kill him, I’m not sure what will happen. Killing him could be like a mortal taking a gut shot. You wouldn’t just take out the small intestines, the poison would spread and kill all the other tissue. It might make things worse.”
“How sure are you?” I asked.
“I can’t be a hundred percent sure unless you kill him, but I’m not eager to be proven correct in that manner. I need to keep digging. Until we do know for sure, don’t do anything irreversible.”
“So we’re stuck with him?” I asked, as he continued to stuff his face with ice cream.
“Sort of.” Paddy pointed an arthritic finger toward both discarded ice creams. “Are you going to eat that?”
I shoved both bowls his way and Paddy dug in. With a mouthful of ice cream, he said, “I’ve got some people you—”
“She isn’t going,” Fate answered.
Before I could say anything, Paddy gave Fate a sour face and disappeared with his ice cream.
***
After almost twenty-four hours of debate, Fate and I finally agreed that we couldn’t take the risk of killing Malokin as we pulled up at the designated restaurant. The place was known to have the best steaks in all of South Carolina. Malokin was seated in the corner but his elegant looks, set off by his expensive suit, commanded as much attention in the room as if he were on a stage. An open bottle of wine sat on the white clothed table in front of him, a glass already half full of red that probably cost more than I made in a month.
We all nodded in greeting, none of us speaking yet as we sat. The tuxedoed waiter came over within seconds of us settling in. Neither Malokin nor Fate ordered anything and then the waiter turned toward me.
“Miss?”
I was sick of having Malokin ruin my appetite. I was going to eat a meal, even if I had to chug a gallon of water to get it down. I suspected Malokin had been behind the train accident that had killed me and he had been responsible for both mine and Kitty’s mental anguish. I’d leap over this table and kill him right in the middle of the restaurant before I let him take my dinner, too.
“I’d like a Caesar salad to start and for my main course, I’ll have the filet, rare, with a side of the garlic mashed potatoes and French cut string beans.”
The waiter nodded and walked away.
“Thank you for meeting me,” Malokin said.
Fate leaned back in his chair but said nothing. I couldn’t speak. I’d just dunked some bread in the dish of seasoned oil in front of me and was too busy chewing.
“You’ve changed,” Malokin said to me. “You used to be so nervous when we met.”
It aggravated me that I’d been so transparent and that he’d clearly enjoyed my unease. “Yeah, well, we’re all young and stupid at some point.” I forced a smile as I picked up my phone and sent a text. The smile came naturally after that.
“Your manners were better as well.”
“I’ve learned to conserve my energy for those worthy of the effort,” I replied, adding to the insult by not bothering to look up from my phone as I made sure my message sent.
Fate was silent but I felt his hand come to my leg under the table and give a squeeze, telling me silently to not let him goad me into anger.
Fate cleared his throat before he spoke. “Move on or this meeting is over. You were the one who wanted to talk, not the other way around. Get to your point.”
Malokin nodded stiffly. “I asked you here because I know that you two are the only real threat to me. But let’s be clear, if we went head to head, I’d win. I just don’t see why we need to expend our energies.”
I took another bite of bread, having no desire to speak to him. I might laugh if I did. He was offering us a truce when we couldn’t do anything to him anyway.
“I think we can come to some sort of agreement,” Fate said, stone faced.
“I propose non engagement, at least with each other.” Malokin leaned back and brought his glass of red wine with him. “Before you answer, I’d think really hard on this. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
“And what about everyone else? Do you plan on increasing your numbers while we do nothing?” I asked, feeling forced to speak because I wasn’t sure it was very high on Fate’s list of priorities.
“I’ll stop actively recruiting if you stop actively trying to reduce my numbers.” He pulled a cigar out of a case and lit it up. “You mind your business, and I’ll mind mine. I don’t touch any of yours and the same for anyone with me.”
“Agreed,” Fate said. I couldn’t speak as I was already mourning my bucket list.
I knew we didn’t have a choice. Not much of one. If we could hold everything in check, at least for a while, until Paddy could figure out what our options were, a truce would protect our people and hopefully stop the downward slide of the human race.
I waved toward the waiter. “Pack my order to go please?” I asked as Malokin stood to leave, no one feeling comfortable enough with the other to touch hands.