What happened next? We went to the circus, I guess, but the circus isn't here, or it's not announcing its presence. Steve saw Marty in a mirror. I should talk to him alone. That's why I'm asking him to the dance. I've gone over this before. Now I'm just thinking in circles. Soon, though.
While she is in the dressing room, Fatou checks out the coin.
The coin has a raised design of a skull on one side and the same skull with a snake coming out of the eye on the other side. There are no words on the coin. You have NEVER seen a coin like this before.
Steve played basketball with some of his friends for about an hour before they all had to go. Most of them had just had football practice together, so most everyone was ready to go home before Steve.
On the way back, Steve noticed Fatou near the girls' dressing room. He was ready to ignore her, as he had for the past few years, but he stopped when he felt she was making eye contact. He stands in place for a moment until he remembers what she probably wanted.
"Oh, you're upset that I wasn't working on the project, weren't you?"
Maggie blinks at the strange man. "Ah, uhm, that's- peculiar, I thought you, well, needed carbs to stay alive. But if you prefer to stay alone, well, ok? Mom?"
The look she shoots her mother spells "Embarrassing. Mom, please deal with this weird man."
Wasn't I just at the mall? No, that was hours ago. This is after school. After band practice. I took my meds at lunch. The mall wore me out. I should smoke once I get out of here. Clear my head...
Fatou looks around, taking in the bleachers and the smooth surface of the gym floor. She answers after a slightly awkward pause.
"If anyone asks, we are talking about going to the dance. We will be, but not... I think something's going to happen at the dance. We should go, you know, like with the spirit board. -to investigate. You still believe... right?" Fatou bites her lip, slightly sort of breath. Her arms are crisscrossed over her flute case. She's wearing a florescent whatever windbreaker outfit. She does not seem worried about the project, or aware Steve was talking about it.
Steve almost begins to laugh at Fatou's suggestion, but stops when he realizes she is serious. "I guess I believe? What do you think is going to happen? The ouija board's been broken for years. What happened all of a sudden?"
"You mean you haven't seen Marty yet?" Fatou chews at a nail in frustration. "Oh!" She pulls the coin from her pocket. "Last time, you know we had to scavenge for money. Well, I got mine from the fountain at the mall. Today, I found this there. At first I thought it was a hobo nickle. You know, those have skulls on them sometimes. But nickels a-are 75% copper..." Fatou's mind raced. There had to be a connection somewhere. Something convincing.
Steve is silent for a moment while he tries to make out what Fatou was saying.
"Uh, okay, I understand," he lies. "I haven't seen Marty. Have you? Do you think the broken board still works? Would the nickel help summon him?"
"I don't think Holly kept the board..."
"You might as well ask her if you really want to see Marty, but I don't get why you want to summon him all of a sudden."
Holly watches the interaction, breathing deeply. This guy was weird, and after what Fatou was saying, maybe she No, this is like the their time, and the time before, calm down, it's just your crazy ex-friend and a weirdo, probably from California or something she thought.
she came to Maggie's rescue. Okay, sir, we won't bother you anymore. C'mon Maggie, places to be. she said, taking one of Maggie's hands.
"We could go ask Holly now, if you really want. You can explain me why on the way there."
"Yup. Want a brownie, Hol?" says Maggie, snatching a couple from her mother's tray and biting down on the chewy delight.
Hey, Mags, I'm heading to the graveyard. you wanna come? Holly asks, low enough that Maggie's mom probably won't hear.
Fatou follows Steve, biting her lip and running the coin between her fingers inside her windbreaker pocket. She's still carrying her flute case.
"Yeah, why not. Just let me get my guitar."
Hurrying inside the house, Maggie returns with her guitar on her shoulder, a Guild modified to turn it into a semiacoustic.
"Be back later, Ma! Bye-a!"
Steve spots Holly in the street before him. "You ask her about the board. She definitely won't listen if I'm the one who says it," Steve says. "Hey, Holly! Fatou has something to tell you," he hollers.
Holly walks over, a bit miffed. now everyone is talking again, why had she ever missed this.
Yeah, what's up?
Fatou holds her right elbow in her other hand and looks down at the ground. Holly looked busy. She and Maggie were in the middle of something. "The, uh, spirit board, from before... did you keep it? It's okay if not. We were just wondering because we've been seeing- I... Saw... Nevermind." Fatou shakes her head and turns. "This is stupid, I'm sorry to bother you."
Wait... I think I might have. Holly says, tapping her fingers against her leg. It'd be in my room. can it wait? she asked. she knew full well where it was, but better not to say that.
Fatou flips the coin into the air, then catches it in the same hand.
"No. I think you will want to take it with you... where ever you are going."
Umm... Maggie and I were just going to the Graveyard. Holly says. She never understood Fatou anymore
"Graveyards are a perfect place to find spirits. Who knows? Maybe we can even add this to our school report," Steve suggests cheerfully.
Fatou was glad Steve answered. Her mouth had gone dry. She digs the crumpled pack of cigarettes out of her pocket. Two. She decides not to light up. She feels eyes on her anyway.
