How to Buy an Engagement Ring for Your Girlfriend Who Happens to Be a Sorceress
By B. Sharise Moore
Cairo glanced at his watch for the fifteenth time in as many minutes. A cluster of indecipherable symbols darted across the watch face, some glowing neon green, others glimmering in silver shadows. He sighed, shoved his hands inside his pockets, and surveyed the area. An alley littered with shattered glass, bits of plastic, discarded food wrappers, and old flyers lay directly in front of him. At its end stood a decaying building with a chipped mural of old Jazz and Blues greats painted on its wall. He spat. Baltimore. A souring smell drifted toward his nostrils as he resisted the urge to take another look at the watch he couldn’t read. This was just the first leg of the journey and he hadn’t even proposed yet.
A gruff voice pulled him back to the present. “Sup. Sorry I’m late.”
Cairo extended his hand. “Sup Truth. Yo, I tried to look at-”
“For the record, I don’t like you and I think my sister could do better. I’m only here cause it’s what’s right.” He gave Cairo his back to consider.
Truth had always been an insufferable *&^ who’d picked him to be on the receiving end of nearly all of his practical jokes. He started out with shrinking his clothes to delay them from going on dates. Then, he raised Cairo’s voice two octaves and left it that way for an entire week. The last straw came two months ago when he conjured up a false memory to make his sister believe he was seeing another girl. Needless to say, they’d only just begun speaking again.
“What kinda ring were you gon’ get?”
He rushed ahead of him. A mahogany chew stick etched with the same symbols as those he’d seen on the watch face dangled dangerously between his lips.
Cairo rubbed his hands together and smiled. “A 2 carat diamond with…”
Truth held up one of his heavily tattooed hands. “Hol’ up bruh. You tryna kill my sister or somethin’?”
Cairo frowned, confused.
“You askin’ a woman whose Daddy is a Djinn and mother was the daughter of an Orisha to marry you. Only humans can wear diamonds. Diamonds poison our blood.” He spat on the pavement.
Cairo pictured himself punching Truth in the face as he sized him up. Truth was tall and thin as a rail. But, at 6 feet even and a bit on the stocky side, Cairo felt he could take him if he fought fair, but of course that was out of the question. The whole family was armed with centuries old charms and otherworldly abilities that could crush him and wipe all witness memories clean. Always the eccentric, it was difficult not to stare at his future brother in law. Today, he rocked a red, black, and green kufi, matching Marcus Garvey tee, and an army fatigue jacket plastered with buttons large and small, all touched by magic. He couldn’t help but stare at the buttons as they flashed Malcolm, Huey, and Assata quotes before quickly changing to middle fingers and obscenities. Cairo stifled a laugh. In another life, the two men would probably be cool.
“Aight, well I’m following you.” His shoulders slumped. “Where can I get a ring that won’t kill her?”
“We’re going to see Glam.” Truth picked up his pace as the crunch of gravel and trash muffled their footsteps.
Cairo measured his words carefully. “Glam. Aight, but what about payment? Does dude take debit cards or cash?”
He grinned. “You got a soul don’t you?”
Cairo didn’t answer. If that had been a joke, he didn’t find any humor in it.
“Don’t worry about payment right now,” he pressed on. “Oh yeah and Glam the Jeweler ain’t no dude. She’s whatever she needs to be depending on the situation.”
The chipped mural stood a foot in front of them now. Truth studied it carefully. “What time is it?”
Cairo glanced at his wrist. “I dunno, I can’t…” The watch stared back at him, ordinary as ever.
“Is it 3:15 yet?” Truth called over his shoulder.
Cairo frowned. “On the nose.”
Truth let out a high pitched whistle. In a millisecond, the colors of the mural flashed. Cairo shielded his eyes.
“Hold this.” He dropped a plastic baggie filled with a shimmering purple dust in Cairo’s hand.
“Hey what’s this supposed to–?”
Before he could finish, Truth blew a bit of the powder in the direction of the mural. It hovered for a bit, then swirled like a funnel suspended in air.
Truth clapped his hands three times. Cairo wheezed as particles from the purple cloud tickled his throat. A door outlined in the same shimmering purple powder appeared. He extended one of his slender arms and pulled it open. “And now comes the good part!”
The room behind the mural was in the shape of a dimly lit octagon. Eight granite walls were shelved with row after row of mannequin limbs displaying rings, bangles, bracelets, baubles, earrings, nose rings, toe rings, and charms set with sapphire, ruby, pearl, tourmaline, onyx, obsidian, opal, cat’s eye, emerald, amethyst and others he could not name in swirling colors of opal, deep blue, azure, fire red, flamingo pink, magenta, and so on.
Truth snapped his fingers. “Let’s get down to business.”
An oversized wicker chair sat behind a shiny marble counter. Two smaller chairs sat directly across.
“Sit. She knows we’re coming.” Truth plopped in one of the seats as Cairo followed his lead.
