Solution Series: Magic

There’s a bit of magic in everything and some loss to even it out….bit of magic in everything…some loss to even it out…bit of magic…everything…some loss…even it out…magic…everything…loss…even it out…magic…in…everything…

A young man darts from the sidewalk right into the middle of the street and picks up a coin. A speeding driver coming towards him slams on his breaks, missing him by inches. After getting across his derision for the young coin philately by way of sailor swears, he drives onward, maneuvering his car around the young man with coin in hand, barricading through the worn leash filled with rips and bite marks that was being torn in two directions by struggle—holding together the remains of a bittersweet friendship between a man and his German Shepherd. Scared by the vehicle and overjoyed by his newfound freedom, the man’s pet companion jolts off. The dog-chase led the owner to the shopping complex across the street, passing the entrance of a local clothing store, which gives a young girl running with a hand full of colorful jewelry just the moment of interference that she needs to get away from the security guard that cursed the dog sprinting in front of him.

Meanwhile, the young kleptomaniac makes it to the street just in time to catch the next bus going East, which gives the elderly woman trudging through the parking lot enough time to get on the bus as well, instead of waiting five minutes for the next one. On the bus, the girl sees a guy that spread nasty rumors about her all over their school. She greets him with a whirlwind of finger points and threats backed by breath that smelled of Starbursts and Jungle Juice. Things escalate. The driver stops the bus. He kicks the kids off. The old woman now has a bad headache from the noise. Her head throbs as the bus passes her stop.

The old woman finally realizes that she passed her destination. She sinks into her seat. She takes the bus to the closest stop near her house. She unlocks the door, walks in, and sits in her favorite chair. She cries.

“Is your grandma gonna be ok?” BT asks with uncomfortable concern.

Ed shook his head and made a stroboscopic shrug, “I don’t know, man. Some crazy girl got on the bus with her and started a fight with some dude and made her miss her stop. So ,she was gonna be late for work. She said her boss told her that if she was late again, they’d fire her. She was so upset she decided to just come back home instead of showing up late. “

“Aw man, that’s terrible!”
“Who you tellin? We’re already struggling enough as it is. I just lost my job when I went to jail last month…”
“Jail last month? You went to jail? For what?”
“Yea man, domestic violence. My ex girl is crazy. I come over trying to see my kid, and she starts cursing me out for no reason, telling me im no good and all this other stuff. She gets all up in my face, and next thing you know, she’s tryna hit me. So I grab her hands and wrestle her down. She gets mad, calls the cops, and tells them that I hit her. Can you believe that?

“What? Are you serious?”
“Yea man, I couldn’t believe it either. But, the cops did. They locked me up, and it was a Friday so I couldn’t go to work on Saturday…”
“Oh yea, because they hold you over the weekend.”
“Exactly! So I missed work, and they fired me. “

“Wow, so what are you gonna do now?”
“I’m going back to my first love—magic. I got a show lined up next week. Im really riding on this one, BT. I put every last dollar I had into this to rent out that old building off of Jackson St.”

There was a moment of awkward silence. In the background, BT could still hear Ed’s grandmother sobbing in-between the screeches of the plastic covering the furniture—the typical cry from those trapped in a world of antiquity and must. If the walls of Ed’s house could talk, they’d need inhalers first.
Ed pulled out a deck of cards and starting shuffling them around.

“Ed”
“Yea?” Ed said as he looked up at BT, showing the abyss filled with burden in his eyes.
“Do you believe in magic?”
Ed chuckled, “Naw, man. I do it. So, I know it aint no such thing as it. It’s just entertainment. Magic is just all about playing with people’s imagination. Everything that happens has an explanation for it. Here, I’ll show ya…”
Ed start doing magic tricks for BT and explaining how they work. Ironically, as Ed did more to convince BT that there was no such thing as magic, BT started to believe more and more that it must exist. It wasn’t because of Ed’s tricks. It was because of Ed.

BT had been friends with Ed for over ten years, but their lives were so different. BT was a student at Hughes College. He was squeaky clean. On the right path—if there is such a thing. How was their friendship possible? After all that Ed had been through, why wasn’t BT afraid of him or judging him? Why did BT still believe in Ed? Magic.

Why did BT still believe that his literacy program could make a difference? Why did he still have faith in the volunteers? Why did they always seem to come through? How did Gene know to text him? How did Gene always know? Magic.

It started getting late. So, BT decided to head out. He and Ed exchanged good-byes and BT walked to his car, which was parked on the street. On his way, he saw a coin in the road. He picked it up. A car slammed on its brakes a few feet in front of him. He looked up. As the driver gawked at him, he got into his car and looked at the coin. It was just like the one he accidentally dropped out of the window earlier that day. When that guy was struggling with his dog.

He made it come back. Maybe he never even lost it. It depends on your imagination.

Good or bad. He’s magic.

OxyJon