"Y'know you shouldn't smoke, Fefe. What did you want to do with that old toy?"
The unspoken thought is evident in the way Maggie looks at Fatou. Or is this one of your delusions?
"You meet your new neighbors, Marguerite?" Fatou stuffs the crumpled pack back into her pocket. "Do you think they'll want in on the next block party? The president says if you see something, you should say something." She sticks out her tongue.
Holly stares at Fatou, her expression screaming "What the hell?". the she draws in a breath and says Come on, Maggie. our friends will be waiting for us.
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"It's Margaret, jackass, not Marguerite. And yeah, I'm sure my neighbor is a Soviet spy. I'm just pretending I don't know that because hey, I'm a spy too. Now excuse me, I'm going to call Mike -that's Gorbachev, by the way- and tell him all about you."
What a wreck she thinks, resuming her walk with Holly.
She's just being sarcastic... Right? -just reacting to what I said. That was a very quick response though. Almost defensive. How much do I really know about the Taylors? The Russians have been researching ESP too. Wouldn't be too far a stretch for her to be a plant. Would they be in cahoots with the circus? Fatou pictures a playing card with two sinusoidal lines printed on the face, and squints at Maggie.
"Mike Gorbachev? Is he in our school? Why haven't I heard of him?" Steve asks. He was oblivious to most of the goings-on outside of his neighborhood; most of his knowledge of the USSR came from the movies.
"He's in the Science Club, Steve, a timid boy who likes electronics, science fiction and plays the cello. Oh, he's a bit of a nerd, but isn't he just cute."
Maggie's bold-faced lie is, as all the best lies, half reality. This "Gorbachev" quite closely resemble David Richards, a geeky guy who has a rather evident crush on Maggie, and the one who upgraded her guitar.
"Oh, um, I didn't know that," Steve confesses. "Could you bring along the the board, and we'll follow you to the graveyard?"
"No, Steve. because We're going there to hang out with friends, not play sme party game from when were were kids." Holly says, frustrated "What had you and Fatou so riled up anyway?"
Maggie just rolls her eyes at Steve's credulity, saying nothing.
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Fatou turns to tug a tattered, spiral-bound notebook from her backpack. "The new neighbors arrived in the dead of night, toting their belongings in crates- moving in where no one has lived since Mr. Wilkinson. This afternoon, a crow landed where we summoned Kipp. Then, I found a strange coin where I got the money to go to the circus back then. Finally, you're still keeping that board, which means you do remember it's more than a kids' game." Fatou balances the notebook on her flute case and flips the coin, letting it land on the open notebook.
Glancing at the coin, she picks it back up and tosses it to Holly.
"Go ahead and go. I can't be seen hanging around over there anyway. I shouldn't even be here talking to all of you now." Her eyes dart to the end of the street, and scan the eves of the houses around them.
"Isn't ouija, like... goth?" Steve suggests. "Wouldn't you want to see spirits if you're hanging at a graveyard?
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"Okay, back at you, in order: People move in all the time. Yeah, they seem a little weird, but it's not proof that anything is happening again. and you saw a crow, in the woods. Even you have to recognize how weak that is! Same with there being a foreign coin in a fountain."
she lowers her voice and steps closer to Fatou as she says "And I kept it because I used to think we would keep doing it all, learn about it all together. You can keep it"
as she passes by Steve she says "No, it's a parlor game. And like I said, I'm going there to meet Friends, not play games with a meathead.
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Fatou bites her lip to keep from crying, and turns on her heels to run home.
Steve snorts at the "meathead" comment. "See, Fatou?" Steve says, oblivious to her discomfort. "I told you she wouldn't listen to me. Well, if she doesn't want to help, you probably know how to make a ouija... wait, where are you going?"
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"Christ, but what's wrong with her? Too much pot, or not enough?"
I don't know. Holly says, seeding up her pace, and motioning for Maggie t do the same before Steve follows them. But they go from not talking to us for years to suddenly wanting to play Nancy Drew with us in less than a day. It's a load of shit.
It’s seems like it’s time for a new scene.
Holly: Describe the graveyard? Is it big? Small? Flat? Hilly? Active or historic?
Maggie: Name two NPC kids you hope will be there and one you hope won’t
Where are you heading? If you don’t know, I can give you a scene, but you might have your own agendas?
Family's intervention notwithstanding, Fatou will run to her room to cry for ten or fifteen minutes, then she'll grab a compact mirror and pull a deck of tarot cards from under her mattress, and sneak out to the football field.
Steve knocks on the door until he gives up and goes back home. After a few minutes, he runs back outside when he sees Fatou through his window.
"Hey, where did you go?" Steve asks when he runs out of his house. "I tried knocking but you didn't answer. I thought you probably knew how to make ouija boards, even if Holly didn't want to share hers."
The graveyard is a small area a half mile into the woods. surrounded by a low stone wall. it was the remains of a pioneer settlement that didn't work out.
in it were a few plastic chairs, the remains of dozens, potentially hundreds of shattered glass bottles and cigarette butts/roaches. the light usually comes from a fire pit set up in a patch where there ar eno graves, or all the headstones are gone.