Black Magic by Russell James Read Free Book Online

nothing.”
    He hovered a palm over the cards and swept right. The deck spread out along the counter, but Ricky swore Lyle’s hand hadn’t touched them. With nothing but fingertips, Lyle flipped the entire deck back to front and back again. He swept the cards back together and held the deck in both hands. He pulled his hands apart and the red-backed cards fluttered from left to right like a flight of robins. He closed his hands together and spread the deck into a tight fan. Ricky stared, dumbfounded.
    “Now the dexterity tricks are just the warm up,” Lyle said. “The people want the magic, the demonstration of the inexplicable. Pick a card. Don’t let me see it.”
    Ricky pulled one card free with a hesitant finger and thumb and tilted it up. Six of spades.
    “Now back inside,” Lyle said.  
    Ricky slipped the card back into the deck. Lyle cut and rearranged the deck with one hand. Then he shuffled the deck and fanned it again. “ Bakshokah serat. Pick again.”
    Ricky pulled a card from the deck. Six of spades.  
    How could that be…?
    Lyle closed the deck, flipped it over and fanned it again face up. The cards were all the six of spades. He took Ricky’s card and reinserted it.  
    “ Bakshokah serat.” He flipped the deck, shuffled it and fanned it out again face up. Fifty-two different cards.
    “Killer trick,” Ricky said.
    Lyle slid the deck across to Ricky. The blue sapphire ring on Lyle’s finger flickered with different shades. “Your turn. Show me some moves.”
    Ricky picked up the deck. He felt foolish. He could barely shuffle cards without having them end up all over the floor.
    “Focus,” Lyle said. “Magic is all around you. You must focus it to move through you.”
    Ricky stared at the cards. He waved his hand across the deck. Nothing moved. He stared harder and tried again. Nothing.
    Lyle slid a gold coin across the counter. The careworn face on it stared at Ricky. “Here, put this in your pocket, say ‘ bakshokah serat’ and try again.”
    Ricky picked up the coin and got the same fleeting feeling he had when he first touched Lyle’s hand. He put the coin in his pocket.  
    “ Bakshokah serat,” he said. The coin warmed his pocket. He touched the deck. The cards hummed with a rhythmic pulse, like they had a heartbeat. He raised his hand over the deck and swept it right. He could feel his hand pull the cards, as if they were attached to his fingertips by spider webs. He moved his hand back and the cards restacked.
    “Whoa.”
    “Now the magic,” Lyle said.
    Ricky picked up the cards and swore they fanned themselves in his hand. Lyle picked one from the pack, flashed the king of diamonds to Ricky and replaced it. Ricky’s hands tingled like they were plugged into a wall socket. He shuffled the deck like a Vegas pro and fanned it again. Lyle pulled out a card and turned it face up. King of diamonds.
    “Easy as pie,” Lyle said. “Nothing to be concerned about with a simple deck of cards, right?”
    Of course not, Ricky thought. It’s not like he conjured up something from thin air, or made something disappear into it. This was cool. The hard part was coming.
    “What do they cost?” he asked. The others told him what they had paid. It hadn’t been much, considering what they had bought, but they had more money than Ricky did. He doubted he would have enough.
    “What have you got?” Lyle asked.
    Ricky pulled out two bills and an assortment of change that totaled $3.50. “I can work off whatever it costs extra,” he offered, red-faced.
    Lyle broke into a crocodilian grin.
    “No need. You have more than enough. It’s your lucky day.”  
    He counted out $1.75 and pressed three keys on the big register. The cash drawer rolled open with a solemn ding of the bell. Lyle deposited the money and when he pushed the drawer back in, it returned with a soft guttural sigh.
    “Now come back with your friends on Tuesday. Great mysteries will be revealed.”
    “We’ll be here!”