"I'll take the job," she said finally. "And you're right. I don't haggle or pad the bill. Those are two of my more endearing traits."
I wasn't sure if that last was intended as a joke or not, but decided it was as close as she was apt to get, and chuckled appreciatively.
"One more thing... what's your name?"
"Pookanthimbusille."
"Excuse me?" I blinked.
She gave a small shrug.
"Just call me Pookie. It's easier."
"Pookie?"
At first it struck me as a ridiculously silly name for her. Then I ran my eyes over her again, and allowed as how she could be called anything she wanted to be called. If anyone laughed, it wouldn't be me.
"Pookie it is then... just checking to be sure I had the pronunciation right. Shall we go?"
I had Edvick drive us back to the hotel. While I hadn't gotten a lot accomplished today toward finding Aahz, what I had done had left me feeling a little drained. Besides, there was another little matter I wanted to take care of. For a change, luck seemed to be with me. As the cab pulled up in front of the hotel I could see J.R. at his usual place by the entrance. I figured that was fortunate since I wouldn't have known where to find him otherwise. I caught his eye through the window and waved him over. Unfortunately, Pookie didn't see me wave. All she saw was a street vendor moving to intercept us as we emerged from the cab. "Pookie! NO!"
I was barely in time.
My bodyguard had a sinister looking weapon out and was drawing a bead on J.R. almost before I could say anything. At the sound of my warning, however, all movement froze and she shot me a vaguely quizzical look. "It's all right," I said hastily. "He's a friend of mine. He' s coming over because I waved at him as we pulled up."
The weapon vanished as she gave the street vendor a hard, appraising look.
"Interesting friends you have."
"He was the one who saved my bacon-in last night's encounter with the local wildlife. Hang on a few... I've got a little business to transact with him." Pookie nodded and began scanning the immediate area with a watchful eye as I turned to J.R.
"Interesting friends you've got," he said, staring at my bodyguard.
"Funny, she was just saying the same thing about you. She's my new bodyguard. After last night, it seemed like a good idea. Incidentally, sorry about that welcome. I forgot to warn her you were coming over."
"No problem. What's up?"
"I paid a little visit to the bank today," I explained, holding up my checkbook. "Now I've got the funding for that little venture of ours."
"Hey! That's terrific! That's all I need to start making us some real money."
"Not so fast," I cautioned. "Let's settle the details and paper this thing first."
"What for? You've already said you trust me and I sure trust you."
"It's cleaner this way. Contracts are the best way to be sure we're both hearing the same thing in this arrangement... not to mention it documents the split at the beginning instead of waiting until we're arguing over a pile of profits." He was still a bit reluctant, but I managed to convince him and we scribbled down the details in duplicate on some pieces of paper he produced from one of his many pockets. I say ‘we' because I couldn't read or write Pervish, and he was equally ignorant of Klahdish, so we each had to make two copies of the agreement in our own language. To say the least, I didn't drive a particularly hard bargain... 25% of the profits after expenses. I figured he would be doing all of the work, so he should get the bulk of the reward. All I was doing was funding him. I even put in a clause where he could buy out my share if things went well. When it was done, we each signed all the copies and shook hands.
"Thanks, Skeeve," the vendor beamed, stuffing one copy of each translation into a pocket. "Believe me, this is a sure money maker."
"Any idea yet where your storefront is going to be?"
"No. Remember I said I was going to start out small? Well, I figure to start by supplying the other street vendors, then using the profits from that to lease and stock the store front. It'll probably be three weeks to a month before I'm ready for that move."
A month wasn't too bad for start-up time. I admired his industry and confidence.
"Well, good luck!" I said sincerely. "Be sure to leave word for me at the bank when you have a permanent address. I'll be in touch."
He gathered his wares and headed off down the street as I joined Pookie once more.
"I'd like to apologize for that mix-up," I said. "I should have let you know he was coming over."
"I figured he was okay," the bodyguard replied, still watching the street. "He didn't move like a mugger. It just seemed like a good time for a little demonstration, so I did my thing."
"You really didn't have to put on a demonstration for me. I don't have any doubts about your abilities."
Pookie glanced at me. "Not for you," she corrected. "For them... the folks watching here on the street. It was my way of announcing that you're covered now and they should keep their distance."
That possibility had never occurred to me. "Oh," I said. "Well, I guess I should stick with my business and let you handle yours."
"Agreed," she nodded, "though I'll admit the way you do business puzzles me a bit. Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your dealings there."
"What? You mean my insisting on a contract? The reason I pushed for it there and not for our deal is that it was a long-term investment as opposed to a straight-forward purchase of services."
"That isn't it."
"What is it then? Is it the contract terms? Maybe I was a little more generous than I had to be, but the situation... ." I broke off as I realized the bodyguard was staring hard at me.
"What I meant," she said flatly, "was that before I put money into a business, I'd want to know what it was."
"You heard him. It's a wholesale/dealer operation."
"Yes, but what's he selling?"
I didn't answer that one because I didn't have an answer. In my eagerness to do J.R. a good turn, I had completely forgotten to ask what kind of business he was starting!
Chapter Seventeen:
"Bibbity... bobbity..."
—S. STRANGE, M.D.
BRIGHT AND EARLY the next morning, I launched into the next phase of my search for Aahz. The Butterfly had convinced me it was unlikely I'd find him traveling in financial circles. That left the magicians.
As Edvick had warned, the sheer volume of Pervects in the magik business made the task seem almost impossible. It was my last idea, though, so I had to give it a try and hope I got lucky. By the time I had visited half a dozen or so operations, however, I was nearly ready to admit I was licked.
The real problem facing me was that the market glut had made the magicians extremely competitive. No one was willing to talk about any other magicians, or even acknowledge their existence. What I got was high-powered sales pitches and lectures on "the layman's need for magikal assistance in his day-to-day life". Once I admitted I was in the business myself, I either got offered a partnership or was accused of spying and thrown out of the office. (Well, a couple of them threatened, but thanks to Pookie's presence I got to walk out with dignity.) What I didn't get was any leads or information about Aahz.
Despite my growing despair of succeeding with my quest, it was interesting to view magikal hype as an outsider. Kalvin had admonished me for being too insecure and down playing my abilities. What I learned that day after sitting through several rounds of bragging in close succession, was that the louder someone blew his own horn, the less impressed the listener, in this case, me, was apt to be. I thought of the quiet confidence exuded by people such as the Butterfly and Pookie, and decided that, in general, that was a much wiser way to conduct oneself in business situations... or social ones for that matter. As far as I could tell, the goal was not to impress people, but rather to be impressive. In line with that, I resolved to not only discourage the "Mister Skeeve" title, but to also drop "The Great Skeeve" hype. I had never really believed it anyway. What I was was "Skeeve," and people could either be impressed or not by what I was, not by what I called myself.