I grunted, “Not now, Amon. I can handle this.” To the thief, I proclaimed, “Give it back and I won’t call the cops.”
The thief nodded, his eyes glazed over, and passed me my bag. Afterward, he started as if jerking awake and lunged through the crowd, desperate to get away. Glancing briefly at Amon, I shook my head in disbelief and unzipped my bag to check its contents.
Once again a crowd had gathered around us, and Amon played to the masses. Some people even cheered, and Amon raised his hands, seeming to enjoy the praise.
Everything accounted for, I angrily zipped my bag closed and swung it over my shoulder. “Unbelievable,” I muttered to myself. “I mean, really. Un-freaking-believable! Craziest day ever!”
I spun around, very much needing to get away from everyone. Amon quickly caught up. “Where are we going, Young Lily?”
“I don’t know where you’re going, but I’m going home.”
“To your home?”
“Yes.”
He matched my stride easily even though I was practically running by now. At the corner, I raised my hand to hail a cab and one immediately pulled over.
As I yanked open the door, Amon said warily, “I do not trust the golden chariots.”
I sighed and turned back around. “Look, the best thing for you to do is to head back to the museum. It’s a straight shot down, six blocks or so. Ask for Tony. He’s a friend of mine. Tell him you’re trying to get to Thebes and they’ll help you out. He can get you another hot dog and put it on my tab.”
“I do not understand, Young Lily. You wish for me to leave you?”
“Yes. I need to go home, take a bath, and sleep for a long time.”
“Then I will go with you.”
“No, you—”
“Hey, you coming or not?” the impatient driver asked.
“Hold your chariot!” I shouted back, adding bellowing at cabbies to my new repertoire.
The driver shut up and satisfied himself after that with giving me annoyed looks.
At Amon’s expectant expression, I lost it. There was already enough pressure on me without adding this guy to the mix. It was time to get off the insane train. Last stop. Everybody off.
Rubbing my temples, I explained, “I’m really sorry, but I just can’t do this, whatever this is, anymore. My head hurts. I was almost robbed. I had to eat lunch with the Three Weird Sisters. I channeled so much static electricity that my mouth tastes like the outside of a burned marshmallow. And to top it all off, I’ve been escorting the Captain of Crazytown around New York. Do you see why I need to go home?”
Amon brushed a fingertip against my cheek, like he had earlier, and, with a very subdued demeanor, he nodded. “Yes. I understand. You must rest tonight.”
“Will you be okay?”
“I will not come to any harm, Lily.”
“Good.” The weight of responsibility for him was like a heavy blanket that suddenly slipped from my shoulders. Still, I bit my lip and called out as he turned away, “Wait!”
Riffling through my wallet, I pulled out several twenties and pressed them into his hand. “If you get hungry or thirsty, give the hot dog man one of these.”
“Hakenew,” he said as he tightened his fist, crushing all the bills in the middle. At my look of confusion, he clarified, “My thanks.”
“Ah. Well, goodbye. And, good luck.”
“May luck be with you as well,” he replied.
Climbing into the cab, I shut the door, telling the driver to head to Central Park. As he waited for the traffic to clear so he could pull out, Amon gripped the frame where the window was rolled down and leaned closer to talk to me.
“Young Lily?” he asked.
“Yes?”
He gave me one of his special sunlit smiles. “You have the heart of a sphinx.”
I was about to ask him what that meant, when the driver pulled away. Amon stared after me as the distance between us increased, and despite the certainty of my decision to leave him there, I remained uncomfortably twisted in my seat, watching until he was swallowed up in the jumble of people moving like ants through the dark jungle of Manhattan.