THE OLD MADE NEW

The Magician

MAGICIAN

The chipped mug reluctantly contained coffin varnish—that is, terrible coffee.  It rested uneasily on a dirty table in one of those all-night diners that serve mediocre food with bad service.  The hour was late.

Tony sat at the dirty table and grimaced when the mug touched his lips.  Part of him welcomed the foul taste of the coffee, the bitterness that no amount of sugar could banish.  It was a feeling, a true sensation.  Even if only for a moment, it took his mind off of the pain in his heart.  Then the moment was gone, and his heart ached and his mouth tasted like burnt ass. 

“I fuckin’ hate going to the diner with you, bro; you always use all the fuckin’ sugar,” this from Evan, Tony’s portly best friend.  He reeked of cigarette, having just reentered the diner after stepping out for a smoke.  Though Evan was complaining, he lifted his own mug to his lips and drained it.

“Well, I hate coffee,” Tony shot back.  “Where’s Anne?”

“Restroom,” Evan answered.  The waitress with makeup caked in her facial hair approached just then and set down their orders—pancakes for Tony, a cheeseburger for Evan, and a bagel for Anne.  Neither Tony nor Evan glanced at her as they mumbled dubious thanks.  “Look, dude, we need to talk.  What happened?”

“Yeah, what happened?”  Anne asked as she rejoined them at the table, her voice soaked with concern for her friend.  She was a good-looking chick, if a bit of a tomboy.

“Where should I even start?” Tony mumbled, his heart in his throat.

“Fuck, bro, you asked us to meet you here,” Evan replied, exasperated.  “I thought you had a plan.”  Anne put a hand on her fiancée’s arm to calm him.

“Let’s start with when Lyn dumped you, and go from there,” she recommended gently.  Tony closed his eyes to halt the tears that too readily threatened to burst forth.

Lyn was Tony’s fiancée once, and recently.  They’d had the kind of love that only ever existed in fairytales, and everyone who met them instantly saw the connection the pair had.  It was a perfect relationship...or it should have been.

“Lyn dumped me six months ago,” Tony said dryly, unable to look up.  “Something changed in her, and she left.  Lyn was my everything, my all and ever.  Without her in my life, I didn’t have a life.  I was nothing without her.  My existence became defined by sadness and despair.  So I disappeared.”

“The fuck, man?” Evan rumbled.  “What about us?”

“I know, I know,” Tony said, wincing.  “I’m an asshole, right?  But I’m back now.”

“So where did you go?”  Anne asked, setting aside her bagel.

“I…you’d never, never believe me,” Tony said.  He carved out the middle of his short stack and ate it, leaving the edges on his plate like always.  “This stuff is bad, even for diner food.”

“You disappear for six damn months, then you come back and tell us to meet you for dinner in the middle of the night just to bitch about the pancakes?”  Evan pounded his fist on the table for emphasis.  “Dude, I love you, but come on!”

“Fine, you wanna know the truth?” Tony’s confidence wavered for a heartbeat, but a sip of shit-coffee helped him find his voice.  “I went somewhere and I learned…I learned things that no human should ever know,” Tony said cryptically.  His words were strange, but his tone was enough to calm the big man down.  The waitress brought more coffee and sugar, halting all conversation until she shuffled away again.  Her poor posture did her looks no favors.