The Variables

Whether Huck had already stocked the System with Maxine’s must-haves or whether he sent his precious military into the nearest city to loot abandoned party supply stores, Lucy didn’t know.

When Maxine King pla

Galen, done with his shift at the cake walk, tapped Lucy on the shoulder.

“Your turn?” she asked and thrust the brimming bags outward into Galen’s chest. “Teddy wants to jump in the bouncy castle again and Harper is over there.” Lucy pointed to the fishing game, where Harper stood, her face smeared with the remnants of a chocolate treat. She was holding a makeshift fishing pole, waiting for the tug that indicated her prize was ready.

Galen gave Lucy a look—a cross between resignation and a

Lucy spun and looked at the darkened fabric flaps over the entrance to Cass’s domain. She would have wanted to walk around with Grant, perhaps sit with him in the movie theater where her mother had requested old black and white movies to play during the duration of the event. But he was out of commission. So, with a small shake of her head, she walked straight into the tent. Small twinkle lights danced around her and Cass sat at a covered table, a deck of cards spread downward before her.

“You came,” Cass said, and she smiled. “I thought you’d avoid me.”

“I had to see what my mother had done to you,” Lucy replied, and she let her eyes wander around the small interior of the fabric tent. “Where’s your crystal ball?”

“I don’t use a crystal ball, silly. Most clairvoyants don’t need gimmicky tools to tell you your past or your futures. Sit.” Cass had adopted a thicker accent for her role; she winked at Lucy and pointed to a wooden chair next to her table, but Lucy hesitated. Cass clicked her tongue. “Please.”

Lucy sat and rolled her eyes. “This whole thing—”

“People needed something familiar.”

“Aren’t there some things we can do away with in this new world? People needed a dunk tank? People needed this?”

“Sometimes people don’t know what they need, but they’ll accept a substitute.”

Lucy put her hands on the glass top of the table and looked at her friend. “You’re good at this. That was a very fortuneteller-y thing to say.”

Cass shrugged, a coy smile tugging at the edges of her mouth. “So, are you here for your fortune or are you here to poke fun?”

“Poke fun,” Lucy answered without hesitation. “I don’t believe in this stuff. I don’t believe in ghosts or mediums. Once, when I was a kid, I thought I saw a ghost, right? My dad came in...told me ghosts didn’t exist. He said science can explain away the supernatural. It was comforting, actually.”

Raising her eyebrows, Cass picked up the deck in front of her and began to shuffle. She raised one hand and then the other, flipping the cards with methodical tenderness. “Your dad believes in science. Grant believes in God. What do you believe in?” she asked, shuffling one-handed now, but never taking her eyes off of Lucy.

“This is weird.”

“It’s just a carnival.”

“I only wanted to say hi.”

“I’ll need a ticket.”

“Oh, come on,” Lucy let out a small laugh. Then Cass raised her eyebrows and held out her hand, and so she was forced to dig deep into her pockets and pull out one of the tickets she had kept for herself. She placed it in Cass’s hand and Cass tucked it into a pocket in her dress, then she smiled.

“Shall we do past, present, future?”

“I don’t know what that means—”

Cass flipped down card number one. “Deluge, reversed,” she read.

“Deluge—”

The fortuneteller nodded. “A reversal of fortune. Something bad that led to something good.”

“It’s not fair. You know too much about me now. It’s like those people that steal your wallets and then tell you that you live in a poor part of town or something. All of this means nothing,” Lucy replied. She leaned forward to stare at the card. It showed a house uprooted by a flood, spi

Cass didn’t acknowledge Lucy’s question and flipped down the second card. She peered at it and tilted her head, then she looked at Lucy, her dark eyes latching on to hers and then she nodded affirmation. “Erzulie La Flambeau.”

“Okay. Flambeau?” Lucy stifled a giggle. The picture was of a black woman dancing among tall grass, her arms raised in jubilation. “Where did you get these?” Lucy leaned over and reached for the deck, but Cass drew them back away from her.

“My grandma,” she answered in a soft voice.

“Of all the things you could bring, you brought these?” Lucy saw a flicker of hurt travel across Cass’s face and she recognized her own harshness. “I’m sorry. I forgot that you had more time to prepare...to grab the things that mattered to you,” she backpedaled.

The statement softened Cass, and she smiled. Still holding the unused cards to her chest, Cass looked at Lucy and asked, “Is there anything you would have brought with you? If you’d have known?”

Lucy closed her eyes and let her memory recreate her house. She felt a pang of sadness, thinking of her home now empty, left to the elements. It was unlikely she’d ever get a chance to return. In the attic, her mother had organized a box with her school awards and art projects; there was a baby book filled with her first words and snapshots of growing up. But of all these things, the two items Lucy longed for most did not belong to her.

Scott’s Victrola was a family treasure and its scratchy records transported her to a different time, a far-off place. She longed to sit and lose herself in the music. It was a large and lumbering item, impossible to transport, but Lucy still wished that her father had made more of an effort to save it.

The other item was her mother’s charm bracelet.

When she was younger, Lucy used to sneak up to her mother’s bedroom and examine the silver bracelet and the accompanying accoutrements with fascination. While the novelty of the charm bracelet had gone out of style when her mother was young, somehow Maxine had still gathered an array of trinkets throughout the years. Charms represented the births of each child, milestones in education, trips to Disneyland. Each one told a story. And Lucy loved to hear the narratives behind the charms.

She cringed to think that the heirloom was left behind, probably still tucked in the jewelry box on her mother’s chest-of-drawers.

“An old record player. And a charm bracelet.”

“Of course, of course. That makes sense. We bring things that have stories,” Cass noted wisely and she nodded toward the cards. “I would not leave these behind.” Then she pointed toward the upturned card in front of them. “The Eruzulie La Flambeau is good. It’s a strong card. For a strong woman.”

Lucy smiled. Flattery could earn Cass some credibility. She leaned closer and ran her finger over the dancing woman’s curves. It was clear to see that this card had confidence. She wished that she could see that trait in herself. “So...I am, in this present moment, strong?”

Cass shook her head. “It’s not just i

“Like saving Grant!” Lucy said with excitement, feeling for the first time that she could put the pieces of her life into these cards and make it work.

“Ha!” Cass let out a single, punctuated, laugh. “Yes, yes, dear Lucy. Just like that. So, you are converted now? You believe?” She raised her eyebrows and then wagged her finger. “Then let’s see about your future, eh?” With a steady hand, Cass drew the top card off the deck and went to set it down, but she hesitated. There was a flash of uneasiness and the card hovered in her hand for an extra second before she set it down. Staring at it wordlessly, Cass’s features went dark.