His line of vision homed in on a shiny platinum ring with a pyramidal shaped center stone on a shelf behind the marble counter. An intoxicating warmth emanated from it. He resisted the urge to reach across the table. That’s when he saw it. The mannequin hand displaying the ring appeared to move slightly. The light was dim. He squinted to be sure. He wasn’t mistaken. All of the mannequins were moving ever so slightly. And they all appeared much more human than he’d first surmised. Human heads with subtly winking eyes displayed nose rings, studs, and hoops. Human hands flicked their wrists to capture the glint of copper bangles and silver bracelets. Fingers adorned with precious rings pointed and beckoned him to come closer. It was as if he were in a combination jewelry store and chemistry lab.
Just then, a loud buzzing assailed his ears. Jolted out of his trance, large insect wings with the same iridescent purple color as the powder Truth had used to conjure the door darted past his jaw. After emanating a soft, lavender glow, it circled their heads a few times, forming a figure 8, as glitter shimmered in its’ path. The transformation was majestic. Glimmering dust stalled to become a pair of long, shapely legs, a head of kinky purple dreadlocks, fleshy arms etched with metallic tattoos, and a torso. Seated in front of them now was a woman with ink black skin and a chartreuse head scarf. Her eyes were two chunks of onyx and when she smiled, Cairo swore he’d seen a hint of fang.
She formed a tent with her fingers and cocked her head to the side.
Truth rubbed his hands together and whistled. “Glam…lookin’ better than ever I see.”
The woman that had previously been a firefly rolled her eyes. “Is this him?”
Suddenly the air seemed thicker than it had been. Cairo tugged at his collar and wiped his brow with the back of his hand.
Truth winked in her direction and reached across the marble counter to stroke her forearm with an index finger. He smiled. “Yup.” Fangs distended from the corners of his mouth.
Glam searched Truth’s slender face. “Good. He gives me genuine energy. Not sure what you’re feeling from him.” She licked her lips and turned toward Cairo.
Truth raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. “I’ve been around him a whole lot longer than you have. Trust me.”
“How can I help you? It’s Cairo right?”
Her voice sounded like milk chocolate if it could be worn like leather. Cairo cleared his throat. “Y…yeah,” he stammered. “I’m looking for the right ring. I’m ready to propose.”
Her mouth broke into a wide grin. “ Young love. And it’s so much sweeter when the blood is tainted.”
Cairo frowned.
“Magic folks have a taint to their blood. As much as they like to boast, it’s a simple abnormality. Some of us embrace it. Others try to use it as a weapon.” She glanced in Truth’s direction, who looked away. “But either way, Taints, as I like to call us, are hard to love, so to see two come together…”
“Two? Nah…”
Glam raised one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. “Nonsense. It’s written all over you.” Truth cleared his throat and turned uncomfortably in his chair. “Wait a minute. Part of the deal was for you to be sure he knew before entering.”
“Knew what?”
Truth licked his lips. “He has to be initiated first. Just ‘cuz you feel it doesn’t mean he is.”
Cairo ran his hands over his bald head. “Hold up ya’ll. Feel what?”
Glam cut her eyes at Truth and extended her arms in the direction of the many shelves behind her. “Which ring?”
Cairo nodded toward the ring on the corner shelf. Its center stone smoldered from brilliant orange to a blinding reddish gold. Glam followed his sight line and chuckled, her fangs distending lower. She winked in Truth’s direction and held out an open palm. “Pay up.”
Truth narrowed his eyes and exhaled in frustration. “Ain’t this bout a…” He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small bag of foreign coins. The button covering the pocket flashed the quote: Men who are in earnest are not afraid of consequences, before dissolving into a photo of Marcus Garvey, and finally a middle finger outlined in red, black, and green.
Truth removed the chew stick from his mouth and hunched over. “Looks like you might have some sorcery in you,” he mumbled.
Glam folded her arms across her ample chest. “You’re a descendent of a sorcerer. Now, we have to figure out which one. Answering that question would set the stage for the next steps.”
Cairo exhaled. “I don’t know of any kin to me that might have some magical abilities. And even if I did, what would that mean for me and Marvellus?”
“It means a lot bruh. If you’re a Taint, it’s a new ball game. You’d have to go through the Firefalls,” Truth spoke in a low, serious tone. It was the first time he’d ever seen him so humbled.
Cairo’s breath caught in his throat. Marvellus had mentioned the Firefalls. It was how their sister’s boyfriend had died just two years before. He swallowed hard.
Glam smiled. “The first step is finding out who you are. Based on the ring that spoke to you, I’d say an Ikaki or a Trickster, but I could be wrong. The ring that speaks to you is just one of many indicators of a Taint’s lineage.”
A few moments passed as Cairo sat, brows knitted together. Truth broke the ice.
“Well, you ready?”
Cairo nodded just as he blew a bit of golden dust in the air and the cave melted before his eyes. When he next opened them, he was riding on a gust of wind and falling from a cliff.
TO BE CONTINUED
#SpeculativeSerialShorts #BlackMagicLove