Jolly Jefferson #5

Madam Zerina sat in her shop, behind a beaded curtain. A neon palm glowed in the window, her name spelled out in glowing red gas. It was clichéd as hell, but the tourists expected something and so she gave it to them. Personally, the buzz of the neon annoyed her, but it was a necessity that had to be dealt with. Since she had moved to the new location, business had tripled.

A bell rang as the door opened and a cold breeze blew in. With it, came a man wrapped in a thick coat and scarf. He took his outer garments off and hung them on a coat rack that was there for this purpose. He then parted the beads and took a seat across from Madam Zerina.

“Welcome. How may I help you today?” Madam Zerina asked.

“You’re the psychic, you tell me,” the man said. She held back a sigh. It was going to be one of those.

“Very well.” She reached for the Tarot deck that was wrapped in a large red handkerchief on the table in front of her. She unwrapped them and offered them to the man. “Shuffle them.”

The man took the cards and handled them with an ease that spoke of long nights over a card table. His hands were surprisingly delicate, dealing with the oversized cards with facility. After seven shuffles, he handed them back.

Madam Zerina dealt seven cards, face down in a semi-circle, then set the deck aside. She flipped the first card. The Tower. But the card was upside down. “You’re feeling trapped.”

He nodded. She flipped the next card.

The Three of Wands, facing up. “You’ve come to ask about a business proposition. You wish to know if it will be successful.”

The man nodded again. “I’m impressed. And will I?”

Madam Zerina flipped the next card. This was the Six of Wands, also facing up. “It will take work, but yes, you will be successful.”

“And what will this success bring?”

She flipped the fourth card, the Devil. It was reversed. “Release, or enlightenment.”

“What sort of work will it take?”

She flipped the next card in the series. The Chariot, another of the major arcana, also facing up. “Perseverance. And a long journey.”

“I’ve been on a long journey. And I’ve persevered. Am I nearing the end of my journey?” Something in his voice gave Madam Zerina pause. Something wasn’t right. She felt something odd as she reached out toward the table.

She flipped the sixth card. The Six of Cups, reversed. “I see only disappointment.” She sounded genuinely sad.

Her sadness was reflected in the eyes of the man sitting across from her. “And what is my next step?”

She reached a shaking hand out toward the final card. But she didn’t need to flip it. She already knew what it would show. Sure enough, the card was Death, face up. She closed her eyes. Many people thought the card meant change, and indeed it could. But it could also be taken literally.

When she opened her eyes, the man was no longer sitting across from her. Instead, he was standing at her back. Looking down at the final card, she knew it was her own fortune she was seeing. She felt a soft cord drop around her neck and tighten. A minute later, she was dead.

The man let her body slump over the table. He went back into the parlor and redonned his coat and scarf. She was not the one he was seeking. She certainly had the gift, but she was not one of the seven. He had found four. It appeared he had a long trip before finding the final three. But he would continue and he would succeed. He would complete his quest. And win his freedom.