“I’ve got Professor Irving on the line. He has a theory.”
“C’mon big guy. Let’s go see what the Professor has to say.”
We moved into the office, Kara perching one hip on the desk while Jamar took one of the visitor seats and I stood by the door. After a morning in the veritable driver’s seat, I was happy to be on my feet for a short while.
“Professor Irving? I have Jamar and Donnie on the line.”
“Hello! Donnie, welcome to Arcane Transport.”
“Thanks, Professor. I hope we can meet face-to-face in the near future.”
“Absolutely. Jamar?”
“Hey, Sol.” Seemed like Jamar had a first name relationship with Professor Irving. I felt a brief tinge of jealousy. It would be a while yet before I was a part of the gang.
“Sounds like you’ve had an unpleasant few days.”
Jamar nodded. I debated speaking up on his behalf, but we weren’t on the stand.
“Kara described the situation to me. I can’t say for sure, but it’s possible that you’ve been exposed to a curse of some kind.”
“The ring, you think?” Jamar sat silent, but I figured it was OK to help out.
“Yes. Listen, can someone describe it to me?”
“Sure.” I turned, half expecting to have to do it myself. But Jamar spoke up.
“It’s black. You thought it was onyx?” He glanced up to me, and I nodded. “Donnie thought it might be onyx.”
“Is it entirely onyx? Or-.”
“Silver band with an onyx stone.”
“Men’s wedding band.” Jamar and I glanced at Kara, and both of us pretended to shiver. She displayed one of her slim manicured fingers in response.
“Are there any motifs or markings on the band?”
“There’s kind of a Celtic pattern, with some sort of symbol. It looks like a pair of triangles, one on top of the other. Maybe with some curls inside?”
“Maybe hearts?” I thought Kara’s description was closer.
“And there are a few words inscribed on the border around the stone.” He held his hand up to the light, the three of us huddled around it like idiots. “Um, let’s see… oh, crap.”
“What?” I leaned forward, trying to make out the words. “How do you say that? Horror Ubique Animos.” I could see why Jamar was concerned. Not a lot of positive phrases using the word horror. “Is that Latin?”
“I believe so. In fact, that sounds familiar. Hang on a second.” We heard typing in the background, then he mumbled something that sounded like “maybe in quotes”.
“Yes, yes. Virgil. From the Aeneid. Horror ubique animos, simul ipsa silentia terrent. The first part of the verse means everywhere horror seizes the soul.”
“Oh, that’s nice.”
“Stay calm, let’s keep examining it. How heavy is it?”
Jamar twisted the ring on his finger, but made no move to remove it. “Pretty much normal.”
“Here.” Kara held her hand out, but the Professor’s voice barked on the phone.
“No!”
We all sat and stared at the phone. Seemed a little pushy for a prof.
“Sorry, but if it’s a cursed object, the curse may end up just passing on to anyone who accepts it voluntarily. Doesn’t solve our problem.”
“Doesn’t matter anyway, Sol. I can’t get the damned thing off.”
Jamar tugged at it and looked up at Kara and me, his face wrought with frustration.
“Maybe you just need something to help it slide off. Maybe some margarine, or soap?”
Kara was already moving to the kitchen when Jamar spoke up. “Nah. Tried it. Tried margarine, soap, WD40, even tried to pull the damned thing off with pliers. All I managed to do was mess up a pair of my pants and cut my damned finger.”
He held up his hand, palm facing towards us, and I could see a cut on the inside of his knuckle, just below the ring.
“Sounding more and more like a curse, Jamar. Some of these objects cannot be removed or passed on to anyone else without their consent. Can’t even be removed until the other person has indicated acceptance. When this woman offered the ring to you, you must have been happy to take it from her?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Was she wearing it when you first saw it?”
“Huh. Yeah. I did think that was a bit weird.”
“Well, she needed your consent, ill-informed or otherwise. In theory you could do the same — offer it to some stranger and get it off your hands.”
Jamar shook his head.
“Naw. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”
“Then we need to come up with a way to eliminate the curse. Maybe you could get the woman to take it back?”
Jamar’s eyes lit up at that idea, if only for a moment. There was a way to get rid of his problem, and pay the bitch back at the same time. But…
“There’s no way she’s going to take it back.” At least not in my view.
“Doesn’t seem very likely, does it. Not sure she would have passed it to you in the first place if she had any moral fiber. So that puts us back at square one. Listen, Jamar, this is going to take some research on my behalf. Can you take a picture of the ring and e-mail it to me?”
“I’ll do it.” Kara stepped into one of the offices and drew a digital camera from a drawer.
“E-mail it to me, and I’ll try to look into it tonight. Jamar — I’m sorry I can’t find you a solution right away.”
“Not your fault, Sol. My fault for being too trusting.”
“All you can do is keep it simple. Stick to routine, no big plans or outings. Hopefully I can find you an answer before things get any worse.”
“Thanks, Professor.”
Kara hung up, and we both stared at Jamar. His head was down on the table again. For once, I was happy not to be in someone else’s shoes.
CHAPTER 7
That night I was getting together with two of my former colleagues from TechnoSoft, John Pepper and Jin Park. John went by the name Chili (Chili Pepper — who would have imagined), a carryover from college that had stuck. We were meeting at Chucks, the local greasy spoon we frequented when I was still with the company.
Unlike most places on the Airport strip, Chucks was a standalone business — separate building, separate parking lot, separate entrance. Land alone was worth a fortune, but the owner rebuffed all offers. He ran a diner. That’s what he did, and it’s all he wanted to do. Besides, the entire property was toxic with fry grease and stale condiments.
One great thing about Chucks was the brightness of the place. Three sides lined with floor to ceiling windows, the place was awash with natural light. I doubt they spent a dime on light or heat, other than in the evenings or the middle of winter. They most certainly did not spend a cent on air conditioning during the warmer months, resulting in a greenhouse-like sauna effect.
The glass walls were lined with booths and standalone tables filling the spaces in between. The entire back wall was a long counter, with two cash registers on one side. On the other side of the counter, a group of men who all appeared related slaved away over countless hot plates, fryers, cookers, and every other type of grease-generating device known to man. That might have explained the thin film coating the aforementioned windows. A sign over the cash said “All Breakfast. All Day.”
I pushed through the door and the accompanying wave of heat. A tide of scents washed over me — fryers that ran full out from dawn to dusk and grills that warmed the meats of every animal outside a zoo.
Chili and Jin sat by the windows on the East wall, out of the direct line of sunlight and thus a good five degrees cooler than the West wall at this time of day, which seemed to shimmer in the heat. The moment they spotted me, I felt my shoulders relax. Good to see some old friends.
“So you’re a partner in the business?”
“Yeah. The original plan was for me to earn my stake in the business over three years, then Clay would retire and I would earn out his half of the business. But now, I’m not sure. If anything, the whole thing may be accelerated. Either way, I end up owning the company.”