Part Four, In Which Luck Is Seen

Clyde bolted from the diner and out to the street. Sun, reflecting off nearby buildings, was blinding, despite the raybans. He looked up the block, then down, trying to gather every detail. Half a block down there was a split between two buildings, creating a narrow alley about four feet wide. He saw a black feline tale slide into the alley. I’m a sucker he thought, before shoving his way down the crowded sidewalk to the alley. More than one person shouted a not-too-friendly remark.

Samantha remained in the diner to make sure Bill was okay. She was surprised Clyde had rushed out like he did. She watched Bill retrieve his now silent phone from the counter. I hope they call back, she thought. The waitress, still a little panicked looked like she was going to get hysterical.

“Look, you must be bad luck or something buddy.” The waitress said. “I’ve seen more spills and slips in here this morning since you came in than I’ve seen in the last two months. Someone’s got it out for you upstairs if you know what I mean. Forget the bill, just go.”

“But,” Bill was flabbergasted, “my wallets got to be here somewhere I’ll just pay you and go.”

He bent to look for it on the floor, and his elbow hit a saucer on the edge of the counter. The saucer shattered, and made everyone jump.

“I said leave!” The waitress screamed.

Bill took one last look for his wallet and hurried out. Samantha spied Bill’s wallet on the counter under the section of newspaper he hadn’t read yet. She moved up to the counter, slapped down a fifty-dollar bill she had pulled from her back pocket, and told the waitress to mellow out.

When Clyde reached the entrance to the alley, there was nothing there. Of course, he thought. His right hand reached up to press a tiny button on the stem of his raybans. There was a slight whine, like the flash on a cheap camera charging, and then he could see the streams of probability and luck floating through the air. There were accented by silvery strands of magic, and the stealy cords of fate.

At the end of the alley, disappearing into the wall was blackness where luck had been broken. In the middle of the blackness was a line of fate. Clyde could see it run out the alley, and back toward the diner. He didn’t have to guess that it led straight to Bill. It looked like someone had tried to sever the cord with bad luck, but had not succeeded.

“Well, shit,” Clyde said.

Samantha grabbed Bill’s wallet and followed after him. He hadn’t gone more than a few feet from the diner’s entrance. He had his phone pressed to his ear. Samantha approached to return his wallet. If black cats were on the prowl she wanted to be as close to him as possible.

“You dropped this,” she said, handing him his wallet.

“Oh, wow, thanks, I’d thought I lost it.”
at this point, this line should be understood 8/6/04 12:44am to 1:16am